Why participate in the "Horizon 2020 Proposal Development – Focus: Impact" course?

The key findings of H2020 Interim Evaluation - Monitoring Report concluded:

• “There remains an innovation gap. EU lags behind in breakthrough, market-creating innovation
• Low involvement of civil society but improving from FP7: room for improvement in bringing research closer to the general public”

Two key findings that your project may change – that the evaluators will be looking for and find positive - if the Impact is well-defined. Several calls for proposals are now open with deadlines in spring/summer, and many forthcoming topics and draft 2018-2020 Work Programmes are in the pipeline. Bring your project ideas and calls to the training, we will discuss your concept with you and you may even find your excellent future partners with our help, maybe amongst the training participants.

This 2-day course will provide you with an insight into Horizon 2020 with a focus on Impact and the necessary practical skills to develop competitive proposals.

1. Trainers are actual Project Managers and Coordinators

This course is built on our direct experience gained over the past 17 years from developing and submitting proposals and implementing projects under the EU's Research Framework Programmes. The trainers of Europa Media are actual project managers, coordinators and financial administrators of EU-funded research and innovation projects. They are currently involved in more than 10 successful ongoing Horizon 2020 projects as project coordinator, work package or task leader, and are on a daily basis conceiving and developing their own project proposals under the open and forthcoming H2020 calls. This course is designed based on this direct experience and is therefore 100% practice-driven.

We will show you through our own two main examples of how the Impact should be written. These two proposals received 14.5 points!

2. Lectures and Workshops on proposal development, impact and dissemination

Experience Europa Media's well-known "learning-by-doing" approach – hear presentations introducing the rules of the game with examples, then practice your newly-gained knowledge during the practical and interactive workshops.

Proposal Development under Horizon 2020

Develop a project proposal in response to a work programme topic (“call”).

As a start: After going through a simple exercise, you will be encouraged to pursue a new way of thinking - a method to ensure that you get started in the right way. You will then further develop your proposal concept step-by-step: defining sound objectives, designing an effective work plan with work packages, creating a Gantt chart and PERT diagram, defining an ideal consortium, and putting together a realistic budget.

Impact and Exploitation workshop: You will draft the Expected Impact section and identify the best scenario for exploitation and IP strategy.

Dissemination and Communication workshop: Participants will define the relevant target groups and the most appropriate dissemination and communication tools, channels and strategies for disseminating and communicating the results of the project with a view to maximizing its impact.

Your benefits

Whether you have already written and submitted proposals under FP7 and/or Horizon 2020, or will be just starting to develop a project proposal for the first time, this course will help you strengthen your proposal development skills so that you can put together competitive proposals under Horizon 2020.

• Get an insight into Horizon 2020 programme.
• Find out how to develop a Horizon 2020 project concept with a new focus.
• Understand how to work out different strategies for Impact section description.
• Learn about IP strategies, business models, open access schemes and other exploitation issues.
• Tailor your communication and dissemination to your results and Impact to be achieved.
• Learn how to put together a sound project budget.
• Understand the evaluation process and context to better conceive your proposal.
• Network and exchange experiences with leading universities, research institutions and companies from around the EU and beyond.

Actual project managers and coordinators will moderate practical workshops, sharing their experiences with successful and unsuccessful proposals, addressing all aspects of developing competitive proposals under EU's research and innovation programmes.

Is this training right for me?

This course targets all those who have been competitively participating in FP7/H2020 projects as well as those who aim to participate in Horizon 2020 and want to develop their proposal development skills to submit winning proposals.