Zürich · EU Research & Innovation
Independent evaluation and advisory for EU research and innovation projects
I help coordinators strengthen proposals, work plans and consortia before submission through independent review and strategic approach, with a focus on cleantech and digital technologies.
Services
Independent strategic consulting and support for stronger EU research and innovation proposals.
Current focus: collaborative Horizon Europe proposals in cleantech and digital technologies.
Clearly scoped, fixed-fee engagements.
Proposal Evaluation & Assessment
An independent pre-submission review aligned with the applicable evaluation criteria, form and scoring scale for your call. You receive indicative scores, clear written feedback and a prioritised action plan to strengthen Excellence, Impact and Implementation.
Work Plan & Consortium Strategy
Define the work plan framework and partnership your project needs, or assess the readiness of the one you already have. I assess work plan logic, consortium fit, capabilities, roles, governance and delivery readiness, or I define the work package framework, required capabilities, target partner profiles and a targeted route to address material gaps.
Service 01
Proposal Evaluation & Assessment
I provide an independent pre-submission review aligned with the applicable evaluation criteria, form and scoring scale for your call.
Evaluation
You receive an Independent Proposal Evaluation Report with indicative criterion-level scores and written comments, including observations on call alignment, consortium composition and implementation credibility.
The review applies the main evaluator lenses — scientific and technical quality, expected impact, and implementation capacity. It is an independent assessment, not a replication of the Commission's multi-expert consensus and panel process. We discuss the findings in a dedicated review session.
Assessment
The evaluation shows where the proposal stands while the assessment turns the findings into a practical improvement plan.
For each material weakness, I identify the relevant proposal section, its likely effect on the evaluation, and the action needed to address it. We validate and prioritise the resulting action list in a working session with your team.
Recommendations are grounded in the consortium's actual capabilities, resources and role.
Scope of a standard review. One stable proposal version, relevant annexes and one working session. Drafting, iterative review and material changes are agreed separately.
Delivery window. A standard engagement requires three to four consulting days in total. Final deliverables are normally issued within two weeks of receiving a complete and stable proposal package, including the review and working sessions.
Service 02
Work Plan & Consortium Strategy
I combine call analysis with evidence from comparable funded projects to define or assess the work-plan framework, required capabilities, roles, governance and indicative delivery capacity. Depending on your starting point, you receive either a fit/gap assessment of your existing work plan and consortium or a work-package framework, target partner profiles and a targeted route to address material gaps.
Evidence-Informed Requirements Analysis
I analyse the call and comparable funded projects to identify the capabilities, partner types and delivery conditions required.
Where relevant, I use public European Commission project data, including CORDIS records from FP6 to Horizon Europe, to identify comparable projects, relevant participant organisations and recurring consortium patterns.
Work Plan & Governance Framework
I define the work-package framework, including each work package's purpose, objectives, boundaries, principal outputs and indicative sequencing. I also set out the target consortium roles, responsibilities, decision-making and governance required to deliver it.
Work Plan & Consortium Readiness Assessment
For existing initiatives, I assess whether the work-plan framework, required capabilities, indicative capacity, governance and proposed consortium are fit to deliver the call objectives. I identify material gaps, risks and priorities. For early-stage initiatives, I define target partner profiles and a targeted, evidence-informed route to address capability gaps.
Targeted partner identification. Organisation suggestions for consortium building purposes are targeted and evidence-informed, not exhaustive. Final partner selection, outreach and due diligence remain the client's responsibility.
What you receive
One of two deliverables, depending on where you start.Independent assessment of work-plan logic, capability and indicative capacity coverage, consortium complementarity, governance risks and priority actions to strengthen delivery readiness.
A call aligned work-package framework, including objectives, boundaries, sequencing, required capabilities, indicative capacity and governance principles plus target partner profiles and, where relevant, a limited CORDIS-informed list of potentially relevant organisations. Final partner selection, outreach and due diligence remain the client's responsibility.
Available as a standalone engagement or alongside Proposal Evaluation & Assessment. For Work Plan & Consortium Design, commission the service ideally 4–6 months before submission, before work-package scope, lead roles and consortium composition are confirmed. A Work Plan & Consortium Readiness Assessment can be undertaken 2–3 months before submission, but scope for major changes is then limited.
Engagement
How engagements work
Each engagement is defined through a written Statement of Work with a clear scope, deliverables, timeline, responsibilities, assumptions and acceptance criteria. Fees are fixed for the agreed scope; any material change is agreed separately before additional work begins.
When to engage. For large collaborative proposals, start the review six to eight weeks before the submission deadline. This gives the consortium adequate time to consider the findings, agree changes and improve the proposal, work plan, governance and partner contributions.
Defined scope
We agree the call, client inputs, scope, deliverables, exclusions, assumptions and responsibilities before work begins. The engagement is designed to produce a defined decision-ready output, not open-ended support.
Milestone-based delivery
Work is organised around agreed milestones, such as an initial review, a working session and final deliverables. Timing depends on the completeness of the client inputs and the agreed availability of relevant decision-makers.
Fixed fee with change control
The agreed fee covers the defined scope and deliverables. Requests that materially change the call, project concept, proposal version, partnership, required analysis or workshop scope are assessed and agreed separately before work proceeds.
How I work
Every engagement has clear terms from the start.
Each engagement begins with a mutual NDA, a written AI-use disclosure and a Statement of Work (SOW). Where personal data processing is involved, the appropriate data-protection terms are agreed before work begins.
Mutual NDA
Signed before confidential material is exchanged. It protects your project information and my proprietary methods and templates.
AI Use Disclosure
I disclose in writing whether and how AI-supported tools may be used. Confidential proposal material is not submitted to external AI services in identifiable form without your prior written agreement. A fully AI-free engagement is available on request.
Statement of Work
Defines the scope, deliverables, milestones, timeline, fixed price, responsibilities and change process — so you know what is delivered, when and at what cost.
About
Massimiliano Bevilacqua
Haedra Consulting, Zürich — engineer, programme manager and EU proposal evaluator.
Since 2011, I have evaluated more than 100 proposals as an appointed European Commission expert across FP7, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. I have prepared individual evaluations and contributed to consensus and panel processes leading to the feedback received by applicants.
I apply this experience to review proposals against the evidence, clarity and implementation credibility that evaluators expect.
I hold an MSc in Electronic Engineering and an MBA focused on Italian electricity-market deregulation. At IBM, I was Lead Software Engineer for Automated Meter Management (AMM) systems delivered with ENEL and ASM Brescia. My hands-on technology experience also includes software licence management at IBM Tivoli, where I contributed to a US patent, and telecommunications at Swisscom.
I bring 20+ years of experience delivering technology programmes in regulated environments, including core-banking integration, security operations, audit remediation and enterprise observability at a FINMA-regulated Swiss bank.
When reviewing the Implementation section, I assess the work plan both as an evaluator and as someone who has been accountable for delivering complex technology programmes.
Accelerating European innovation through Swiss deep tech
Research is not the bottleneck. The path to deployment and scale is.
I am most interested in integrated energy systems — photovoltaics, storage and electric mobility working together rather than as separate markets. Their potential depends on credible pathways to demonstration, adoption and scale.
Based in Zürich, I work to connect Swiss deep-tech capability with European collaboration, industrial capacity and market opportunity.
EU research and innovation programmes can help bridge the path from research to deployment by connecting technology development, industrial capability and market uptake.
Haedra Consulting exists to help turn these complementary strengths into well-structured, implementation-ready projects and partnerships.
Contact
Working on an EU research and innovation proposal? Let's talk.
Tell me which service you are considering and briefly describe your project, call and expected support. I will respond within one business day to arrange a 30-minute introductory call.
If there is a good fit, we sign a mutual NDA before exchanging confidential material.