Błażej Thomas
UK Research Office
Introduction video

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10 year strategy aimed at making the EU more dynamic and competitive
- Three key drivers: Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth
Headline targets
75% of the population aged 20-64 should be employed
3% of the EU's GDP should be invested in R&D
The "20/20/20" climate/energy targets should be met
The share of early school leavers should be under
10% and at least 40% of younger generation should have a tertiary degree
20 million fewer people should be at risk of poverty

Seven flagship initiatives:
Innovation
Union
Youth on the move
A digital agenda for Europe
Resource efficient Europe
An industrial policy for the globalisation era
An agenda for new skills and jobs
European platform against poverty
Horizon 2020 is just a funding instrument!

 When writing a project proposal always place it in a wider policy context and show how the project will contribute to the goals of EU’s strategies, plans, initiatives, etc.:
• Innovation Union – all proposals
• Digital Agenda for Europe – ICT
• Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan – Energy
• Roadmaps for INCO – actions involving third countries
• Youth on the Move – Inclusive Societies

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The European Union’s funding instrument for research and innovation (2014-2020)
Horizon 2020 overarching priority:
Exiting the economic crisis through sustainable growth
• Budget of nearly € 80 billion
• Coupling research to innovation – from basic research to bringing ideas to the market
• Focus on societal challenges EU society is facing (e.g. health, clean energy, food security, integrated transport)
• Support for industrial leadership, particularly innovative SMEs
• More open, bottom up areas
• Significant investment in excellence
• Simplified access for all

FP7
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Framework Programme
Research themes
SME participation important
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Growing importance of innovation
Range of funding rates, complex rules
Horizon 2020
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Integrates FP, EIT, CIP
Societal Challenges
Strong industry focus overall
Covering the entire cycle from basic idea to market
Single reimbursement rate for all

• UK-based organisations have been awarded €6.6 billion of FP7 funding,
(the second highest share by country, after Germany), equivalent to 13% of the programme’s overall budget.
• Academic organisations were awarded 67% of this share and around 13% went to SMEs.
• 16 723 UK organisations were involved in more than 8000 funded projects with the country’s success rate (22,7%) higher than the EU average
(20,5%).
• The highest number of European Research Council grants went to the UK, with around 960 grants based at more than 80 host institutions.
• 573 ERC grantees from the UK received more than €1 billion in grants while 983 MSCA Fellows benefitted from EU contribution of €684 million.
Data collected by March 2014

Excellent
Science
European Research
Council (ERC)
Future and Emerging
Technologies (FET)
Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Actions (MSCA)
Research Infrastructures
Industrial
Leadership
Leadership in Enabling and Industrial
Technologies (LEIT) -
ICT, KETs, Space
Access to Risk Finance
Innovation in SMEs
Societal
Challenges
Health and Wellbeing
Food security
Energy
Transport
Climate action
Inclusive Societies
Security
Widening Participation; Science with and for Society
European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)
EURATOM Joint Research Centre (JRC)

 Clear distinction between funding for bottom-up, excellencebased research (Pillar 1: Excellent Science) and research addressing specific challenges (Pillar 3: Societal Challenges)
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Dedicated part of the programme aimed primarily at Small and
Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) (Pillar 2: Industrial
Leadership)
Clear and detailed definitions of each pillar’s key objectives

 World class science is the foundation of tomorrow’s technologies, jobs and wellbeing.
 Europe needs to attract more excellent researchers from around the world tom remain competitive.
 European researchers need the best research infrastructures.

 Strategic investments in key technologies (e.g. advanced manufacturing, micro-electronics) underpin innovation across existing and emerging sectors
 Europe needs to attract more private investment in research and innovation
 Europe needs more innovative SMEs to create growth and jobs

 Concerns of citizens and society + EU policy objectives
 Breakthrough solutions come from multi-disciplinary collaborations, including social sciences and humanities
 Addressing challenges requires full research & innovation cycle, from research to market
 Focus on policy priorities without predetermining technologies or types of solutions to be developed

 Challenge-based, aims to allow freedom to come up with innovative solutions
 Fewer topics but broader, less prescriptive topics
 Cross-cutting issues embedded (e.g. SSH, gender,
INCO)
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Simplified presentation (“common look and feel”)
 Aim to be relevant to wider range of participants and to provide easy access to newcomers

 Two-year work programmes for 2014-15 allow for faster identification for suitable calls.
 Revised 2015 WPs published in July 2014 with updated budgets and call deadlines.
 Novelties : Fast Track to Innovation Pilot and inducement prizes
 Work on 2016-17 WPs has already started

 Research and Innovation Actions (RIA)
 Innovation Actions (RI)
 Co-ordination and Support Actions (CSA)
 Prizes
 SME instrument
 ERA-NET Cofund
 Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (PPI)

 Description
• “Action primarily consisting of activities aiming to establish new knowledge and/or to explore the feasibility of a new or improved technology, product, process, service or solution.
For this purpose they may include basic and applied research, technology development and integration, testing and validation on a small-scale prototype in a laboratory or simulated environment”
 Funding rate: 100% direct + 25% indirect costs
 Multi-beneficiary
• Minimum: three legal entities each of which established in a different Member State or associated country

 Description
• “Action primarily consisting of activities directly aiming at producing plans and arrangements or designs for new, altered or improved products, processes or services. For this purpose they may include prototyping, testing, demonstrating, piloting, large-scale product validation and market replication”
 Funding rate: 70% (100% for non-profit) + 25% indirect costs
 Multi-beneficiary
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Minimum: three legal entities each of which established in a different Member State or associated country

 Description
• “Action consisting primarily of accompanying measures such as standardisation, dissemination, awareness-raising and communication, networking, coordination or support services, policy dialogues and mutual learning exercises and studies, including design studies for new infrastructure”
 Funding: 100% direct + 25% indirect costs
 Mono or Multi-beneficiary
• Minimum one legal entity established in a Member State or
Associated Country

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28 EU Member States (Croatia joined in 2013)
• Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands,
Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
United Kingdom
• Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) linked to the Member
States
Associated Countries
• Similar list to FP7
Third countries
• Funding depends on GDP, so BRIC no longer automatically eligible for funding

 Association Agreements already in place or under way:
• Israel, Norway, Iceland, Turkey, Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia (FYROM), Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia &
Herzegovina, Republic of Moldova.
• Faroe Islands will finalise their agreement by 2015
• Ukraine and Armenia are discussing potential association
• Switzerland’s association talks are currently on hold (partial association from 15 September: Pillar 1 + SEWP + Euratom)
• N.B. Liechtenstein is not associated to Horizon 2020 and is currently considered a third country!

 Eligibility for funding:
• Only less developed economies (countries mentioned in
Annex A to the WP) are automatically eligible for EU funding.
• Developed and developing economies, such as the USA,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, BRIC, Mexico, etc. will no longer automatically qualify for EU funding.
 Funding may be provided in the following cases:
 Under the existence of a bilateral agreement specifying such funding i.e. EU-US agreement for Societal Challenge 1
 When such funding is specifically mentioned in the call text or topic i.e.
INT-1-2014 or INT-2-2014
 When Commission deems participation of an entity essential for the success of the project due to its expertise, access to data, etc.

 Participation options
• Coordinator = responsible for leading the project, managing the project finances and representing the
Consortium vis-à-vis the Commission (NB in monobeneficiary grants awardee has this role)
• Partner = responsible for delivering its part of the project and managing its share of the funding
 Third parties:
• Sub-contractor = contracted by one of the beneficiaries to carry out specialised tasks that are not ‘core’ project tasks

 Depends on topic and call
 Partners must match activities in the proposal
 Diverse consortium (proper geographical spread, if applicable)
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 Certain calls target specific partner types:
• Small Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), international dimension, Government, end users, etc.
Recommended number of partners: 9-12
 Minimum configuration for RIAs:
• RO/university + SME + tester + end users

• Existing contacts
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• Partner searches: UKRO, CORDIS, etc.
• EU conferences (including events on the calls) and project evaluation
• Networks of Excellence
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(innovative SMEs)
• Social Media (Linked-in etc.)

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Time to grant 5 + 3
No negotiation phase, as proposals evaluated on their own merit (evaluators cannot propose changes)
Proposals must be ready to go (perfect budget, DoA, consortium composition, etc.)
Simultaneous finalisation of Consortium Agreement 
Expectation of a signed CA prior to GA in H2020
Signatures  electronic signatures only in H2020; ECAS accounts required for anyone involved in projects
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 Mandatory unless specified in call for proposals
 Internal organisation of the consortium, including:
• Clear distribution of tasks
• Financial arrangements e.g. pre-financing
• Settlement of disputes e.g. non-performance
• Additional Intellectual Property arrangements e.g. licensing
• Liability and confidentiality
 Commission Consortium Agreement checklist established
 NOT signed by the Commission
 Usually drafted and disseminated by Co-ordinator
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Evaluation

 Three criteria
• Excellence
• Impact
• Quality/efficiency of implementation
 Plus
• Financial capacity
• Operational capacity
 Can the consortium do the work proposed?
 Based on competences, experience and complementarity of individual participants and consortium as a whole

 The extent to which work corresponds to topic description
 Clarity and pertinence of objectives
 Credibility of approach
 Soundness of approach including transdisciplinary aspect
 Progress beyond state of art
 Coherence and effectiveness of the work plan, including appropriateness of allocation of tasks and resources
 Appropriateness of management structures and procedures, including risk management

 The extent to which project outputs will contribute at European and/or international level to
• Enhancing innovation capacity and integration of knowledge
• Strengthening the competitiveness and growth of companies by developing and delivering innovations meeting the needs of European and global markets
 Effectiveness of the proposed project to exploit and disseminate results (including management of IPR), to communicate the project, and to manage research data where relevant
Note: for innovation actions impact criterion weighted at 1.5

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Two selection criteria
• Financial capacity: in line with financial regulation and rules for participation
• Operational capacity: assessed ability to carry out the project effectively
Three award criteria
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Excellence, Impact, Implementation
Each criteria scored out of 5
• Threshold for each is 3
• Overall threshold: 10
• For innovation actions impact score weighted at 1.5
Proposals then ranked by scores
Projects funded according to ranking within budget
Priority order for proposals with same score
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Highest excellence score*; then highest impact score*; then size of budget for SMEs; then gender balance in project team
* for Innovation Actions this order is reversed

What’s new in 2015?

 Pilot will start in 2015 with a continuously open call
 Supports projects undertaking innovation from the demonstration stage through to market uptake.
 Focuses on innovation actions under LEIT and
Societal Challenges with a bottom-up-driven logic.
 Aims to speed up the time from idea to market and to increase the participation of SMEs and first time applicants.
 Time to grant not exceeding six months

 Consortia:
• Must involve participants from industry .
• May also include universities , research and technology organisations, and further innovation actors. Actors that can play a key role in the commercialisation process , such as cluster organisations, end-users, industrial associations, incubators, investors, or the public sector , are encouraged to take part.
• First-time industry* applicants and SMEs are particularly welcome (important during evaluation).
*Registering on Participant Portal for the first time

 Consortia must have between 3 and 5 beneficiaries (MS/AC) .
 At least one of the following minimum conditions shall be met: either
• at least 60% of the overall budget of the proposal must be allocated to consortium partner(s) from industry, or
• the minimum number of industry participants must be 2 in a consortium of 3 or 4 partners, and 3 in a consortium of 5 partners.
 The maximum EU contribution per project is EUR 3 million .
 Proposals must include a business plan (market potential, business opportunities for participants, credible commercialisation strategy).

 Five prizes were launched in July 2014 with deadlines in late 2015 or early 2016.
 Prizes:
• Reducing the Mis-use of Antibiotics Prize ( €1 million)
• Food-Scanner Prize ( €1 million)
• Reduction of Air Pollution Prize ( €1 million)
• Collaborative Sharing of Spectrum Prize ( €0.5 million)
• Breaking the optical transmission barriers Prize ( €0.5 million)
€5 million prize for the cleanest engine scrapped!

Information about the first calls for proposals

 More than 16,000 proposals submitted (till end of September:
30,000).
 Nearly 5,300 expert evaluators contracted (60,000 experts registered).
 Attracted newcomers and evidence of increase in industry participation.
 Positive response to new Innovation Actions but Research and Innovation Actions still most popular.
 High oversubscription reflect the popularity of Horizon 2020.
Source: European Commission, June 2014

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156 ‘sub-calls’ published
59 sub-calls closed (accounting for over €4.0bn)
16,814 proposals, requesting over €40bn of funding
75%
25%
46 one-stage calls,
12045 proposals
13 two-stage calls,
4139 proposals
Source: European Commission, June 2014

Participant Portal

 Research Participant Portal is the main entry point for EU research and innovation funding:
• Calls published here
• Proposal submission via the Portal
• Used for grant preparation/ project management,
• Reference documents
• Proposal templates
• Online Manual/ Helpdesk/ NCP contact details

Sign up to the UKRO portal and you will receive:
 Updates on the likely funding priorities for Horizon 2020 in each planned area
 Updates on key events
 Updates on call dates and management/financial issues
 Updates on opportunities to feed in to the programme’s development (i.e. formation of expert advisory groups, evaluator registration, other calls for expressions of interest)
 ‘UKRO understands’: early information
 New: UKRO Horizon 2020 Factsheets!