Horizon 2020 Info Day

25 November 2015. This event was attended by more than 200 participants. Webstreaming of live sessions and Twitter coverage allowed other interested attendees to follow the Info Day remotely.

The Research Executive Agency (REA) organised the Info Day on the 2016 calls for proposals of the Societal Challenge 2 - ‘Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy’. This Info Day was held as the part of the Societal Challenge 2 Info Week but other related events had to be cancelled due to security conditions in Brussels.

During this event, an overview of the new funding opportunities available under the Societal Challenge 2 (SC2) 2016 calls for proposals was provided. It targeted potential applicants for the four calls: ‘Sustainable Food Security’, ‘Blue Growth’, ‘Rural Renaissance’ and ‘Bio-based innovation’.

The morning presentations covered novelties and main policy objectives of the new Work Programme as well as practicalities regarding its implementation. Questions from the audience focused on evaluation procedures and the role of independent experts in proposals' selection.

In the afternoon, parallel sessions were organised per call to present more into details topics and call conditions. A new feature introduced for the organisation of the afternoon session was the possibility for participants to send questions before the event, via online questionnaires, which were then incorporated by speakers in their presentations.

The audience and Twitter followers also had the possibility to react to presentations with additional questions and remarks for speakers. Lively discussions on topics and research priorities continued after presentations were made.

Agenda(109 kB)

Session 1:Introduction to the Work Programme 2016- 2017

• Opening of the Info Day by Gilbert Gascard, Director of the Research Executive Agency and Aldo Longo, Director at theDirectorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI).
• Insights into the new Work Programme: research priorities and novelties(1.98 Mb) by Elisabetta Balzi, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD).
• Sustainable Food Security by Patrik Kolar, Head of Unit, DG RTD-F.3(1.56 Mb)
• Blue Growth by Jacques Fuchs, DG RTD-F.4(1.53 Mb)
• Rural Renaissance by Rob Peters, Head of Unit, DG AGRI-H.5(1.65 Mb)
• Bio-based innovation by Barend Verachtert, DG RTD-F.2(857 kB)

Session 2: Information on proposal submission and evaluation including hands-on advice

• Experience from previous calls and outlook by Kerstin Rosenow, Head of Unit, REA-B.2(561 kB)
• Evaluation process including novelties by Olivier Pastre,REA-B2(1.75 Mb)
• How to write a good proposalby Dyanne Bennink, REA-B2(739 kB)

Afternoon parallel session on Africa and China

• EU-Africa and EU-China Cooperation (505 kB)
• To view the morning session and the afternoon one on Sustainable Food Security, click here
• The intervention of Hans-Joerg Lutzeyer (DG Research) on the EU-Africa cooperation starts at 5:49 concerning the 2 themes related to Africa:
• SFS-41-2016: ERA-Net Cofund EU-Africa Research and Innovation partnership on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture
• SFS-42-2016: Promoting Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture in Africa: the role of innovation