National Contact Point
Horizon Europe ERC Social Scientific & Humanities (SSH) and Cluster 2 - Creativity and Inclusive Society
Irish Universities Association
Opportunities for SSH researchers: looking beyond Cluster 2
Cluster two is devoted to “strengthen European democratic values, including rule of law and fundamental rights, safeguarding our cultural heritage, and promoting socio-economic transformations that contribute to inclusion and growth”.
Due to its thematic remit, Cluster 2 is considered the programme of choice for SSH researchers seeking Horizon Europe opportunities. While it is certainly something to consider, it must be remembered that there are other options. As the European Commission (EC) is working towards promoting integration of Social Science and Humanities (SSH) as a cross-cutting theme, opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation are present in all clusters.
SSH integration as a cross-cutting theme in Horizon Europe
During the implementation phase of Horizon 2020, the EC started tracking the involvement of SSH researchers in multi-partners projects. As the result of an extensive analytical exercise, this report comprehensively reviews the role of SSH in H2020 consortia. In addition to breaking down SSH participation into sub-disciplinary areas, this analysis delves into interdisciplinary quality and significance (as opposed to merely accounting for the presence of social science partners).
In Horizon Europe, SSH integration features more prominently than in previous framework programmes. The introduction of ‘SSH relevant topic’ has been an important step in this direction. In practice, that means that topics (across all Clusters) deemed to have particular relevance for SSH integration are clearly indicated. In these cases, proposals must explain how social science expertise contributes to the project, persuading evaluators that an adequate disciplinary mix has been included.
Finding opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation: a useful tool
While the introduction of ‘SSH relevant topics’ is an important move, searching for topics across clusters and work packages might be a labour-intensive task. Luckily for applicants, they all have been summarised in a single document.
The following document: “Opportunities for Researchers from the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in Horizon Europe - Analysis of SSH-relevant Topics in Work Programme 2023-24” collates all topics flagged as relevant for SSH (Work Programmes 2023-24).
As illustrated by the example here, this document identifies those topics that require the inclusion of social scientists, flagging thematic priorities, keywords and expected contribution. This is done using user-friendly summary tables, which makes it easy to scan through the pages and identify opportunities across calls and work programmes.
This output, supplied by the Net4SocietyHE project, is a very valuable resource for researchers and research support officer, useful to overcome barriers and promote genuine interdisciplinary cooperation.