Horizon Europe glossary – Research projects
List of acronyms used by the European Union
Become an expert on the European Union’s acronyms for classifying their research projects with our Horizon Europe glossary!
We let you know all the secrets of MSCA, the different types of European research projects, their specific objectives, researcher status, and technical vocabulary used by the industry when it comes to taking the outcome of your project to meet the market.
If you are curious about H2020 / Horizon Europe projects, why not read our other resources? We believe in sharing the latest news about Horizon Europe and our experience in writing proposals and finding academic and industrial partners for your consortium.
Horizon Europe glossary
Consortium:
All the partners of a European project.
Coordinator:
Leader of the project and the team. He is usually responsible for carrying out the writing of a project, and if the project is funded, he will manage the team of the project partners.
CA:
Consortium Agreement. This is an agreement between the beneficiaries that establishes the rights and obligations of the consortium members. The CA does not involve the European Commission and should complement the grant agreement.
EC:
European Commission. It is in charge of defining the European research strategy.
EEN:
Enterprise Europe Network. The European network is dedicated to PMEs, providing information and helping them develop their innovative projects internationally.
EIC:
European Innovation Council. The research and Innovation funding program aims to facilitate the translation of research into society. For more details, check out our page about the five novelties of Horizon Europe.
EIT:
European Institute of Innovation and Technology. European institutes aim to reinforce the EU’s capacity to innovate by supporting companies and academia. The institute is divided into “KIC” (Knowledge and Innovation Communities), each addressing Climate, Health…
ER:
Experienced Researchers are researchers with a Ph.D. degree or have done more than four years of full-time research equivalent since obtaining their master’s degree (or any other degree giving access to a PhD). This is the profile of the students eligible for the MSCA-IF project.
ESR:
Evaluation Summary Report. It is the document you will receive after the project evaluation, with the reviewers’ comments.
ESR (for ITN projects):
Early-stage researchers are researchers who do not have a Ph.D. yet and have done less than four years of full-time research equivalent since obtaining their master’s degree (or any other degree giving access to a Ph.D.). This is the profile of the students you must recruit in the frame of an MSCA-ITN project.
FAIR data:
Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable data. To promote an even more open science, the EU strongly encourages the production of FAIR data and its availability in a public repository.
FP7:
7th Framework Programme. Former EU research programme between 2007 and 2013.
GA:
Grant Agreement. The legal commitment that the awarded applicants (beneficiaries) sign with the contracting authority (the European Commission). This legal commitment establishes the legal basis for implementing the action or project and is the reference document in case of litigations. It contains the final version of the action to be implemented.
GD:
European Green Deal. The EU’s ecological objective is to be the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050. The Green Deal brings together all the measures and research programs put in place to achieve this objective.
H2020:
Horizon 2020. Former EU research programme between 2013 and 2020.
IA:
Innovation Actions. This is a type of EU funding for projects with a relatively high TRL expected at the end and a strong focus on putting a product or a technology on the market.
KPI:
Key Performance Indicator. This is a practical way to evaluate the success of a task; it has to be measurable. For example, we will have a detection limit below xx ng/mL and generate >1000 visits/month on our website…
LEAR:
Legal Entity Appointed Representative. This is the person in charge of managing your institution’s data on the European Portal.
MSCA:
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. These actions are part of EU funding and focus on training young, experienced researchers and developing new collaborations. They are divided into several types.
MSCA-IF:
Individual Fellowships. They became MSCA postdoctoral fellowships in Horizon Europe. For more information, have a look at our MSCA-IF page.
MSCA-ITN:
Innovative Training Networks. They became the MSCA Doctoral Network in Horizon Europe. For more information, have a look at our MSCA-ITN page.
MSCA-RISE:
Research and Innovation Staff Exchange. They became MSCA Staff exchanges in Horizon Europe. The main goal of these actions is to build new collaborations with labs worldwide to apply for future research grants. There is no money for the research activities; it is only used to finance researchers’ displacement and training.
NCP:
National Contact Point. The national team will answer all your questions about a specific call.
PI:
Principal Investigator. It is a non-official word for the supervisors of an MSCA-ITN grant.
PM:
Person Month. It is the time your team will dedicate to the project: for example, if you plan to have two people working for six months on the project 33% of their time, you need to budget 2x6x0,33=4 PM.
PO:
Project Officers. They are responsible for following up on your project once it is funded. They check the progress and advise on improving its implementation.
REA:
Research Executive Agency. The European Commission established an executive agency to manage specific community activities in research and innovation.
RIA:
Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) is a type of EU funding. For more information, see our page dedicated to RIA projects.
Secondment:
A secondment is a short period (typically between two weeks and six months) spent by one project member in another partner’s lab to learn about a new scientific field, technology, etc., not available in the original laboratory. Secondments are typically implemented in MSCA Doctoral Networks (for the ESRs only) and MSCA Staff Exchange projects (for all the partners).
SME:
Small or Medium-Sized Enterprise. To be considered an SME by the EU, a company must have less than 250 employees, an annual turnover of a maximum of €50 million, and an annual balance sheet total of €43 million. The MIC is an SME and can be the industrial partner of your project!
TRL:
Technology readiness level. This scale helps to define the degree of maturity of a project or a product.
WP:
Work package. Every project has to be divided into several work packages, addressing the different tasks of the project, both scientific and non-scientific. There is usually a work package for management, another for the dissemination and communication activities, and between 4 and 8 WPs for the science.
Our microfluidic expertise and European projects
We will be glad to participate in your project. Visit our dedicated webpage to learn more about our expertise as H2020 and Horizon Europe partner!
Curious about the calls currently open?
We are particularly interested in the following calls but remain open to any collaboration!
- EIC WORK PROGRAMME that supports all stages from R&D to industry for game-changing innovations
- HORIZON EUROPE RIA CALLS, specifically focusing on health and food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture, and environment