Evaluation Criteria & Scoring Guidance

Horizon Europe Standard Thresholds (RIA)

* Excellence – 0–5 (threshold 4)

* Impact – 0–5 (threshold 4)

* Quality & Efficiency of Implementation – 0–5 (threshold 3)

* Overall pass mark: ≥10/15 AND each threshold met.

Excellence (Weight 1)

* Clarity and pertinence of objectives in relation to FAIR digital objects, EOSC SRIA, and Common European Data Spaces.

* Soundness of methodology, including degree of innovation, interdisciplinary approach, and integration of open science practices.

* Ambition and credibility of proposed tools/services to deliver FAIR-by-design, automated standardisation and AI-enabled services.

How to Maximise Score

* Provide a state-of-the-art gap analysis and demonstrate clear advancement.

* Include TRL progression plan (e.g. TRL3 ➜ TRL6 by project end).

Impact (Weight 1)

* Scale of expected outcomes on FAIRness, interoperability and uptake across disciplines and sectors.

* Suitability and quality of KPIs, pathways to impact, and measures to maximise exploitation/dissemination (e.g. EOSC onboarding, standard ratification).

* Added value of coordination with EOSC governance & other projects (specific additional criterion for this topic).

How to Maximise Score

* Quantify impacts (e.g. “Increase FAIR-compliant datasets in participating repos from 5 % to 50 %”).

* Present a sustainability/business model aligning with EOSC Core/Exchange funding streams.

Quality & Efficiency of the Implementation (Weight 1)

* Quality and effectiveness of work plan, resources and risk management.

* Competence, complementarity and commitment of consortium; appropriateness of management structures.

* Allocation of adequate coordination resources for liaison with EOSC Partnership and related projects.

How to Maximise Score

* Provide clear Gantt, PERT and resource tables; justify budget per WP.

* Showcase balanced geographical and stakeholder representation (research, SMEs, data-spaces).

Tie-Break Rules

1. Highest score for Impact.

2. Highest score for Excellence.

3. Inclusion of widening-country partners and gender balance in key personnel.

Strategic Application Guide

1. Shape the Vision

* Articulate a compelling narrative on how your consortium will move the EOSC ecosystem from “FAIR-in-principle” to FAIR-by-design at scale.

* Demonstrate measurable impact on all four FAIR dimensions and clearly map each work package (WP) to the Expected Outcomes.

2. Build a Gold-Standard Consortium

* Combine core EOSC technology providers (PID, AAI, metadata registries) with domain-specific infrastructures (e.g. ELIXIR, EuroPlanet, CLARIN) and industrial data-space actors (GAIA-X, automotive, health, energy) to prove cross-sector relevance.

* Secure at least one partner directly involved in previous flagship projects (FAIR-IMPACT, FAIRCORE4EOSC) to leverage foreground and avoid duplication.

* Include standards bodies (e.g. RDA, W3C, ISO), policy organisations, and training specialists to cover uptake, governance and skills.

3. Design an Outcome-Driven Work Plan

WP1 – Project Coordination & EOSC Alignment

* Allocate resources for liaisons, joint roadmaps and compliance reporting to EOSC Association.

WP2 – FAIR-by-Design Tools & Pipelines

* Deliver open-source SDKs, containerised workflows and APIs enabling automatic generation of FDOs.

WP3 – Automated Standardisation & Data Quality

* AI/ML models for semantic harmonisation, schema mapping, data-quality scoring; benchmark against domain gold standards.

WP4 – Operational Data Services Specifications

* Draft, test and ratify technical specs; publish via open consultation and submit to EOSC & GAIA-X catalogues.

WP5 – Interoperability Pilots & Cross-Sector Demonstrators

* Identify 3–5 high-value use cases (e.g. climate-health, agri-biodiversity, materials manufacturing) with quantified KPIs.

WP6 – Training, Uptake, Sustainability

* Develop certified curricula, hackathons, Helpdesk; embed results in EOSC Core/Exchange sustainability plans.

4. Integrate Horizontal Priorities

* Open Science: commit to early code/data releases under OSI-approved licences.

* Gender Equality & Diversity: gender-balanced management, inclusive training material.

* Ethics & Data Protection: GDPR-compliant data handling, AI ethics checklist.

* Climate mainstreaming: eco-design of services; estimate CO₂ footprint of compute workflows.

5. Budget & Risk Management

* Reserve ~5 % for coordination with other EOSC projects.

* Use lump-sum vouchers or cascade funding for engaging external data-space pilots.

* Provide robust risk matrix (technical, legal, uptake, interoperability) with mitigation actions.

6. Writing Tips for the Single-Stage Proposal

* Keep Excellence ≤25 pages, Impact ≤20 pages, Implementation ≤25 pages (check annotated template).

* Use traceability tables linking activities ➜ outcomes ➜ KPIs ➜ EOSC SRIA objectives.

* Include letters of commitment from data-spaces, standards organisations and the EOSC Association.

* Apply Plain Language + Infographics to explain complex architecture to evaluators.