European funding for business
At a time when cuts are affecting UK government funding for business, European grant funding can be an excellent solution. And yet I find it is frequently overlooked because the prospect of red tape puts people off. There’s no denying, it does take time to develop and complete an application, but if you’re looking for as much as €10m, is it so much to ask for a comprehensive, well-thought-through proposal? Try getting that amount of money from a VC with no guarantees.
I’ve been reviewing applications for EU grant funding for 17 years and thought it would be helpful to arm you with some of the facts and a few tips for success with regard to the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme (FP7).
Key facts
- The 7th Framework Programme supports European Research and Development. It aims to put European companies, organisations, and research bodies at the forefront of global research.
- The overall budget is €53 billion, to be spent over a five-six-year period.
- The funding is distributed across several key commission activities, namely Capacities, Cooperation, Ideas, and People.
- It is also divided by key industrial research sectors such as IT, Health, Environment, and Aerospace.
FAQ’s
The fact sheets are very comprehensive, but the questions I’m most frequently asked are:
How much funding could I get?
Grants of up to 75% of the project cost are available for SMEs and up to 50% of the total project cost for large companies.
What is the application process, and when can companies access this funding?
You have to respond to a “call” for bids. Each of the key activities and research sectors issues “calls” regularly. In fact, on 20th July 2010, the Commission issued around fifty-eight “Calls” covering: Capacities, Ideas, Cooperation, People, and sectors such as Energy, Micro and Nano-technology, Health, IT, Space, and Environment. The majority of closing dates for bids are in early December 2010. All the information can be found here.
Are there any constraints?
The key thing to be aware of is that the Commission model is based on “Consortium bids”. Your company needs to form or join a consortium,i.e., a collaboration between companies and organisations from different member states of the European Union. The consortium needs to aim to address a particular R&D problem or ra a related set of problems. There’s a ‘find project partners’ area of the FP7 website.
NB for different programme types, the Commission sets a minimum number of organisations and member states to be involved, so you need to check this at the outset.
How do you bid for funding?
You need:
- an “idea” which fits into one of the calls issued by the Commission
- a consortium of European partners to address the R&D problem and
- The completed bid documentation (the forms can be downloaded from the Commission’s “CORDIS” website)
I will follow up with some tips for success, but free support is available from the East of England Funding Support Service, provided by TÜV-NEL on behalf of EEDA. Alternatively, if you sign up for ‘Understanding Finance for Business’ and pursue an option for grant funding, this is just the kind of information we cover in the workshops.
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