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Signs of appreciation will be awarded to the 556 Israeli companies and researchers who won the “Horizon 2020” grants in 2019-2020

The awarding ceremony of the EU delegation in Israel and of ISERD, the Israeli directorate for European R&D, the Innovation Authority, will take place tonight, Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation.  The success of industry and academia Israel’s participation in research and innovation cooperation programs with Europe will be noted on this evening when tokens of appreciation will be awarded to the Israeli researchers and companies that won the “Horizon 2020” grants, in the last years of the program 2019-2020. Israel’s entry into the next Horizon Europe program will also be noted.

The European Union delegation in Israel, the director of ISERD, and its steering team, which includes the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education, the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, the Innovation Authority, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, express their appreciation to the winners of the recognition event, which will be held as a sign of cooperation The important one is with Europe, a cooperation that contributes significantly to the establishment of Israel as a leading country with an international reputation in the fields of industrial and academic research, development and innovation.

Within the program, in the years 2014-2020  As part of the program, 2,045 researchers, companies and various entities won 1,666 grants amounting to approximately 1.3 billion euros, and another 550 million euros were invested in Israeli companies and venture capital funds through various financial tools that were placed in favor of Israel through the European Investment Bank.

862 companies won grants in the amount of 430 million euros, of which 539 small and medium-sized companies won grants in the amount of 272 million euros, and 961 researchers won grants in the amount of 800 million euros.

The dominant fields in which the Israeli researchers won are: natural sciences, about 780 million euros, health and life sciences, 360 million euros, agriculture – 56 million euros; Humanities – 61 million euros and engineering – 397 million euros.

Israel is the leader in winning researchers in the European Research Council’s prestigious grants for groundbreaking research and within the framework of which 472 researchers won 661 million euros. The Israeli companies also stood out in the scope of winning EIC grants to outstanding companies in which 309 companies were awarded with an aggregate budget of 180 million euros. In addition, 903 Israeli researchers and companies won projects within the framework of the Magadim program with an aggregate amount of 427 million dollars.

The Horizon 2020 program has indeed ended, but Israel already joined last year (2021) the continuation program called Horizon Europe.  The Horizon Europe program is a much more ambitious program, with a larger budget of about 95.5 billion euros for 7 years. Israel, which has been a partner in European programs as an accompanying country since 1996, has allowed any Israeli legal entity to compete for research and innovation grants for over 25 years. The Council for Higher Education, the Innovation Authority and the Ministry of Science jointly share the costs of financing the program.

Memberships in the R&D programs of the European Community strengthened over the years Israeli academic and industrial excellence, which led to investments in research infrastructures and enabled long-term and innovative research. The program allowed Israeli companies access to European partners for dealing with environmental and social challenges and promoted cooperation with researchers and industry At the forefront of European research. The European framework program also allows Israel to integrate into a very wide network of European research infrastructures, and to take part in flagship projects of the program such as the emerging flagship program in the field of quantum technologies, graphene and brain research.

Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Orit Parkash HaCohen: “It is a great privilege to present awards today to 556 groundbreaking scientists in all areas of life who are at the forefront of Israeli and global science.

Israel’s participation in Horizon, the largest and most prestigious R&D program in the world, is another example that the Israeli mind has a reputation that crosses borders and continents and that Israel contributes to the advancement of world science achievements in a wide variety of fields.

In the years of the previous Horizon Agreement, thousands of Israeli researchers received grants with a total value of approximately 1.3 billion euros.

These worlds connect the State of Israel to the countries of the world and strengthen our foreign relations. The program allows our researchers to continue to promote groundbreaking research on the world’s leading international platforms.’

Dr. Ami Applebaum, Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Economy, Chairman of the Innovation Authority and Chairman of the ISARD Steering Committee stated that: The Horizon Europe program is the seventh European program in which Israel participates and it is the largest and most significant program More than any past program. The European Framework Program is a prestigious program that allows industry and academia in Israel to compete on the global stage of excellence and innovation and enable penetration of the European market at a higher speed. Winning the program is a mark of quality and excellence for the researchers and companies that obtained the grant and the Israeli success in the program testifies to the quality of the groundbreaking research in Israel.  The program allows for individual and integrated submission with European partners as part of associations. The added value that the program brings to the participants, beyond the significant funding, is the opportunity for cooperation in the fields of research and development and, as a result, business development with Yeshua