I was very happy to announce, to talk to the audience today, about Horizon Europe, the new European framework programme for research and innovation, because this audience of important cancer researchers is obviously one of the many audiences that we want to reach with our proposal. The core of the proposal is that we address major societal and global challenges in this research programme, cancer is obviously one of them and even if cancer isn’t mentioned by word as one of the challenges at this high level legislative document it fits into many of the areas of intervention that are at the centre of the health cluster in Horizon Europe such as the non-communicable and rare diseases. That is obviously one area where cancer plays a very important role.

But cancer is also important for many of the other areas of intervention, for example Health Throughout the Life course – there are certain cancers that affect preferentially young kids or the elderly. Another opportunity for cancer researchers will be the Tools and Technologies, the area of intervention number five on the Tools and Technologies, where all the diagnostic tools that are important for precision medicine, for example, have a home in this area of intervention.

Where’s the best place for clinicians to become involved and find information?

The most important, apart from the website which is an important source of information on Horizon Europe, is the national contact points. We should also not forget that Horizon 2020, the current funding programme, is what is currently running still for two more years. We have until 2020, we have open calls now, we will have open calls for participation in 2019 and in 2020. Horizon Europe we’re really at an early stage; we’re in the strategic programming phase now where we go into a little bit more detail on the content of what we intend to do in the first years of Horizon Europe.

For Horizon 2020 clearly the national contact point is the other very important source of information in each country. You can look at this – if you Google ‘National Contact Point Horizon 2020’ you find a person with a telephone number and email in your country that can advise you in more detail about the opportunities for cancer researchers.