Horizon 2020: what can be funded and how to apply

The Horizon 2020 programme was established by the European Union (EU) to:

• ensure that Europe produces world-class science
• remove barriers to innovation
• make it easier for public and private sectors to innovate together

It has a budget of €79 billion and will run throughout 2020.

What happens during and after the UK-EU transition period?

UK scientists, researchers and businesses can continue to participate in Horizon 2020 programmes and receive EU grant funding for the lifetime of individual projects. This includes projects finishing after 1st January 2021.

The UK government is encouraging UK organisations to continue to bid into calls for new Horizon 2020 grant funding for the lifetime of the Horizon 2020 programme.

You can apply for funding if your project is close to market. This could include:

• prototyping
• testing
• demonstrating
• piloting
• market replication or
• large-scale product validation

You can get up to 70% of your project’s direct costs funded if you are a business, or up to 100% funding if you are a not-for-profit organisation.

Funding calls are based on three areas:

• Excellent science (supporting the best ideas, developing European talent, providing researchers with access to a research infrastructure)
• Industrial leadership (offering access to risk finance, encouraging private investment in research and development, offering support for innovative SMEs)
• Societal challenges (tackling the biggest challenges facing modern society, covering all stages of research and innovation, from concept to market)

If you are an innovative UK-based business, you can apply for Horizon 2020 funding. According to the UK government website, it is:

• the biggest single opportunity for UK businesses to access European funding
• a gateway for accessing new expertise, infrastructure and markets
• a proven instrument for supporting your business to become more innovative and competitive and to grow faster – and helping to grow the UK economy as a whole

Get help with your Horizon 2020 application

If you are a UK applicant, there are organisations that can help you find opportunities and complete your proposal. The contact for SMEs is the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN).

Contact Buckinghamshire Business First for support and information

Buckinghamshire Business First works with organisations like the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) to support businesses. Contact our Business Support Team here at Buckinghamshire Business First as we will be able to point you to the right person.

Call us on 01494 927130 or email BusinessSupport@bbf.uk.com.

Learn more about Horizon 2020 funding, including the different types of funding and eligibility rules, on the government website.

Get a free intellectual property review

For a limited period, we are able to offer a unique and additional aspect to our highly successful Growth Programme.

This additional feature is an integrated business and intellectual property review and support for start-up business owners within their first 12 months, where they have a:

• technical or creative concept
• product or service offering

This support will provide a brief report outlining best practice guidance in relation to the commercial options available to them, and benefit the start-up business in their development and growth plans.

This is an ERDF-funded programme, so there is no cost for this support. In signing up to this support, business owners would also be able to attend up to two one-day Masterclasses on the critical subjects of finance and investment, and a Growth Masterclass delivered by Cranfield School of Management.

Interested? Call Jane Dell, Growth Programme Manager, for further details on 01494 927147, or email jane.dell@bbf.uk.com.

Do you have a health and social care innovation?

The Bucks HSC Ventures Programme is taking applications for its next cohort.

Bucks HSC Ventures helps solve health and social care challenges by introducing business innovations to market. The team work directly with health and social care providers and pool vital facilities, networks and expertise to create a launchpad for innovative new products or services.

Successful applicants will take part in a six-month bespoke programme where innovators will gain direct access to health and social care providers and a pool of experts to help test, refine and push their innovation forward.

The application deadline is Wednesday 4th March.

Learn more and apply here.

Visit our business support pages

Remember to check our business support pages for a wide range of information and support. You can also call us on 01494 927130 or email BusinessSupport@bbf.uk.com.