My Proposal Has a High Score But Was Rejected, What Now?

The Score

All proposals above a threshold of 13 receive the “Seal of Excellence” and are eligible for funding. Unfortunately, the budget of the SME Topics is limited and the higher the number of applicants, the lower the chances to receive funding.

Usually, proposals will get funded starting at a score of 13.5 – 14. Once your proposal has been evaluated (1-2 months after the submission deadline), you will receive:

The Evaluation Report

An evaluation report: This contained the mean evaluations of 4 different evaluators regarding all aspects of the proposal and grading “Impact”, “Excellence” and “Quality” as

Very Good to Excellent (4.5 – 5)
Good to Very Good (3.5 – 4.49)
Fair to Good (2.5 – 3.49)
Insufficient to Fair (1.5 – 2.49)
Insufficient (0-1.49)

The maximum score would be 3 x 5 = 15.

The Good News

• • You can resubmit the proposal indefinitely and improve it with every submission.

• Depending on the country you live in, you can use your “Seal of Excellence” and directly receive national funding (please read the conditions and deadlines carefully – calls might be closed or getting reinstated soon). This is currently possible in Sweden (VINNOVA), Cyprus (Research Promotion Foundation), Czech Republic (Technology agency), France (French Association of Innovative Clusters), Norway and Slovenia.