Abstract

Project submission takes time and effort, but only a few are selected for funding. According to the latest statistics (May 2023) from the European Union, the average success rate of a Horizon Europe application has increased by more than a third compared to Horizon 2020: it is now 15.9% versus 11.9% for Horizon 2020. Despite the improvement, many good proposals are still rejected (seven out of 10).
Thus, this presentation wants to ask how should we deal with rejected project proposals? A possible way is to hide the unsuccessful attempts because it is a sign of failure, but what happens with all the effort that was invested in a project submission? As a competitive funding, the correct attitude is to face it like a game where winner takes it all or there is a place for losers?
As a “Fifteen-Minute Discussion Table”, this presentation will briefly present Horizon Europe competitive funding structure and the project submission cycle (1:30 min), to ask the participants the question: Project Submission is a losing game or can we take something out? Based on the discussion and shared experiences, we want to know their views if only approved projects are worth it or can we have value in rejected project submissions? Participants will be invited: to talk about their failed attempts and compare, eventually, with success stories; to share learning outcomes from rejected project proposals; to tell how their institutions assess non-funded applications. If participants are more shy or less talkative, the authors will share their own experience. Finally, in the last minute of the presentation, participants will be asked to select and rank possible indicators for rejected project submissions (supporting material will be given to participants).
As a result of this presentation, the authors want to promote a culture where we can deal with failure. Not only is a more mentally healthy approach, but also allows for a learning opportunity and contributes for new possibilities for research assessment. Hence, the list of KPIs for rejected project submissions and the validations provided by participants will be very relevant for future work on the subject. For participants, the main learning outcomes will be to recognize the project submission cycle, to raise awareness for the amount of effort necessary, and to show paths for future assessment for failed attempts.