UK Research Office has suggested that the EC plans to shift the focus for the Social Sciences and Humanities theme in FP7 towards projects which address large-scale “societal challenges”. Each challenge (to be identified) is likely to attract around €8 – 10M of funding for a single project with between 7 and 15 partners. This marks a move away from funding smaller scale focused research projects, typically costing between €1M and €2M, towards funding “fewer, larger projects”.

While this is not an official EC line, it could inform decisions of how researchers might participate in the next round of SSH which is set to open later this year. Strong networks and collaborations will be vital in order to have a realistic chance of securing funding for projects on this scale.