Horizon 2020 : first results.
Date: 2015-10-26
Institutions: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Subjects: EU programme, EU research policy, Framework Programme for Research and Development, data collection, industrial research, innovation, new technology, research and development, scientific research, small and medium-sized enterprises

Horizon 2020
First results

Research and 
Innovation

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Directorate A – Policy Development and Coordination
Unit A.1 – Internal and external communication

E-mail: RTD-PUBLICATIONS@ec.europa.eu

European Commission
B-1049 Brussels

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Horizon 2020  
First results 

2015

Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Horizon 2020

EUR XXXX EN

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Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2015

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Horizon 2020 is the EU’s biggest ever programme for research and innovation, and 
it has got off to an excellent start. This brochure presents information on the first 
100 calls for proposals that closed by 1 December 2014. We are happy to announce 
that we are on course:

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Horizon  2020  is  extremely  popular,  as  shown  by  the  enormous  number  of 
proposals received – 36 700 in total. 

 Many of the applicants are newcomers – nearly 40% of participants in these first 
calls  did  not  take  part  in  Horizon  2020’s  predecessor,  the  Seventh  Framework 
Programme for Research.

 The participation of industry and SMEs has increased, largely due to the focus of 
the programme on the deployment of research results through demonstration, 
proof of concept and pilot actions.

 Radical simplification is welcomed by participants, with the vast majority satisfied 
with the new Participants’ Portal; the quicker time to grant of eight months was 
met in 95% of cases and the electronic signature was successfully introduced.

It is still early days, however, and certainly too soon to extrapolate long term trends 
from  this  relatively  small  sample.  The  statistics  in  this  brochure  only  tell  part  of 
the story, it’s the ideas that count! Horizon 2020 is already funding the very best in 
research and innovation, and we present here just a few of the projects to emerge 
from the 3 200 that have been awarded a total of €5.5 billion in EU funding.

Horizon  2020’s  first  ‘century’  of  calls  is  just  the  beginning.  We  have  made  it  our 
mission  to  ensure  that  Horizon  2020  will  promote  the  world’s  best  research 
and  innovation,  boosting  jobs  and  growth  and  helping  solve  our  biggest  societal 
challenges between now and 2020.

Carlos Moedas,  
Commissioner for Research,  
Science and Innovation.

Robert-Jan Smits,  
Director-General,  
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, 
European Commission.

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Foreword

Introduction

1  APPLICATIONS

2  SUCCESS RATES

3  SIGNED GRANT AGREEMENTS

4  NEWCOMERS

5  SME INSTRUMENT

6  TIME TO GRANT 

7  EXPERTS

Project Examples

Glossary

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This publication presents the results of Horizon 2020’s first 100 calls for proposals1, 
which  closed  by  1  December  2014.  Since  this  is  a  relatively  small  sample,  from 
the very beginning of a seven year programme, it would be risky to draw any firm 
conclusions at this stage about how Horizon 2020 will develop until it finishes in 
2020. Any patterns or trends could of course change in the future.

The Commission will continue to monitor Horizon 2020 very carefully, and adapt work 
programmes as necessary. The mid-term review of Horizon 2020 will also present an 
opportunity to make any more substantial adjustments that might be needed.

In order to put the statistics into some context, in many cases comparable data is 
provided in relation to the previous EU research funding programme, the Seventh 
Framework  Programme  for  Research  (FP7).  However,  any  comparison  between 
Horizon 2020 and FP7 should only be made with caution since the FP7 data always 
refers  to  the  whole  seven  years  of  the  programme  and  because  the  scope  and 
content of the two programmes are quite different. Horizon 2020’s budget of €77 
billion is also much bigger than FP7’s budget of €55 billion. 

10 KEY FACTS

•  A total of 36 732 eligible proposals were submitted under Horizon 2020’s first       

100 calls (FP7: 135 514), breaking down as follows:
29 794 full proposals in single-stage calls
5 617 outline proposals in the first stage of the two-stage calls
1 321 full proposals in the second stage of the two-stage calls

•  In total, 31 115 full proposals were submitted. 
•  The total number of eligible applications in full proposals was 123 334 (FP7: 

598 080).

•  These eligible proposals requested a total EU financial contribution of €80.3 

billion (FP7: €217.1 billion), and were evaluated by 9 325 experts. 

•  4 315 proposals were retained for funding. The overall success rate of eligible 
full proposals under the first 100 calls is around 14%, compared with around 
20% for the whole of FP7.

•  38% of successful applicants were newcomers (compared to 13% in 2013, the 

last year of FP7), of which 1 100 were SMEs.

•  The 20% budget target for SMEs has been achieved.
•  3 236 grant agreements were signed by the end of April 2015 (compared with 

25 164 grant agreements over the seven years of FP7). 

•  These grant agreements awarded a total EU contribution of €5.5 billion towards 

total eligible costs of €6.5 billion. 

•  95% of all grant agreements were signed within the target of eight months.

SOME KEY CONCEPTS

A proposal is submitted by one or more applicants. Proposals could have just one 
applicant  –  a  single  principal  investigator  -  while  multi-partner  proposals  group 
together  many  applicants.  An  applicant  might  also  be  involved  in  more  than  one 
proposal, in which case it is making multiple applications for funding. 

Some  calls  have  two  stages:  applicants  first  submit  outline  proposals  which  are 
evaluated to select those that could be developed further into full proposals. The 
statistics on proposals presented in this publication refer only to full proposals.

If the proposal is successful and is funded it becomes a project, which is implemented 
by one or more participants. And a participant might be involved in other projects, 
in which case it has a number of participations. 

The overall success rate of eligible full proposals is around 14%, compared with 
around 20% for the whole of FP7. It should be noted, however, that less funding was 
available in 2014, the first year of Horizon 2020, compared with 2013, the last year 
of FP7. At the same time, there was increased interest from potential applicants in 
the new programme, demonstrated by the fact that 38% of successful applicants 
were newcomers. 

1  The information in this booklet excludes Horizon 2020 funding related to EURATOM, the European Institute 
of Innovation and Technology (EIT), Public-Public-Partnerships, some Public-Private Partnerships and Horizon 
2020’s financial instruments.

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appliCationS

16 000

14 000

12 000

10 000

8 000

6 000

4 000

2 000

0

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How many applications have been received? 

Number of eligible applications to Horizon 2020 per EU Member State

UK DE

IT

ES

FR NL

BE

EL

SE

AT

PT

FI

DK

PL

IE

HU RO

SI

CZ

BG CY

HR

EE

SK

LT

LU LV MT

111 579 applications were received from the 28 Member States of the EU (out of a worldwide total of 123 334) under the 
first 100 calls. By way of comparison, a total of 598 080 applications were received during the seven-year lifetime of FP7.  
An applicant organisation counts as submitting multiple applications for funding if it is involved in more than one proposal.

How do the applications per country compare with FP7? 
Share of eligible applications per EU Member State: Horizon 2020 compared with FP7

Horizon 2020

FP7

14%

12%

10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0%

UK DE

IT

ES

FR NL

BE

EL

SE

AT

PT

FI

DK

PL

IE

HU RO SI

CZ

BG CY HR

EE

SK

LT

LU LV MT

So far, the majority of Member States have increased their share of eligible applications compared to the Seventh Framework 
Programme (FP7). This demonstrates that the efforts to make Horizon 2020 more attractive, particularly to newcomers and to a 
wider range of participants, are working. 

Note: The ranking in the bar chart follows Horizon 2020 data. 

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 What is the rate of applications by country?  

Number of eligible applications to Horizon 2020 per capita

8
0
5

5
8
4

4
5
4

1
5
4

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0
4

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900

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700

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0

CY

LU

SI

MT

FI

DK

EE

IE

NL

BE

AT

SE

EL

PT

ES UK

IT

DE

LV HU HR

LT

FR

CZ

SK

BG RO PL

The  data  presented  here  is  the  number  of  applications  per  million  inhabitants.  The  average  number  of  eligible 
applications  per  capita  for  the  28  Member  States  as  a  whole  is  293.  Some  smaller  Member  States,  in  particular 
Cyprus,  Luxembourg  and  Slovenia,  are  particularly  active,  which  demonstrates  the  attractiveness  of  Horizon  2020. 

How are the Associated Countries doing, compared to FP7? 

Share of eligible applications per Associated Country: Horizon 2020 compared with FP7

Horizon 2020

FP7

3.5%

3.0%

2.5%

2.0%

1.5%

1.0%

0.5%

0.0%

Switzerland

Norway

Israel

Turkey

Serbia

Iceland

Former 
Yugoslav
Republic of
Macedonia

Moldova
(Republic of)

Bosnia and
Herzegovina

Albania

Montenegro

Faroe
Islands

This graphic shows the results for the 12 countries Associated to Horizon 2020. More information on the status of Switzerland 
can be found at: http://bit.ly/H2020Switzerland

Note: Countries associated to Horizon 2020 as of 17 April 2015.

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What about applications to Horizon 2020 from the rest of the world? 

Top ten Third countries in terms of share of eligible applications:  
Horizon 2020 compared with FP7

Horizon 2020

FP7

1.2%

1.0%

0.8%

0.6%

0.4%

0.2%

0.0%

United
States

Canada

China
(People’s
Republic of)

Australia

Ukraine

South
Africa

Japan

Russian
Federation

Brazil

Argentina

This  chart  shows  the  share  of  eligible  applications  from  the  ten  countries  from  the  rest  of  the  world  (neither  EU  Member  States  nor 
Associated  countries)  that  have  performed  best  so  far  in  Horizon  2020.  Altogether  3  950  applications  have  been  received  from  122 
different Third countries, showing the global reach of Horizon 2020. 

2

SUCCESS ratES

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What percentage of proposals received funding?  

Success rate of eligible full proposals to Horizon 2020

4 315 (14%)

26 800 (86%)

Proposals selected for funding
Proposals not retained for funding

This chart concerns the 31 115 full proposals that were received, comprising 29 794 full proposals in single-stage calls and 
1 321 full proposals in the second stage of the two-stage calls. Around 14% of full proposals were selected for funding, a 
success rate which reflects the very high number of eligible proposals made to the first 100 calls. The success rate of eligible 
proposals over the full seven-year duration of the Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7) was around 20%.

 
 
 
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20%

18%

16%

14%

12%

10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0%

What are the success rates of the different Member States? 

Success rates for applications to Horizon 2020 per EU Member State

FR

BE

AT

EE

LV NL DE

LU SE UK MT

IE

DK

CZ

ES

FI

PL

PT

EL

LT

SK

RO

CY

IT

HR HU

SI

BG

This chart shows for each Member State the overall success rate of its applications across all parts of Horizon 2020. Taking all 
applications from all Member States together, the overall success rate is approximately 16%. Please note that an organisation can 
submit multiple applications for funding if it is involved in more than one proposal, therefore the success rate for proposals (around 
14%) differs from the rate for applications.

 
How does each Member State’s success rate compare with FP7? 

Success rate as percentage of eligible applications: Horizon 2020 compared with FP7

Horizon 2020

FP7

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

FR

BE

AT

EE

LV NL DE

LU SE

UK MT

IE

DK

CZ

ES

FI

PL

PT

EL

LT

SK

RO

CY

IT

HR HU

SI

BG

The chart shows the success rates for each of the 28 Member States under Horizon 2020 and the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). 
Taking all applications from all Member States together, the overall success rate is approximately 16%. The equivalent success rate under 
FP7 was approximately 22%. Please note that an organisation can submit multiple applications for funding if it is involved in more than 
one proposal, therefore the success rate for proposals (around 14%) differs from the rate for applications. It should be noted that less 
funding was available in 2014, the first year of Horizon 2020, compared with 2013, the last year of FP7. At the same time, in large part 
due to efforts to ensure that Horizon 2020 is more accessible and attractive, there was increased interest from potential applicants to the 
programme, particularly newcomers, who made up 38% of successful applicants.

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Which types of organisations applied to Horizon 2020? 

Number of applications to Horizon 2020 per type of organisation

50 000

45 000

40 000

35 000

30 000

25 000

20 000

15 000

10 000

5 000

0

 -

37 060

(86%)

37 060

(86%)

32 296

(85%)

18 315

(81%)

32 296

(85%)

18 315

(81%)

5 977
5 977

(14%)
(14%)

5 566

4 164

(15%)

(19%)

4 164

5 566

(19%)

(15%)

Retained applications

Rejected applications

12 737

12 737

(81%)

(81%)

3 011

(19%)

(19%)

3 075

(73%)

3 075
1 133

(73%)
(27%)

Universities (HES)

Private
Sector (PRC)

Research
 Organisations (REC)

Public
Bodies (PUB)

Other 
Entities (OTH)

Universities are in first place in terms of the overall number of eligible applications, followed by the private sector and 
research organisations. Please refer to the section in the Glossary on Evaluation procedure for more information on how 
proposals are selected, and to Definitions of types of organisations for more information on the above classification.

SECTION TITLE 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
3

SignED grant  
agrEEmEntS

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What is each Member State’s share of signed grant agreements? 

Share of participations in signed grant agreements per EU Member State: Horizon 2020 compared with FP7

18%

16%

14%

12%

10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0%

Horizon 2020

FP7

UK DE

ES 

IT 

FR  NL  BE  EL  SE  AT  DK  PT  FI 

IE 

PL  CZ  SI 

HU  RO  EE  BG  CY HR  LU SK LV  LT  MT

The majority of Member States have increased their share of participations in signed grant agreements so far under Horizon 
2020. 

Note: The ranking in the bar chart follows Horizon 2020 data. 

 
 
What share of Horizon 2020 funding does each Member State receive?  

Share of EU financial contribution to participants in signed grant agreements: Horizon 2020 compared with FP7

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

Horizon 2020

FP7

DE  UK 

FR

ES 

IT NL  BE  SE

AT DK

EL

FI

IE  PT  PL  SI

CZ  HU RO LU

CY  EE  HR  LV  BG  SK  LT MT 

The EU financial contribution received for each participation is dependent on many factors, including the size of the project, the 
different roles in the project and differing local costs associated with participating. This is why each Member State’s share of 
the participations in signed grant agreements might not correspond to their share in the amount of funding received.

Note: The ranking in the bar chart follows Horizon 2020 data. 

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What about participations from the Associated countries?    

Share of participations in signed grant agreements per Associated country: Horizon 2020 compared with FP7

3.5%

3.0%

2.5%

2.0%

1.5%

1.0%

0.5%

0.0%

Horizon 2020

FP7

Switzerland

Norway

Israel

Turkey

Serbia

Iceland

Former
Yugoslav
Republic of
Macedonia

Moldova
(Republic of)

Montenegro

Bosnia and
Herzegovina

Albania

Faroe
Islands

This chart shows the results for the 12 countries Associated to Horizon 2020. Serbia, Iceland and the former Yugoslav Republic 
of  Macedonia  have  increased  their  share  of  participations  compared  with  data  over  the  full  seven  years  of  the  Seventh 
Framework Programme (FP7). More information on the status of Switzerland can be found at: http://bit.ly/H2020Switzerland

 
 
What about participations from the rest of the world?  

Top ten Third countries in terms of share of participations in signed grant agreements:  
Horizon 2020 compared with FP7

Horizon 2020

FP7

1.4%

1.2%

1.0%

0.8%

0.6%

0.4%

0.2%

0.0%

United
States

Canada

South
Africa

China
(People’s
Republic of)

Australia

Ukraine

Argentina

Russian
Federation

Brazil

Japan

This chart shows the share of participations in grant agreements from the ten countries from the rest of the world (neither EU Member 
States  nor  Associated  countries)  that  have  performed  best  so  far  in  Horizon  2020.  Altogether  there  are  participations  in  signed  grant 
agreements from 73 different countries, showing the global reach of Horizon 2020. 

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40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0

How did different types of organisations fare in terms of grant agreements?   

Share of participations in signed 
grant agreements per type of organisation: 
Horizon 2020 compared with FP7

Share of EU financial contribution in signed 
grant agreements per type of organisation:                          

Horizon 2020 compared with FP7

Horizon 2020

FP7

50%

40%

35%

20%

10%

0

Universities

Private
Sector

Research
 Organisations

Public
Bodies

Other

Universities

Private
Sector

Research
 Organisations

Public
Bodies

Other

Universities  remain  in  first  place  in  terms  of  both  participations  and  financial  contribution  received.  The  private  sector,  public 
bodies and ‘Other’ have increased their relative share of participations and financial contribution and research organisations have 
also increased their share of the EU financial contribution. Please refer to Definitions of types of organisations in the Glossary for 
more information.

 
 
How did SMEs fare in terms of grant agreements?   

Share of SME participations  
in signed grant agreements:  
Horizon 2020 compared with FP7

Share of EU financial contribution 
to SMEs in signed grant agreements:  
Horizon 2020 compared with FP7

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

Horizon 2020

FP7

Compared with the situation over the full seven-year duration of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), the share of SME 
participations has increased under Horizon 2020. The data presented compares the Cooperation theme of FP7 to the participations 
in the Leading and Emerging Industrial Technology (LEIT) and the Societal Challenge themes of Horizon 2020. The EU financial 
contribution  to  SMEs  from  these  two  themes  also  shows  that  the  20%  budget  target  has  been  achieved.  Of  this  contribution, 
around 5% is provided by the Horizon 2020 SME instrument.

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nEWComErS

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How well did newcomers do in Horizon 2020?   

Participants in signed grant agreements                       

Newcomer participants                                                   

in Horizon 2020

in Horizon 2020

38%

Other
20%

SMEs
40%

62%

Industry non-SMEs
40%

Newcomers
FP7 Participants

SMEs
Industry non-SMEs
Other

A  newcomer  is  defined  as  a  successful  first-time  applicant  to 
Horizon  2020  who  did  not  apply  to  the  Seventh  Framework 
Programme (FP7). An analysis of the 6 774 unique participants 
in  Horizon  2020  signed  grant  agreements  shows  that  around 
62%  also  participated  in  FP7,  which  means  that  almost  40% 
are  newcomers.    This  high  rate  of  newcomers  can  largely  be 
attributed to efforts to make Horizon 2020 more accessible and 
attractive in comparison to FP7.

40% of newcomer participations come from SMEs (which includes  
both industrial and non-industrial SMEs), 40% come from private 
industry  non-SMEs.  The  remaining  20%  includes  organisations 
such  as  non-SME  university  bodies,  research  organisations, 
foundations and public authorities.

 
 
5

SmE inStrUmEnt

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What is the breakdown by country for the SME instrument?     

Applications to the Horizon 2020 SME instrument per EU Member State

0
4
7

 1 000

7
8
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 800

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 600

 500

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FR HU NL

SI

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IE

SK

EE BG AT

BE RO CZ

LT

LV

CY HR

LU MT

SMEs in EU Member States made 4 694 applications to the Horizon 2020 SME instrument. Most of the applications came 
from the five biggest Member States: Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

 
Which Member States had the highest rate of applications to the SME Instrument? 

Number of eligible applications per capita to the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument

9
7
—

5
6
—

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

5
3
—

5
3
—

2
3
—

9
2
—

3
2
—

9
1
—

8
1
—

6
1
—

6
1
—

6
1
—

5
1
—

5
1
—

4
1
—

4
1
—

3
1
—

1
1
—

0
1
—

9
—

8
—

6
—

5
—

5
—

5
—

4
—

4
—

3
—

SI

EE

CY

LU

FI

HU DK

IE

ES

IT

EL

NL

SK

PT

LV MT

SE

BG

LT

AT UK

BE

DE

FR

HR

CZ

PL

RO

Horizon  2020  introduced  a  new  funding  instrument  specifically  designed  for  innovative  SMEs.  The  attractiveness  of  the 
instrument to many of the smaller Member States proves its accessibility. The data presented here is the number of applications 
per million inhabitants. The EU average is 9.26.

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20%

18%

16%

14%

12%

10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0%

What is each country’s success rate under the SME instrument? 

Success rate in applications to the Horizon 2020 SME instrument per EU Member State

MT

IE

SE DK UK

AT

ES

EE

FI

FR NL DE

LT

IT

BE

SI

PT

LV

CZ HU

EL

PL BG CY HR

LU RO SK

Several of the smaller Member States have a very high success rate, compared to the EU average of 7.3%. 

SECTION TITLE 
6

timE to grant

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How long does it take to receive funding?     

Horizon 2020: Time to Grant

Horizon 2020
DELAYED
5%

HORIZON 2020 
IN TIME
95%

‘Time to grant’ is the elapsed time between the close of a call and the signing of the grant agreement, which marks the 
official start of the project. For those parts of Horizon 2020 which are legally obliged to sign grant agreements within eight 
months, the target has been met in 95% of cases.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7

ExpErtS

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How many experts have evaluated proposals? 

41.8% Old experts

58.2% Brand new experts

In 2014, a pool of 77 506 evaluators were registered in a central database as available to evaluate proposals to Horizon 
2020.  A  total  of  9  325  contracts  for  evaluation  have  been  made  with  experts,  however  some  experts  may  have  been 
contracted more than once to participate in different evaluations. Over half of the contracts for expert evaluators were given 
to newcomers. It is important to ensure that the pool from which experts are selected is constantly expanded and renewed, 
to ensure expertise in new areas of science and technology, and to ensure that the pool is representative of different sectors, 
including public and private, and industrial and academic. 

Note: Data for 2014

 
    
How many expert evaluators were women?     

Gender balance of expert evaluators 

35.7%

Female experts 
Male experts

64.3%

Experts Contracted

Of the 9 325 contracts for evaluation made with experts, 35.7% were given to women. Although the target of 40% has not 
yet been reached, the trend is going in the right direction, with an improvement on the FP7 figure of 33.8%.

Note: Data for 2014

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projECt ExamplES

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© Giovanni Cancemi - Fotolia.com 

© Nikokvfrmoto - Fotolia.com

EVIDENT 

ATLANTOS

EU-funded study into virus mutations marks breakthrough in 
fight against Ebola

improved observations to better understand the atlantic

A major contribution to eradicating Ebola has been made by the EU-funded EVIDENT 
project.  It  has  confirmed  that  the  Ebola  virus  has  mutated  at  a  lower  rate  than 
feared during the recent outbreak in West Africa. This means that the new diagnostic 
methods, treatments and vaccines under development should still be effective in the 
fight to eradicate the disease.

EVIDENT received funding of 1.7 Million EUR under Horizon 2020. The project runs 
for two years since November 2014.

The Atlantic Ocean is a major trade route, supplies most of the fish we eat and is 
responsible for the mild climate in northern Europe. The AtlantOS project will set up 
a more integrated, more effective, and more sustainable observing of the Atlantic 
Ocean.

AtlantOS  received  funding  of  20.6  Million  EUR  under  Horizon  2020.  The  project 
started in April 2015 and will run till July 2019.

 
 
 
© cipcon - Fotolia.com 

© Hybrid Air Vehicles Limited

ECWRTI 

ACEP

new concept for wastewater reuse in the textile industry

next generation lighter-than-air hybrid air vehicles

Textile  mills  can  reduce  their  water  consumption  by  up  to  90  percent  using  the 
EColoRO  technique,  which  consists  of  electrocoagulation  followed  by  membrane 
filtration,  to  treat  their  wastewater  and  then  reuse  it.  In  June  2015  a  European 
consortium led by the Dutch company EColoRO BV in Almere and the Institute for 
Sustainable Process Technology (ISPT) in Amersfoort, the Netherlands commenced 
a 3.5-year project to demonstrate the new technology on site at full industrial scale, 
first at a textile mill in Belgium and later at a textile mill in Italy.

ECWRTI received 3.7 Million EUR of funding under Horizon 2020. The project started 
in June 2015 and will end in December 2018.

The Airlander hybrid air vehicle is a new form of aircraft designed by Hybrid Air Vehicles 
Ltd  (HAV).  The  vehicle  combines  inert  lifting  gas,  aerodynamics  and  vectored  thrust 
to  deliver  ‘game-changing’  performance,  compared  to  current  flight  technologies. 
Performance advantages include 1/3rd the fuel burn of conventional aircraft, reduced 
reliance  on  infrastructure  and  intermodal  transport  due  to  the  unique  amphibious 
all-terrain landing gear technology. The Airlander Civil Exploitation Project (ACEP) will 
undertake this work, resulting in a fully specified civil variant, approved regulations and 
significant risk reduction for commercial customers, thereby allowing orders to be made.

ACEP, received EU funding of 2.5 Million EUR under Horizon 2020. The project started 
in July 2015 and will end in January 2017.

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© ra2 studio - Fotolia.com

© Valentina R. - Fotolia.com 

UTOUCH

touchless feeling 

Ultrahaptics  created  a  novel  haptic  feedback  system  that  allows  users  to  feel 
sensations in their bare hands while interacting in mid-air with a touchless sensing 
system.
UTOUCH  project  uses  an  array  of  ultrasonic  speakers  to  create  mid-air  feeling 
without touching. Invisible forces are projected into the air and felt on human skin 
up to one metre away from the device.

UTOUCH received 1.5 Million EUR of funding under Horizon 2020. The project will run 
for two years from September 2015.

BHIVE

renewable packaging from agriculture waste 

Prof. Emma Master works on new enzymes and proteins that can be used to produce 
renewable materials from plant fibres. Her findings could boost the biochemical and 
bioplastics markets.

BHIVE  project  (Bio-derived  HIgh  Value  polymers  through  novel  Enzyme  function) 
received an ERC Consolidator Grant of 2 million EUR under Horizon 2020.

 
© vege - Fotolia.com 

©Sandor Kacso – Fotolia.com

MANUTELLIGENCE 

PD_MANAGER

an online design platform for intelligent manufacturing

pD_manager: mHealth platform for parkinson’s disease

The  Manutelligence  project  is  creating  an  online  platform  for  manufacturing 
companies that aims to boost efficiency when designing a new service or product. 
The platform will also enable the reuse and optimisation of designs and close the 
gap between design, manufacturing and testing.

A new project will allow people with Parkinson’s to be followed by a multidisciplinary 
team, with the use of easy and accessible technologies. The mHealth platform for 
Parkinson’s Disease management (PD_Manager project) is being supported by 4.4 
million euros in EU funding.

Manutelligence project received EU funding of 4.2 Million EUR under Horizon 2020. 
The project started in February 2015 and will end in 2018.

PD_Manager project received EU funding of 4.4 Million EUR under Horizon 2020. 
The project started in January 2015 and will end in 2018.

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© Tatyana Gladskih - Fotolia.com 

ECO-UV 

new UV water disinfection technology

The aim of Eco-UV is to develop ground-breaking UV technology for the treatment of 
industrial process water and other fluids with increased lamp life and greatly increased 
energy efficiency providing a much lower carbon footprint and reduced environmental 
impact.

Eco-UV project received EU funding of 4 Million EUR under Horizon 2020. 
The project started in June 2015 and will end in 2018

 
8

gloSSary

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applicant
Legal entity submitting an application for a call for proposals. When the application 
is submitted in name of a consortium then the applicant is the coordinator.

Civil Society organisation
Any legal entity that is non-governmental, non-profit, not representing commercial 
interests and pursuing a common purpose in the public interest.

associated country
Associated  countries  are  those  third  countries  that  are  party  to  an  international 
agreement  with  the  European  Union,  as  identified  in  Article  7  of  Regulation  (EU) 
No 1290/2013 [Horizon 2020]. They participate in Horizon 2020 under the same 
conditions as EU Member States. As of 17 April 2015, there are twelve countries 
associated to Horizon 2020. Please refer also to: http://bit.ly/H2020AC

Please  check  here  for  more  information  on  the  status  of  Switzerland  in  Horizon 
2020: http://bit.ly/H2020Switzerland

Beneficiary
The legal person, other than the European Commission, who is a Party in the Grant 
Agreement.

Call for proposals
Procedure  to  invite  applicants  to  submit  project  proposals  with  the  objective  of 
receiving funds from the European Union.

Civil society
Civil society which includes: labour-market players (i.e. trade unions and employers 
federations – the “social partners”); organisations representing social and economic 
players, which are not social partners in the strict sense of the term (for instance, 
consumer organisations); NGOs (non-governmental organisations), which bring people 
together in a common cause, such as environmental organisations, human rights 
organisations, charitable organisations, educational and training organisations, etc.; 
CBOs (community-based organisations), i.e. organisations set up within society at 
grassroots level which pursue member-oriented objectives, e.g. youth organisations, 
family associations and all organisations through which citizens participate in local 
and municipal life; and religious communities. 

Definitions of types of organisations
Private Sector: Private, for-profit entities, including small or medium-sized enterprises 
and excluding Universities and Higher or Secondary Education Establishments. 
Public  Body:  Any  legal  entity  established  as  a  public  body  by  national  law  or  an 
international organisation. Excludes Research Organisations and Higher or Secondary 
Education Establishments. 
Research Organisation: A legal entity that is established as a non-profit organisation 
and whose main objective is carrying out research or technological development. 
University: A legal entity that is recognised by its national education system as a 
University or Higher or Secondary Education Establishment. It can be a public or a 
private body.
Other: Any entity not falling into one of the other four categories 

Eligibility
Eligibility criteria are used to determine whether a proposal meets the requirements 
to become eligible for a European Union grant. Article 10 of the Horizon 2020 Rules 
for Participation provide that the following participants are eligible for funding from 
the Union: (a) any legal entity established in a Member State or associated country, 
or created under Union law; (b) any international European interest organisation; and 
(c) any legal entity established in a third country identified in the work programme. 
The work programme can also apply more specific conditions for particular actions. 

Evaluation procedure 
Proposals for projects to be funded in Horizon 2020 are evaluated on the basis of 
selection criteria (financial and operational capacity) and award criteria (excellence, 
impact,  efficiency  of  implementation).  These  widely  published  criteria  provide  an 
objective method of choosing, from the great number of proposals often received, 
the very best projects that most closely meet the objectives of the calls for proposals. 
In this way, Horizon 2020 funds only high-quality, excellent research and innovation 

projects. Unless otherwise specified in the conditions of the call for proposals, each 
of the award criteria is scored between 0 and 5. The total score is calculated as a 
weighted sum of the scores for each criterion. The default is equal weight for all 
criteria. For Innovation Actions and the SME Instrument the impact criterion is given 
a weight of 1.5 to determine the ranking. Other weightings may be specified in the 
conditions of the call for proposals.

Evaluation threshold
These  are  the  minimum  evaluation  scores  that  a  Horizon  2020  project  proposal 
must receive in order to be ranked. The default thresholds are a score of least 3 out 
of 5 for each individual criterion and a score of at least 10 out of 15 for the sum 
of the individual scores. The thresholds are applied to unweighted scores. Different 
thresholds may  be specified in the conditions of  the call for proposals.  Proposals 
scoring below any of the thresholds will be rejected.

Fp7
The  Seventh  Framework  Programme  of  the  European  Community  for  research, 
technological  development  and  demonstration  activities  (2007-13);  the  Seventh 
Framework Programme.

grant
Grants are direct financial contributions, by way of donation, from the EU budget in 
order to finance any of the following: a) an action intended to help achieve an EU 
policy objective; b) the functioning of a body which pursues an aim of general EU 
interest or has an objective forming part of, and supporting, an EU policy (‘operating 
grants’).

grant agreement
A contract concluded between the European Commission (representing the European 
Union)  and  the  beneficiary  (or  beneficiaries)  under  which  the  parties  receive  the 
rights  and  obligations  (e.g.  the  right  of  the  Union’s  financial  contribution  and  the 
obligation to carry out the research and development work). It consists of the basic 
text and annexes.

member State
A state that is party to treaties of the European Union and thereby subject to the 
privileges and obligations of European Union membership.

participant
Any legal entity carrying out an action or part of an action under Regulation (EU) 
No1290/2013  [Horizon  2020]  having  rights  and  obligations  with  regard  to  the 
European Union or another funding body under the terms of the Horizon 2020 Rules 
for Participation (Regulation 1290/2013).

Small or medium-Sized Enterprise (SmE) 
A micro, small or medium-sized enterprise within the meaning of Recommendation 
2003/361/EC. Necessary (but not sufficient) conditions for being an SME are a number 
of employees smaller than 250 and an annual turnover not exceeding €50 million, 
and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding €43 million. These ceilings apply 
to the figures for individual firms only. A firm which is part of larger grouping may 
need to include employee/turnover/balance sheet data from that grouping too. More 
details are explained at: http://bit.ly/SMEdefinition

third Country
A state that is not a Member State of the EU. For the purposes of presentation of 
information in this brochure, “third country” does not include Associated countries.

two-stage call
The  proposal  coordinator  submits  a  short  proposal  that  is  evaluated;  successful 
proposals are invited to submit a full proposal. The evaluation of this full proposal 
leads to an ordered list to be forwarded to the Commission for ranking selection.

A MORE EXTENSIVE LIST OF DEFINITIONS CAN BE FOUND AT:
http://bit.ly/H2020Glossary

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ISBN 978-92-79-50288-0