Abstract

While Horizon Europe offers a huge opportunity for research and innovation, the landscape is becoming increasingly more competitive with complex call topics that require an interdisciplinary approach spanning numerous research areas and sectors. As a result, it is imperative that the research design and concept are well thought out and developed to fully respond to the requirements of the identified call topic. In this article, we present an essential tool in our proposal support service – the development of the concept note. We argue that when embarking on a proposal writing path, the aim should be to ‘try not to go back’; meaning you are steadily making progress towards submission; starting early and building the correct team and concept is key to this. The effort given to the first two stages of our Proposal Development Lifecycle, Exploration and Formation, can be the differentiator between winning and losing. However, these are two stages that often do not draw the appropriate level of attention from research teams, who regularly move too early into the application writing stage, without appropriate considerations in research design. From our collaboration and support on more than 70 Horizon Europe proposals (figures as of September 2023), we understand that putting the appropriate time into designing not only a fit-for-purpose project but an impactful one is what makes a bid stand out during evaluation.
The development of a concept note is one tool that we employ when supporting researchers, which allows the researchers to fully explore the call and how their proposed project should be designed to fit the call topic. It covers proposal elements such as project overview, objectives, consortium, work package outline and initial draft of how the project responds to the Expected Outcomes of the call topics. Once started early, this tool allows coordinators to ensure they are responding to the call topic fully, identifying the right partners to achieve the necessary scope and expected outcomes, considering pathways to impact from the outset. We believe that proposal development must have impact at its core.