1. Horizon 2020
Richard Buxbaum
Scotland Europa

2. Opportunities need to therefore be identified immediately
Horizon 2020 Programme
Call information and deadlines.
Calls will be published in late October and will be on the EC Participant Portal.
Each part of the Work Programme has different deadlines these are throughout the year BUT most are in the first 4 months of 2018.
Opportunities need to therefore be identified immediately
Horizon 2020 is the largest ever European funding programme for research and innovation
It offers an open structure for accessing funding - in order to remove barriers to collaborative innovation.
The opportunities within the programme are aligned to the structure shown on the screen and range from Frontier Research all the way through to supporting close to market activities - as well as policy support.
The opportunities (which are called calls) are published in a work programme which will be released at the end of October.
This document will detail all the opportunities during the period.
The Structure of the Programme will remain the same. With a focus on Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenges.
There are however some changes that are worth noting, especially for companies. These include:
The Fast Track to innovation Pilot will be reintroduced
SME Instrument topics will now become bottom up, therefore removing the restriction of what applicants projects can cover.
For those who are looking at potential changes in how the Framework Programme will be delivered in the future there is a trial of the Lump Sum funding model in a couple of topics.
You will find within your packs a timetable highlighting the proposed deadlines for the 2018 calls.
It is important to note that the closing date for applications for the majority of calls will be in the first 4 months of the year

3. Treasury Guarantee
The Treasury Guarantee will underwrite successful Horizon 2020  applications applied for before the UK’s departure from the EU.  
Continued engagement is more important than ever.
Scotland has a long history of ground breaking research and innovation .
Scotland's Research Communities, Public sector and Business community continue to excel in securing funding via the framework programme.
In the first few years of the programme Scotland has already secured over €400 m in funding, this is from all the different pillars of the programme – and also different types of research. Businesses as well as academia are succeeding in demonstrating the innovation potential contained within Scotland - with over €70million of European money awarded to them – mostly SMES. You will see some of the projects displayed here today
The financial contribution made by the EC allow projects to commence which would not do so otherwise – and the financial rewards to participants is high, with between % costs covered by the EC HOWEVER we must not forget the wide benefits of collaboration and investment in Research and Innovation.
These include.
Attracting new talent to Scotland
Achieving results which cannot be achieved alone – only via collaboration and accessing new expertise, infrastructure and markets
This includes supporting business to become more innovative, competitive and to grow faster.
All the deadlines for all the 2018 Horizon 2020 calls will take place prior to the UK leaving the EU - and as stated by the Commission itself UK applicants are not just eligible to apply but are encouraged to do so. Those evaluating projects have been briefed to ensure that projects that have UK partners in them are not discriminated against.
In addition to the EC clarity of the UKS position the UK Treasury Guarantee is in place to underwrite successful Horizon 2020 applicants who apply prior to the date the UK leaves the EU – This includes those that are submitted but yet to be evaluated.

4. UK National Contact Points
Support Available
UK National Contact Points
There is a wide range of support throughout the UK with Dedicated support from Scotland Europa and Enterprise Europe Scotland.
Both of whom are located and supported by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise
This is support is in addition to the National Contact Points who cover the whole of the UK and are dedicated experts within their area providing specialist H2020 advice
On screen there is the main contact but please do not hesitate to contact us directly