Newsletter "Euresearch Info" March 2026
SSH at the Heart of European Research
Technological solutions alone are not enough to solve the complex challenges facing society. To bridge the gap between innovation and societal impact, the European Commission places particular emphasis on meaningful "SSH integration"—inter- and transdisciplinary collaborations between the SSH and the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
Integrating SSH into Horizon Europe projects ensures a human-centric focus, allowing researchers to explore the social, economic and ethical dimensions of their work alongside technical developments. By doing so, they can better interpret the real-world conditions that lead to the favourable uptake of their innovations. For this reason, integrating SSH expertise is crucial in developing solutions that are socially relevant and sustainable in the long term.
While SSH research is the primary focus of Cluster 2 "Culture, Creativity, and Inclusive Society", it is a cross-cutting aspect across Horizon Europe. This includes all the thematic Clusters under Pillar 2 (Health; Security; Digital, Industry and Space; Climate, Energy and Mobility; Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment); all EU Missions (such as Cancer and Adaptation to Climate); and the New European Bauhaus initiative.
A common pitfall in projects is to treat SSH expertise as a secondary add-on. To be successful, SSH must be incorporated from the very beginning as a core element of the research design. In this way, SSH researchers can contribute their thematic and methodological specialties alongside their STEM partners, to help shape impactful project objectives.
To help SSH researchers identify funding opportunities beyond Cluster 2, Net4Society—the international network of Cluster 2 National Contact Points—recently published the comprehensive guide "Opportunities for researchers from the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in Horizon Europe".
By fostering strong SSH–STEM collaborations, Horizon Europe projects can deliver the multidisciplinary solutions citizens need, ensuring that technology serves humanity and not the other way around.
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