Commission sets out framework for tracking value from Horizon Europe research

The European Commission has published a study setting out a framework to track how Horizon Europe research is turned into value.

The framework, in a study published on 30/03/2026, aims to capture the "multifaceted value" of valorisation activities - from commercial breakthroughs to better public policy and community engagement. It features 16 indicators and 41 metrics.

The framework looks into both immediate outputs and long-term impacts of research. It includes established and new metrics that track the commercialisation of research, such as co-patents between industry and academia, the use of intellectual property, venture capital investment in spinouts, and the number of startups led by PhD holders, among others. It also suggests new metrics to assess the contribution of research to standardisation.

In addition, it proposes metrics to measure how research contributes to policymaking, as well as metrics to evaluate the engagement of societal actors in knowledge valorisation. The study also identifies areas for improvements, particularly the need for agreeing on definitions for…