Blog

Transferable skills training in MSCA-DNs – from proposal, grant preparation to project

Whether you are riding the high of recent funding success from the 2023 MSCA Doctoral Networks (DNs) call or reflecting after grant rejection, now is a good time to consider the importance of transferable skills training and how they should be included in the training programmes of MSCA-DNs.

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Higher cut-offs and lower success rates in the 2023 MSCA Doctoral Networks call

The European Commission has completed the evaluation of the proposals submitted for the 2023 MSCA Call for Doctoral Networks. The results of the 2023 call reveal a more intense competition with higher funding thresholds compared to the previous 2022 call.

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Do not let risks become real – best practices for risk management in Horizon Europe

Consortia of Horizon Europe projects need to follow risk assessment procedures to identify and define risk mitigation strategies timely and appropriately. Proper EU project risk management ensures a smooth implementation process and is key for the success of your collaborative research project.

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Opportunities ahead: Call topics from the EU’s Cancer Mission in 2024

A look into the EU Cancer Mission call topics contained in Horizon’s Europe 2023-2025 work programme. With a funding of 119 million euros, the programme contains six call topics with a submission deadline on 18 September 2024. In this blog post, we summarise their details and provide insight on Cluster-related project activities.

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Supporting diversity in research environments: a look at Science Europe’s new guide

A look into Science Europe’s new ‘Practical Guide to Supporting Diversity in Research Environments’. A must-read guide if you are part of a research organisation willing to improve its equality, diversity and inclusion, but also an insightful resource if you are looking to broaden your awareness of gender diversity and best practices.

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From data to insight: The power of data visualisation in EU-funded projects

Data visualisation is a powerful tool to simplify and enhance understanding of complex data. Explore some data visualisation tools that can effectively transform research data in EU-funded projects into clear and concise messages for diverse audiences, highlighting the crucial role of ethics and accessibility for inclusive design.

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Effective Reporting in Horizon Europe: Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation

Navigating the intricate requirements set forth by the European Commission for reporting in Horizon Europe can become a challenge. In this blog post, experts from accelopment focus on reporting to the EC about communication, dissemination and exploitation activities.

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Health proposals involving clinical studies – changes in the regulation and template

The deadline for single-stage and stage-2 proposals for Horizon Europe collaborative research and innovation (RIA) health projects is approaching fast. For most projects, the submission of the clinical study document will be necessary. Here we cover the changes to the clinical study template and share a few tips for a successful application.

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Moving from stage-1 to stage-2 with your Health proposal – tips for the non-scientific parts

After more than four months of waiting for the evaluation results of the Health stage-1 proposals on 19 September 2023, in total, more than 1,000 project coordinators and several thousands of project partners have now been informed on whether they are invited to submit a stage-2 proposal.

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EIC Work Programme 2024 vs 2023 – changes in Pathfinder Open and Challenges

This year’s EIC Pathfinder funding instruments have both introduced some key changes. Here, we summarise the important difference from the last year which might help you to better prepare yourself for the submission or re-submission of your project proposal, and its evaluation process.

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Trends in EIC Pathfinder evaluation results – open to accepting the challenge

The EIC Pathfinder programme is a highly competitive funding scheme that supports groundbreaking technologies from a very early stage of development. Understanding the submission and evaluation statistics of previous calls may be informative for deciding if this funding scheme is suitable for your project idea.

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Preparing your Doctoral Candidates for a successful start

To prepare the Doctoral Candidates recruited in your MSCA-DN for a successful project start, a suite of information documents should be made available. Here we summarise which documents are mandatory and which documents we recommend to add to a comprehensive DC starter kit.

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Outreach opportunities for early-career researchers

Becoming an exceptional researcher in the changing landscape of science involves also developing transferable skills, including science communication. We highlight some activities that we have implemented in our EU-funded projects with early-career researchers, mostly PhD students and Doctoral Candidates, to bridge the gap between research and the wider world.

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Advancing Open Science through Horizon Europe: mandatory and recommended practices

Open Science in Horizon Europe promotes early, broad sharing of research knowledge. This blog post guides you through integrating Open Science from proposal writing to project implementation, emphasising adherence to Open Science mandatory and recommended practices.

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Involving patients in EU-funded projects: benefits and best practices

Collaboration with stakeholders is key in research and innovation, particularly in health projects. The European Commission has emphasized the role of patients in EU-funded projects, recognising their contribution as essential for achieving patient-centered results. In this blog, we delve into the benefits and best practices of involving patients in EU-funded initiatives and share insights and learnings from our projects.

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Clustering in EU projects: how cluster events help maximise the impact of your research

Cluster events within EU-funded projects are typically joint workshops or conferences organised by one or several project consortia within a cluster of related projects. We share our insights on the key benefits of organising cluster events with you using concrete examples from our projects.

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Cash flow in Horizon Europe projects – from pre-financing, interim to final payments

The most common project types in Horizon Europe, IAs and RIAs, typically receive EU fudning of 4-10 million euro. Although the project budgets and durations can vary significantly, the cash flow in all these projects follows the same rules. We like to share our knowledge and experience in financial management, including calculating payments to partners and monitoring the cash flow at project and partner levels.

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Picking up the evaluation of your project website through GA4

Making your EU-funded project website visible requires reliable monitoring that will allow you to make improvements according to the users’ interactions. In this blog post, we will take you through what are the key metrics to monitor, by explaining what is new in the latest iteration of Google’s website analytics tool, the now-called GA4.

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Innovation management in Horizon Europe – from planning to implementation

We explore some of the cornerstones of the first part of our accelINNO® innovation management service by using AI-Mind, one of the projects we are involved in, as example. Learn how Jeanette Müller and Michael Hönger are supporting our partners on their journey from expected project results to the exploitation of valuable outcomes.

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Exploitation requirements in Horizon Europe – How to make use of your project results

We discuss the new requirements regarding project exploitation and periodic reporting in Horizon Europe. We explore how R&I projects can meet the requirements outlined in the EU valorisation policy and how accelopment's innovation management system, accelINNO®, can support these efforts. Stay informed by subscribing to our blog updates!

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Taking on the EIC Pathfinder Challenge: new directions in science and technology

The Pathfinder programme supports the research and development of bold ideas for future breakthrough technologies within Horizon EU. It encompasses two funding streams: Pathfinder Open, where applicants can propose any research topic, and Pathfinder Challenge, which provides funding for research projects of high societal, economic and political interest.

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Insights into the results of the 2022 MSCA call for Doctoral Networks

The European Commission has completed the evaluation of the proposals submitted for the 2022 MSCA Call for Doctoral Networks. The results of the 2022 call reveal higher success rates and higher funding thresholds compared to the previous 2021 call. Gain insights into the results.

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International Women’s Day

We at accelopment recognize the importance of gender equality and strongly value diversity and inclusion. We are committed to creating an environment where everyone can reach their full potential and achieve their goals.

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Communicating research through videos – a compact guide on planning and production

It may seem that modern technology and accessibility of recording devices makes video creation a simple task, the time needed to develop a meaningful audio-visual story should not be underestimated. Thorough planning beforehand will save you some precious time in the production phase. Learn how to develop an impactful video to communicate about science.

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A win-win for everyone: Sustainable Development Goals in EU-funded projects

Achieving the United Nations’ ambitious Sustainable Development Goals is one of Horizon Europe’s main targets. Find out how we use the targets set by the so-called Global Goals to leverage ongoing research and innovation projects and identify possible synergies and collaborations.

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Have you already completed the training section in your HORIZON-MSCA-DN proposal?

Based on our experience from previous proposal writing for MSCA calls, we know how important it is to strike a good balance between scientific and technological training on one side and transferable skills courses on the other. What to consider when writing the Doctoral Network training programme?

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Using videos to communicate research

Online videos open new avenues for science communication. Videos can be used to raise awareness, document research, introduce project partners, share new scientific methodologies, showcase results and more. Our communications team has put together an overview of video types that effectively promote the project and help engage the audience.

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Social media for EU projects – sharing content at the forefront of research

While in a previous blog post we covered the key steps in getting started with social media for EU projects, herein we explore what content to share to combine both trustworthy and engaging information.

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Enhancing your skills with a focus on EU-funded research: Interview with our interns

Research projects funded by the EU benefit from high-quality project management and professional communication with a specific focus on research and EU requirements. At accelopment, we regularly offer internships to train students and early career professionals in this area.

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Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) doctoral candidates explained

Horizon Europe brought many changes to the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) scheme. As the term Early Stage Researcher (ESR) is no longer used and the rules have changed, we summarise the key conditions for the recruitment of doctoral candidates in a MSCA Doctoral Network (DN).

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MSCA Doctoral Networks 2022 call – important changes in the new proposal template

The European Commission published the 2022 MSCA Doctoral Networks call last week. We had a look at the updated Work Programme, the Guide for Applicants and the updated Standard Proposal Template to find out what is different to last year’s call. If you plan to resubmit your DN proposal, make sure to be aware of the most significant changes.

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Make the best of your DN – project management and communication

Transferable skills are key to successful MSCA Doctoral Networks. Provide your Doctoral Candidates with adequate training in project management as well as in communication and dissemination, truly building up their transferable skillset, their disposition towards teamwork, collaboration, and outreach.

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How to prepare a Plan for Dissemination and Exploitation including Communication activities

How can you navigate through the development process of the Plan for Dissemination and Exploitation including Communication activities for Horizon Europe projects? Get familiar with key elements and requirements of the European Commission towards this mandatory deliverable.

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Get ready for your DN grant preparation – what you need to know

For many of the successful MSCA Doctoral Networks (DN) it will be the first time preparing a Horizon Europe grant. While much of the process is similar or unchanged to previous years, it is worth checking that you are aware of the latest terminology and some key principles to ensure a smooth grant preparation process.

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Insights into the first MSCA Doctoral Network evaluation results under Horizon Europe

The European Commission selected the first Doctoral Networks under Horizon Europe. Gain insights into the results of the 2021 call, which is marked by higher success rates and lower funding thresholds compared to the previous programme.

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Invited to prepare the Horizon EU Grant Agreement? Your journey is beginning!

Our project managers have been involved in several Horizon EU projects already and gathered extensive insights into the Grant Agreement Preparation process. With the hope of easing the process for other successful EU project coordinators and partners, summarised below are our team’s latest tips to navigate through a hopefully smooth GAP process.

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An alternative approach to consortium building for EU research and innovation projects

With partners from different countries, diverse backgrounds, and distinct research areas, team or consortium building represents an essential task and challenge best tackled during the proposal preparation before a project even starts.

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A gender lens for EU research on International Women’s Day 2022

Today, we celebrate the 111th International Women’s Day and share some of the latest data on gender (in)equality in research, while linking to relevant Horizon Europe requirements and inviting you to self-explore your implicit biases.

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Succeeding in the first Horizon EU Health proposals – sharing of experience

While waiting for the final statistics on the first Horizon Europe Health calls, we share our experience from the evaluation of some health proposals. This might help applicants who are currently preparing their proposals for the fast-approaching next deadlines.

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EU-funded projects celebrating #WomenInScience Day

We aim to raise awareness for all the women in science, the hurdles they have overcome, the dreams they have achieved, and the path they are pursuing. As a sparring partner in EU-funded research projects, we have the exciting role of supporting innovations in science, many of which are brought forward by women.

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EIC Work Programme 2022 published – more changes in the Pathfinder than expected

The first, highly competitive, EIC Pathfinder Open call revealed important novelties for applicants. As in FET-Open, the programme is still targeted at breakthrough, innovative solutions, but with changes ranging from the formalities of the main proposal document to the strict requirement of a multidisciplinary approach.

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Managing MSCA-ITN projects during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Many ongoing MSCA ITNs that build on the mobility of early-stage researchers have been severely affected by the pandemic. How does the REA handle the four most common issues, 1: ESR recruitment delays, 2: Adapting the training plan, 3: Adjusting the secondment plans, and 4: Delays of deliverables and milestones?

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Innovation management in H2020 and Horizon Europe projects – More than just IP protection

The European Commission recently published the Innovation Scoreboard 2021. The report reveals that several global competitors are exceeding the EU’s performance in innovation. Among other measures to excel in innovation, the implementation of innovation management techniques is considered as a powerful tool to maximise the impact of innovation expenditures.

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From Horizon 2020 to Horizon Europe – what is new in the DESCA Model Consortium Agreement?

If your project gets funded, the EC requires you to establish a Consortium Agreement to ensure the (IP) rights and obligations, for all partners, that are not defined in the EC Grant Agreement. Using the DESCA template remains the gold standard.

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Preparing a short stage-1 proposal? Mind the new declaration

As deadlines for two-stage calls in the areas of Health, Climate and Food are getting closer, learn about a key change in the submission process from Horizon 2020 to Horizon Europe.

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Essential tips for your FET Open/ Pathfinder Open proposal (re-)submission

The first, highly competitive, EIC Pathfinder Open call revealed important novelties for applicants. As in FET-Open, the programme is still targeted at breakthrough, innovative solutions, but with changes ranging from the formalities of the main proposal document to the strict requirement of a multidisciplinary approach.

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Towards higher success rates in MSCA Doctoral Network proposals?

A total of 1,076 proposals were submitted for the first MSCA Doctoral Networks (DNs) deadline in Horizon Europe on 16 November 2021. A first analysis of the call statistics reveals an increase in success chances.

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Just over 6% success rate in the first EIC Pathfinder Open call under Horizon Europe

The European Innovation Council selected the first 56 EIC Pathfinder Open projects under Horizon Europe. Read on for an overview of the call statistics and foreseen deadlines for (re-)submission of your proposal.

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Preparing an MSCA Doctoral Network proposal? Mind the latest updates!

MSCA Doctoral Network proposals are being prepared under a tight schedule. At the same time, all changes from the previous Horizon 2020 MSCA ITNs need to be considered.

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The art of writing convincing proposals – an essential skill for the 21st century

Grant writing has become an essential activity in academia and beyond. The art of convincing funding bodies through persuasive and compelling proposals is all the more important for early-stage researchers (ESRs) willing to progress in their career, be it in an academic or industry setting.

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Why knowledge on funding opportunities can enhance your ESRs’ career perspective

Identifying the right funding opportunity at the right time has become a critical skill in both academic and industry settings. Especially for less experienced, early-stage researchers, it remains challenging to keep track of suitable funding opportunities to pursue their career.

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Why science communication is an important (transferable) skill for researchers

Science communication is a valuable transferable skill, one that is becoming more and more important with the increase of digital communication channels and platforms. Learn about how we can help Early Stage Researchers in mastering it for a successful career.

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Gender equality – a priority in Horizon Europe and for your ESRs

Alongside the benefits of working in gender balanced teams, the inclusion of sex and gender aspects in research and innovation leads to research outputs and innovations that are of higher quality, more societally relevant and of added business value.

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Research project management – key for successful ITNs and research careers

With the scarcity of research funding and the increasing competition in academia, properly managing research projects has become all the more important. Having a realistic project plan in terms of scope, time and costs is a critical criterion to acquire funding.

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UK and Switzerland towards accession to Horizon Europe

In late December 2020, UK and Switzerland expressed their political will to be associated to Horizon Europe with the EU/UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the approval of the Horizon 2021-2027 package by the Swiss parliament.

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Wood for the future events present imaginative solutions

Wood experts discussed solutions and shared ideas for a sustainable future at the event series on Wood for the future (EU Green Week partner events).

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Last Horizon 2020 Health call results expected soon

While the results for the “Digital transformation in Health and Care (DTH)” calls were issued last week, we expect to receive the last results of the series of Health calls in the coming days.

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Enhance your MSCA-ITN training with our online transferable skills courses for ESRs

Discover our latest transferable skills online training courses for ESRs in ongoing MSCA-ITNs. Pick and choose from six interactive, hands-on modules.

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European Commission to launch its own Open Access publishing platform

Early next year, the European Commission will officially launch “Open Research Europe”, a full open access peer reviewed publishing platform for research resulting from Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.

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Reporting the impact of COVID-19 on your H2020 project to the EC.

Learn how to assess the impact of COVID-19 on our research projects and communicate it to the EC.

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H2020 project management during the COVID-19 pandemic

Keep managing efficiently your H2020 project with our tips.

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Managing MSCA-ITN projects during the COVID-19 pandemic

Keep managing efficiently your H2020 project with our tips.

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Tips to manage your H2020 project during the coronavirus pandemic

Keep managing efficiently your H2020 project with our tips.

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Strategic Grant Planning – finding the needle in the haystack

Identifying the right funding scheme for your research can sometimes be compared to finding a needle in a haystack. We can support you in making the process more efficient.

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H2020 Project Wins FCH JU Awards 2019

SOSLeM - a project supported by accelopment - wan the FCH JU Awards 2019.

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FET Open project wins the Innovation Radar Prize 2019 for Innovative Science

The FET Open project Lumiblast wins the Innovation Radar Prize 2019 for Innovative Science and we are proud to be part of this project for the past three years.

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Strategic Grant Planning – How we supported a multinational corporation

Dr Filiep Vanpoucke, researcher at Cochlear and project coordinator of MOSAICS, speaks about his experience with ITNs and accelopment.

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The latest update on Brexit and Horizon 2020

accelopment's update on the status of funding in Europe after Brexit.

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Strategic Grant Planning – The STACCATO EID Coordinator tells his story

Dr Colin Clarke, Principal Investigator at NIBRT and project coordinator of STACCATO, speaks about his experience with ITNs and accelopment.

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ITN review – Experiences from the new check meetings

ITN review meetings focus on a transparent application process, equal opportunities with regard to gender and origin, active involvement of ESRs, as well support and communication.

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ITN review – Check meetings and how to prepare

With the introduction of the new ITN review meeting, Project Coordinator need to be aware of some important changes. We provide a checklist to support you.

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10 years accelopment: From zero to one hundred

A look back at the last 10 years.

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