Open Calls FAQs
We are from outside of the European Commission. Are we still eligible for funding?
Please check the eligibility document provided in the Open Call for details. In brief, only organisations established in EU Member States and Associated Countries are eligible for receiving funding from Horizon 2020 program, including SHAPES Open Call. In case of any doubts please refer to Horizon 2020 eligibility guidelines online.
I am based in the UK. Can I still apply to the open calls after Brexit?
Yes, according to our information UK entities continue to participate and receive funding in Horizon 2020 projects.
Do applicants need to be companies, or can be also freelancers and individuals?
Applicants MUST be legally registered commercial organizations eligible for receiving EC funding. Validated PIC registration on ECAS platform is a required proof. For more details how to register for PIC check: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/funding-tenders-opportunities/display/OM/Registration+and+validation+of+your+organisation
What is a PIC number?
PIC number stands for Participant Identification Number. Explanation and instruction how to obtain it can be found on the EC portal at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/support/faq;keywords=/1055
Is Open Call 3 open only to SMEs?
No. The call is open to any type of organization eligible for H2020 funding. We specially encourage SMEs, but we do not limit participation only to such organisations.
What is the funding mechanisms in Open Calls?
The SHAPES Open Call funding uses a “lump sum” approach. This means that we do not require legal proof of costs incurred. However, an estimate of expected costs needs to be provided in the application. Payment of each part of the funding is dependent on the completion of phases and submission of deliverables (reports and/or prototypes) as agreed in the contract between SHAPES coordinator and the contractor. Note that in exceptional circumstances the EC reserves the right to request proof of costs incurred. Hence we recommend that Open Call winners keep relevant proof for a period of time defined by EC.
I cannot see any list of topics for Open Call 3
Open Call 3 has only one (1) topic, i.e. the integration of the proposed digital solutions from applicants with the SHAPES Marketplace, including interfaces to selected components of the SHAPES Technological Platform. Only ASAPA is essential since it authenticated users to all SHAPES platform components. Any additional link will count towards higher score on Excellence.
Do our proposed solutions have to be commercial?
Solutions do NOT need to be commercial. However, they need to demonstrate sufficient operational maturity for integration into SHAPES Marketplace and demonstrate potential for commercialisation and sustainability.
Are physical-only solution applicable for Open Call 3?
No. The essential requirements in the Open Call 3 is integration with SHAPES Marketplace, an online repository of Digital Solutions allowing network access to such solutions. This does not negate physical solutions, as long as they are hybrid.
What is ASAPA component, mentioned in Open Call 3 documents?
ASAPA stands for “Authentication, Security and Privacy Assurance” and is the SSO (single Sign On) system allowing users to be authenticated only once on any solution compliant with SHAPES for accessing any other inter-connected platform without need for re-authentication. Note that authorization to access data is handled by the platform that host such a data. For more info refer to D4.1: https://shapes2020.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/SHAPES-D4.1-SHAPES-TP-Requirements-and-Architecture-v1.3.pdf
Where can we find more info about SHAPES components?
Technical information about technologies developed in SHAPES is available on GitHub: https://github.com/SHAPES-H2020.
Information about the Marketplace can be found in Deliverable D4.1 at: https://shapes2020.eu/deliverables/.
Additional relevant documents will be released once their review is completed by EC.
Do applicants need to transfer IP for its solution or provide source codes of its solutions to SHAPES consortium?
All IP owned by applicants, remains their property and there is no requirement to transfer it to SHAPES project. SHAPES project requests only that it is licensed to use solutions (in usable form) that applicants expect to integrate with SHAPES Marketplace to its consortium members for free for evaluation purposes until the end of their project. Afterwards any further use will be subject to individual (e.g. commercial) agreements between the applicant and any organization from SHAPES consortium or external to it. Regarding access to part of work conducted by applicant and funded by EC as part of the SHAPES Open Call, this is expected to be open for public as Open Access (“Creative Commons” license). Therefore, applicants need to clearly state in their proposal which part of their work will be performed using their own funds and hence not publicly available, and which part of the work would be funded by SHAPES Open Call and hence subject to Open Access dissemination. Examples of the latter ones can include e.g. APIs and SDKs allowing integration of applicant solutions into 3rd party systems (subject to applicable licensing agreements), examples of code built to integrate applicant solution with SHAPES Marketplace etc. Examples of such components can be found on SHAPES GitHub at: https://github.com/orgs/SHAPES-H2020/.
In case of any further questions, we suggest to attend the webinar on the 1st of March 2023, detail so which can be found at: https://shapes2020.eu/open-calls/call-3/ .
What do you mean by “project” and “proposal” in the provided template?
The template formulates the complete proposal of a micro-project, aimed to offer a value-added solution extending and/or complementing the Digital Solutions of the SHAPES project with additional capabilities. Such needs are listed in a form of topics, one of which is expected to be addressed by the submitted proposal.
What do you mean by “explain the overall concept underpinning the project”?
The proposal of the micro-project is expected to be provided, which can be run individually by the applicant, while offering means of monitoring its progress by SHAPES project, as well as ensure ease of integration of its results into the SHAPES infrastructure.
What is meant by “Provide a draft ‘plan for the dissemination and exploitation of the project’s results’”?
The applicants will be expected also to contribute to the SHAPES project dissemination and exploitation. Therefore, they are expected to describe their own strategy for disseminating the results of their project and their strategy for exploiting results they would produce in their project. Joint dissemination and exploitation with partners in SHAPES would be considered as added advantage in the evaluation of the submission.
What do you expect to provide for the “overall structure of the work plan”?
The proposal is expected to describe process of implementing the proposed solution in a form of a single Work Package with a number of tasks targeting individual activities, as commonly expected in Horizon 2020 projects. Example activities may include e.g. needs analysis, applied R&D, implementation and validation, integration into SHAPES Digital Solution, support to SHAPES pilots, contribution to SHAPES dissemination and exploitation, etc.
What deliverables are expected?
Applicants are expected to produce at least one report as well as a prototype of their solution, both considered as formal deliverables of their project. The report must describe in sufficient detail, work completed per each task of their work plan, results achieved, description of implementation and tests performed, to a sufficient level of detail to enable SHAPES partners to integrate produced results into their own solutions. Based on those we will be able to verify that applicants’ project has satisfied its objectives and can receive the final payment. Considering that despite a short expected project lengths of only 6 months, an brief interim review of the project progress can be held, hence it is recommended that a report is planned mid-way in the project, which would justify the interim payment upon its acceptance.
What do you mean by “timing of the different work packages and their components (Gantt chart or similar)”?
In Open Call 3 we only expect one Work Package in the proposal, hence we only ask for graphical description of inter-relations among tasks proposed by applicants (PERT chart) and their timing (Gantt chart).
How to “Describe the match between partner profile and project objectives”?
We expect applicants to justify and prove that they have sufficient expertise, experience and capabilities to pursue the development they propose in their application. Please follow similar structure of Section 4 as for all proposals submitted under Horizon 2020 program.
What are we expected to provide under Section 5 “Ethics”?
Since solutions proposed in our Open Call are targeting e-Health services, they may potentially be subject to ethical concerns, one of which being, but not limited to, privacy or data and as such governed by the GDPR regulation from the European Commission. Applicants are expected to identify and describe if any ethical issues may be applicable to the solution that they develop and how they expect to deal with such issues.
Where will my solution/product be deployed?
We do NOT anticipate solutions from Open Call 3 to be deployed and evaluated in SHAPES pilots. Applicants are welcome to propose their own evaluation, which would count towards higher score under the “impacts” evaluation criterion, we will also provide access to a network of living labs, although it is up to applicants to deal with these opportunities autonomously.
Where can I see the pilot schedule?
Please note that Open Call 3 does not require solutions to be evaluated in SHAPES pilots.
Where can I submit a query for more information?
For further information, submit a query at opencalls@shapes2020.eu
