FP7: Since the project idea to the submission of a proposal

FP7: Sincethe project idea to the submission of a proposal

General Roadmap 1.- Idea of the project 2.- Find the proper call 3.- Proposal preparation* 4.- Proposal submission 5.- Evaluation Summary Report 6.- Creation of the CA 7.- Negotiation of the financial part 8.- Grant agreement 9.- Performance of the Project

Fundamental ConceptsSummary of Key Phase Characteristics 5. Roll-Out & Implementation • Feasibility 2. Consortium Formation 3. Proposal Development 4. Contract Negotiation • Proposal idea & proposal summary • Technical Work • Negotiation & re-costing • EC templates & submission forms • Partner search • Establish contacts & agreements • Admin. & Legal Mgt • Consortium Agreement • Allocation of proposal parts among partners • Role in proposal & target budget • Payments & Financ. Mgt • Final contract signature = effective start of project • Explore initial contacts • IPR Mgt. • Final proposal submission • Auditing • Action Plan for proposal development • Reporting • Agree on overall budget & partner shares

Entering in FP7 projectsParticipating as Partner • Three key things to consider – • (A) What projects need • A good partner, that shares the consortium vision and is able to perform a given set of activities • A partner who is reliable and sticks to its mission • A partner who communicates well and understands how EU projects work from a financial and administrative point of view • (B) What kind of project you want • A project that helps you implement a strategy or reach an important objective • (C) How do you get onboard the project that you want • Customizing your research offer

The first steps • Clarify your own goals for participation • Identify Thematic Priority • Identify Strategic Objective • Identify topic(s) • Know which call and timeframe • Clarify whether you will coordinate or participate • Key decision is whether to go on the instrument applicable to the proposal (funding scheme) • Decide which instrument best fits the proposal: * Collaborative Project, *NoE, * Co-ordination and Support Actions

The funding schemes Choose your “funding scheme” with care: • Collaborative Projects must show a full range of activities - Research, Demonstration, Training, Cooperation with other programmes….. • Networks of Excellence represent a durable re-structuring of the participating institutions • Coordination actions/Specific Support Actions do not conduct S&T research • Research for SMEs (CRAFT)

Key documents • The latest relevant Workprogramme • Call fiche • Participation rules • Guide for Applicants (specific for each funding scheme and for each Programme) • Guidelines on Proposal Evaluation and Selection Procedures • Model contract • Negotiation guidelines • FP7: Fact sheets • FP7: FAQs

Partner Search Best sources are: • Previous/current project partners • Business partners • Targeted potential customers/distributors For additional partners/roles use: • CORDIS: Partners and Projects Databases • Expressions of Interest data base (if applicable) • NCPs network • Specific Networks (eg. Ideal-ist: Best Practice) • Information Days Issues to be discussed and agreed upon with the Partners • Their scientific/administrative contribution • Their share of EC funding (roughly) • IPR issues • Consortium agreement

Before you start writing • Ensure business reasons for proposal understood • Programme & Call identified • Topic & subject understood & agreed • Background work on previous/current projects • Identify partners who agree to participate

Fundamental Concepts Consortium Formation Core Points • FP7 consortia MUST be characterised by a range of complementarity in terms of • Expertise • Disciplines • Geography • Organisation types (e.g. academia, SMEs, etc) • Human resources • Number of partners depends on • Subject, tasks, project type - minimum three partners from three Member States or Associated Countries • An experienced co-ordinator is an important plus

Fundamental Concepts Finding Partners 1/2 • Established contacts • Previous or current project partners • Business partners • Internal organisation / company networks and communication channels • Private Partner Search • Databases in ICT-related projects like EUROPEAN-IST, SALA+, SEE-INNOVATION, EASIER, SECURE-FORCE, etc. • Public Partner Search • Cordis, IDEAL-IST FP7, etc

Fundamental Concepts Finding Partners 2/2 • And also • ETP Partner Searches • Targeted potential customers / distributors • FP6 projects database • Patent databases • EU conferences and publications • Information Days and other events • National Contact Points & Innovation Relay Centres

Fundamental Concepts Key Proposal Elements • Focus • There should really be only one high-level objective • Consortium credibility and quality • Management aspects and resource allocation • Workable and realistic work plan with well-defined milestones / deliverables / and success metrics • Well-identified risks and contingency plans • Exploitation and anticipated impact

Section 1 – Scientific and/or technical quality Concept & objectives Progress beyond the state-of-the-art S/T methodology and associated work plan Exploitation and Dissemination Section 2 – Implementation Management structure & procedures Individual participants Consortium as a whole Resources to be committed Section 3 – Impact Expected impacts listed in the work programme Dissemination and/or exploitation of project results, and management of intellectual property Section 4 – Ethical Issues A1 – General information on proposal (title, abstract, etc) A2 – Information on co-ordinator and other partners A3 – Cost breakdown by type of cost categories and partner Fundamental Concepts Proposal Structure PART A – Proposal SubmissionForms PART B – Proposal Content

Steps:1 Parts of a proposal • Part A • A1 :Acronym, full title, summary (2000 characters) • A2: Information on partners’ organisation: one per partner • A3: Information on Proposal’s/project budget • Part B: The main text of the proposal

Part B1: Scientific and/or technical quality, relevant to the topics addressed by the call (1) • 1.1 Concept and Objectives:- get right to the point - “The objective is to ....”, Do not have multiple objectives - go up a level, Indirectly show how it is beyond the state of the art • 1.2 Contribution to the co-ordination of high quality research Information for this section comes from various sources, such as: • The introductory sections of the Workprogram contains good reference material. • Via the Europa web site, http://europa.eu.int there is information on all EU policies and they can be identified and downloaded from there. eg - Policies - Access by subject to legal instruments in force, legislative activity in progress, implementation of common policies, EU grants and loans, statistics and publications

Part B1: Scientific and/or technical quality, relevant to the topics addressed by the call (2) • 1.3 Quality and effectiveness of the support mechanisms, and associated work plan Does not consist only of the required PERT, GANTT and WP charts and tables – they are purely summaries. You have up to fifteen pages available. This section should include: • Rationale for your implementation method - alternatives considered, phasing and check points, system design as appropriate, potential technical risks and fall backs, reference to other work, reference to other funded projects and justification

PERT & GANTT charts • Once you have produced a draft of the WP breakdown that is agreed by your major partners, build a final PERT chart and from it a preliminary Gantt chart that shows the start and dates of the work packages. • A good tip is to ensure that there is a phased start up of the project as, in practice, it usually takes 2 to 3 months for all the resources to become available. • Ensure that in the final month of the project only WP1 and WPx are ongoing in order to produce final reports etc. • These constitute good management practice and show the evaluators you are an experienced manager

Standard PERT diagram WP1 Project Management WP3 WP4 Implem WP5 WP6 Start End WP2 Diss&E Of course this can be enhanced with greater detail, according to the project’s activities

Part: B2: Implementation (2) • 2.1 Management structure and procedures • 2.2 Individual participants • This section has to be concise, complete and very well thought out. This section should describe how the proposed project will be managed, the decision making structures to be applied, the communication flow within the consortium and the quality assurance measures which will be implemented, and how legal and ethical obligations will be met. Emphasise the experience andquality of the management.

Part B2: Implementation (1) • 2.2 Consortium as a whole (only if relevant): • 2.4 Resources to be committed Start off with a short one page description of the consortium stating who the participants are, what their roles and functions in the consortium are, and how they complement each other. It is vital you identify such partners as “end user”, “exploiter or supplier” as well as “research contributor” etc. Be very careful of sub-contracts. The Commission does not like them. Do not sub-contract R&D, or management issues. This section should also contain a BRIEF description of each partner organisation, emphasising his relevance to the project (a third of a page, maximum). Include a brief CV of one or two staff per participant. Do not exceed one page per participant There are important things to say and irrelevant things. The evaluator is interested in a company’s technological capability. If you have been involved in previous successful projects, name them. The CV of the nominated Project Manager is of particular importance. Finally the overall financial plan for the project is critical. It must be brief and answer any obvious questions

Model structure:small and medium scale Collaborative ProjectThe partners(1) • Management Board with senior representatives of each partner: chaired by project manager • Technical Board with technical leaders of each partner/WP: chaired by technical director • WP1: Project Management • WP2:…… • WP3:…… • WP4:…… • WP5:……

Collaborative Project: possible structure (2) Partners Management Board with senior representative of each partner Chaired by Project Manager Technical Board with technical leaders of each partner/WP Chaired by Technical Director WP1 Project Management WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5…

Steps: 2 B part: workplan “Other costs” per WP per partner Cost iterations to achieve acceptable costs & distribution Update tables with man months, deliverables, milestones B2add financial plan rationale Initial EPSS submittal Update A3, fine tune, proof, agreement Proposal Development Team

Example Budget breakdown among partners for an SSA/support activities (Model based on the flat rate O/H=20%)For flat rate Overhead=60% the estimation would be based on the following: ((x-(x*100)/160))/x=total budget for the beneficiary/contractor

Part B3: Impact • 3.1 expected impacts listed in the WorkProgramme • 3.2 Spreading excellence, exploiting results, disseminating knowledge • Include plans for the dissemination/exploitation of the results by describing the dissemination/exploitation strategies, the user groups to be involved and how, the tools and/or means to be used to disseminate the results, and the strategic impact of the proposed project • Exploitation is a vital part of this section. Emphasise the usefulness and range of applications, which might arise from the project. Explain the partners’ capability to exploit the results of the project and detail how in a credible way. Refer to the draft Consortium Agreement with respect to access & commercial rights. This is particularly important. Be specific and quantify things.

PartB: Other issues It is mandatory to include two aspects here in a positive manner: Ethical issues One of significant impact here: data protection acts - both at European and at National level. State that the project will comply and it is the responsibility of, say, the project manager to ensure compliance and mention this in his responsibilities under B5. Gender issues Mention how many women you expect to be assigned to the project (it is assumed there will be some ). Assign responsibility to the project manager and mention it in B5. Safety & Environmental issues You should also state you will comply with all relevant Community regulations and specifically address any conceivable impact on Safety or Conservation concerns

Fundamental ConceptsProposal Submission and Evaluation • One stage e-submission via EPSS – Electronic Proposal Submission System • Eligibility Check – time of receipt, min. partners, proposal complete, other specific to call • Evaluation via 3 independent experts incl. non-EU evaluators • Evaluators selected from central database and by invitation and checked for any conflict of interest • 3 evaluation criteria only – for each funding scheme per Work Programme • Feedback via ESR and later by official letter of outcome of ranking process (including unsuccessful applications)

Useful tips 1. Many proposers concentrate on the scientific element, but lose marks on project implementation or impact description 2. Clear language 3. Well-organised contents, following the Part B structure 4. Useful and understandable diagrams 5. No typos, no inconsistencies, no obvious paste-ins, no numbers which don’t add up, no missing pages … 6. Don’t write too little; cover what is requested 7. Don’t write too much; Don’t neglect the “Other issues” : Gender issues, ethical issues, etc 8. Don’t leave the evaluators to figure out why it’s good; tell them ! 9. Leave nothing to the imagination 10. Don’t change the key points of the proposal in the last minute and Submit your proposal on time and if you need support/help call your NCP before it is too late

Writing an FP7 proposal is NOT just a creative process for A NICE IDEA • It requires to SHOW scientific, technological and depth knowledge of the subject • You must present references, legislatures, previous work and experience

Be precise and to the point • Use drawings to show your methodology at once • Use bold types in phrases that you would like to emphasize • Present cohesion and interaction among work packages

Further Information • 7th Framework Programme of Research http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html • Participate in FP7 http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/participate_en.html • Find a Call: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm • Find project partnershttp://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/partners_en.html

FP7: Since the project idea to the submission of a proposal