It is worth reaching for the prize at Horizon – Polish projects in the near future

Beginnings are usually difficult. To this day, the Polish Platform for Homeland Security (PPHS) has participated in several dozens of national and international projects, but achieving this success did not come without failures. Rashel Talukder, PPHS’ Managing Director, recently discussed his experiences at the Horizon Europe 2023 Information Day.

The Warsaw meeting organised by the Polish National Contact Point (NCP) for EU Research Programmes of the National Centre for Research and Development took place on January 12^th. It was an opportunity not only to get acquainted with the novelties in the Work Programme for 2023-2024, but also to listen to valuable lectures.

Exchange of knowledge

Among others, Rashel Talukder spoke about the organization’s experience in implementing European projects and submitting applications as a coordinator. “Our beginnings in EU projects were not immediately successful. The first applications we joined as a partner did not even receive funding” he said. However, he encouraged the audience to make their attempts, because only then one can gain valuable experience and establish important contacts.

He also shared an important tip that when writing applications and before submitting them, it is valuable to have them checked by native speakers or those fluent in English. Given the importance of the project, language errors may seem trivial, but unfortunately they can negatively affect the review of the application by the granting authorities.

The part of the conference that was devoted to submitting applications gathered the greatest interest of the audience. Participants asked mainly about the presence of end-users in the consortium. Is their presence necessary, what are the key points and how does their presence affect the development of the project?
Both Rashel Talukder and Renata Rycerz, an expert from the NCP, emphasized that their presence as a partner is necessary for many reasons. When evaluating a proposal, it is not only the number of partners that counts, but also their diversity, adapted to the issues that the project raises. In addition, they have a very positive impact on the adjustment of the project’s effects to the needs of the target users.

Important Voices

Lectures related to the Civil Security Cluster for the benefit of society contributed a lot to the discussion. The already mentioned Renata Rycerz took the floor. Cluster 3, discussed here, aims to support the implementation of the priority assumptions of the European Union’s security policy. These include challenges and threats such as crime, cybersecurity, terrorism, as well as natural and man-made disasters.

Networking

The Horizon Europe 2023 Information Day was also an excellent opportunity to learn about the environment of European projects, in particular for people, institutions and companies that have not been involved in their implementation so far, but would like to participate in them. Throughout the event, information stands of Polish entities undertaking European research and development projects were available. Among them, there were stands for companies, universities, representatives of European Funds Information Points and NCP experts.

We were happy to take an active part in the exhibition! We used it as an opportunity to present our activities, ongoing cooperation and the training area. We also managed to get the participants interested in the projects we are currently implementing. Projects in the field of cybersecurity, including CYCLOPES, enjoyed the greatest interest. Visitors also paid attention to our training offer for schools and public institutions. The information stand and the presence of our representatives allowed for the exchange of contacts, which may result in joint initiatives in the future.

Also, this event resulted in new practical knowledge about the Horizon Europe programme. It was an opportunity for the exchange of experiences and networking too.