What Makes a Good European NMP Application

UKRO, the UK Research Office in Brussels, has recently attended an Industrial Technologies Presidency Event in Brussels. The event included information on the current calls under the Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies (NMP) theme of FP7. Luckily, UKRO was taking notes, and had these tips to pass on about what to watch out for when preparing an NMP application.

Good NMP proposals:

* Focus on solving the particular problem that is presented in that topic;
* Present clear objectives to address this problem;
* Put forward clear and consistent work plans, which flow logically;
* Appropriately address risk;
* Have the appropriate capacity and effective management processes within the consortium;
* Give consideration to the efficiency and sustainability of resource allocation; and
* Indicate a clear identification of the ‘impact’ of the project and the potential take-up of the end product if one is to be developed.

Some advice - concentrate on:

* Addressing the needs of industry. Academia should really understand these needs and make sure they are appropriately addressed in the project. Consider even working with industry associations to ensure you have fully understood their needs;
* Ensuring that there is active and strong industrial and end-user participation; and
* Ensuring that the proposal addresses the whole value chain.

Things to avoid in NMP proposals:

* Avoid projects that just have a pure ‘development’ focus where no research is being carried out or where no new knowledge is being developed;
* Don’t use consultants on the grant as a way of making it look like there is industry or SMEs involved. The industry involvement you have needs to be relevant; and
* Don’t submit ‘local’ proposals where the benefit will just be for one company. Think about the benefit EU industry will get in general.