We live in a rapidly changing world, which requires European societies to stay focused, to be innovative and to think critically. In this paper, LERU emphasises the importance of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines and the interconnectedness of knowledge to this story: they are of vital importance to the future of Europe. Throughout the paper, LERU examines six (probably to become seven) Horizon 2020 societal challenges, explaining e.g. how SSH research is relevant to each of them. LERU also proposes various recommendations to stimulate SSH research in Horizon 2020, such as the establishment of a European SSH Platform and the support of e.g. the ERC and Marie Curie programmes.