Horizon 2020 was launched in 2014 with the aim of supporting public and private researchers and innovators in establishing networks to reinforce EU scientific excellences, strengthen the industrial ecosystem and respond to major societal challenges. In order to achieve this, Horizon 2020 has an overall budget of €77 billion and offers attractive funding rates covering up to 100% of project costs. This obviously means that the competition to obtain funds is fierce.
The National Contact Point managed by Luxinnovation aims to support public as well as private-sector clients that want to benefit from the EU funding landscape, regardless of whether they are newcomers or experienced participants. “The team is always keen to welcome potential applicants wishing to discuss their project ideas and identify their best funding strategy at EU level,” explains Benjamin Questier, Head of European R&D and Innovation Support at Luxinnovation.
We guide them throughout the whole process until the final submission of a project proposal and beyond, advising also on the management of the funded projects.
The agency’s extensive knowledge of international networks also makes it possible to help identify potential partners. Horizon 2020 beneficiaries and project coordinators can rely on support provided by experts with more than 10 years of experience in European funding project management.
Two major Horizon 2020 conferences
To reach to all Luxembourg stakeholders, Luxinnovation’s European R&D and Innovation Support team hosts face-to-face meetings with applicants, but also organises events and workshops. Two major conferences were organised in 2018:
- the Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) Conference took place on 14 December and attracted more than 70 attendees. IMI is a public-private partnership at EU level for funding applied research on health-related topics in which Luxembourg stakeholders have been very successful.
- The Horizon 2020 Day on 25 October brought together 80 participants. At the annual gathering, the members of the European R&D and Innovation Support team discussed the upcoming calls for 2019 with their stakeholders.
In addition, the team organised several workshops to discuss specific Work Programmes like Cybersecurity, Climate Change or Energy, as well as processes (Grant Writing trainings) or specific policy areas (Key Enabling Technologies and Industry 4.0), in detail.
Increased Luxembourg success rates
The number of proposals submitted in Europe to Horizon 2020 was lower in 2018 than the year before, and this led to an increased success rate. But while the general success rate in the EU moved from 15% in 2017 to 18% in 2018, the increase in Luxembourg was much more considerable and went from 14 to 24%.
Luxembourg counted a total of 427 proposal participations (compared to 376 in 2017), of which 101 were successful. The successful participants secured a total amount of €33.05 million of Horizon 2020 funding (to be compared with €19.54 million in 2017).
2018 has indeed been a great year for the team, as we were able to reach the milestone of more than €100 million funding so far in Horizon 2020,
confirms Stefano Pozzi Mucelli, Senior Advisor – European R&D and Innovation Support at Luxinnovation. To help Luxembourg stakeholders do even better in 2019, Luxinnovation, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Economy, activated a financial aid programme, Fit 4 Horizon 2020. The aim of the programme is to reduce the economic risks for private sector organisations associated with submitting a proposal to Horizon 2020.