EU-funded projects and their consortia can continue to receive free mentoring services from the EU-funded Horizon Standardisation Booster (HSBooster.eu). The booster has now received its own boost with an extension of the deadline for applications to 31st December 2024.
Applying for booster services is quick and easy and open to any ongoing or completed EU-funded project. Applications are accepted on a first-come-first-served basis and processed quickly. All support is provided free of charge to projects with experts paid directly by the Booster.
Over the past two years, standardisation experts from different research fields have provided strategic and practical guidance to projects via the booster services, which includee meetings, workshops and recommendations reports. The type of guidance depends on the lifecycle and needs of each project. It can range from understanding the standards landscape in the application field, exploring the relevance of current standards and mapping how project results can contribute to the development of new or existing standards.
Experts have also been instrumental in providing practical information on specific Technical Committees or Working Groups of standardisation bodies, e.g. on how and when a project should plan engagement and with who. Projects also benefit from financial support. This can be used to develop project-friendly instruments to contribute to European Standardisation Organisations such as CEN Workshop Agreements; cover membership fees to national standards bodies; and purchase standards and norms.
Clusters of projects and multi-project Task Forces supported by EU projects have also benefitted from the Booster services. Here experts have given interactive workshops to analyse and advise on how collective approaches to standardisation challenges can be achieved.
Projects can also access free online resources: The Standardisation Training Academy exclusively targets EU Projects. It offers a wide range of training courses, online sessions and even a role-playing game that have been developed by top-class researchers, trainers, and standard-developing organisations. The resources cover a broad range of research domains and essential skills required in standardisation such as negotiation, policy work, participation in standards development committees.
It is never too early to start planning your standardisation activities. The online Standards Orientation Tool targets newly funded projects and proposal writers. By responding to a series of questions, you can receive help on setting up your own strategy and tips on how to lay down the right foundations for future work in standardisation.
Background
This support contributes to European Commission objectives by ensuring that pre-normative research influences ongoing standardisation development. As new priorities emerge and new Standardisation Requests are defined and published, experts have been able to guide projects in understanding where and how their work can contribute to the development of new or existing standards. This help to ensure that the wealth of knowledge and expertise in each and every project consortia can be harnessed to the benefit of the standards community. Equally, the experts have highlighted that standardisation can be a key enabler for innovative products to actually make it to market.
From a researcher’s point of view, dedicating time and effort to standardisation can really pay off. Standardisation offers the chance to broaden your network and to tap into a vast knowledge base. With over 28,000 standards and over 1,000 Technical Committees and Working Groups out there, participation at standardisation meetings means access to tens of thousands of experts from a variety of backgrounds giving you critical insight into issues such as regulations, EU research agendas and policy priorities.