Transcript Kein Folientitel

Structure and parts of a
Proposal under FP7
An example
Maria Koutrokoi
Hellenic NCP for ICT, Research Infrastructures and Ideas Programme of FP7
Technical Manager of EU Projects
National Documentation Centre (EKT/NHRF)
St. Petersburg, 20 February 2007
Moscow, 21 February 2007
Kiev, 23 February 2007
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
* Research for SMEs (Capacities)
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 restructuring of the participating institutions

Coordination actions/Specific Support Actions do
not conduct S&T research

Research for SMEs (CRAFT)
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
Key documents
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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
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
Upper funding limits
Maximum
reimbursement
rates of
eligible costs
Research and
technological
development
Network of
excellence
50%
75% (*)
Collaborative
project
50%
75% (*)
Coordination
and support
action
Demonstration
activities
50%
Management
of the
consortium
activities
Other
activities
100%
100%
100%
100%
100% (**)
100% (**)
(*) For non profit public bodies, secondary and higher education establishments,
research organisations and SMEs
(**) The reimbursement of indirect eligible costs, in the case of coordination and support
actions, may reach a maximum 7% of the direct eligible costs minus subcontracting
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

1.2 Contribution to the co-ordination of high quality research
objective is to ....”, Do not have multiple objectives - go up a
level, Indirectly show how it is beyond the state of the art
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
Start
WP3
WP4
Implem
WP5
WP6
WP2
Diss&E
Of course this can be enhanced with greater detail,
according to the project’s activities
End
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 and quality 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 Project
The 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
Technical Board
with technical leaders of each partner/WP
WP1
Project
Management
WP2
WP3
WP4
Chaired by
Project
Manager
Chaired by
Technical
Director
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
B2 add financial plan rationale
Update A3, fine tune, proof, agreement
Proposal
Development
Team
Initial
EPSS
submittal
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
Partners &
Cost Model
Man/
Mont
hs
Man/m
onth
rate for
the
Scientif
ic staff
Labor
Cost
Busines
s
Travels
%
Ow
n
Co
ntri
but
ion
Own
finan
cial
Cont
ributi
on
Indirec
t Costs
(Overh
ead:
20%)
Total
for
Suppor
t
Activiti
es
1. Partner
1/Co
9,6
3.100
29.795,6
15.600
3.500
25
17.83
3,3
9.779,1
58.674,
71
Partner 2
(FCF)
2,5
6.615
16.437,9
5.200
0,0
5
1.525
,0
4.327,6
Partner
(AC)
Partner
(AC)
Partner
(FC)
Partner
(FCF)
Partner
(FCF)
3
15,9
1.400
22.304,5
10.400
3.000
0
0
4
15,1
1.400
21.183,3
11.500
3.000
0
5
16,9
1.400
23.593,1
11.500
3.000
3
6
10,1
2.100
21.269,6
11.500
2.200
3
7
15,6
1.300
20.314,3
11.500
2.000
3
154.898,3
77.200
16.70
0
Supp
ort
Activ
ities
(Even
ts
,etc)
Total
for
Suppor
t
Activiti
es +
Manag
ement
(cost of
table 3)
71.333,
3
EC
Request.
funding
25.965,
5
30.500
28.975,0
7.136,7
42.820
43.500,0
0,0
7.136,7
1.391
,8
1.283
,5
1.237
,1
23.27
0,7
7.618,6
42.820,
0
45.711,
8
41.963,
5
40.577,
1
298.532
,58
43.500,
0
43.500
46.391,
8
42.783,
5
41.237,
1
319.245
,7
45.000,0
53.500,0
Greece
Subtotal 2
85,7
6.993,9
6.762,9
49.755,
4
43.500,0
41.500,0
40.000,0
295.975,0
Business travel estimation:
1. Coordinator (to support the events of WP3): 10 journeys * 1 person*4days*150= 6.000 euro and 10
tickets*700 euro=7.000 euro. In total for activities of WP3=13.000 euro. Moreover 2.600 euro should be
available for two (at least) trips too Brussels in order to meet the appropriate officer of EC.
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.
Part B: 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
10 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
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 partners
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/partners_en.html
Best Wishes for your Success!!!
Maria Koutrokoi
Hellenic NCP for ICT, Research Infrastructure and IDEAS
Programme of FP7
Technical Manager of EU Projects
National Documentation Centre (EKT/NHRF)