Based on our analysis of the Evaluation Summary Reports of Horizon Europe’s clusters 5 and 6 proposals Euronovia has accompanied since the beginning of the programme, we give you our tips to submit successful applications to the March and April 2023 calls.

The Technical description (Part B) of a Horizon Europe proposal is structured into 3 sections: Excellence, Impact, and Implementation. They each correspond to an evaluation criterion and require tailored content.

Excellence

• Measure your objectives. Make sure to convince the reviewers about the feasibility of your objectives, by making them specific! We strongly advise to measure your objectives with relevant indicators and to connect them to specific results generated during the project.
• Clearly define the TRL of you project. Refer to the Technology Readiness Level scale to define the Research & Innovation maturity of your project. You can indicate the starting base (existing know-how, technology) and where your activities will take it to at the end of the project. Be careful, TRL expectations differ according to the type of project indicated in your call (RIA, IA, etc).
• Engage the stakeholders. Involve the stakeholders you have identified in the activities of your project (e.g. co-creation of environmental solutions). Whenever relevant, propose a multi actor approach to engage them. This should be described with details in the methodology section of your application.

Impact

• Present credible and detailed pathways on how your results will contribute to achieve both the expected outcomes (mid-term, as identified in the Topic), expected impacts (long-term, as identified in the Destination) and long-term international goals (UN SDGs). Quantify the scale and significance of your contribution towards each outcome and impact, and do not forget to detail the specific target groups that will benefit from you project.
• Identify any potential barriers that could arise from factors external to your project and that could prevent you to reach your expected outcomes and impacts. It can be barriers that are legal (lack of harmonisation in national policies), social (e.g., public acceptance, pandemic), economic (e.g., raise of the energy price…), etc. For each barrier, make sure you propose sound mitigation measures to overcome them should they become reality.
• Elaborate a plan for communication, dissemination and exploitation, that is tailored to the specificities of your project. Identify your target groups and for each associate the best communication and dissemination measures, including realistic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Identify the key expected results, and their potential exploitation routes, as well as the Intellectual Property management. Note that establishing an (Innovation) Advisory board can be a strength.

Implementation

• Have a well-designed work plan. Bring out the interlinkage of your Work packages by describing clearly how your activities feed each other. Including a detailed Pert chart is appropriate to show the interconnection of Work packages in a nutshell! In addition, make sure the timing of tasks and Work packages are coherent.
• Propose a sound risk management. Identify the risks at the level of the project and at the level of specific Work packages. Do not try to hide or minimise some risks, prefer proposing concrete attenuation measures and solutions if the risks occur.
• Highlight the expertise of the consortium. Each single institution involved in the project should have a relevant expertise (e.g: climate adaptation), which is not limited to technical and scientific expertise (also gender, EU project, etc.). Demonstrate that the consortium is balanced and that everyone has a clear role.

 

Of course, you can also implement these tips in all your Horizon Europe proposals!

Do you need help with your grant application? Euronovia supports you at every step of your proposal!