Two-stage submission

A two-stage call asks for a short outline first (commonly 10 pages) evaluated on a reduced set of criteria, usually Excellence and Impact. Those that pass are invited to submit a full proposal several months later, against the complete criteria.

The effort profile is the attraction. Ten pages is a fortnight's work for a small team rather than a quarter's, and the consortium does not need to be fully assembled to write it. For an organisation testing whether an idea has traction, this is the cheapest real feedback available.

Typically something like a third of first-stage proposals are invited onward, though the ratio varies by topic. Passing stage one is genuine progress and no guarantee: stage two is competitive in its own right, and proposals are rejected there routinely.

The trap is the gap between stages. The full proposal is due months later, and the consortium described in the outline is expected to be substantially the one that submits. Partners drift, priorities change, and a stage-two proposal that quietly swaps half its partners invites questions about whether the assessed concept survived.

Write stage one as a compressed version of the real proposal rather than as a teaser. The experts at stage two often see what you submitted at stage one, and a full proposal that has changed direction between the two reads as opportunism rather than development.