What is the evaluation process?
A proposal is evaluated against the following award criteria: impact, excellence, and implementation.
In order to be considered for funding, a proposal must score above a certain threshold for each criterion, and above an overall threshold.
Each criterion is scored out of 5 points, however, when the proposals are ranked for funding, the Impact score will be weighted at 1.5 times the other two criteria.
Scoring above threshold does not guarantee funding; this is determined by available budget per topic and call.
The Evaluation process in the framework of H2020 has 3 phases. For the SME Instrument, the evaluation is in compliance with these rules and the procedure is the same for all topics, namely:
When will I get the results?
Phase 1 will be available no later than 2 months after submission.
Phase 2 will be available no later than 4 months after submission.
The evaluation time is influenced by the number of applications and availability of expert evaluators for the cut off.
Applicants are notified of the outcome via a letter and their Evaluation Summary Report (ESR) in the Participant Portal
What happens if my project is selected... when do I get the funding?
Successful applicants are invited to prepare and sign a grant agreement with the European Commission. After the signature, the pre-financing payment will be transferred.
The pre-financing amount is generally about 40% of the total requested funding.
The sign the grant agreement it takes on average:
Phase 1 – 27 days
Phase 2 – 96 days
The Commission understands the challenges faced by SMEs and aims to expedite this process wherever possible.
More information is available on
SME Instrument essential tips for applicants