6 Keys to Build an Effective Consortium for a H2020 Project

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation program ever. It represents €80 billion dispatched over 7 years for various projects.

Among this tremendous amount of money, there might be something for a project you are supporting.

Also, you might know that as a general guideline, a minimum of 3 partners from 3 different member states (non-EU are often eligible) are required for the assembly of a proposal according to the European Commission.

Consequently, you have to build a consortium if you are thinking about jumping on the H2020 bandwagon.

If that is the case, you will probably be interested in the keys to building an effective consortium.

Remember your objectives

First of all, it might seem trivial but it is the most important thing: keep your end objectives in mind.

To keep them in mind first you have to define the objectives of your project correctly. The best types of objectives you can define are called SMART. It stands for:

• Specific: clearly state what is to be done during your project.
• Measurable : choose an outcome that can be measured easily (a number or a percentage for example).
• Attainable (but still ambitious): be aware of your capacity to reach the goals you set.
• Realistic: define your objective in accordance with H2020 issues so it meets your interests as well as the European Commission’s one.
• Time-bound: choose a time frame with an end date to achieve your goals.

But, you have to remember the fact that consortium building must take into consideration all the objectives of the partners included in the project. Each partner has their own motivation, specific role and added value to the project.

Acknowledge the skills and qualities the coordinator must have

The coordination structure has a fundamental role in the project at pretty much every step of it (assembly, propositions, and execution).

Its role is essential to manage the whole project!

Like we said just before, the project coordinator bounds all partners. As the project manager, the coordinator negotiates and signs contracts. Therefore, must be capable of:

• Good drafting.
• Demonstrating negotiating skills.
• Freeing time and resources.
• Being a good manager.
• Demonstrating enthusiasm.

According to the Club of Associated Research Organizations (CLORA), in its Guide to European Projects set-up, the project evaluation board attaches importance to the coordinator’s prior experiences.

So, the coordination structure should preferably have prior experience in European projects.

Expect specific qualities from the ideal partner

As we said before, a minimum of 3 partners is required. Here are some guidelines about how partners should be:

• Committed to the project: everyone must be actively involved in the preparation of the project and contribute to its drafting and set-up. If we still need to say it, a good partner is an active one! Obviously, if a partner is not so motivated, you might be you might as well not bother.
• Technically competent : do not hesitate to check their reputation and their resources. You can do so by checking their lab page or look up for their participation in other projects.
• Trustworthy : You will have to work with your partners for several years, so it is important that you have good relations and mutual trust.
• Proactive regarding the coordinator’s requests.

For all partners to work well together, the consortium is to be managed by decision-making rules: the decisions must be clear, democratic and defined upstream, in particular on intellectual property aspects.

Identify your partners

You are basically going to commit to a project of several years, therefore the choice of partners is very important!

To find them, you can ask around your network, or search randomly on the Internet. Or, you can use partner searching tools, such as:

• Cordis, community research and development information service of the European Commission.
• Ideal-ist, an international network, also funded by the European Commission, more topic-oriented.
• Scientist ’s search engine where you can find easily laboratories in any field of research.

There are also other communities where you can locate potential partners whether your search is topic-oriented or region-oriented.

Find the balance and effectiveness

The website dedicated to Horizon 2020 by the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research offers some tips about balance in the consortium.

According to them, a consortium has to be balanced on different levels:

The mission level: each partner must be given a specific role and their tasks must be complementary.

The expertise and sectors level: there may be academics, SMEs, industries or associations.

The geographical area level: the members of the consortium must also be well distributed geographically. Also think about the language, which may become a barrier in the work.

Be aware of the risks

Considering all we just said, give special attention to the counterproductive effect. This effect was described by researchers from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and tells you to establish solid partnerships but not in too many different projects.

They discovered that different partners (expertise and sectors) led to more innovation, but only if they are involved in a single collaboration at a time. According to NWO, several collaborations at once can give rise to counterproductive effects as imitation when facing a problem.

In a nutshell, to successfully tackle Europe’s research and innovation challenges, researchers need to collaborate in consortia with partners from different backgrounds.

Still, bear in mind that building the consortium for your project is the first step, followed by many others, like writing the proposal.