Advancing promising results from Pillar II collaborative research through the innovation journey

Expected outcomes

• Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
• For each outcome (EO1 to EO3), name who will use or adopt your results (a specific group, not “industry” or “society”), how they get them, and the indicator that shows the change, with baseline, target and date.
• Use the topic's own words for each outcome, so the evaluator can tick it off.

What the scope asks for

Evaluators check the proposal against these sentences of the scope. Answer each one visibly, in the call's own words.

• “Even though such results are many times successfully translated into used solutions, there is a need to increase the efficiency of the R&I investments and foster more uptake of promising results into innovative solutions.”
• “Consortia do not necessarily have to include beneficiaries from the previous grant(s) but must own or have access to the knowledge assets, including intellectual property, where relevant, as stipulated in the specific conditions of this topic.”
• “Applicants should justify the proposed composition of the consortium and how it brings the necessary expertise and results ownership.”
• “Applicants should evidence that the proposed activities start beyond the laboratory or research environment and should focus on prototyping, testing, demonstrating, piloting, large-scale product validation and market replication under real-world conditions.”
• “Proposals should focus on innovation activities that cover the later stages of development, including the use of research and technology infrastructures where relevant, should cover more than one of the following activities:.”
• “Proposals should clearly outline which wider impact can be expected if the project succeeds, along with convincing Key Performance Indicators or a similar framework to measure and follow up the project impact.”
• “Impacts do not have to be only monetary but can also consist of other kinds of societal benefits and impacts on wellbeing, clean transformation, resilience or strategic autonomy etc. To assess the value for investment, proposals should specify, with metrics where relevant, all the following:.”
• “Proposals should identify the beneficiary(ies) (e.g. industry, company, public authority, etc.) responsible for the scaling-up of the solutions.”
• “The exploitation strategy should envisage a first deployment in the EU and/or Associated Countries.”
• “End users should be represented as a beneficiary within the consortium (and identified in the proposal) to test the feasibility of the solution and to ensure that the innovations developed meet the specific needs and requirements of the demand.”
• “The maximum project duration should not exceed 3 years.”
• “If the activities to be carried out under the proposal are relevant and align with STEP eligibility, (i.e. digital and deep tech, clean and resource efficient tech and biotech) proposals should demonstrate how they contribute to either: i) bringing innovative, cutting-edge technologies with strong economic potential to the internal market, or ii) reducing or preventing the Union’s strategic dependencies.”

Conditions that shape the proposal

• Part B, sections 1–3: 45 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
• Lump sum: the budget is fixed per work package and paid when each work package is completed. Every work package needs activities and deliverables an evaluator can verify, and the effort must match the money.
• TRL: the topic expects TRL 6 by the end of the project. State where you start and the evidence for it.
• Innovation action: evaluators expect a plausible path to commercialisation and named first users or customers.
• Other Eligibility Conditions: “The following additional eligibility criteria apply: consortia may include a maximum of 6 independent eligible entities as participants.”
• Other Eligibility Conditions: “The proposals must be based on results generated within a prior multi-beneficiary project funded directly under the Clusters of Pillar II (Clusters 1 to 6), through a Research and Innovation Action (RIA), an Innovation Action (IA) or a Pre-commercial Procurement Action (PCP). Applicants may submit a proposal based on…”
• Other Eligibility Conditions: “The project(s) must have been completed before the submission deadline[[The ‘end date’ of the grant must be prior to the submission deadline.]]. Ongoing projects[[Projects that have an ‘end date’ after the submission deadline.]] are not considered eligible. Only projects where the granting authority for the completed…”
• Other Eligibility Conditions: “Proposals must provide evidence[[In case of proposals that are based on results generated within more than one projects, evidence of ownership or access to the knowledge assets, including intellectual property where relevant, must be provided for all these projects.]] that the consortium owns or has access to the…”
• Other Eligibility Conditions: “Commitment letter from the owner(s) of the relevant result(s) confirming the owner(s)’ willingness to negotiate fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory access to the results, including IPR where relevant, for the purpose of future exploitation.”
• Other Eligibility Conditions: “In line with the “restriction on control in innovation actions in critical technology areas” delineated in General Annex B of the General Annexes, entities established in an eligible country but which are directly or indirectly controlled by China or by a legal entity established in China are not eligible to…”

Impact pathway and traps

• Users or citizens are part of the scope. Show how they take part in the design and testing, not only that they are informed.
• The scope expects pilots or demonstration. Name the sites, the partners who run them and what is measured there.
• Standardisation is mentioned. Name the committees or bodies and the partner who engages with them.
• Market uptake is part of the scope. Evaluators look for a credible route to market with named first adopters.
• Policy or regulation is in scope. Name the policy owners you will reach and what you will give them.
• Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
• Link your outcomes to the destination's expected impacts in the Work Programme. Destination impacts are long-term effects, not project deliverables.
• Name the barriers outside the project (regulation, markets, user behaviour) that could block uptake, and what you will do if they do.
• Section 2.3 (the summary canvas) is optional on this call; the old split into scientific, economic and societal impact is no longer required.