Horizon 2020 | An overview | Joanne Coyle

IRT Teams | Sept 08 | ‹#›Title of the presentation | Date |‹#›
Horizon 2020 Overview

 Provide an introduction to Horizon 2020 and the
Enterprise Europe Network
 How SMEs can participate in Horizon 2020
 Support available form Invest NI and the Northern Ireland
Contact Point Network (NICP)
 Participant view
 Help you decide if Horizon 2020/EEN is for you!
Agenda

 Horizon 2020 Overview
 Who can participate?
 How to Participate?
 Conditions of Participation
 Application process
 The Consortium and Finding Partners
 Understanding the Evaluation Criteria
 Become an Expert
Horizon 2020 – the basics

What is Horizon 2020?
 The EU’s biggest ever programme for Research and Innovation
 €77 billion over 7 years
 Biennial work programmes (2016-2017 published)
 Programme calls are competitive
 Mainly “top down” where the Commission defines the European
“challenge” to be met
 Requirement for collaborative bids - 3 independent entities in 3
participating countries (some exceptions e.g. SME instrument)

Core part of Europe 2020, Innovation Union & European
Research Area (ERA)
 Responding to the economic crisis to invest in future jobs and
growth
 Addressing people’s concerns about their livelihoods, safety and
environment
 Strengthening EU’s position in research, innovation & technology
Why Horizon 2020?

Excellent
Science
Industrial
Leadership
Societal
Challenges
Basic
Research Technology
R&D
Large Scale
Validation
Demonstration
Prototyping Pilots
Market
outputs
Coverage of the full innovation chain

 Increase their R&D and innovation capability by tapping into the
best knowledge in the Union
 Get access to international networks
 Get access to new markets and customers
 Have access to qualified staff
 Increase their reputation and visibility on an EU level
Get attractive rates of funding
Enterprises that participate in EU projects:

From Excellent Research to Innovation –bringing ideas to the market!
 Strong emphasis on industry participation across the Programme
Multi-disciplinary approach to research
 Integration of SSH disciplines in calls
Simplification
 Less descriptive calls
 Simplified funding: 100% of direct costs + 25% overheads
 Except for non-public organizations on Innovation Actions (IA): EU
contribution is 70% only (incl. 25% overhead)
 ‘As is’ approach to evaluation process – no negotiation means no
opportunity to tidy-up proposal at negotiation stage (consider: IPR,
access rights, management structure)
Horizon 2020: Key changes from FP7

Horizon 2020 – Who can participate?
Location
 EU Member States
 Candidate Countries
e.g. Turkey, Serbia
 Associated Countries
e.g. Norway, Israel
 International Co-operation
Partner Countries (ICPC)
Organisation Type
 Industry - Multinationals to SMEs
 Research organisations
 Universities & other HEIs
 Public bodies e.g. NHS Trusts
 Trade Associations
 International Bodies e.g. Red
Cross

Any institution may participate either as a Partner or as a Coordinator
Responsibilities of the Coordinator:
 Submits the proposal and (generally) leads the project.
 Reporting responsibilities
 Receives payment from the Commission and distributes to partners
 Acts as a ‘hub’ for queries between Partners and Commission
Resources and Benefits
 Coordinator receives adequate funding for resources to manage
consortium. Costs are claimed as incurred not for profit.
 Closer links to Brussels
 Prestige
How to participate?

Minimum conditions: FET, LEIT and Societal Challenges
For standard collaborative actions projects are classified as RIA
(Research Innovation Action) or IA (Innovation Action): 3 legal entities,
each established in different MS/AC
For Coordinated Support Actions: 1 legal entity
For SME Instrument: 1 legal entity established in a MS/AC
‘Gender balance’ should be addressed in proposals
Industry participation (particularly SMEs) is highly advisable!
Conditions for participation

 EU Portal gives details of current “work programmes”
including closing dates for applications, description,
typical cost and budget
 Apply through EU Commission portal (register on
portal to get PIC identifier)
 Application made online by co-ordinator of the
collaborative Consortium
 It is a competition - beware of the closing dates
and times!
Horizon 2020 application process

Participant Portal
https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/index.html

Where are the calls for proposals?

What does a call look like?

Meeting the criteria with a ‘balanced’ Consortium:
 The basic research
Science & Technology partners
 Users of Technology & Implementation
Partners with expertise to develop, test & validate the scientific
premise, technology or other outputs
 IMPACT of the R&D outcomes on the target market
Partners with expertise & experience to disseminate & exploit the
knowledge/solutions generated
The Consortium

Finding Partners
 Use of Existing Collaborators
 Friends of Existing Collaborators
 On-line Partner search databases eg EEN
 Call Info Days, Conferences, Trade Exhibitions
 Social Media
Be a good partner!
 Be proactive – help drive the development of the project
 Trying to join a consortia – sell yourself, provide ideas not just
technology
 Do not over ask – understand your role and match it to the budget
 Work hard during the preparation, productive partnerships can still
result from failed proposals
Use your Networks

Eligibility
Check
Individual
Reading
(Remote/on
Site)
Consensus
Panel
Review
Balanced selection of experts (scientific
expertise, geography, gender)
Process monitored by independent experts
Evaluators invited on a call-by-call basis
Evaluation Process

Evaluation Process
Project scored/monitored by independent evaluators on :
 Excellence (science/technology)
 Implementation (the team/process/dissemination)
 Impact (at European level/exploitation)
Anyone can apply to be an expert evaluator:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/experts/inde
x.html

 Soundness of concept and quality of objectives
 Progress beyond state of the art
 Quality and effectiveness of the S/T methodology and associated work
plan
Guidelines
 How is your idea different? Why you and why now?
 Overall strategy, workplan (describe work packages) & methodology
 Appropriate milestones and deliverables
 Risk assessments and contingency plans
Evaluation Criteria – Excellence

 Appropriateness of the management structure and procedures (no
negotiation)
 Quality and relevant experience of participants/consortium
 Appropriateness of the allocation and justification of the resources to
be committed (budget, staff, equipment)
Guidelines
 Unless stated in call text there is no political/geographical
requirement
 Split the budget according to the work done (collaborative project)
Evaluation Criteria – Implementation

 Contribution, at the European and/or international level, to the
expected impacts listed in the work programme
 Appropriateness of measures for the dissemination and/or exploitation
of project results, and management of IP
Guidelines
 Include clear dissemination and publication plans
 Does it have “EU added value”?
 Include plans on how IPR will be exploited (no negotiation!)
 Plan to track the impact post-project (exploitation potential)
 Include a business plan where relevant
 Sustainability of the project after the EU funding
Evaluation Criteria – Impact

1. Excellence
 Clarity of the objectives;
 Soundness of the concept, including trans disciplinary considerations;
 Credibility of the proposed approach;
 Ambition, progress beyond the state of the art.
2. Impact: contribution to:
 The expected impacts listed in the work programme
 Enhancing innovation capacity and integration of new knowledge;
 Strengthening the competitiveness and growth of companies by developing innovations
meeting the needs of European and global markets;
 …measures to, disseminate and exploit the project results,… communication.
3. Quality and efficiency of implementation
 Coherence and effectiveness of work plan, … allocation of tasks, resources;
 Competences, experience and complementarity of the individual participants, as well as of
the consortium as a whole;
 Appropriateness of the management structures and procedures….risk management.
The Evaluation – Summary

European Commission wants you as experts!

Horizon 2020 – analysis after the first 100 calls
 36,732 eligible proposals submitted to the first 100 calls
 123,334 applicants
 Eligible proposals requested €80.3 billion and were evaluated by 9,325 experts
 4,315 proposals retained for funding.
 Overall success rate of eligible full proposals is ~14% (20% for the whole of FP7)
 38% of successful applicants were newcomers of which 1,100 were SMEs
 20% budget target for SMEs has been achieved.
 3,236 grant agreements signed with an EU contribution of €5.5 billion towards total
eligible costs of €6.5 billion
 95% of all grant agreements signed within the target of eight months

Horizon 2020 | An overview | Joanne Coyle

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