The determinants for the success of European research projects. What you must know to have your research proposal granted.

This research helps in understanding the complex world of the competitive research in Europe, dealing in particular with Framework Programmes and the characteristics expected from research proposals in order to be funded. The European Commission uses Framework Programmes as financial policy action to support the achievement of its strategic objectives. The allocation of resources, through multiannual framework programmes, boosts research and innovation in all different fields regardless national, regional or economic logics: direct and competitive funds are allocated according to excellence, expected impacts and outcomes planned by proposals, through an ex ante peer review evaluation by selected and independent experts. Actors engaged in this competition are mainly universities, research centres, public bodies, NGOs and the private sector. In the last 20 years many Higher Education Systems in Europe have experienced a marked change in the funding mechanism: public funds have been more and more reducing pushing public universities and research centres to raise external funds. European Commission programmes are one of the main financial resource to be taken into consideration in order to fund research projects, development and innovation. Therefore competitiveness for the research sector have become a mantra, a pillar for strategic decisions at the governance level. This work, after a comprehensive description of the framework programmes, their history, the actors and the rules of the play, aims at explaining the reasons why some country gains more funds than others, why some organisation raise more funds than others and what fundamental rules have to be respected during the planning phase of a research project.