What’s going on in Europe: 29 September to 12 October

This week: Technology risks, supercomputing, tackling cancer and more

Lump-sum funding

The European Commission is considering capping the size of grants awarded from the EU research and innovation programme using the lump-sum funding mode, on the suggestion of auditors. It said that a pilot “concluded that lump-sum design was generally fit for wider use” but that it would nevertheless consider “if introducing such a limit specifically for lump-sum grants under Horizon Europe would help reduce risks”. It also accepted recommendations to improve evaluations of lump-sum projects and define clearer requirements on their implementation. The funding mode is expected to reduce errors in financial reporting for research, which the auditors found remains “high risk”.