News
Assessment of Lump Sum Pilot in H2020: Feedback analysis published
08. Oct 2021
On 6 October 2021, the European Commission published the analysis of surveys it had conducted as part of the assessment of the Lump Sum Pilot in Horizon 2020.
With the Lump Sum Pilot, the Commission tested a simplified funding model for projects in the 2018-2020 Horizon 2020 work programme. Under this, funding is not disbursed on the basis of actual costs incurred, but on the basis of lump sums for completed projects or parts of projects. The pilot covers 16 topics in different funding lines of the framework programme.
As part of the assessment of the pilot, the Commission conducted online surveys in late 2020 and early 2021 with four groups of people involved: successful and unsuccessful applicants; evaluators; Commission, agency, and Joint Undertakings staff; National Contact Points (NCPs). The response rate varied widely (19% of applicants contacted, 27% NCPs, 60% evaluators, 77% EU staff).
According to the report now published, the majority of respondents viewed the implementation of the pilot projects positively in terms of reduced administrative burden and the opportunity to focus more on project content (73% among applicants, 87% among evaluators, 74% among EU staff, 57% among NCPs). Only 31% of the applicants surveyed estimated the time required for application and budget preparation to be higher than under the traditional funding model. At the same time, a majority in all groups surveyed supported the need for further improvement of the approach used so far, as well as the need for more help and guidance in budget preparation.
On the basis of the survey results, the Commission draws a positive conclusion for the practical feasibility of the lump sum approach and thus also sees the basis for a broader use of this budgeting model in the framework programme. It is also encouraged by the fact that 63% of respondents to the survey of representatives of National Contact Points were in favor of wider use in suitable parts of the programme.