News
Study on the proposal evaluation system for Horizon 2020 and recommendations for Horizon Europe
18. Mar 2022
The European Commission has published a study by external experts on the Horizon 2020 (2014-2020) proposal evaluation process. The study concludes that the evaluation procedures were generally fair and transparent, but that coherence and the feedback to the applicants could be improved. In addition, the workload for applicants and reviewers as well as the conservatism of the procedure could be reduced.
- Conduct regular reviews of the fairness of the process
- Encourage more female applicants
- Limit the use of multi-stage processes
- Explore and experiment with novel approaches, such as double-blind review and lotteries
- Streamline the use of consensus meetings
- Improve the clarity of assessment criteria and ensure that the evaluation process is centred around them
- Consider more targeted use of reviewers depending on their expertise
- Explore the scope for use of novel technologies to improve the process
- Continue to provide constructive feedback, especially for unsuccessful applicants
- Consider routes to ensure that innovative R&I is supported, such as targeted funding streams