Horizon 2020 Proposal Writing - PDF Free Download

Pathways to Funding Horizon 2020 Proposal Writing Máire Brophy Maire.Brophy@adaptcentre.ie The ADAPT Centre is funded under the SFI Research Centres Programme (Grant 13/RC/2106) and is co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund.

Where to start Webinar: H2020 for Beginners watch New work programmes 2018-2020 pre-published now National Launch of the latest Horizon 2020 workprogramme 18 th October, UCD Register

European Funding: Why bother? Funding is a key part of research careers EU projects have greater impacts and citations Unprecedented collaboration among nations Largest non-military research funding programme in the world Project outcomes and recommendations can feed policy proposed by the European Commission: real impact Funding available for Blue Skies research (ERC, MSCA) Access to infrastructure and know-how Focus on engagement with industry

Finding Calls

The Participant Portal Horizon 2020 https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/ Review calls, criteria and apply through the Participant Portal http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/home.html

Looking behind the call Definitions: Do we all mean the same thing? Background documents Each call comes out of several years of policy development Workprogrammes come together over years It s possible to trace the development of ideas through policy into the workprogrammes Introductions to workprogrammes have valuable summaries about the aims of the call Often link to the specific related policy documents

Hyper-connectivity and Big Data driving accelerated change and innovation; Falling cost of energy as potential game changer; Migration and changing demographics as important for innovation in Europe; Health as a major driver for aspirations Climate change, oceans and space as projects important for humanity as a whole; Biotechnology as the next wave of disrupting technologies; Instability, as a new norm in global society.

Identifying a call What do they want? What do you want?

Identifying a call What do they want? Synergy Proposal What do you want?

Right call for the right thing - Scope What does the call fund? research, training, knowledge transfer, career development, capacity building, equipment, travel Is it bottom up or top down? Who dictates the topic of the call. Who is doing the work? post-doc/ PI/ consortium/phd

Top down calls What is the core problem? Who are the stakeholders? What type of action is it? What does the budget imply? What are the requirements?

Part B Proposal Description of Work/Action (DoW/A) Forms 1 Excellence 2 Impact 3 Implementation Page count limit 4. Partners 5. Ethics Appendix

Call example

Call topic: metadata Horizon 2020 - Pillar: Industrial Leadership Work Programme Year: H2020-2016-2017 Work Programme Part: Information and Communication Technologies Call : H2020-ICT-2016-2017

ICT-24-2016: Gaming and gamification Specific Challenge: The software games business is growing fast. Its technological and methodological underpinnings have been laid down in years of research and development. At a significantly lower scale, they are now finding their way into non-entertainment contexts, helping deliver substantial benefits, particularly in education, training, research and health. Recent European research projects have identified comprehensive roadmaps and are creating resources and state-of-the-art knowledge for European players to develop applied games more easily, faster and more cost-effectively. The challenge is to mainstream the application of gaming technologies, design and aesthetics to non-leisure contexts, for social and economic benefits. Supporting the expansion of applied gaming and gamification will not only create new solutions and methodologies to address societal issues, but it will also help SMEs to seize new business opportunities.

Scope Technology transfer through small scale experiments on developing and validating open gaming technologies and mechanics including from sectors other than the gaming industry into non-leisure situations and scenarios for training and motivational purposes. Actions shall integrate contributions from game developers, researchers from social science disciplines and the humanities, publishers, educational intermediaries and end-users. Activities shall include work on gaming technologies (augmented and mixed reality, 3D audio and video, virtual worlds, interactive storytelling, narratives, modelling and data, etc.), learning and behavioural triggers (pedagogical effectiveness, engagement, creativity, collaborative behaviours, proactive) and social science aspects (potential risks and challenges, privacy, gender and ethical issues etc.).

Expected Impact The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of about EUR 1 million would allow this area to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts. Expected Impact: Increased take up of gaming technologies in non-leisure contexts and specifically in education and for social inclusion, measured by the number of new businesses and applications generated by the action. Type of Action: Innovation action Total budget to ICT 24 is EUR 12 million

What s the core problem?

Logical Framework Approach Problem Analysis PROBLEM Analysis

Source: World Bank Group

The causes/ solu@ons become your ac@vi@es and objec@ves Sufficient clean water Key Objec)ve The effects become your intermediate and long term outcomes Source: World Bank Group

Sufficient clean water Sufficient service connec@ons Efficient water administra@on The causes/ solu@ons become your ac@vi@es and objec@ves Key Objec)ve Low rate of infant mortality Low diseases rate High produc@vity of workers Higher income The effects become your intermediate and long term outcomes Source: World Bank Group

Core problem The challenge is to mainstream the application of gaming technologies, design and aesthetics to non-leisure contexts, for social and economic benefits

Causes & Effects Cause Cause Cause The causes/ solu@ons become your ac@vi@es and objec@ves The challenge is to mainstream the application of gaming technologies, design and aesthetics to non-leisure contexts, for social and economic benefits Effect Effect Effect Effect The effects become your intermediate and long term outcomes

Excellence & Impact Cause Cause Cause Excellence The challenge is to mainstream the application of gaming technologies, design and aesthetics to non-leisure contexts, for social and economic benefits Effect Effect Effect Effect Impact

Expected Impact The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of about EUR 1 million would allow this area to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts. Expected Impact: Increased take up of gaming technologies in nonleisure contexts and specifically in education and for social inclusion, measured by the number of new businesses and applications generated by the action. Type of Action: Innovation action Total budget to ICT 24 is EUR 12 million Impact

Stakeholders

Who are your Stakeholders? Influence of the stakeholder Interest of the stakeholder

Who are your Stakeholders? Influence of the stakeholder Facilitators or risks Poten@ally interested par@es Key Stakeholders Mul@pliers, end users, target groups Interest of the stakeholder

Who are your Stakeholders? Influence of the stakeholder Meet needs or increase interest or neutralize (risks) Facilitators or risks Poten@ally interested par@es Keep informed and increase interest Key Stakeholders Mul@pliers, end users, target groups Engage closely Involve as needed to increase project impact Interest of the stakeholder

Expected Impact The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of about EUR 1 million would allow this area to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts. Expected Impact: Increased take up of gaming technologies in nonleisure contexts and specifically in education and for social inclusion, measured by the number of new businesses and applications generated by the action. Type of Action: Innovation action Total budget to ICT 24 is EUR 12 million

CORDIS search: http://cordis.europa.eu gamification' AND 'non-entertainment' AND 'context' 265 results

Including stakeholders Stakeholders can be included in different ways Partners Advisory board People you communicate with People you disseminate to How you interact with a stakeholder should be appropriate to the aims of the project and to the stakeholder Policy Brief Class Plan Exhibition Focus groups

Stakeholder Stakeholder s role (e.g. AFtude towards the project Possible role in the project Importance Influence Measure to neutralize nega)ve impact SoRware game business (GameCity LTD) Game developer - Partner/ Advisory Board High Invite as partner No one ler behind (H2020 project) state-of-theart knowledge + Advisory Board Medium Interproject communica@o n Publisher Adopter of a novel solu@on ++ Intermediary dissemina@on target Low Targeted dissemina@on ac@vi@es Primary school children End-user neutral Intermediary dissemina@on target High Intermediary dissemina@on target

Budget

Budget and type of action What s the budget ballpark? Is it the right amount for what you want to do? Does it pay for everything you need? Are you affect by different funding rates? Include overhead (25%) in your budget calculations

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of about EUR 1 million would allow this area to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts. Expected Impact: Increased take up of gaming technologies in nonleisure contexts and specifically in education and for social inclusion, measured by the number of new businesses and applications generated by the action. Type of Action: Innovation action Total budget to ICT 24 is EUR 12 million

Who got my funding?

Who got the funding?

Bottom up proposals

Bottom up proposals You pick the core problem But the process is the same: What are the causes and effects? How will you achieve these impacts? Who are the stakeholders? How will you interact with them?

Writing your proposal

Writing your proposal Take a moment to think conceptually What s the big idea? Can you put it in one sentence? Why is it important?

Can you sell your proposal? The idea The candidate/s The impact The scope Can you make it easy for the funder to sell the idea to someone else?

Writing the proposal itself Read the Guide for Applicants watch out for details Get the template! Make sure it s the current one (download from the participant portal) Divide instructions into headings Think about reviewers Are there gender aspects to the research you need to address?

Part B proposal Description of Work (DoW) Forms 1 Excellence 2 Impact 3 Implementation Page count limit 4. Partners 5. Ethics

1. Excellence 1.1 Objectives Describe the specific objectives for the project, which should be clear, measurable, realistic and achievable within the duration of the project. Objectives should be consistent with the expected exploitation and impact of the project Problem Analysis! 1.2 Relation to the work programme Indicate the work programme topic to which your proposal relates, and explain how your proposal addresses the specific challenge and scope of that topic, as set out in the work programme. Call Analysis!

1. Excellence 1.3 Concept and methodology (a) Concept Describe and explain the overall concept underpinning the project. Describe the main ideas, models or assumptions involved. Identify any interdisciplinary considerations and, where relevant, use of stakeholder knowledge; Describe the positioning of the project e.g. where it is situated in the spectrum from idea to application, or from lab to market. Refer to Technology Readiness Levels where relevant.

1. Excellence Describe any national or international research and innovation activities which will be linked with the project, especially where the outputs from these will feed into the project; (b) Methodology Describe and explain the overall methodology, distinguishing, as appropriate, activities indicated in the relevant section of the work programme, e.g. for research, demonstration, piloting, first market replication, etc; Where relevant, describe how sex and/or gender analysis is taken into account in the project s content.

1. Excellence 1.4 Ambition Describe the advance your proposal would provide beyond the state-of-the-art, and the extent the proposed work is ambitious. Describe the innovation potential (e.g. groundbreaking objectives, novel concepts and approaches, new products, services or business and organisational models)

2. Impact 2.1 Expected impacts Describe how your project will contribute to: each of the expected impacts mentioned in the work programme, under the relevant topic; any substantial impacts not mentioned in the work programme, that would enhance innovation capacity; create new market opportunities, strengthen competitiveness and growth of companies, address issues related to climate change or the environment, or bring other important benefits for society Be explicit about the what s in the call!

2. Impact Describe any barriers/obstacles, and any framework conditions (such as regulation, standards, public acceptance, workforce considerations, financing of follow-up steps, cooperation of other links in the value chain), that may determine whether and to what extent the expected impacts will be achieved. What are the real risks and how will you work through them?

2. Impact 2.2 Measures to maximise impact a) Dissemination and exploitation of results Provide a draft plan for the dissemination and exploitation of the project's results. Show how the proposed measures will help to achieve the expected impact of the project. The plan, should be proportionate to the scale of the project, and should contain measures to be implemented both during and after the end of the project. For innovation actions, in particular, please describe a credible path to deliver these innovations to the market.

Include a business plan where relevant. Outline the strategy for knowledge management and protection. Include measures to provide open access (free on-line access, such as the green or gold model) to peer-reviewed scientific publications which might result from the project.

2. Impact b) Communication activities Describe the proposed communication measures for promoting the project and its findings during the period of the grant. Measures should be proportionate to the scale of the project, with clear objectives. They should be tailored to the needs of different target audiences, including groups beyond the project's own community. Where relevant, include measures for public/societal engagement on issues related to the project.

3. Implementation 3.1 Work plan Work packages, deliverables 3.2 Management structure, milestones and procedures 3.3 Consortium as a whole - Stakeholder analysis! 3.4 Resources to be committed - Budget!

Evaluation Generally scored out of 15 Excellence 5 Impact 5 Implementation 5 Weighting can be different depending on action Threshold Ranking By score % budget to SMEs Gender balance in consortium

Templates Templates are full of instructions Often reviewers will be reviewing under those same headings Make it easy for them to grade you well! Make your instructions into headings!

Template - Impact 2.1 Expected impacts listed in the work programme Describe how your project will contribute towards the expected impacts listed in the work programme in relation to the topic or topics in question. Explain why this contribution requires a European (rather than a national or local) approach. Indicate how account is taken of other national or international research activities 2.2 Spreading excellence, exploiting results, disseminating knowledge Reviewers guidelines Contribution, at the European [and/or international] level, to the expected impacts listed in the work programme under the relevant topic/activity. - Note: Refer to the applicable impacts specified in the work programme. Appropriateness of measures for spreading excellence, exploiting results, and disseminating knowledge, through engagement with stakeholders, and the public at large.

Consider the evaluators Evaluators are humans They may be reviewing your proposal at 5pm on a Friday, they might be tired, they might have only 10 min left to assess your proposal. Do not annoy them further in a situation like this by poor formatting, typos or not following the requested template. Make it easy for them to find the key points

Start writing impact first! What is this going to do? Impact Then work out how to get there Does the core purpose of your proposal fit with what the funder is looking for?

Consider the reviewers Is the concept clear? Is it clear that you can do it? Is it clear that it can be done in the time and budget given? Is it worth doing? Is this the most appropriate call for this proposal?

Catch them at the start! When you are done, review your first page. How long does it take you to get to the point of the proposal? How many minutes will they have to read before they think what they re reading is important? How clear is your point? How convincing is it that the core problem is cri@cally important? How convincing are you about your ability to tackle the problem?

Can you sell that you are the best placed person to do this really important and timely research that will change the world?

Tips Remember you are not writing a paper! Add your own flare to your proposal, do not mimic another successful project. Include graphics and images where relevant. Write collaboratively (if you can) it s a good way to get buy in for your project early on But remember that someone needs to be in charge! Be specific about what you are going to do Clearly show your deliverables and milestones Have a clear focus and keep that present

Tips Be definite where you can Avoid distancing language - you should sound definite about your own proposition Have no fear of buzzwords synergy, innovation etc etc etc Test the portal before deadline and submit early Remember 5pm Brussels time is 4pm Irish time Be aware of page limits and word limits Always bring it back to the call/template Check that the spellcheck is working (proofread!) Keep the solution highlighted throughout Is there a specific product, market, industry that will be interested in the results. Make sure you understand the TRL they are looking for.

If at first you don t succeed resubmit!