1. No category

HORIZON 2020
The New EU
Framework Programme for
Research and Innovation
2014-2020
John Tuckwell
Research and Innovation Adviser
Delegation of the European Union to Australia
Scope of the presentation
1. Importance of international collaboration
and of EU-Australia collaboration
2. Summary of Horizon 2020
3. Some practical information on participating
in Horizon 2020
International cooperation
• Crucial to address many Horizon 2020 objectives
• Principle of general openness: the most open reseach
programme in the world
• Entities from industrialised countries and emerging
economies are treated on equal footing with EU partners
(same IPR)
• Funding available for participants in low and medium income
countries. Industrialised and emerging economies will
normally bring own funds to the projects
• Targeted actions to be implemented taking a strategic
approach to international cooperation
S&T cooperation with Australia
is a priority for the European Union
We have been working together since 1994!
Goal:
− To increase overall scale, scope and strategic character of
EU-Australia research cooperation under H2020
− Overall we want to double the amount of international
collaboration under H2020, compared to FP7
H2020 presents a tremendous opportunity for
research collaboration
… but not for funding
Why participate in international
research
International
Cooperation
collaboration?
new and
extended
networks
sharing
expertise
higher
global
profile
improve
research
quality
access to
knowledge
large
project
experience
funding
leverage
Benefits of
International
research
science
diplomacy
open up
markets
Australian participation in Framework Programmes
Framework
Programme
FP5 (1998–02)
FP6 (2002–06)
FP7 (2007–13)
Signed
contracts
53
89
165 so far
+
FP6 (2002–06)
FP7 (2007-13)
AU participants
58
107
190
many 'informal' collaborations
Marie Curie actions
70 (32 incoming / 34 outgoing / 4 other)
174 so far
(155 fellows /19 principal investigators)
Under FP7, Australia is ranked:
• 9th overall in terms of the EU's collaboration with 'non-EU' countries
• 2nd only to the US for High Income Countries 'non-EU' countries (ie other
countries which fund their own participation)
What is Horizon 2020?
•
The EU’s €79 billion (~$A120bn ) research and innovation
funding programme (2014-2020)
•
A core part of Europe 2020, Innovation Union & European
Research Area:
− Responding to the economic crisis to invest in future jobs and
growth
− Addressing people’s concerns about their livelihoods, safety and
environment
− Strengthening the EU’s global position in research, innovation
and technology
What's new in Horizon 2020?
• A single programme: bringing together three separate
programmes/initiatives*
• Focus on societal challenges: facing EU society, e.g. health,
clean energy and transport
• Coupling research to innovation: from research to retail,
all forms of innovation
• Simplified access: for all companies, universities, institutes in
all EU countries and beyond
⃰ The 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7), innovation aspects of
Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP), EU contribution to the
European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)
Three priorities
Excellent
science
€24bn
(~$A36bn)
Industrial
leadership
Societal
challenges
€17bn
(~$A26bn)
€30bn
(~$A45bn)
Excellent Science Funding
(€24,441 million, 2014-2020)
European Research Council (ERC)
Frontier research by the best individual teams
Future and Emerging Technologies
Collaborative research to open new fields of
innovation
13,095
2,696
Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA)
Opportunities for training and career development
6,162
Research infrastructures (including e-infrastructure)
Ensuring access to world-class facilities
2,488
Industrial leadership funding
(€17,016 million, 2014-2020)
Leadership in enabling and
industrial technologies (LEITs)
(ICT, nanotechnologies, materials,
biotechnology, manufacturing, space)
Access to risk finance
Leveraging private finance and venture
capital for research and innovation
Innovation in SMEs
Fostering all forms of innovation in all
types of SMEs
13,557
2,842
616
+ complemented by a
20% minimum of the
budget for societal
challenges + LEITs and
'Access to risk finance'
with strong SME focus
Societal challenges funding
(€29,679 million, 2014-2020)
Health, demographic change and wellbeing
7,472
Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry,
marine and maritime and inland water research, and
the bioeconomy
3,851
Secure, clean and efficient energy*
5,931
Smart, green and integrated transport
6,339
Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and
raw materials
3,081
Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies
1,310
Secure societies
1,695
Science with and for society
462
Spreading excellence and widening participation
817
⃰ Additional funding for nuclear safety and security from the Euratom Treaty activities
(2014-2018)
Simplification: summary
• Single set of simpler and more coherent participation rules
• New balance between trust and control - fewer, better
targeted controls and audits
• Moving from several funding rates for different
beneficiaries and activities to just two
• Replacing the four methods to calculate overhead or ‘indirect
costs’ with a single flat rate
• Successful applicants to get working more quickly:
time-to-grant of 8 months; exceptions for the ERC and in
duly justified cases
• No negotiation of the grant agreement in future: what
is submitted will be evaluated - potential participants must
be aware of this.
Possibilities for Australian participation in H2020:
1. Collaborative project participants
• Opportunities in the ‘Societal Challenges’ and
‘Industrial Leadership’ pillars
12 topics are specifically encouraging cooperation with Australia
in the Work Programmes for 2014-15
• Generally Australian researchers are NOT eligible for
funding from H2020 for Collaborative Projects
(same as other industrialised and emerging economies)
• Funding therefore needs to come from Australian
sources
• Exceptions are when their participation is deemed essential for
carrying out the action, because it provides:
outstanding competence/expertise
access to research infrastructure
access to particular geographical environments
access to data
Possibilities for Australian participation in H2020:
2. Individually
• Opportunities in the ‘Excellent Science’ pillar:
European Research Council Grantees (ERC)
Further Information: http://erc.europa.eu/
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Fellows (MSCA)
Further Information:
http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020section/marie-sklodowska-curie-actions
• Funding is available for Australian researchers
ERC Grant Schemes
Starting Grants
starters
(2-7 years after PhD)
up to €2.0mn
for 5 years
Consolidator Grants
Advanced Grants
consolidators
(7-12 years after PhD)
up to €2.75mn
for 5 years
track-record of
significant research
achievements in the
last 10 years
up to €3.5mn
for 5 years
Synergy Grants
Proof-of-Concept
2–4 Principal Investigators
up to €15.0mn for 6 years
bridging gap between research - earliest
stage of marketable innovation
up to €150,000 for ERC grant holders
Attractive features for researchers
from outside Europe
ERC offers independence, recognition & visibility:
• Work on a research topic of own choice, with a team of own choice
• Gain true financial autonomy for 5 years
• Attract additional funding and gain recognition - ERC is a quality label
Flexibility:
• Additional ‘start-up’ funding for scientists moving to Europe
(€500 000 for Starting and €1mn for Advanced grantees)
• Grantee can keep affiliation with home institute outside Europe
(‘significant part’ of work time in Europe, at least 50%)
• Team members can be based outside Europe
• Grantee can move within Europe with the grant
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Individual fellowships (IF)
• Supports experienced researchers (>4 years) undertake mobility within and
beyond Europe, as well as attracting the best foreign researchers to the EU
• Grant usually covers two years' salary, a mobility allowance, research costs and
overheads for the host institution
• Fellows can spend part of the fellowship elsewhere in Europe if this would boost
impact, and those restarting their career in Europe benefit from special eligibility
conditions
Research and Innovation Staff Exchanges (RISE)
• Supports short-term mobility of research and innovation staff at all career levels,
from the most junior (post-graduate) to the most senior (management),
including also administrative and technical staff
Innovative Training Networks (ITN)
• Support competitively selected joint research training and/or doctoral
programmes
• Implemented by partnerships of universities, research institutions, and nonacademic organisations
Possibilities for Australian participation in H2020
3. Programme-level cooperation
• Cooperation with government departments and
agencies:
Targeted opening (where inclusion of Australian partners are
encouraged/required)
Joint calls (joint evaluation and selection)
Coordinated/synchronized calls
Acceptance of EU peer assessment, with national interest tests
(NHMRC – European Union Collaborative Research Grants)
Twinning projects
• Not an easy task to achieve
Possibilities for Australian participation in H2020
4. Become an Evaluator
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/experts/index.html
• How to?
 Easy online registration (simply complete your profile)
 Must have high-level of expertise in the relevant fields
 Do not need to be a tenured professor … many postdocs have been
evaluators
• What is involved?
 About two working weeks of your time (some remote, some in Brussels)
 Costs fully covered (€450 per day plus all travel and subsistence costs)
• Benefits
 See cutting edge proposals in your own field
 Network with similar researchers
 Good introduction to participating in a later H2020 call
 ….
Some practical information
Calls for Proposals
• Horizon 2020 is implemented through open and competitive
Calls for Proposals
• 11 December 2013: publication of 64 separate calls for
proposals for years 2014 and 2015 (~$A23bn)
Calls closing from April 2014 through to August 2015
• Detailed calls for 2014 with indicative calls for 2015
• Some calls have a two-step evaluation process
Some practical information
Consortium in collaborative projects
• Consortium must have at least 3 different organisations
from 3 different EU Member States or Associated States
• Most projects are much bigger (10-20 is normal)
• Different actors in the consortium brings different
competences, facilities, networks and experience
• Diversity is an advantage (country, sector, gender,
experience)
• One partner is the coordinator (or project manager) –
should be experienced
• Selected other partners can be scientific leaders
• “Third Party” Option – do not sign the Grant Agreement,
but have a private Agreement with one or more of the full
participants
Some practical information
Proposals
• These are large projects … hence many technical requirements for
the proposal
• However, your European partners (especially the coordinator)
will do most of the work
• Projects are structured into work packages to help manage the
projects via deliverables and milestones
• You need to know how much your involvement will cost (regardless
of whether you receive EU funding or not)
• Important to sort out your own robust funding plan for your
involvement – otherwise could jeopardies the proposal
• Be clear on IPR issues (Background IP / Project IP)
Some practical information
How to Apply?
1. Use the Horizon 2020 Participants Portal
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/home.html
2. Identify a relevant Call for Proposals
http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/find-your-area
3. Find partners (where necessary - passive or proactive?)
Speak with your European colleagues, they may not have
thought of you
4. Register your organisation
in the Participants Portal
5. Develop the proposal
Let your European colleagues do most of the work – they
have teams of experienced staff
6. Submit a proposal
in the Participants Portal
Some practical information
Evaluation Criteria
Useful H2020 documents
Horizon 2020 Online Manual
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/docs/h2020-fundingguide/index_en.htm
Specific Programme
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/legal
_basis/sp/h2020-sp_en.pdf
Rules for Participation
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/legal
_basis/rules_participation/h2020-rules-participation_en.pdf
Work Programme for your areas of interest
http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-sections
Calls for Proposals for your areas of interest
http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/find-your-area
Some sources of information
• General information: www.ec.europa.eu/horizon2020
• Community Research and Development Information Service
(CORDIS): http://cordis.europa.eu/
• Connecting Australian European Science & Innovation
Excellence (CAESIE): http://www.caesie.org
• European Institute of Innovation and Technology:
http://eit.europa.eu/
• Euratom: http://www.euratom.org/
• Destination Europe:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/index.cfm?lg=en&pg=
destinationEurope
• EURAXESS European Researchers Mobility Portal:
http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess
HORIZON 2020
Thank you
for your attention
[email protected]
Tel: 02 6271 2734