Japan becomes a fully associated country to Horizon Europe

The agreement will allow Japanese researchers, universities, research organisations, businesses and other eligible entities to participate in Horizon Europe on comparable terms to participants from EU Member States and other associated countries.

Japan's association concerns the second pillar of Horizon Europe, which has a budget of EUR 52.4 billion. This pillar supports large-scale international research and innovation projects that respond to key societal and technological challenges, for example in the areas of climate, energy, health and digital transformation. The association will also include a financial contribution from Japan to the programme budget, through which the country will contribute to the financing of the participation of its institutions and organisations.

However, the possibilities for Japanese entities are not limited to the second pillar. They can also continue to participate in other parts of Horizon Europe that allow for the participation of entities from third countries. These include activities under the Excellent Science pillar, the Innovative Europe pillar and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme.

More information can be found here.