(Science|Business) Commission looks to boost Palestinian involvement in Horizon Europe

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The European Commission is stepping up efforts to involve Palestinian researchers in Horizon Europe and future EU research programmes. The aim is to counter a long-term decline in participation, and help rebuild research capabilities in the wake of the war in Gaza.

Palestinian involvement in the EU’s Framework Programmes (FPs) for research and innovation stands in stark contrast to that of Israel, which has been associated to the programmes for nearly 30 years. This means that researchers from Israeli institutions can bid for funds under the same terms as EU researchers, which they do with considerable success. In the latest programme, Horizon Europe, Israeli researchers have already received more than €1.1 billion in funding.

Since a sovereign Palestinian state is not universally recognised in the EU, there is no way for Palestine to associate to the Framework Programmes. However, legal entities in Palestine are eligible for funding as third-country institutions.

This arrangement appeared to be working well over the past few decades. Under FP4, from 1994 to 1998, Palestinian researchers won seven grants, worth €617,400. This rose to 22 grants under the successor programmes, FP5 and FP6, and 23 grants under FP7, worth €2.62 million. 

But under Horizon 2020, just nine grants went to Palestinian researchers, worth €293,300. And under Horizon Europe, four grants have been awarded so far, worth €396,100. 

The leading applicant institutions throughout this period have been Birzeit University and An-Najah National University, both in the West Bank. Only one institution in Gaza, non-profit think tank PalThink for Strategic Studies, received funding from the EU.

In order to help reverse this decline, the Commission organised a webinar in February, together with the Palestinian ministry of education. The aim was to raise awareness of funding and collaboration opportunities for the remaining years of Horizon Europe. Over 150 representatives of Palestinian universities and research centres took part.

“The webinar provided step-by-step training on Horizon Europe structures and how to participate in the programme,” a spokesperson for the Commission said, adding that it had been well received by Palestinian colleagues.

Mazin Qumsiyeh, a professor of biology at Bethlehem University, was one of them. “I personally found it very useful [but] I wish we had [had] more people involved,” he told Science|Business.

Research Horizons for Gaza

The webinar also featured Marcello Scalisi, director of the Mediterranean Universities Union network and head of Research Horizons for Gaza, a pilot project launched in January with €1 million from the EU to spend through to June 2027. In addition to mapping existing regional and local support, the project will pilot a virtual research collaboration hub via the Euraxess portal. Starting in September, this will allow 75 Palestinian researchers to benefit from mentorship and career guidance, training in transferable skills and access to research infrastructure.

“By connecting researchers in and from Gaza with established European research groups, the project will help them become more visible and trusted partners in international consortia,” Scalisi said. “They will progressively be more likely to be included in future proposals, hopefully leading to more consistent involvement in Horizon Europe projects over time.”

He also hopes that the project can help researchers navigate Horizon Europe opportunities and procedures.

According to the Commission, Palestinian researchers struggle most with establishing links with EU researchers and finding suitable partners to form consortia, which require collaborating with at least three member states or countries associated to the Framework Programme. “The instability in the region further contributes to this difficulty,” the spokesperson said.

While the region has been troubled by violence for decades, the latest attacks on the Palestinian territories are unprecedented. All universities in Gaza have been affected by the war, with Al-Azhar University, Al-Quds Open University and the Islamic University of Gaza all suffering significant damage from Israeli airstrikes. Meanwhile, Israeli forces blew up Al-Israa University after using it as military barracks, per the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Center.

For Qumsiyeh, the decline in Palestinian participation mostly stems from the worsening social, political and economic situation under Israeli occupation. “It is very difficult to do science and advance when survival is the main issue,” he said.

“The second [reason] is a need for capacity building, so we have more potential principal investigators [. . .] to get grants,” he added. This affects idea generation, proposal writing and simply filling out the paperwork.

Of the four projects involving Palestinian entities supported under Horizon Europe, two are still running. One is looking to improve information systems for assessing built heritage, in association with Al-Quds Open University, while the other is investigating dispossession and property conflicts in the Middle East and north Africa, with the involvement of Birzeit University.

Work on the latter started on 1 October 2023. There is no record of projects launching past that month.