An overview of EU research funding, including discussion of remaining calls in FP7 (as at July 2013) and an indication of future topics and priorities to be addressed in Horizon 2020.
3. Research Support
Research Policy & Development
Research Policy
Support for Research Excellence
Framework (REF)
Public Engagement & Impact
Research Funding & Policy Managers
Grants & Contracts Team
Pre-Award
Post- Award
4. Research Support
Research Funding & Policy Managers
Sam King
• Business & Law
• Health & Life Sciences
David Young
• Arts, Design & Social
Sciences
• Engineering & Environment
8. Distribution by country of top 50 recipients of FP7 funding
Source: European Commission - Interim Evaluation of the Seventh Framework Programme
UK
UK’s Participation in FP7
10. • Successor to current Seventh Framework Programme
for RTD & Demonstration Activities (FP7)
• A core part of Europe 2020, Innovation Union &
European Research Area
Designed to bring more ideas to market
What is Horizon 2020?
11. • A single programme:
bringing together three separate programmes
(FP7, CIP and EIT)
• More innovation:
through introduction of ‘close-to-market actions’
(e.g. prototyping, testing, demonstrating etc)
• Focus on societal challenges & key enabling
technologies:
e.g. health, clean energy and transport
e.g. nanotechnology, advanced materials, biotechnology
• Easier access for participants:
through simplification of rules for participation
What’s new in Horizon 2020
12.
13.
14.
15.
16. % of total
Excellent Science 32% (€22 bn)
Industrial Leadership 22% (€16 bn)
Societal Challenges 39% (€27 bn)
Remainder of budget:
European Institute of Innovation and Technology
Joint Research Centre
32
2239
3.6 2.5
% of Total Budget
Horizon 2020 Funding Breakdown
Budget Stands at € 70.2 billion
2014-2020
20. Thank you for Listening
Any questions?
Northumbria Research Blog:
http://research.northumbria.ac.uk/support/
UKRO:
http://www.ukro.ac.uk/Pages/UKRO.aspx
Participant Portal:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/home
Notes de l'éditeur
DAVID
DAVID
DAVID Research Policy & Development Research Policy Support for Research Excellence Framework (REF) Public Engagement & Impact Research Funding Managers Grants & Contracts Team Pre-Award – applying for a grant and all of the various electronic submission systems, take you through the approvals process, in some cases, such as the Research Councils they will submit on your behalf Post- Award – assistance with managing the finances of your grant, help with claims and audits
DAVID In the new University structure there are a further 2 Research Funding Managers, so there will eventually be one per Faculty, which will make it easier for us to provide more targeted support.
DAVID We are currently at the end of Framework Programme 7 which ran from 2007 – 2013 FP7 was Europe’s Research & Technological Development Programme. FP7 is based around 4 blocks of activities referred to as the 4 pillars, with a 5 th specific programme on nuclear research: The 4 pillars are: Cooperation – which covers transnational collaborative research Ideas - frontier research actions – implemented through the European Research Council (Starting Investigator grant; Advanced Investigator Grant; Proof of Concept) People – research training & mobility in the form of fellowships & training networks (Marie Curie fellowships and exchange schemes between European research organisations) Capacities – enhancing and boosting research and innovation capacity
DAVID FINAL CALLS: Most of the calls for proposals under FP7 have now been issued. There are however a couple of upcoming deadlines under the People pillar for Marie Curie Fellows: Intra-European Fellowships International Outgoing Fellowships International Incoming Fellowships Deadline: 14 August Career Integration Grants Deadline: 18 September
SAM Building diversity & depth in your research base Bring fresh ideas into your research teams Develop global quality research teams & networks Create a balanced portfolio for your organisation Shrinking UK Funding for Research & Innovation UK had great success in FP7
SAM In previous Framework programmes, Universities have been the principal beneficiaries. In particular, with the advent of the European Research Council, nearly all ERC grants go to scientists attached to universities or Research Organisations. FP7 attracted some of the top EU researchers and in a study looking at the top 50 recipients of FP funding, the UK received 16% of the overall total funding from FP7
SAM From the UK there were over 12,000 participants receiving almost €5 billion in FP7 The UK’s success rate was 23.2%, with the EU-27 average success rate at 21% The UKs Top collaborative links in FP7 were: Germany France Italy Spain The Netherlands
SAM Moving on from FP7 – Horizon 2020 is the successor to the current 7 th Framework Programme of Research & Development but with some added dimensions. Horizon 2020 is a core part of Europe 2020 , which is the European Union’s ten-year growth strategy, which focuses on employment, innovation, education, poverty reduction and climate & energy. The aim of Europe 2020 is meant to grow us out of recession. Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union , this is the Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe’s global competitiveness. The Innovation Union changes everything…there is more focus on partnerships, SMEs, engagement with the public. Horizon 2020 is more about innovation rather than research in isolation. It‘s an opportunity to rebrand and resell science in schools, the media, policy and social debate. The vision is that innovation is an opportunity to change the science landscape. Horizon 2020 also compliments the European Research Area. The aim of the European Research Area is to break down barriers to create a single market for knowledge exchange, research and innovation. The aim is to enable researchers and businesses to compete and co-operate across borders. Horizon 2020 is designed to bring more ideas to market & to increase Europe’s competitiveness around the world.
SAM Horizon 2020 will combine all research and innovation funding currently provided through the Framework Programmes for RTD , the innovation related activities of the CIP, the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme and the work of the EIT, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology . Some core elements of Framework will remain: It will be about collaborative research & partnerships European Research Council, funding EXCELLENT science Marie Curie Actions – funding mobility of researchers Competition will be based on Excellence, as it was in FP7 There will need to be a European Added Value dimension Research will be based on EU Policy Needs There are some major differences in Horizon 2020 There is increased focus on innovation through the introduction of ‘close-to-market actions’ There is an increased focus on major European Societal Challenges rather than specific technologies There will however be a focus on some Key Enabling Technologies There will be more cross-cutting activity with the focus on the bigger picture across Europe. Easier for Participation with simpler application and funding mechanisms
SAM There are 3 key objectives under Horizon 2020: Supporting Excellent Science, Creating more Competitive Industries Creating a Better Society Horizon 2020 will support this through 3 pillars: The Excellent Science pillar will strengthen the EU’s position in science with a dedicated budget of € 22 billion. This will provide a boost to top-level research in Europe, including an increase in funding for the European Research Council (ERC), which was considered a big success in FP7. The Industrial Leadership pillar will strengthen industrial leadership in innovation with a € 16 billion budget. This includes major investment in key technologies, greater access to capital and support for SMEs. The Societal Challenges pillar will provide € 27 billion for collaborative research to help address major concerns shared by all Europeans such as climate change, developing sustainable transport and mobility, making renewable energy more affordable, ensuring food safety and security, or coping with the challenge of an ageing population. We are expecting the first calls for proposals under Horizon 2020 in January 2014.
SAM We’ll take a look at each of the 3 pillars Under the Excellent Science pillar European Research Council: which supports frontier research by the best research teams by supporting a number of schemes for both Early Career & more advanced academics Future & Emerging Technologies: collaborative research to open new fields of innovation. There are a number of schemes looking at developing new innovative ideas, developing new communities around exploratory research themes, and addressing some of the grand challenges. There are currently 2 FET Flagships around the Human Brain Project and GRAPHINE (materials science & ICT systems collaboration) Marie Curie Sklodowska Actions , as they’ve been renamed in Horizon 2020 to distinguish them from FP7: they have rationalised the scheme but it is about providing training , mobility and career development opportunities for researchers in any discipline. Research Infrastructures: is about ensuring that European researchers have access to world-class facilities, it’s not just about lab facilities, this includes e-infrastructure, large datasets
SAM The 2 nd pillar - Industrial Leadership is about Boosting job creation Supporting innovation & increasing market uptake through the support of key enabling technologies Stimulating private investment in Research & Innovation by providing Access to Risk Finance to Innovative SMEs Strengthening the participation of innovative SMEs in Horizon 2020
SAM And finally the 3 rd pillar is the Societal Challenges pillar. This is the collaborative, transnational research funding pillar that was under the Cooperation strand of FP7 This pillar will provide approximately €39 billion to help address major societal concerns shared by all Europeans; such as climate change, developing sustainable transport etc. The main objectives of this pillar are to help Europeans to live longer healthier lives, have sustainable & clean energy, a sustainable food supply, green transport . This pillar has a top down approach so there will be calls for proposals issued under each of these Societal Challenges and you will apply to a deadline. There will be a Workprogramme released for each Societal Challenge at the start of Horizon 2020, then several calls for proposals will be released over the lifetime of the Workprogramme. The 2 year workprogramme will be the core text but you’ll also need to align your proposal to the overall vision of the 3 pillar priorities. Excellent Science, Creating more Competitive Industries Creating a Better Society Once those Workpackages have been announced we’ll start and see some Networking Events being organised around the different themes, coming out of the Commission in Europe and also some of our National Contact Points, which will be managed by BIS in the UK. You’ll see there is no specific ICT challenge, that’s because ICT has been split over different parts of the programme so it’s embedded in each of the Work programmes for each of the challenges & there will be an allocation for ICT.....ICT is seen as horizontally underpinning all of these challenges. There is also some overlap between the 3 pillars, for example High Performance Computing is funded out of the Excellent Science under FET (Future & Emerging Technologies but it underpins each of the 3 pillars.
SAM The Budget for the Seventh Framework Programme was €50.5 bn, but you have to remember that there are more schemes have been brought into the fold for Horizon 2020 for example come of the Innovation schemes. The budget for Horizon 2020 has been set at € 70.2 billion Excellent Science 32% (€22 bn) Industrial Leadership 22% (€16 bn) Societal Challenges 39% (€27 bn)
DAVID The Commission has recognised that there were come complications with FP7 and have endeavoured to simplify the processes for Horizon 2020. To simplify the administration processes Commission services such as legal, financial, IT & audits will be centralised. During 2014-15 new support mechanisms will be put in place, those Executive Agencies will not be fully staffed at the start of Horizon 2020 so there will be a Horizon 2020 transitional team put in place. Single set of rules for participation: across the whole innovation chain Simplified funding: Single rate for research projects for universities & non-profit organisations: 100% all eligible direct costs & 25% (or total direct costs) towards indirects ‘ Close to Market Projects’: for profit making organisations will be recoverable at 70% of eligible direct costs, plus 25% towards indirect costs VAT will be an eligible expense Simplified and uniform evaluation criteria: excellence, impact, implementation (excellence to be sole criterion for ERC actions) Fewer, better targeted controls and audits: leading to easier grant management Simpler rules for grants : e.g. broader acceptance of participants’ accounting practices; no time sheets for personnel working full‐time on a project Faster time to grant …..at the start of FP7 Time to Grant stood at an average of about 400 days. It did improve towards the end of FP7, and by 2012 the average was 270 days. But it was recognised that this TTG was a major hurdle for SME participation in FP7 so the Commission are committed to reducing TTG by at least 100 days, they are hoping that the average TTG will be just 6 months in Horizon 2020. They are hoping to achieve this through an improved Participant Portal site, and the adoption of a digital signatories system, so no more blue ink signatures. Your authorised signatories will be managed by the organisational LEAR. More simplification in implementation : e.g. single IT platform (Participant Portal); simplified grant agreement; clearer guidance documentation – some of this will be helped by the merging of some of the back offices at the Commission.
DAVID Get involved in Expert Advisory Groups - various organisations, such as MRC for example, issue calls to contribute to the development of H2020 work programmes Subscribe to the UKRO Service – the University has a subscription to UKRO, set up yourself with an account to keep up to date with the latest developments UKRO also have an office you can use in Brussels. Build your network – need to develop your networks now in preparation for the first calls. H2020 will require industrial partners and partners from Europe Read the call documents and address the ‘question’ – once the work programmes are published you need to read them in conjunction with the calls for proposals Speak to National Contact Points – the UK has a series of National Contact Points for the various schemes under H2020. These contacts are being moved under the management of the TSB so there should be a much more coherent support service available for H2020 Speak to Project Officers in Brussels – Desk Officers in Brussels do like to speak to people. They are often drawn on a rotation basis from the National Societies & Academies in Belgium so they do have an interest in the field that they are operating in.
SAM Setting up a cross-Faculty European Funding Working Group – to support the growth of our EU funding stream in Horizon 2020 Identifying University EU Champions – who would be prepared to share their experience of previous Framework successes or who already have a good network of partners across Europe Providing funding to develop networks (details to be agreed) – it is really important to have networks in place to bid for EU funding. The first calls are coming out in January so here is not much time to develop a network of partner if you don’t already have them. I mentioned EU Networking events taking place once the first WPs have been published, these are a good place to meet potential partners. RBS are proposing to have a fund in place to assist with travel – how that will work hasn’t been agreed, and whether this will be on a match funded basis with Faculties we don’t know yet. Briefing Events & Workshops – run by the RFPMs over the coming months, where we may invite some of our EU Champions to share their EU experience UKRO Annual Visit in September – as part of our subscription Joint events with Newcastle University to build networks – as part of the UKRO visit to see if there are areas of complementarity – they are potential partners on our doorstep, could give us a strong regional cluster. Research Funding & Policy Manager – come and speak to us
SAM Here are some links to sites you may find useful…. Northumbria Research Blog – where we will advertise any upcoming events or workshops, also where we make available reports on any funding intelligence we’ve gathered from Workshops & Seminars that we’ve attended. UKRO website: UK Research Office in Brussels Patricipant Portal is your entry point for electronic administration of EU-funded research and innovation projects, and hosts the services for managing your proposals and projects throughout their lifecycle. It also has details of calls for proposals, it hosts guidance & reference documents and it has details of National Contact Points.