(Science|Business) Data Corner: Social scientists look to solve corruption with Horizon money

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In Horizon Europe’s Cluster 2 for culture and democracy research, collaborative projects on political systems and institutions have recorded the most participations so far. And at the top of the funding list are two investigations on political corruption.

In total, Horizon Europe has funded 26 projects worth €77 million involving 402 participants that explore political systems, for which the European Commission sets the research questions. 

Horizon’s biggest project on the topic by budget is Bridgegap, a group of researchers who aim to map corruption networks and track hidden assets, with a €5.73 million in net EU contribution.

“Corruption [. . .] often crosses borders, taking advantage of gaps in laws and technology,” the project description reads. “Despite years of research, the scale and methods of corruption remain hard to grasp, and the data are scattered and hard to access. Without clear information, accountability suffers.”

The project, which counts 30 contributors coordinated by the Lisbon Council, an independent Brussels-based association involved in more than a dozen large-scale research and innovation projects, will run until December 2027.

The second best-funded research, with €5.53 million from the EU, is looking to understand the mechanisms of political corruption in digital societies and its impacts on democracy. Known as Respond, the project gathers researchers skilled in measuring corruption and specialists in social movements and political participation from 17 different contributors, led by the University of Bologna. 

“Respond investigates 27 EU countries and 11 neighbouring countries to signal ways to make governments, public officials, and political parties perform better ethically and recover democracy’s popularity,” it says.

The two projects aim to plug gaps in Europe’s understanding of corruption as the region’s perceived corruption levels continue to rise. 

According to Transparency International, which releases an annual ranking of the perceived levels of public sector corruption by nations on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean), Europe’s anti-corruption efforts have largely stalled over the past decade. From the Slovakian government attempting to weaken its whistleblower protection system to the French one covering up consumer fraud by Nestlé, the region registered an average score of 64 in 2025, declining steadily from 66 in 2022.

Other EU funded projects on governance, which have received up to €3 million in funding, have been examining the vulnerability of middle-aged persons to extremist narratives, exploring the varieties of illiberalism and their appeal, identifying strategies for crisis responses, and reviving alliances between the feminist movement, civil society and decisionmakers.

In terms of participations, the largest project looking at political systems addresses climate change, another topic of interest for the remainder of the Framework Programme. With 72 contributors, CapaCITIES 2.0 aims to boost the EU Cities Mission, which the Commission will stop financing in 2030. Backed by €2.99 million from the EU, its objective is to support national and regional authorities in building a conducive environment for cities to reach climate neutrality.

“It empowers public authorities to create favourable conditions (regulatory, financial, and political) for cities striving for climate neutrality, ensuring that no municipality is left behind in the green transition,” per the project description.

Overall, participations on political systems-related research are led by Italy, followed by Belgium, Germany and France. 

In the last two years of Horizon Europe, the growing number of threats to democracies has pushed the European Commission to reorganise funding priorities under Cluster 2, with the Commission set to fund calls for proposals ranging from electoral integrity in the digital context to post-conflict democracy and reconstruction in 2026-27.