EU FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT TIPS

The European Commission, in cooperation with the European Investment Bank Institute, plan to launch a € 2 Million Horizon prize on a social challenge chosen by the public, as part of Horizon 2020, the EU's biggest ever research and innovation framework programme.

Horizon prizes are inducement prizes that offer a reward to whoever can most effectively meet a defined challenge. The aim is to engage communities to work towards a common goal, spur interest in a particular issue, attract new, dynamic innovators to an area, mobilise additional private investment for research and innovation, and stimulate novel, replicable solutions to the grand challenges, for the benefit of European citizens.The European Commission, in cooperation with the European Investment Bank Institute, plan to launch a € 2 Million Horizon prize on a social challenge chosen by the public, as part of Horizon 2020, the EU's biggest ever research and innovation framework programme.

Horizon prizes are inducement prizes that offer a reward to whoever can most effectively meet a defined challenge. The aim is to engage communities to work towards a common goal, spur interest in a particular issue, attract new, dynamic innovators to an area, mobilise additional private investment for research and innovation, and stimulate novel, replicable solutions to the grand challenges, for the benefit of European citizens.

Based around the theme 'New Ways to Grow' the competition aims to support inviduals and organisations with entrepreneurial, game changing ideas for social innovation projects.

he Competition invites Europeans to come up with game changing ideas that can advance Europe’s growth model, for example: 

• Challenge the assumptions upon which economic growth is usually conceived (e.g. the trend for sharing and collaborative economy);
• Question supply chain, production and delivery modes, or use of mainstream products or services (e.g. circular economy);
• Conceive new technologies or propose smarter use of existing technologies for the benefit of society (e.g. internet of things or 3D-printing);
• Generate new solutions and approaches for societal challenges of today and the future.

Deadline:  12:00 noon, Brussels time, on 8th May 2015.

From 23rd June, a preparation phase is opened to allow project partners to prepare their application before submitting it.

The First call for modular projects proposals will be opened from 1st September 2015 to 2nd November 2015. Project partners will be able to submit their application online on the Synergie website. The timeframe being very short, we advise you not to leave it to the last minute to upload your proposal documents.

After the assessment and approval phase, projects are expected to start in September 2016.

Axis 1 – INNOVATION –4 sub themes but 1 Term of Reference

• Blue Growth
• Green Growth
•  Creative and Cultural Industries
•  Social Innovation

Specific Challenge: The challenge is to harness the collaborative power of ICT networks  (networks of people, of knowledge, of sensors) to create collective and individual awareness
about the multiple sustainability threats which our society is facing nowadays at social,  environmental and political levels.

Scope:

a.      Collective awareness pilots for bottom-up participatory innovation paradigms

b.      Multidisciplinary research on collective awareness platforms (Internet Science)

c.       Digital Social Platforms (DSP)

d.      Coordinating pilots and research activities in CAPs

Types of action:

a.         Research & Innovation Actions – The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU between EUR 0.5 million and EUR 2 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

b.        Research & Innovation Actions – Proposals requesting a Small contribution are expected

c.         Research & Innovation Actions – Proposals requesting a Small contribution are expected

d.        Coordination and Support Actions