Key Tips To Create A Winning Project Proposal for Horizon 2020

With over 25 years of experience in proposal writing for European funding programmes, we will want to share a couple of tips what we believe are invaluable to remember while composing a project proposal.

Begin early – it's never too soon to begin your proposal

:- Almost all funding calls are announced up to a year before the deadline:- Normally takes 4-6 months (or more) to develop a quality proposal:- You can browse the Participant Portal for live calls

Get acquainted with the Horizon - Reading up on the most current of Horizon 2020 is compelling. Giving careful consideration to what it is that the European Commission wants to get out of the research projects it funds is important, to understand how to best position a project. The EU’s policy objectives of economic growth, job generation, impact and progression will require to be woven within the science and specifically expressed and argued for wherever possible.

Read up the Documentation thoroughly -Every published call comes with a Work Programme, Guide for Applicants and other pertinent information. It is essential to peruse these.

Make sure your proposal is eligible -Know about any explicit rules you and the wider consortium must stick to.

Begin with the impact - We advice to screen proposal calls on basis of impact section. This makes sure time isn't spent on readying up for calls that are ill-suited. Returning to the impact section from time to time, further help keep the overall goals of the project in fresh memory.

Build up a winning consortium – every Partner should add value to the proposal.

:- Consortiums should incorporate a combination of academia and industry:- Try to incorporate Partners who are highly regarded in Europe and have past experience of EU funding (e.g. FP7)

Any winning SME funding proposal isn't just fantastic. It is likewise characterized by an interdisciplinary consortium with great connections all through Europe. Our experience is that having the right individuals on board makes the whole difference. Last and the most tricky is ensuring that all members of the consortium are really supplementing the project.

Make sure your proposal matches with the call conditions-

:- Refer back to the original call :- Quote keywords from the call

Use references-We prefer to refer back to original research, use quote and cross-reference. Likewise, the use of footnotes for literature references is useful. However, we do advise that you try not to cover up imperative scientific arguments in a footnote.

Language-The EU encompasses 24 official languages. In other words, almost all evaluators don't have English as their first language. For native speakers, that means ensuring that the words utilized and lines of argument can be understood by most.

Make sure your proposal has innovation as a key element

:- Innovation is at the core of Horizon 2020 SME funding

:- Reflect the differentness of your proposal :- Address how your proposal is different from/builds on any identical research/products/processes etc:- Note down any required Technology Readiness Levels needed within the call and underline how these will be reached

Conclusion

If you are planning to create a project proposal for Horizon 2020, the above tips will make sure you succeed in getting your proposal accepted and approved. Of course, we have not covered all the aspects of proposal writing but, those that we have mentioned can be quite helpful.

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