Project Factory Horizon 2020 – Tips and tricks for a good proposal for Creative and Cultural industries

Project Factory Horizon 2020 – Tips and tricks for a good proposal for Creative and Cultural industries

Project factory workshop, Berlin Partner 15th June 2015

impulse.brussels

Mathilde Vivot, National Contact Point

Supported by

OVERVIEW

1. PREPARATION

2. REDACTION

3. TIPS AND TRICKS

2 www.ncpbrussels.be © impulse.brussels 2015

OVERVIEW

www.ncpbrussels.be © impulse.brussels 2015

1. PREPARATION- INDICATIVE TIMELINE

1st Stage

Consortium

Meeting

Aim of the project, research question,

distribution of work

5-6 months before

deadline

2nd stage

Homework

Proposal writing

(inputs from Partners – WP leaders and coordinator to allocate

tasks)

4-5 months before

deadline

3rd stage

Preparation

of first draft of

Proposal

First proposal draft version

(based upon WP’s contributions and summarized by

Coordinator team)

3 months before

deadline

4th stage

Core group meeting

(WP leaders, coordinator)

Final agreement

(objectives and impact session

WP, timeline, outputs/ deliverables, budget)

3 months before

deadline

5th stage

Full proposal

completion

Proposal writing (including editing, proof read and external review)

(lead scientist, external experts as NCP’s)

Last 2 months before deadline

1. PREPARATION

Market analysis feasibility

Context analysis:

Collect information on the topic: how much do you know about it? EU bibliography (white papers, EU decisions, regional and national documents, etc…)

Past funded projects on the same topic - www.cordis.europa.eu (projects and results section)

Consortium

Coordinator or partner? Your existing network Roles within the project (Administrative coordinator; Communication

with European Commission; Scientific manager/coordinator; Work Package (WP) leader / Task (T) leader / supporting partner; 3rd Party e.g. subcontractor)


http://www.cordis.europa.eu/







1. PREPARATION – some opportunities in ICT-cross sectorial cooperation - DRAFT

Relevant draft topics for the Creative and Cultural industries from 2016

Media and content convergence

The media and content sector is driven more and more by the use of technology and new business models, new ways of interaction, consumption and expression are appearing in the rise of the digital era. Europe's media sector is strong in creating content. It is embracing new technologies and investing in innovation to benefit from the digital market.. The challenge is to make the best use of technology for reaching out to new audiences, adapting to the digital era and thriving in the connected Digital Single Market.

Support technology transfer to the creative industries

The goal is to increase the competitiveness of the European creative industries by stimulating ICT innovation in SMEs, by effectively building up and expanding a vibrant EU technological ecosystem for the creative industries' needs and by fostering exchanges between the creative industries SMEs and providers of innovative ICT solutions.

Tools for smart digital content in the creative industries

High quality content is the main source of revenue for the Creative Industries and also instrumental for their competitiveness in a large, international market. The challenge is to maximise the potential for re-use and re-purposing of all types of digital content, for instance, by directly conceiving and creating content usable in different contexts and technical environments; improving its granularity; increasing its ability to dynamically adapt to the users; generating more realistic digital models; embedding semantic knowledge; and other approaches to make content "smarter" thanks to new and emerging technologies.

5


1. PREPARATION – some opportunities in social sciences and humanities - DRAFT

Examples of draft topics- not official yet

Applied co-creation to deliver public services

While efforts have been made to make public services user-friendly and reduce the administrative burden, for example by making them increasingly available online, studies show that service design often does not meet the expectations of citizens and businesses. Weak service design and high administrative burden often lead to non-use or non-take up by citizens and businesses of the public services and benefits available to them. Innovation actions will pilot the co-designing and co-creation of public services, using ICT and relying on open data or open public services.

Multi-stakeholder platform for enhancing youth digital opportunities

Young people in Europe need not only the space to discuss and to engage with multiple stakeholders and decision makers across borders and boundaries, but also to be given the instruments to actively shape the research agenda as well as to participate in research related to their use of digital technologies. Innovative research methods are needed to empower children and young people by giving them an active role in research

Virtual museums and social platform on European digital heritage, memory, identity and cultural interaction

The emergence of new social paradigms in the area of European Heritage induce the creation of specific social platforms that will encourage an active participation of a large number of stakeholders aiming at a better understanding of the European cultural heritage. The challenge is to support the multidisciplinary awareness needed for providing a comprehensive framework for the accessibility, preservation and participatory management of cultural resources, based on a holistic, social understanding of European culture and cultural heritage.

6


2. REDACTION – SSH relevant terms

“Embedding SSH” , i.e list of calls for proposals in other societal challenges and pillar 2 Industrial Leadership

Social Sciences and Humanities = one of the cross-cutting issues in Horizon 2020 with e.g gender and international cooperation

Interdisciplinarity = Researchers should “get out of their silos”² Terms not explicitly defined, understood within open and challenge-based approach of H2020, bring together all the research disciplines, knowledge and methods needed to create impact.

Societal acceptance: Social acceptability of the new technology/ product/service developed by the proposal


2. Excellence How to address the topic - Concepts and objectives

Present a realistic plan with clear objectives

Be ambitious and innovative

Relation with the work programme

Write for the evaluator to convince him

Be easy to read & understandable

8

S Specific M Measurable A Achievable R Result-oriented T Time-related


REDACTION : IMPACT Expected impacts as in Work Programme

9

Describe how your project will contribute towards the expected impacts

listed in the work programme in relation to the topic in question. Economic impact: more evaluators from the business and investor

domains involved in the selection process Social and environmental impact (almost everything has impact!)

Mention the steps that will be needed to bring about these impacts.

Explain why this contribution requires a European (rather than a national

or local) approach. Indicate how account is taken of other national or international research activities.

Mention any assumptions and external factors that may determine whether the impacts will be achieved

business plan not mandatory but worthwile for I.A


REDACTION - implementation how to manage it?

10

Problem + State of the art

(call for proposal)

Innovation! Beyond the state of the art

Objectives

Work Packages (WP)

- Broken down in Tasks (T)

- With designated WP and T leaders

Deliverables

Milestones & Contingency plan

Risk analysis


Impact of the project

Commercialization Exploitation plan

2. REDACTION - implementation

Definitions: Work plan: A work plan is an outline of all tasks that need to be complete in

order to finish an entire project. A work plan includes managements layout for each member in the team and the tasks that each individual will be performing.

Work Package: major sub-division of the proposed project and defined by brief statements of Activity Description, Activity Resources of Skill and Expertise, Activity Estimates of Effort and Duration, Activity Schedule, Activity Risks, and Activity Budget

Deliverable: means a distinct output of the project, meaningful in terms of the project’s overall objectives and constituted by a report, a document, a technical diagram, a software etc.

Milestones: means control points in the project that can help to chart progress. Milestones may correspond to the completion of a key deliverable, allowing the next phase of the work to begin. They may also be needed at intermediary points so that, if problems have arisen, corrective measures can be taken. A milestone may be a critical decision point in the project where, for example, the consortium must decide which several technologies to adopt for further development


3. TIPS – useful tools

One page proposal

Topic

Title (Slogan) + Acronym (Brand name)

Objective: What you are planning to do

Background: Why you are doing it (-> 5 key questions)

Impact: Results + Target groups (who wants them)

Science: How the work will be done

Consortium: Who will do the work

Cost & duration: How much + How long

Acknowledgments: Hyperion – Sean Mc Carthy


3. Why should you maybe NOT apply?

Asking the right questions

Why bother?

What new knowledge are you generating?

What problem are you trying to solve?

Is it of EU relevance?

Could it be solved at national level?

Will this establish Europe as international leader?

Is the knowledge / solution already available?

State of the art

Why now?

Why you? Are you the best people to do the job?

Acknowledgments: Hyperion – Sean Mc Carthy


3. TIPS – how to write a good proposal

10 Common mistakes:

Proposal is hard to read and boring

Unclear and over complex language

Insufficient detail provided to understand the key aspects

Inconsistencies between the sections

Confusing work plan lacking in detail

Unclear state of the art

Overlapping expertise of partners

Poorly defined and justified resources

Insufficient details about potential impact

Lack of evidence to support stated claims

14


Government & Nonprofit

Project Factory Horizon 2020 – Tips and tricks for a good proposal for Creative and Cultural industries