How to prepare an excellent proposal?

Gordon SutherlandSenior Project Advisor

Horizon 2020 Energy Unit

Horizon 2020 – Overall budgets

Total budget H2020: EUR 74,83 billion

Budget of the Energy Challenge: EUR 5,69 billion

The Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge "Secure, clean and Efficient Energy"

* EU contribution per area (projects funded under the 2014 energy calls)

Balance between areas of the Energy Challenge*

Energy Efficiency

Buildings

Heating & Cooling

Industry, Services & Products

Innovativefinancing for

EnergyEfficiency

Funding areas

Consumers

Types of action

Agenda

• The evaluation process – basic principles

• Keys to success – feedback from our experts

• How to inform yourself – the information gateways

H2020 evaluation process

8

Deadline15 September 2016

InformingApplicants

Grant AgreementSignature

50

Months

Admissible Eligible

Award Grant Preparation

ExternalExperts

Your "proposal"

Section 1-3'Technical Annex'

Your Proposal description

• Excellence

• Impact

• Implementation

Section 4-5

• Description of your partnership & CV's

• Ethics

Online Forms

• Admin. data

Optional Annexes: e.g.

• Letters of Support

Evaluation Principles

• Fair and equal treatment of all proposers

• Based on the criteria announced in the Call

• Confidential process, no conflicts of interest

• Independent external experts

How do we brief the experts?

• Experts are briefed to understand the Call text, the evaluation criteria - and their mandate

• Only the best proposals should be selected –not requiring any negotiations

• Only evaluate the proposal, no other source

• Clear drive towards tangible impact (Topic in Work Programme, application form)

• Evaluate individually 8-10 proposals, half day per proposal

Award Criteria – against what is your proposal assessed?

• Excellence

• Impact

• Quality & efficiency of implementation

Detailed subcriteria for each of the main criteria can be found at the participant portal under self-evaluation form:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/call_ptef/ef/2016-2017/h2020-call-ef-ria-ia-csa-2016-17_en.pdf

It is a demanding competition!*

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

15

14

13,5 13

12,5 12

11,5 11

10,5 10

9,5 9

8,5 8

7,5 7

6,5 6

5,5 5

4,5 4

3,5 3

2,5 2

1,5 1

0,5

N° of proposals

N° of proposals

Score 1- 15

*Example of 2015 Market Update proposals (CSA)

Agenda

• The evaluation process – basic principles

• Keys to success – feedback from our experts

• How to inform yourself – the information gateways

Key 1: Make your choices – before you start

• Start early – a good proposal needs time and evolution

• Clear unique project objective?

• Clear unique (set of) target group(s)?

• Clear set of partners – are they THE voice of the market?

• Clear path to make a difference?

Key 2: Pay attention to exclusion and merit

• Call deadline is unchangeable: use all advantages of the electronic submission system to make the deadline!

• Completeness: one section missing makes your proposal inadmissible

• Partnerships: remember the principle of 3 participants from MS or AC (check the Work Programme 2016/17 for exceptions)

• Page limit of 50 pages for CSA instrument proposals: applied strictly during evaluation

Key 3: Excellence – your selling point to the experts

• Make choices, focus, have a clear direction.

• Innovate.

• Win by explaining. Experts are briefed (allowed) to only read your proposal, no other sources

• If you re-submit: use the feedback.

• +/-100 proposals were successful until today in H2020 Energy Efficiency. Check them out: http://cordis.europa.eu/

Key 4: Impact – what convinces the experts?

• Drive towards the indicators given in the work programme.

• Be ambitious.

• Quantify. Robust assumptions.

• Make it real - keep links to your actual work plan.

• Plan activities to monitor your performance.

Key 5: Implementation – which ingredients?

• Build up the consortium which is fit for purpose

• Invest in the work packages: Convince evaluators that you can "do" your vision.

• Invest into your resource planning –bottom up.

21

Recent Horizon2020 projectstowards Nearly-Zero Energy Buildings

• Innovation actions

• New demand response services for blocks of buildings

• Development of nearly-zero energy settlements

• NZEB with innovative fluid flow glazing

• Market Uptake projects fostering deep renovation

• e.g. NZEB refurbishments of social housing in UK, FR and NL, replicating the Energiesprong model

• e.g. Financing deep renovations by adding new volumes

Agenda

• The evaluation process – basic principles

• Keys to success – feedback from our experts

• How to inform yourself – the information gateways

Key 5: Inform yourself

• H2020 Participant Portal

• National Contact Points http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/support/national_contact_points.htm

• Participant Portal H2020 Helpdesk

• Contact us – the EASME energy efficiency team: (No pre-proposal checks)

EASME-ENERGY@ec.europa.eu

• Horizon2020 and FP7 projects: CORDIS database

• >700 Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) projects, including various information platforms ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/

Horizon 2020Portal

IEE Project database

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/projects/

BUILD UP – The portal for BUILDINGS

Build UP

Managenergy http://managenergy.net/

THANK YOUFOR YOUR ATTENTION

Find out morehttp://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020

EASME on Twitter @H2020EE • @H2020SME • @EEN_EU • @EU_ECOINNO