b'THE RISK CORNER BY: DAVID ZARUKNAVIGATING THROUGH THE EU FUNDING MAZER esearchers have many differentOne of the objectives in Horizon Europeposals) but more and more over the last funding mechanisms in the EU,is to promote industrial competitiveness.two programmes, impact outweighs but who is eligible and what is theCompanies can also sponsor doctoralheavily in the evaluation process. Will your process? Can seed companies participatestudents or post-docs within the Marieresearch lead to innovative products and in programmes like Horizon Europe andSkodowska-Curie funding mechanismsbusinesses? Will it continue beyond the what are the conditions? Is it worth my(usually with an associated university).project funding period? Are you bringing time to put together a consortium and areMost of these programmes are open totogether top researchers from well-known there any tricks? non-European-based companies as well,institutions to address serious problems The answer to these questions is Yesbut with certain conditions related towhile developing a future generation of and Yes, but. ethics, data protection and political issues. researchers? Will it help restore biodiver-ThemainEuropeanresearchsity or reduce carbon emissions?funding mechanism is the FrameworkTIPS AND TRICKS The quality of the consortium is Programme managed mostly by theWhile EU funding is designated towardimportant. Do you have a good mix of lead-Research Executive Agency (originatingcreating a stronger, more innovativeing researchers from different, well-known from DG Research and Innovation). TheEuropean research capacity, I believe oneinstitutions across Europe? Proposals are programmes run on six-year budgets withof the key achievements of the frameworkevaluated by peers specialised in the field the present one, Horizon Europe, start- programmes is the development of wider,who can easily spot this. Is the manage-ing in 2021. That followed from Horizonpan-European networks exchanging ament sound, with an appropriate number TURF AND FORAGE 2020, FP7, FP6 The present budget formulti-disciplinary, multi-cultural cross-fer- of boards and committees providing the Horizon Europe is 95.5 billion. tilisation. If your proposal only gathersnecessary oversight? Is the budget reason-Here are the Forages to Hold onto in the Future Each programme has unique mech- research organisations from a couple coun- able and justified?anisms and objectives (called pillars ortries, the quality of the consortium wouldThere are other issues sadly over-CHRISTIAN S. JENSENHead of BiotechDLF actions) but the work packages changelikely be considered as weak. Proposals arelooked in many proposals which can lead every year (voted through the Europeanalso expected to include experts in com- to costly amendments added later to Parliament) which releases a budget thatmunications, ethics and social issues. any grant agreement. Did your proposal is then divided into a series of annual calls.Writing an EU proposal is a long,include a structure for research ethics If you wonder why your field of researchtedious process that includes input fromoversight? Did it include gender balance?rarely has calls but other areas like organica large number of members (who may be seed development or agroecology researchinvolved in other consortia for the sameSO, SHOULD I BOTHER?have multiple calls, this is likely becausecall). Unsurprisingly, there are consultantsThe final question for any seed research certain groups lobbied their MEPs to ear- who specialise only in writing EU propos- company would be: Is applying worth my mark a certain budget in the annual workals (and are often remunerated by havingtime and energy? This depends on your packages to reflect their interests. Thata lucrative, passive role in the consortiumobjectives. From a networking perspec-should be easy to secure if your researchmanagement if they succeed). There aretive, the EU framework programmes reflects many of the broader agriculturalalso small project management organisa- offer the best means to be exposed to a themes touching on biodiversity, climatetions that excel in coordinating consortiawide range of researchers and post-docs and resilience issues. to ensure that the deliverables are met andfrom across Europe. Many of these bright that the project succeeds throughout theminds might just become future col-CAN INDUSTRY PARTICIPATE? three-to-five-year project lifespan. A clearleagues in your company. Within Horizon Europe, there are cer- sign of success is when the same consor- But, and this is a sad criticism of tain calls designed to help SMEs developtium applies for further funding in a laterthe programme structure, the best ideas capacity and networks. Larger companiescall to continue their research. often develop outside of the project objec-can work within consortiums (often withtives or after it times out at M36 or M48. limits of public funding related to theirWHAT MAKES A PROJECTCompanies might decide to fund further own contributions). There are also largePROPOSAL SUCCEED? research themselves.infrastructure research calls which relyThe calls are often very specific in whatIn short, the European Commission on cooperation between companies andthey expect. Clever ideas that dont relateoffers an excellent opportunity for research institutions as well as co-fundingto the proposal will lose points in the scor- research cross-fertilisation and innovative schemes to develop larger networks (usu- ing. Evaluators follow a certain rankingnetworks that the corporate world rarely ally with 50 per cent own contributions).system (often outlined in the call for pro- taps into.EUROPEAN-SEED.COMIEUROPEAN SEED I 21'