Beneficiaries of Horizon Europe and Horizon 2020 funding must carry out activities to increase the impact of their project results:
- They must share research results with the scientific community, commercial players, civil society and policymakers (communication and dissemination).
- They must also take action to use their project results for commercial purposes, to tackle societal problems or in policymaking (‘exploitation’).
Communication, dissemination and exploitation, together with Open Access, constitute pathways to impact which must be addressed in Horizon Europe proposals
Section 2 Impact of Horizon Europe RIA/IA proposal template requires to describe suitability and quality of the measures to maximise expected outcomes and impacts, as set out in the dissemination and exploitation plan, including communication activities. Initial strategically planned and objective-oriented plan should already be presented at the proposal stage. If the proposal is selected for funding, the plan must be provided as a deliverable within 6 months from the project’s start date.
Quick guide on communication, dissemination and exploitation which shows the difference between these three activities, is available on the link above.
Which aspects to take in consideration while developing a dissemination and communication strategy to maximizing the impact of the project within the budget constrains? They are as following
- Objective(s) – Activities should have concrete objectives. Some activities will aim at only informing about the project and its progress, while others will focus on engaging target groups and stakeholders or call them to take on specific actions.
- Target audience(s) – Identify the audiences and communities that are most relevant for the project activities, and focus on reaching out to them. When there is more than one target audience, prioritize them according to the expected impacts of the project, from most important to least, but still make sure to address all of them.
- Channel(s) –it is important to identify the relevant platforms/media to effectively convey the message. For example, if you are addressing the scientific community, use platforms that are popular for this audience type, such as scientific journals and/or workshops. Your communication activities should be carried through several channels, rather than choosing only one.
- Messaging – The messaging of the dissemination and communication activities should be adapted both to the target audience and to the specific channel used.
Exploitation
The future utilization of a project’s results is another way for maximizing impact. Exploitation activities are those concerning further development, creation and marketing of a product or process, based on the project’s results. Exploitable results are those that can be further used by a range of stakeholders, including the consortium members the scientific community, industry, policy makers, governmental authorities, and the public. Unlike some believe, exploitation covers not only commercial exploitation but can include range of other activities which can be particularly relevant to biomedical and Life Sciences research such as
- Scientific advances/re-use– Scientific outputs such as models, methods, prototypes, and any available data generated throughout the course of the project can be utilized by the scientific community for future research.
- Policy-making– Project results may provide policy-makers and regulators with evidence-based information that can be useful in the process of forming new policies or changing existing ones.
- Training and education– Some of the results can be used to develop education and training programs for students, professionals and/or the general public.
- Contribution to new standards on health technology
The European Commission offers various free-of-charge services to support your dissemination and exploitation activities:
Open Research Europe platform: An open access, publishing platform for scientific papers for Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe beneficiaries, including an open peer review and article revision.
Horizon Results platform: A platform for showcasing your research results, finding collaboration opportunities and getting inspired by the results of others.
Horizon Results Booster: Free consulting services including a portfolio dissemination and exploitation strategy, business plan development and go-to-market support.
Innovation radar: An initiative that identifies high-potential innovations, based on a data-driven methodology, and assists EU-funded researchers and innovators in reaching the market with their innovation.
For more information, please refer to European Commission page on Dissemination and Exploitation in Horizon Europe https://rea.ec.europa.eu/horizon-europe-dissemination-and-exploitation_en
The page also features dedicated webinar session: Dissemination & Exploitation in Horizon Europe https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/docs/h2020-funding-guide/other/event210609.htm