SME instrument – phase 2 - Proposal template (Technical annex)

Sep 23, 2026

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SME instrument phase 2 technical annex proposal template adapted for EIC, including mandatory notices, proposal-length and page-visibility rules, and formatting constraints. The structure guides applicants through a cover page, a maximum 1-page executive summary, and sections covering excellence (challenge, solution, innovation, state-of-the-art, approach, TRL-based development stage, milestones, and gendered innovation consideration) and impact (market entry, targeted users, competitors, entry barriers, business model, financing, scalability, and expected outcomes/success criteria).

LanguageEnglish

CategoryForms

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Cover Page

Executive Summary

Content

Excellence

Impact

Proposal template (Technical annex) SME instrument – phase 2 [Adapted for EIC] IMPORTANT NOTICE This draft has not been adopted or endorsed by the European Commission. Any views expressed are the views of the Commission services and may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the Commission. This draft is made public before the adoption of the work programme 2018-2020 to provide potential participants with the currently expected main lines of this work programme. Only the adopted work programme will have legal value. The adoption of the work programme will be announced on the Horizon 2020 website and on the Participant Portal. Proposals shall be based on a on a strategic business plan developed through SME instrument phase 1 support or by other means. Please follow the structure of the template when preparing your proposal. It has been designed to ensure that the important aspects of your innovation and planned work are presented in a way that will enable the experts to make an effective assessment against the award criteria. If you upload a proposal longer than 30 pages (only sections 1-3, including cover page and executive summary) before the cut-off date, you will receive an automatic warning and will be advised to shorten andre-upload the proposal. After the call cut-off date, excess pages will be automatically made invisible and will not be taken into consideration. Please, do not consider the page limit as a target! It is in your interest to keep your text as concise as possible, since experts rarely view unnecessarily long proposals in a positive light. Please respect the following formatting constraints: – Times New Roman, Arial or similar, at least font size 11, page size A4, margins (2.0 cm side and 1.5 cm top and bottom), at least single line spacing. Further guidance is available in the Guidelines for Applicants. [Proposal Acronym] template WP18-20 v20171006 I . Cover Page o Title of proposal o Acronym of proposal o List of participants o Fill in the table (use the same participant number as the one used in the administrative proposal forms) | Participant number | Organisation name | Country | | --- | --- | --- | | (Coordinator) | | | | | | | II . Executive Summary (1-page maximum) III . Content 1. Excellence o Challenge and solution x Describe the identified customer pain point? What is the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity? x What is your innovation? x What is the market's state-of-the-art? How would your innovation compare with available solutions, practices or products (e.g. performance, costs, ease-of-use, gender dimension1, climate change or environmental aspects, benefits to society)? o Approach x What is unique in your approach, compared to those of other companies? x Why now? Explain the historical evolution of your category and define recent trends that make your solution possible. x What is the current development stage of your innovation? Refer to Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) or something analogous for non-technological innovations (see General Annex G of the Work Programme) . x Which milestones led to the current development stage (e.g. proof of concept completed, early field trials under way)? Describe the results obtained on the technological, practical and economic feasibility of the innovation. 1 How your innovation takes into account the needs and interests of women and men users and/or customers. For examples of how gendered innovations can improve products and increase market share please refer to [http://ec.europa.eu/research/swafs/gendered-innovations/index_en.cfm?pg=home](http://ec.europa.eu/research/swafs/gendered-innovations/index_en.cfm?pg=home) 1 [Proposal Acronym] template WP18-20 v20171006 x What are the further stages and activities needed to commercialize your innovation and which of these activities do you intend to perform in this Phase-2 project

FAQs

What are the key mandatory notices for this draft proposal template?

The template states it is not adopted or endorsed by the European Commission and that only the adopted work programme has legal value. It also explains the draft is published to inform potential participants before adoption.

How should applicants handle the proposal length and page rules?

If uploaded longer than 30 pages (sections 1–3 including cover and executive summary) before the cut-off date, applicants receive an automatic warning and are advised to shorten and re-upload. After the cut-off date, excess pages become automatically invisible and are not considered.

What sections must be included in the proposal according to the template structure?

The template requires a cover page, an executive summary of up to one page, and content sections for Excellence and Impact, each with specific sub-questions on challenge/solution, innovation and approach, market entry, business model, and financing.

Sep 23, 2026

Upload by Adam