A group of leading European research universities is calling on the European Commission to restore funds cut from the €80-billion (US$88-billion), 7-year pan-European research funding scheme Horizon 2020. The 21-member League of European Research Universities (LERU) says in LERU's Interim Evaluation of Horizon 2020 that the diversion of billions to support risky research has resulted in less funding and lower application success rates. The low success rates will dissuade talented researchers from applying for Horizon research grants in future, the report authors warn. LERU calls for the commission to increase grant-scheme budgets, and warns that the commission focuses too much on technical innovation and 'cutting-edge' research. The authors also suggest that the commission should repeat popular funding calls to offer more chances to apply for grants and provide extra funding to support maternity and leave options at universities. They also call for the creation of large, broad panels to evaluate collaborative proposals more effectively.