Navigating the Frontiers of Research: A Guide to the Horizon Europe Programme

Preparing for the Horizon Europe Programme application is a time-consuming task. The numerous requirements to be fulfilled can be overwhelming, but some of 3th party efficient project management tools can assist in meeting all the necessary criteria effortlessly. This will save your time and enable your teams to concentrate on crafting a compelling proposal.

Instructions for applying to the Horizon Europe Programme

Once you have a concept for a particular project, it is time to begin searching for opportunities to secure funding. The initial phase of this process involves seeking out the appropriate funding program within the Horizon Europe framework. The Horizon Europe program possesses a sizable budget of €95.5 billion for the period of 2021-2027. This budget is distributed among programs that provide funding for various projects or types of actions.

Research and Innovation Actions (RIA): Initiatives that promote the acquisition of fresh knowledge or examine the viability of a novel or enhanced technology, product, process, service, or resolution.

Innovation Actions (IA) are projects aimed at creating blueprints and strategies for novel, modified, or enhanced products, processes, or services.

Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) are projects that work towards the goals of Horizon Europe, excluding activities related to research and innovation, except for efforts aimed at widening participation and promoting excellence.

CoFund refers to initiatives carried out by organizations responsible for managing or financing research and innovation programs, excluding EU funding agencies.

Innovation and Market Deployment Actions (IMDA) pertain to projects that encompass an inventive initiative along with additional tasks aimed at introducing and establishing the innovative product or service within the market. (EIC).

Training and Mobility Actions (TMA) are projects that aim to enhance the expertise, understanding, and professional opportunities of researchers. These projects focus on promoting mobility among different countries and, when necessary, across various sectors or fields of study. (MSCA)

Pre-commercial procurement actions, also known as PCP, refer to projects that assist a group of buyers in promoting the public procurement of research, development, and validation of innovative solutions. Furthermore, when relevant, PCP projects also facilitate the initial implementation of these new solutions.

The Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (PPI) projects aim to enhance the capacity of a group of buyers to implement innovative solutions at an earlier stage.

Each programme and sub-programme within Horizon Europe has a work programme that is updated every two years. These work programmes consist of a range of objectives, topics, calls, and budgets. Each call listed in a work programme provides all the essential information required to properly prepare for it. The call is thoroughly described, including specific challenges, scope, expected impact, and the specific type of action that is needed.

Currently, there is a work plan available for each of the Horizon Europe programs for the years 2021-2022. These work plans have already been officially released and can be accessed on the Funding and Tenders Portal. Additionally, on the portal, you can also find various other documents that are part of the application package, such as general requirements, guidelines, laws, templates, and budget formats that are specific to each program.

When should one begin creating a Horizon Europe proposal?

Your proposal for Horizon Europe will be divided into two main sections.

Activities associated with the consortium, such as recruiting members, negotiating agreements, defining roles and responsibilities, and managing contributions.

Writing-related tasks include responding to text messages, defining goals and concepts, explaining the effects of something, creating a plan of action and budget, and so on.

In general, it is recommended to begin working on your proposal between 12 and 8 months prior to the call deadline, so that you can have all the necessary preparations completed in a timely manner.

Getting ready for the activities related to your consortium

After selecting a particular subject and objective within the Horizon Europe work program, your subsequent actions will involve locating partners and forming a consolidated consortium for your project. While a few types of activities do not necessitate a consortium, most grants within Horizon Europe are collaborative initiatives. In Horizon Europe, there are two criteria that determine the composition of the consortium. Your consortium must include:

There must be a minimum of one legally independent organization established in a country that is a member of a group or association.

There should be at least two additional separate legal organizations. These organizations must be set up in either a different Member State or an Associated Country.

Please be advised that starting in 2022, public bodies, research organizations, and higher education establishments from Member States and Associated countries must possess a gender equality plan. This plan should encompass the essential procedural requirements.

During the proposal stage, all participants will be required to provide a self-declaration.

The plan needs to be incorporated into the process of entity validation (which is done through self-declaration).

Getting ready for tasks associated with writing.

After you have confirmed your concept and found your initial collaborators, you must proceed by signing up on the Funding and Tenders Portal, and this requires setting up an EU Login account. The subsequent task involves commencing the process of drafting your application.

We advise allocating a minimum of 2 months to write your proposal and at least 1 week for proofreading.

The Horizon Europe proposals can be divided into two parts:

System-generated administrative forms are web-based and contain the information that participants enter through the submission system in the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Section B of the proposal, which includes three distinct parts evaluating specific criteria, is the extensive and most time-consuming section. It is crucial that this document showcases the ambitious nature of your idea and convinces reviewers to provide funding for your project.

Please remember that Part B should be submitted as a PDF file using the templates provided to applicants in the submission system for the particular call or topic.

Assessment factors – three segments of a Horizon Europe proposition.

Part B requires you to provide an explanation of the project’s background and objectives. A well-executed Part B will illustrate how these objectives will be realized in the subsequent sections.

1. Excellence

This paragraph explains the goals of the project and their significance to the overall project. It is necessary to show that the planned work is ambitious and goes beyond what is currently known or done. It confirms that the proposed approach, which includes the underlying ideas, models, and assumptions, is valid and reliable.

Furthermore, it indicates that the project will employ cross-disciplinary methods and take gender-related factors into account in its research and innovation content. It is expected to emphasize the use of open science practices, including the sharing and control of research findings. Additionally, it is expected to involve citizens, civil society, and end users, if relevant (Excellence criteria apply only for ERC).

2. Impact

This section is dedicated to establishing trustworthiness for the approaches and processes that will be employed to accomplish the desired results and effects outlined in the work plan. It also showcases the strong likelihood of the project’s anticipated level and importance of contributions.

A strong Impact section demonstrates how your project can contribute to the desired outcomes and impacts outlined in the work programme, specifically focusing on the new approach to impact called Horizon Europe Key Impacts Pathways (KIPs). It is crucial to emphasize the effectiveness and excellence of the strategies employed to maximize the expected outcomes and impacts, as outlined in the dissemination and exploitation (D&E) plan, which includes various communication activities.

3. Implementation

This portion showcases the excellence and efficiency of the project proposal and the evaluation of potential risks. It should provide a thorough explanation of how suitable the allocated effort and resources are for each work package. Emphasize the responsibilities and capabilities of each participant and describe the consortium’s collective ability to offer the required expertise.

Please take note that the work you propose in your application should align with the specific topic outlined in the work programme. One common mistake in proposal writing is to focus excessively on the implementation section, providing extensive details about the work plan, while neglecting to dedicate enough attention to the excellence and impact sections. It is crucial that your Part B clearly states why your project, in general, deserves funding and how it aligns with the objectives of the chosen programme.

In order to evaluate your proposal, reviewers will also check if it covers gender dimension and open science, includes plans to maximize impact, and follows environmentally friendly practices. These criteria are standard for all Horizon Europe calls, unless stated otherwise. Additional aspects may be included or excluded in specific calls.