Proposal services

Our ERIO team offer dedicated Horizon Europe pre-award proposal support services to UCL researchers coordinating consortia-based proposals in any topic area.

UCL is fully eligible to apply for and receive funding from Horizon Europe, both as a project coordinator (lead) and as a partner organisation, due to the UK’s Associated Country status.

To assist UCL in maintaining its position at the forefront of European collaboration in science, technology and innovation and help sustain its position within the top 5 UK universities in both EU proposal participation and success, our ERIO team offers dedicated Horizon Europe pre-award proposal support services to UCL researchers coordinating consortia-based proposals (e.g., Collaborative, Synergy, Doctoral networks, EDCtP3, EIC).

ERIO's proposal services are designed to increase funding success rates, increase the success of project implementation, enhance societal impact, and optimise knowledge transfer, including for possible further commercialisation opportunities. In addition, support is available, on a case-by-case basis, to UCL researchers who are partners in applications led by organisations external to UCL. 

What we offer

1. Full pre-award proposal support: Direct hands-on support from proposal conception through to proposal submission. This includes discussing the suitability of project ideas for the chosen EU topic, assistance with structuring, editing and targeting the Excellence, Impact and Implementation sections on the proposal template, and any necessary pre-award financial or general administrative support. Please note that extensive drafting of original proposal content is not included.
2. Proposal Review: A mid-development check of the proposal for relevance to the work programme, formatting and level of completion, management structure and intellectual property matters, UCL costs and general finance, and a final pre-submission check (completion, UCL costing, submission advice).
3. Hands-on Workshops: Targeted assistance on Horizon Europe Cluster Topics and proposal preparation. Workshops will be themed and timed to coincide with key Horizon Europe proposal submission deadlines. These are open to research managers and UCL researchers at any stage of their career.
4. Funding and Collaborative Proposal Advice: Guidance on UCL-led proposals on EU regulations on how to participate in Horizon Europe. This includes providing internal Horizon Europe guidance documents, examples of previously successful collaborative proposals, templates and budget calculators, and additional UCL resources relevant to Horizon Europe proposals, such as a guidance note on engaging with EU policymaking.

Please note that these services are not available for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and European Research Council (ERC) proposals.

Process

UCL researchers interested in proposal support services should contact Dr Juliet A. Ellis via email at juliet.ellis@ucl.ac.uk. Please follow the timeline below for completing proposals and contacting the team:

• At least 2 weeks before any Stage 1 deadline (if your call has 2 stages)
• At least 4 weeks (for budget help and approval only) or 6 weeks (for review of full support services) before any Stage 2 or single deadline.

Consortia-type applications requesting either full support or review services will be triaged to ascertain suitability.

Contact us

For support with Horizon Europe grant proposals or general financial and contractual support across other EU funding schemes, contact the European Research Manager assigned to your Faculty.