Human rights in European science policy

The article proposes a critical analysis on the role of human rights research in European science policy, specifically in Horizon Europe. It tries to provide some proposals that could help to alleviate some of the biases in this framework. Taking into account that human rights research constitutes an unquestionable global challenge whose study requires an interdisciplinary approach, the findings show that the approach prioritised in Horizon Europe, pragmatic and instrumental, does not disregard the rhetorical force of human rights, but, in practice, it does not incorporate them into its strategy as a nuclear topic. It gives them a subsidiary role as a transversal focus, without actually specifying and defining their role in its global challenges and social missions.