What is dissemination and exploitation
Beneficiaries of Horizon Europe and Horizon 2020 funding must carry out activities to increase the impact of their project results by:
- Sharing research results with the scientific community, commercial players, civil society and policymakers (dissemination).
- Using their project results to tackle societal problems, in policymaking or for commercial purposes (exploitation).
Dissemination and exploitation are a requirement of the grant agreement, in addition to communication activities.
Check out the guide on communication, dissemination and exploitation to understand the differences between these three concepts, and get acquainted with the different European Commission tools that can support your project.
Free-of-charge dissemination and exploitation services
The European Commission offers various free-of-charge services to support your dissemination and exploitation activities:
Open research Europe platform: an open access, publishing platform for scientific papers for Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe beneficiaries, including an open peer review and article revision.
Horizon dashboard: an interactive knowledge platform where you can extract statistics and data on EU research programmes.
Horizon results platform: A platform for showcasing your research results, finding collaboration opportunities and getting inspired by the results of others. The Horizon Results Platform TV provides additional support, including testimonials and interviews from project participants that have succeeded as entrepreneurs
Horizon results booster: Free consulting services including a portfolio dissemination and exploitation strategy, business plan development and go-to-market support.
European standardisation booster: supports Horizon Europe and Horizon 2020 projects to contribute to standardisation in Europe and beyond.
Innovation radar: An initiative that identifies high-potential innovations, based on a data-driven methodology, and assists EU-funded researchers and innovators in reaching the market with their innovation.
Dealing with non-Commission publishing houses
You might be approached by publishers – sometimes in an aggressive way - who offer expensive services for publishing a research article. They might claim that they work for or with the European Commission and that the fees can be recovered through your grant as 'eligible costs'.
Please note that we will always inform you if a contractor genuinely working for the European Commission is to contact you. Legitimate contractors do not charge any fees to the beneficiaries.
If you need further advice on the matter, please contact your Project Officer.