An EU grant proposal is scored by independent experts who read it against a fixed set of criteria, usually with only a few hours per proposal. The proposals that score well are not always the most original ones. They are the ones that answer each criterion directly, with evidence, in the order the evaluator expects it. These eight tips follow from that.
1. Start from the call text, not from your idea
Every call states its expected outcomes, its scope and any special conditions. An excellent project that sits slightly outside the scope loses points on Impact or is declared ineligible. Before writing, list the expected outcomes of your call and decide how your project delivers each one.
2. Write to the evaluation criteria, in their order
Evaluators fill in a score and a comment per criterion. Make that easy: use the criterion names as section logic, and put the strongest argument for each one where the evaluator will look for it. The criteria differ by programme, so see the overview at the end of this article.
3. Make the state-of-the-art delta concrete
“Novel” and “innovative” mean nothing without a comparison. Name the two or three closest existing approaches and state what specifically changes, and why that was not possible before.
4. Make impact specific
Say who benefits, by how much, and by when, and describe the measures you will take to get there: dissemination, exploitation, communication and, where relevant, standardisation or regulatory steps. A generic list of “societal benefits” is the most common reason Impact is scored lower than Excellence.
5. Build the work plan so every objective is traceable
Each objective should map to work packages, deliverables and milestones, and each risk should have a named mitigation. Evaluators check that the plan can actually deliver what the objectives promise, and a budget that does not match the work is noticed immediately.
6. Justify each partner’s role
For every consortium member, state what they bring that no one else does and what they are responsible for. Partners who seem to be present only to widen the geography weaken the Implementation score.
7. Check eligibility and thresholds before you write
Some rules are binary. Eurostars, for example, checks the two-country rule and SME leadership before any scoring, and Horizon Europe and EIC proposals must clear a minimum on each criterion individually, so one strong criterion cannot rescue another. Find these rules in the call text on day one, not in the final week.
8. Get an independent read before you submit
You know your project too well to see where an outsider gets lost. A read by someone who has not seen the draft, ideally from an evaluator’s perspective, finds the gaps while there is still time to fix them. That is what a GrantGenix evaluation does, and you can see what the output looks like in the sample report.
EU grant evaluation criteria at a glance
Horizon Europe (RIA and IA): Excellence, Impact, and Quality and efficiency of the implementation, each scored 0–5 with a minimum per criterion. See Horizon Europe evaluation.
EIC Pathfinder: the same three headings with a separate threshold for each. See EIC Pathfinder evaluation.
EIC Accelerator: short proposal, full proposal and a jury interview. See EIC Accelerator evaluation.
Eurostars: an eligibility check first, then Excellence, Impact and Quality of Implementation. See Eurostars evaluation.
Vinnova: Potential, Actors and Feasibility. See Vinnova evaluation.
Thresholds, weights and page limits change between calls, so always confirm them in the text of your call.