The objective of SIMPATIC is to provide policy makers with a comprehensive and operational tool box allowing for a better assessment of the impact of research and innovation policies in Europe. SIMPATIC represents a unique bottom-up project proposal, bringing together micro and macro researchers with expertise in evidence-based policy analysis and impact assessment of research and innovation policies, thus allowing European innovation policy makers to better address EU2020 challenges.Insights from micro-analysis and micro-evidence, including SIMPATIC’s own frontier pushing ex-post policy impact analysis of R&D subsidies and tax credits, will be used as input in SIMPATIC’s sectoral EU macro models, DEMETER and GEM-G3. These models have already regularly served in the assessment of innovation and environmental policies in Europe, and have thus proven their strength as support tools for ex ante and ex post assessments of EU policies. With SIMPATIC’s proposal, these models will be upgraded to include the latest insights from micro models in order to better respond to the new, grand challenges of RTD policies, including environment and social inclusion; SIMPATIC will thus develop and use the best possible evidence and methodologies to simulate the impact of a number of research and innovation policy alternatives, providing new insights into the potential impact of various policy alternatives, thus contributing to advancing impact assessment and evidence based innovation policy design in Europe.