EPF President appointed expert in the Horizon 2020 advisory groups

The European Commission has appointed 15 groups of independent experts to advise on priorities for Horizon 2020, the next EU research and innovation programme. Our President Anders Olauson will represent the patients’ perspective in the “Health, demographic change and wellbeing” group.

In 2014 the European Union will launch a new, seven year research and innovation funding programme called Horizon 2020. EPF had contributed in 2012 to establish the framework of this programme through the European Health Policy Forum’s (EUHPF) position paper on the Commission proposals.

“At EPF, we want to include a comprehensive approach to Horizon 2020 to achieve a healthier Europe. When designing research programmes and setting priorities, it is crucial to look not only at innovative solutions but also at public needs, including those of patients”, said EPF President.

Among the different groups, the health-focused one is tasked with the assessment of the overall health, demographic change and wellbeing challenge concept and approach. The experts will analyse what has been achieved and where the problems are, assessing any amendments needed to improve the functioning of the current systems and also identifying the conditions for launching further work programmes.

The mandate of the selected experts is for a period of 2 years with the possibility of renewal for a further maximum 2 years. The call for expressions of interest will stay open for the lifetime of the Horizon 2020 programme in order to accommodate the renewal of groups at the end of each mandate.

Most of the groups can already be found on the European Commission’s online register for expert groups, along with some additional information and the original call text: http://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020/index_en.cfm?pg=h2020-experts.

In addition to the advisory groups, the Commission will soon launch a further call to establish a database of experts to advise and assist on activities like evaluation of proposals and the preparation of future programmes.

For more information about the EU Programme, please visit this website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020/index_en.cfm.