The 2nd Advisory Group Meeting was dedicated to Rare Diseases Calls. The principal aim of the meeting was networking of organizations involved in rare diseases research and related health care system in Turkey and relevant initiatives in the EU and to stimulate the involvement of Turkish organizations in EU initiatives and in particular in Horizon2020 and future Horizon Europe. The important objective of the meeting was also to raise the interest of EU partners in cooperation with Turkish organizations. The meeting was designed as a networking event providing information on Rare Diseases research in the EU and Turkey as well as on Joint Transnational Call on Rare diseases and presenting examples of collaborative projects and project proposals.

The 5th Focused Group Training covered key issues in the full proposal development cycle in H2020 ICT calls starting from introduction to the open call topics, familiarisation with key documents and online platforms under H2020 ICT calls, awareness on networking events and who are the key actors in H2020 ICT, including successful applicants and project implementers. Finally, special focus was given on how to write each of the three sections of the grant application form. The training was concluded with a hands-on practice session where the participant had to select a topic that they wish to get involved from pre-selected ones according to their needs and expectations (e.g. formulating a proposal idea for a specific ICT call, preparing an action plan for identifying and engaging key players in the ICT Area, preparing a pitching email for joining promising consortia, dealing with specific sections in the grant application template, etc.

The fourth in a series of 12 project writing training events for SMEs was successfully staged at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Adana on 22nd October. The event attracted 49 delegates ranging from microbusinesses to larger enterprises.

The event was staged as part of the ‘Turkey in Horizon 2020 Phase II project, which is jointly funded by the Republic of Turkey and the European Union. The aim of the training was to better inform SMEs about the European Commission’s ‘Horizon 2020’ programme which is the main vehicle for funding innovative SME projects to a stage where they may be commercialised. The event began with general information sessions about the Turkish project and Horizon 2020. This was followed by sessions which focused on the three key areas which project evaluators concentrate on; ‘Excellence’, ‘Impact’ and ‘Implementation’. The event was highly rated in terms of content and usefulness by the participants.

Almost 300 delegates have participated in proposal training and development events held since the start of the project in January 2019.

Details of past and future events and other related activities may be found at

You can see photos from the training in our Google photos Album.

The training was a three days event. The first two days outlined above were conducted mainly by the Proposal Development Expert on ERC, Dr. Lotte Jaspers. Expert delivered a detailed, hands-on training course to prepare promising and ambitious ERC calls for preselected Turkish researchers. During day 1, any question to help generate the understanding of what the reviewers are looking for was answered. During day 2, the specifics of the proposals were examined.  At the end of the day, 2 self-analysis was performed, which was the ideal opportunity to discuss with each person specifics of the expert’s comments on their proposal. On the third day, some insights on ERC proposals were presented and real evaluation ESR of a winning ERC proposal. Participants had time to work on their proposal based on a specific handbook that was provided to participants.

The purpose of the visit was to enable networking and facilitate communication between European Commission, TARAL and the project regarding the new Framework Programme: Horizon Europe.
This visit was arranged along with other Key Experts from the “Turkey in Horizon 2020” team and TÜBİTAK personnel at the suggestion of TÜBİTAK and with the approval of the MoIT. These organizations saw the event as providing essential input into the project to inform the transition into the next Framework Programme, ‘Horizon Europe.’

This training event aimed to familiarise participants with the essential steps needed to develop successful impact strategies for Horizon 2020 proposals and projects. The training was to support pre-identified individuals to act as information multipliers in Turkey of successful strategies related to Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. This was a highly interactive workshop. An EC officer, Dr. Carolina Rodriguez, Policy Officer on A3 – Horizon Strategic Planning & Programming (Co-design & Co-creation), presented the impact strategies in Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.
Objectives of the workshop were:

• i) To understand often confusing concepts related to Impact such as Communication, Dissemination, Exploitation, Impact, Commercialisation ;
• ii) To familiarize trainees with the development of DEC (Dissemination & Exploitation, Communication) strategies for Horizon 2020 proposals and projects;
• iii) To familiarize trainees with the development Impact Strategies for Horizon 2020 proposals and projects;
• iv) To familiarize participants with the development of commercialization activities and business plans in Horizon 2020 proposals and projects

The whole event focused on participants building their confidence in Impact strategies, i.e. plans to advance the visibility of horizon 2020 projects and build effective DEC, impact, and commercialization plans.
The interactivity with the audience was ensured through “Questions and answers” during the presentations and hands-on practice exercises.
The event was a 2-days, demanding the event to be designed as interactive as possible.

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) with the support of the EU-funded project “Technical Assistance for Turkey in Horizon 2020 Phase II” has the honour to invite you to the Cities of the Future 2019 (CoF 2019) International Brokerage Event, in Brussels on 8 November 2019.

The event will target the following  Horizon 2020 upcoming calls:

• Next Generation Batteries
• Automated Road Transport
• Mobility for Growth
• Green Vehicles
• Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Cities
• Energy Efficient Buildings (EEB)
• Smart Energy Systems and Consumers
• Circular Economy
• Raw Materials
• Sustainable Process Industry (SPIRE)
• Factories of the Future (FOF) and AI for Manufacturing
• Robotics

CoF 2019 will bring together up to 300 participants from Europe and Turkey, coming from both research and industrial communities working on related fields. This will not only give you the unique opportunity to connect with Turkish and European researchers to discuss H2020 project ideas, but also get first-hand information about the upcoming H2020 calls.This event will be an excellent platform to expand your network and create new partnerships for the last calls of H2020.

Join this event, present your project ideas and discuss them with potential partners in face-to-face meetings!

Funding will be available to cover travel and accommodation expenses for participants from both Turkey and Europe, who want to present their proposal ideas in one of our workshops!

Looking forward to meeting you in Brussels.
TUBITAK and Turkey in Horizon 2020 Phase II project!

For more information please contact us at: cof2019@turkeyinh2020.eu

Please note that registrations will close by Oct 24 or earlier if maximum capacity is reached!

This training event aims to familiarise participants with the essential steps that are needed to develop successful proposals under the upcoming calls in Horizon 2020 ERC call topic. The focused group training aims to support Turkey’s excellent and ambitious researchers and academics in preparing competitive and high-quality proposals based on breakthrough, high-risk/high-gain research ideas. Objectives of the seminar were:

• i) To understand requirements of the Call in detail;
• ii) To familiarize trainees with key documents for preparing successful ERC proposals;
• iii) To support researchers in preparing all sections of their proposal;
• iv) To familiarize trainees with the profile of winning projects under ERC calls;
• v) To familiarize trainees with the evaluation process in ERC proposals., what evaluators are looking at first and how to impress them (tips and tricks)
• vi) To address all technical details and questions by participants.
• vii) To receive one-to-one feedback on their draft ERC proposal directly by the trainer/expert

The whole event focused on participants building their own ERC grant application based on a breakthrough scientific idea and building the key points in each section of the application template and understanding what makes a winning proposal in this highly competitive call. The interactivity with the audience was ensured through “Questions and answers” sessions and the possibility for participants to raise questions at any moment of the presentations delivered by the Training Expert. Also, “one-to-one” consultations were provided to all participants regarding parts of their proposals they did not want to disclose to the rest. The event was a 2-days, demanding the event to be designed as interactive as possible.

The event’s content was based on the three key aspects that EC evaluators follow as a basis for assessing SMEI proposals. The key aspects were supported by coverage of research methods, market analysis, good practice in converting facts and data into winning proposals, writing techniques, the various requirements in ‘standard’ proposal sections and evaluators’ viewpoints on good practice in attracting higher scores. The training included exercises to review sample proposal content, then compare notes against a checklist. There were also presentations on Horizon 2020 in general, the SME Instrument in particular and a presentation on working experience with Turkish SMEs seeking to write proposals for SMEI. The event’s overall objective was to improve the abilities to participate SMEs in the development of SMEI proposals by seeking out more relevant information and providing more pertinent details in the content of SMEI proposals.

The Webinar content was based on an initial presentation from TÜBİTAK and the main presentation on the topic. The presentation was transmitted live to the 77 participants over a 2-hour period (including questions), as required in the ToR. This was followed by a series of related questions answered by two Key Experts from the TAT and an NCP from TÜBİTAK. The overall objective of the Webinar was to improve the knowledge of participating SME representatives about forthcoming changes in SMEI and to persuade them to consider making use of the programme on the most appropriate types of project.