Gender equality

The question of gender equality in science and research is one of the cross-cutting issues that the European Commission has long been drawing attention to. Special calls focused on reducing the so-called gender gap in Europe were already announced under the previous H2020 framework programme.

The new HEU framework programme takes this a step further and through the adoption of stricter participation and evaluation conditions should help resolve this problem more effectively and break down any ongoing prejudices as well as any existing structural barriers.

The objective is to improve the European research and innovation ecosystem in such a way that it provides equal opportunities to everyone, regardless of gender. The new rules also aim for greater consideration of gender differences in the research itself, so that the produced research results benefit society as a whole.

The main new features that HEU will introduce include:

Starting from 2022, research performing organisations and higher education institutions will have to prepare a so-called Gender Equality Plan (GEP) that will provide a guarantee of sustainable changes in the given institution. Institutions will not be eligible for HEU funding without this “roadmap”. The preparation of GEPs will also be funded from the “Widening participation and spreading excellence” part of HEU. Each institution will declare the existence of its GEP by means of a statutory declaration in a questionnaire. The actual document does not have to be included in the project proposal, but it must be publicly accessible and findable. The mandatory requirements and recommended aspects that the GEP should cover are discussed in more detail in a presentation given by a European Commission representative at the IGLO meeting.
The integration of the gender dimension into the contents of the research will be a default requirement across the entire framework programme.
Special attention will be paid to gender equality in the composition of evaluation panels and other advisory bodies and expert groups. There is a significant support for gender equality among the researchers involved in projects – this factor will play a role in the ex aequo assessment of proposals (i.e., project proposals that have the same number of points).
Gender studies will also be funded from cluster 2 “Culture, creativity and inclusive society” within the pillar II of HEU.

Further information on this topic can be found here:

in the publication Horizon Equality, gender equality: A strenghtened commitment in Horizon Europe (2021)
in the publication Horizon Europe guidance on gender equality plans (2021)
in the article Addressing the gender dimension in RI proposals: why and how
and in the older Science-Business articles about gender rules in HEU

last update 21 August 2023