The "Stairway to excellence (S2E)" project was launched in 2014 as a European Parliament pilot project executed by DG-JRC together with DG-REGIO. It is currently implemented as part of the JRC's Smart Specialisation targeted support activities.

S2E aims to support EU Member States and their regions in:
(i) developing and exploiting the synergies between European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), Horizon 2020 (H2020) and other EU funding programmes and 
(ii) Assisting them in closing the innovation gap, in order to promote excellence in all regions and EU countries as well as 
(iii) Stimulating the effective implementation of national and regional Smart Specialisation Strategies.

• Phases I and II of the S2E project were initially centred on the provision of assistance to the 13 Member States (EU13) who joined the European Union in 2004 and subsequent years. 
• Phase III extended activities to EU28, with particular attention to the engagement of less developed EU28 regions, and a gradual shift in focus on the implementation aspects of synergies between different R&I funding instruments in specific thematic domains. 
• Phase IV started on July 2018 for 24 months. The key objective is to support enhancement of the value of EU funding sources for research, regional development and innovation in RIS3 implementation, with a strategic focus on assuring preparedness of MS/regions for the post 2020 programming period in the area of Research and Innovation.