Transcript Folie 1

Shaping a project idea into a
project sketch
St. Petersburg, May 18, 2011
Dr. Andrey Girenko
www.giraf-pm.com
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Why do we start from this?
• Project idea, project formula – the first thing
evaluators want to understand and the first
thing they read
• Basic project idea shapes the attitude of
evaluators
• Relevance of the idea underpins relevance of
the whole proposal (“do not what you want to
do, but what is fundable”)
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Why is this skill so important?
 Competitive funding – basic principle of modern
research,
 Trend to large and international project initiatives
 Every project is unique – standardized schemes
do not exist
 Competition of project proposals,
 Quality of proposals – one of the key elements
of overall success of research organization,
 There is a need to support scientists in proposal
writing
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The plan
First steps:
• strategic planning,
• searching for partners,
• calls and deadlines
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Let’s imagine that…
• You work in the Research Institute of Nutrition of the RAS, Laboratory of
metabolism and energy
• The Unit has specific expertise/capacity in
• Interconnections between nutrition and human health
• Liquide and gas chomatography
• Statistical research on nutrition
• You have been approached by the director of the Unit and given with the
task to get the institute involved into a European research project…
• Today is a bad day somewhere in the beginning of August 2010…
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Strategic planning
• Identification of funding opportunities
• Identification of “windows of opportunities”
• Prioritizing
• Resource planning
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Identification of funding opportunities
• Work programme – major source of information on
thematic priorities
• Work programme – science-specific document,
requires scientific expertise to be fully understood
• Work programme – alive document, undergoes
regular updates
• There are supporting information sources helping to
understand “what the EC wants to get”
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Identification of funding opportunities
• The first place to visit: FP7 Theme most
relevant to your interests (FP7 FOOD)
• Is this an only place to go? – NO!
• Where to look for the WPs?
CORDIS (http://cordis.europa.eu/)
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DEMO cordis->call page->WP
http://cordis.europa.eu/
-> language
-> calls of FP7
-> Cooperation
-> Food
-> FP7-KBBE-2011-5 (the 5th major Call)
-> Information package
-> Work Programme 2011 – Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and
Biotechnology (KBBE)
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Identification of funding opportunities
• Outlines general principles and major priorities,
context and political background
• Research priorities
• Roadmaps
• Core of participation modalities
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Identification of funding opportunities
Reading the KBBE Work Programme
(see hand-out Objective KBBE.2011.2.2-03: Long-term
influence of early nutrition on health)
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Identification of funding opportunities
Hints:
• First read: try to get the overall impression and
sideline irrelevant topics
• Use additional reading to understand the
background and hidden meaning (e.g. Infodays )
• Pay attention to “Expected Impacts”
• Consult more experienced colleagues – Professional
Networking is a key
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Identification of funding opportunities
Results of the Work programme analysis:
• KBBE.2011.2.2-03: Long-term influence of early
nutrition on health (very relevant)
• KBBE.2011.2.4-02: Pan-European Total Diet Study,
building on available statistics, access to data,
expertise in statistical research
• KBBE.2011.2.5-02: Reducing post-harvest losses for
increased food security - SICA building on existing
links with food processing industry in Russia,
focusing on food security issues
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Identification of funding opportunities
Is this the end? NO!
Let’s go to the Health Programme
HEALTH.2011.2.4.3-3: Molecular and physiological
effects of lifestyle factors on diabetes/obesity.
Research should aim at multi-disciplinary approaches that
capitalise on genetic, epigenetic, proteomic, metabolomic,
physiological, and clinical disciplines to gain insight into
factors behind the divergent effects of life-style factors on
metabolism.
Conclusion: We can try it out…
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Identification of funding opportunities
Is this, FINALLY, the end? NO!
Let’s go to the Security Programme
SEC-2012.1.5-5 Securing the food chains from primary
production and animal feeds to consumer ready food against
deliberate, accidental or natural CBRN contamination
Conclusion: We can try it out as well…
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Identification of “windows of opportunites”
• WP gives not only a thematic focus, but also
– timing
• Check the Calls
• Write your own roadmap incl. time, open
thematic priorities, available instruments…
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Identification of “windows of opportunites”
Example of your roadmap
•
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•
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August 18, 2010. Marie Curie IIF proposal
November 10, 2010. HEALTH.2011.2.4.3-3 (1st stage)
November 22, 2010. SEC-2012.1.5-5
January 25, 2011. KBBE.2011.2.2-03
January 25, 2011. KBBE.2011.2.4-02
Include opportunities available outside FP7! Remember,
FP7 is just one of the funding schemes
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Prioritizing…. Factors to be taken into consideration
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Relevance
Size of a proposal (degree of complexity)
Time to go (feasibility)
Other factors
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Prioritizing…. Factors to be taken into consideration
Example of the decision:
- Priority 1. Get on board of KBBE IP (KBBE.2011.2.2-03) . Real
research, available capacity, attractive funding, still feasible…
- Priority 2. Health STREP (HEALTH.2011.2.4.3-3 deadline Nov.
10). Enables research, very good financial conditions,
available capacity, partnership, easy to write (1st stage)
- Priority 3. SICA CP January (KBBE.2011.2.5-02). You can
recycle materials, international cooperation, easy timing, etc.
What you should try (if there will be a capacity):
- To get on board of proposal(s) addressing KBBE.2011.2.4-02
- To trigger a STREP in Security
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Picking the focal point…
• READ CAREFULLY the chosen key line!
• Read supporting background materials, look
what has been already funded…
• Try to get the essence, the main point
• Try to understand what is expected by the EC
in this area
Try to come up with the relevant project idea…
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Picking the focal point…
Consider:
- relevance to the Key Line
- importance in the local & European context
- potentially interesting to the European partners, try to involve
potential collaborators
Potential project title/idea/formula
Early nutrition factors and their influence on trends towards
metabolic diseases (????)
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Picking the focal point…
Why is that:
-
relevance to the Key Line (read the hand-out nr. 1)
Addresses a really hot topic in Europe: nutrition and lifestyle
Visible innovations
Multidisciplinary approach
Within you area of competence
Connections to European partners
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Go further: what are the challenges?
• What should be done in order to achieve the
main objective (scientifically, technologically)?
• List the main RTD and non-RTD tasks
• Examples of non-RTD tasks:
– Dissemination
– Take-up
– Socio-economic analysis, ethic issues, …
• Logical consequence of steps
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Expertise analysis: pre-phase for partner search
Principles of choosing the partners:
 Integration of best available expertise
 Complementarity
 Reliability
 Cost-efficiency
 Other factors
“Partners, not friends”
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Requirements analysis: pre-phase for partner search
• For a STREP: 3 European partners from 3 different
MS (AS) – minimum
• Average size of an IP – 10-15 partners
• Average size of a STREPs – 7-12 partners
• Average size of an ITN – 5-7 partners
• Participation of SMEs – welcomed, often – a must
• In general, involvement of industry is positive
• “Geographic diversity” – myth (unless required by
the Call)
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Profiling: pre-phase for partner search
Start from identifying profiles of the partners:
(examples)
– RTD partner with expertise in system biology, preferably with
strong experiences (reputation) in EU projects
– RTD partner with expertise in organic chemistry with
applications in food processing
– RTD partner with expertise in health (pregnancy, early
development)
– Uptaker/multiplier
– Management, dissemination/exploitation partner
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Partner search
 Traditional partners ()
 Relevant running and completed European
projects
 CORDIS DB
 NCPs….
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DEMO: cordis database of projects
http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cf
m?fuseaction=proj.advSearch
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Partner search
 Identify the champions (ideally 2-3 per profile)
 Approach them with the outline of the project,
role in the project, information on the Call
 When the partners are selected, distribute
responsibilities, establish a workflow inside the
team and a schedule for proposal writing
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Conclusions
• Delineate your thematic area and match it
with the FP7 priorities
• Get yourself networked and informed
• Make yourself known in your organization
(visibility via info events)
• Establish personal contacts with all principle
investigators in your organization
• Be pro-active
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Practical task
Pre-proposal check form
(hand out 4)
Writing the summary:
-
1-2 sentences on the background (highlight the gaps)
Overall objective (1 sentence)
List of major outcomes (be specific, use technical language)
List of major sectors/target groups benefiting from the project
1 sentence on prospects for exploitation
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