Transcript Workshop on EU FP7 - Home | Cass Business School

Workshop on EU FP7
Dimitra Koutsantoni
John Montgomery
Overview of workshop
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What is new in FP7?
Programmes, themes,
funding schemes
Rules of
participation/eligibility
Funding opportunities for
Social Scientists:
–
–
–
•
New themes
New programmes (ERCStarting researcher
grant)
Changes in existing
programmes (Marie
Curie)
Calls timetable and
deadlines
• Making an application
• Forms (electronic forms,
parts of the form)
• Structuring a proposalwhat to include
• Evaluation criteria-how to
address them
• Where to go for
information (websites, etc)
• Partners (where to find
them, paperwork needed)
• Costing issues
• Dos and Don’ts
What is new in FP7?
•
•
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More money! (€54 billion vs. €19 billion in FP6)
New terminology
New programmes and themes
New costing rules
Simplified application guidelines and procedures
Fewer evaluation criteria (for example no
'relevance to Commission objectives' criterion,
though they still need to be addressed!)
• Higher rates of reimbursement
• Changes to reporting and audits
New terminology
FP6
FP7
What does this
mean?
Instruments
Funding Schemes
Types of Project allocated by
Commission to a topic
Contract
Grant Agreement
Binding contract between
Commission and participants
Participants/Contractors
Beneficiaries
All main participants in project,
who sign grant agreement
Audit Certificate
Certificate on the Financial
Statements
Independent auditor certifies that
the costs claimed are correct
Pre-Existing Know-how
(PEKH)
Background
Intellectual Property brought into
project by participants
Knowledge
Foreground
New knowledge created by
participants during project
The programmes
• Cooperation (new theme: Socioeconomic sciences and humanities)
• Ideas (new, European Research
Council-ERC)
• People (Marie Curie-changes)
• Capacities
• EURATOM
• Joint Research Centre (similar to UK Research Councils)
FP7 Funding Schemes
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Collaborative Projects (CP)
Networks of Excellence
Coordination and Support Actions (CSA)
Support for Frontier Research (ERC)
Research for the Benefit of Specific Groups
Support for Training and Career
Development of Researchers (Marie Curie)
• Combinations – e.g. CP and CSA
General eligibility criteria
• Three independent participants from three different
Member States (MS) or Associated countries (AC)
• Additional conditions can be established by the work
programme or specific programme
• Co-ordination and Support Actions/Training – at least one
legal entity (no limit on place of establishment)
• Frontier research actions (ERC) – at least one legal entity
established in a MS or AC
Member States (MS), Associated
countries (AC), Third countries
EU-27
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta,
Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Spain, Sweden, UK
Associated Countries (FP7)
Croatia, Iceland, Israel,
Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia,
Switzerland, Turkey
Third Countries (not EU-27 or
AC)
low-income, lower-middleincome or upper-middleincome country, identified
as such in the work
programmes
Note: Industrialised third
countries (such as Australia,
Canada and the USA) can
participate under the FP7
‘Rules for participation’, but
under their own funding,
unless specifically set out
differently in the relevant
work programme
Funding opportunities for
Social Scientists
• Cooperation:
– Socio-economic
sciences and humanities
– ICT
– Energy
– Transport
• Read work programmes
carefully to identify suitable
research questions
• ERC-Starting
Research Grant
• Marie Curie
Actions
– ITNs (International
Training Networks)
– Industry Academia
Partnerships and
Pathways (IAPPs)
• Capacities:
– Science in Society
– Research
Infrastructures
Cooperation: themes
1.
2.
3.
4.
Health
Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology
Information and CommunicationTechnologies
Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and
New Production Technologies
5. Energy
6. Environment and Climate Change
7. Transport
8. Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities
(new theme)
9. Space
10.Security Research
Socio-economic sciences and humanities:
research questions to be addressed
• Growth, employment and competitiveness in a knowledge society
(innovation, competitiveness and labour market policies; education and life
long learning; and economic structures and productivity)
• A combination of economic, social and environmental objectives in a
European perspective (socio-economic models within Europe and across the
world; economic and social and cohesion across regions, the social and
economic dimensions of environmental policy)
• Major trends in society and their implications (demographic change,
reconciling family and work, health and quality of life, youth policies, social
exclusion and discrimination)
• Europe in the world (trade, migration, poverty, crime, conflict and
resolution)
• The citizen in the European Union (political participation, citizenship and
rights, democracy and accountability, the media, cultural diversity and
heritage, religions, attitudes and values)
• Socio-economic and scientific indicators (the use and value of indicators in
policymaking at macro and micro levels)
• Foresight activities (the future implications of global knowledge, migration,
ageing, risk and the emerging domains in research and science).
Ideas: European Research
Council (1)
Two funding schemes:
 ERC Starting Grant
attract & retain the next generation of
researchers
 ERC Advanced Grant
attractive & prestigious grants for
established leaders
Ideas: European Research
Council (2)
Eligibility for ERC
Starting grant:
• Applicants should
have at least 2 years
of experience after
their PhD, but no
more than 9 years
• This can be extended
by up to 12 years
after the PhD in
special circumstances
(maternity/paternity
leave, military/civil
service)
• No allowance for parttime work (e.g. 2 yrs
half time=2 yrs full
time)
• Preference for projects
NOT to be
collaborative
• Need for collaborators
MUST be absolutely
justified
People: Marie Curie actions
(1): Funding schemes
Host actions
Individual actions
Initial training of researchers (ITN) :
Marie Curie Networks
Life-long training and career
development: Individual Fellowships;
Co-financing of
regional/national/international
programmes
Industry-academia pathways and
partnerships: Industry-Academia
Scheme
International dimension: Outgoing
International Fellowships; Incoming
International Fellowships
International Cooperation Scheme;
Reintegration grants
People: Marie Curie actions
(2)
Host Actions-This means:
– Host institutions/network applies for a number
of fellows/researchers
– Host’s proposal is evaluated
– Selected host/network advertises fellowship
position and selects fellows/researchers
– Contract duration with host, usually 4 years
– Fellows’ stay depending on Action (up to 3
– years)
ITNs
• Multi-site projects, mono-sites
or twinnings
• At least at post-graduate or
equivalent level researchers,
typically during the first five
years (or full-time equivalent)
of their careers in research
(with some exceptions)
Typical Activities of an ITN:
• Training activities
• Networking
• Visits and secondments
• Visiting scientists
• Organisation of international
conferences and other
training events open to
external researchers
• Recruitment procedure should
be in line with the principles
set out in the European
Charter for Researchers and
in the Code of Conduct for the
Recruitment of Researchers.
See:
http://ec.europa.eu/eracareer
s/europeancharter
• For a number of European
policy links, see:
http://www.grad.ac.uk/cms/Sho
wPage/Home_page/Policy/Eur
opean_policy/p!eFjlkal
Industry-academia
partnerships and pathways
• Two-way partnership
with at least one
commercial enterprise
and one academic
organisation in two
different Member or
Associated Countries
Typical activities:
• Staff secondments
between both sectors
within the partnership
• Temporary hosting in both
sectors of experienced
researchers recruited
from outside the
partnership
• workshops and
conferences
• As an SME specific
measure: a contribution to
small equipment related to
their participation in the
co-operation.
Marie Curie actions-Differences
between FP7 and FP6
FP7
FP6
ITN
Research Training Networks, Host
Fellowships for Early Stage Research
Training
Initial training of researchers
Intra-European Fellowships, European
Re-integration Grants
Industry-Academia Pathways and
Partnerships
ToK-Industry Academia Strategic
Partnerships
International Dimension
Outgoing International Fellowships,
Incoming International Fellowships,
International Reintegration grants
Specific Actions
Excellence Awards
Capacities (1)
Science in Society: 3
action lines
• Action Line 1: A more
dynamic governance
on the science and
society relationship
• Action Line 2:
Strengthening
potential, broadening
horizons
• Action Line 3: Science
and society
communicate
Action Line 2:
• The evolving role of
universities
– Defining better
conditions for university
research
– Partnerships with the
business sector
– Reinforcing knowledgesharing
• Gender and research
• Young people and
science
Capacities (2)
Research Infrastructures
• ‘soft’ tools
– databases
– surveys
– e.g. SHARE-Survey of Health, Ageing and
Retirement in Europe
Calls: timetable and
deadlines
• 25 April: ERC Starting
Independent
Researcher Grant- Call
identifier: ERC-2007StG –A
• 7 May: Initial Training
Networks-Call
identifier: FP7PEOPLE-2007-1-1-ITN
• 10 May and 29
November: Socioeconomic sciences and
humanities-Call
identifier: FP7-SSH2007-1
• 31 May: IndustryAcademia Partnerships
and Pathways: FP7PEOPLE-2007-3-1IAPP
Making an application (1)
• Electronic Proposal Submission Service (EPSS)
(available at least four weeks before the call deadline)
• Co-ordinator must register on CORDIS and be
sent password and access details
• Passes on access to other participants
• Complete A forms
• Upload .pdf file of Part B (10Mb limit)
• Can revise up to deadline
• Deadline strictly enforced
• ‘Submission’ must be selected
• EPSS user guide on:
http://www.ukro.ac.uk/subscriber_services/fp6/s
ubmission_evaluation/epss/050803_epss_user_g
uide.pdf
Making an application (2)
The application forms
• Part A
– Participant Identity Code (PIC) - a unique
organisational identifier, not running for first
calls
– Basic info – call details, title, summary,
partners, budget…
• Part B
Cover Page, Table of Contents
S&T Quality (plus templates for work packages,
deliverables and milestones)
Implementation
Impact
Ethical Issues
Consideration of gender issues
Writing the proposalgeneral guidelines (1)
• Take the steer from the
Work Programme
• Understand the
Commission’s objectives
• Be aware of Lisbon and
Barcelona objectives and
mention them!!!
• Also mention recent
relevant communications
from the European
Commission (e.g. White
and Green Papers)
• Be aware of the outcome
of previous programmes
and the nature of ongoing
projects
• Understand the funding
schemes
• Know what the evaluator is
looking for (read
evaluation criteria in work
programme)
Writing the proposalgeneral guidelines (2)
• Involve all partners
• Pay attention to layout
• Think about the impact of
the project
• Follow the guidance
– European or Regional
Economy
– Impact on European
Policy or Legislation
– Social Impact
• Ensure that ALL aspects
are addressed (science,
management, integration,
training, technology
transfer, dissemination….)
• Stick to the guidelines e.g.
page and budget limits
• Address ethical, safety,
regulatory and gender
issues
Cooperation: Evaluation
criteria(1)
Impact
S/T Quality
Excellence
3/5
3/5
Relevance
Implementation
3/5
3/5
Overall threshold 10/15
Cooperation: Evaluation
criteria (2)
Addressing ‘S & T Quality’:
• Have you explained the concept of the project?
• Have you clearly identified your objectives?
• Are your objectives achievable within your project?
• Have you addressed the state-of-the-art?
• Do you have improvement or innovation?
• Have you clearly described your aims and methodology?
• Have you described your overall strategy of the work
plan?
• Have you used Gantt Charts ?
• Are the work packages explained?
Cooperation: Evaluation
criteria (3)
Addressing
‘Implementation’:
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Have you described the
management structure?
Do you have an information
management strategy?
Do you have a knowledge
management strategy?
Its it matched to the complexity
and scale of the project?
Individual Participants and the
Consortium as a whole:
• Have you identified the role of
the co-ordinator?
• Have you described individual
participants?
•
•
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Have you explained the
consortium structure?
Do you have the appropriate
personnel/is it well balanced?
Can you demonstrate relevant
management experience?
Do partners have the
appropriate equipment?
Can they illustrate integrated
financial planning?
Can they illustrate integrated
project planning?
Cooperation:Evaluation
criteria (4)
Addressing ‘Impact’:
• Have you described how your project will contribute to the
expected impacts in the Work Programme?
• Does the project have suitably ambitious goals?
• Can you illustrate a contribution to economic
competitiveness?
• Can you illustrate impact on quality of life?
• Can you illustrate the effect of shaping research in the field?
• Have you elaborated on your dissemination strategy?
• What about exploitation of results, IP (if appropriate) and
knowledge management?
ERC-Starting Grant:
Evaluation criteria (1)
(1) Potential of applicant (?/5)
(2) Quality of project (?/5)
(3) Research Environment ("pass/fail" and
commented but not scored)
ERC-Starting Grant:
Evaluation criteria (2)
(1) Principal Investigator: Potential to become a world class
research leader
a. Quality of research output
• Has the Principal Investigator published in high quality peer
reviewed journals or the equivalent?
• To what extent are these publications ground-breaking and
demonstrative of independent creative thinking and capacity to go
significantly beyond the state of the art?
b. Intellectual capacity and creativity
• To what extent does the Principal Investigator's record of
research, collaborations, project conception, supervision of
students and publications demonstrate that he/she is able to
confront major research challenges in the field, and to initiate
new productive lines of thinking?
ERC-Starting Grant:
Evaluation criteria (3)
(2) Quality of the research proposal
a. Ground-breaking nature of the research
• Does the proposed research address important challenges in the field(s)
addressed?
• Does it have suitably ambitious objectives, which go substantially beyond
the current state of the art (e.g. including trans-disciplinary developments
and novel or unconventional approaches)?
b. Potential impact
• Does the research open new and important, scientific, technological or
scholarly horizons?
c. Methodology
• Stage 1: Is the outlined scientific approach (including the activities to be
undertaken by the individual team members) feasible?
• Stage 2: Is the proposed research methodology (including when pertinent
the use of instrumentation, other type of infrastructures etc.)
comprehensive and appropriate for to the project? Will it enable the goals
of the project convincingly to be achieved within the timescales and
resources proposed and the level of risk associated with a challenging
research project?
ERC-Starting Grant:
Evaluation criteria (4)
(3). Research Environment
a. Transition to independence

Will the proposed project enable the Principal Investigator to
make or consolidate the transition to independence?
b. Host institution [normally applicant legal entity]

Does the institution hosting the project have most of the
infrastructure necessary for the research to be carried out?

Is it in a position to provide an appropriate intellectual
environment and infrastructural support and to assist in
achieving the ambitions for the project and the Principal
Investigator?
c. Participation of other legal entities

If it is proposed that other legal entities participate in the
project, in addition to the applicant legal entity, is their
participation fully justified by the scientific added value they
bring to the project?
Marie Curie: Evaluation
Criteria (1)
(1) S & T Quality
• Inter/multi-disciplinary, intersectoral and/ or newly emerging
supra-disciplinary fields
• Scientific quality of the research programme
• Appropriateness of research methodology
• Originality and innovative aspect of the research programme
• Knowledge of the state-of-the-art
(2) Training and knowledge transfer
• Quality of the training programme
• Several methods of training
• Complementary skills offered: Management, Communication, IPR,
Ethics, Grant writing, Commercial exploitation of results, Research
Policy, entrepreneurship, etc.
• Conferences and training courses part of training package
Marie Curie: Evaluation
Criteria (2)
(3) Implementation
• Infrastructure, work plan, feasibility of project
• Adherence to principles of Code of Conduct of the Recruitment of
Researchers
• Detailed management processes and plan
(4) Impact
• Long-term collaboration prospects
• Researcher professional development
• For IAPPs: extent of SMEs’ participation, adequacy of
infrastructure
Note: If you have received previous funding under the Marie Curie actions under the
Seventh Framework programme or under similar actions under previous Framework
Programmes, you have to clearly demonstrate the substantial added value of the new
project in relation to the project previously financed.
Where to find information
CORDIS:
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ncp_en.html
ERC Home page:
http://erc.europa.eu/index_en.cfm
UKRO:
http://www.ukro.ac.uk
http://www.ukro.ac.uk/mariecurie
http://www.ukro.ac.uk/erc
EC’s Framework Programme Websites:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm
http://cordis.europa.eu/en/home.html
Cass Research Support pages:
http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/ressupport/secure/eu.html
Policy websites
Information on green and white papers, reports & press
releases: http://europa.eu/documents/comm/index_en.htm
EUR-Lex (EU legislation):
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm
Official statistics agency of the EU - wide range of useful data
for your proposal: http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/
Lisbon Strategy:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/et_2010_en.h
ml
European Research Area:
http://cordis.europa.eu/era/concept.htm
Barcelona objectives:
http://cordis.europa.eu/era/3percent.htm
Partners
Where to find them:
CORDIS:
http://cordis.europa.eu/pa
rtners-service/
Welcome Europe:
http://www.welcomeurope.co
m/default.asp?id=1510
UKRO:
(electronic system currently
down, but UKRO can put
you in touch with partners)
Singleimage:
http://www.singleimage.co.uk/i
ndex.html
Documentation needed:
Consortium agreement
(draft can be found on
UKRO website)
Advice:
• If you already have
contacts in other countries,
use those (safer!)
• Network in conferences,
seminars, etc.
Costing issues (1)
Costs are eligible if:
• Actual
• Incurred during the project
• Determined according to usual accounting
and management principles
• Used solely for project objectives
• Consistent with principles of economy,
efficiency and effectiveness
• Recorded in accounts
• Exclusive of non-eligible costs
Costing issues (2)
Management costs include:
• maintenance of the consortium agreement, if it is obligatory
• the overall legal, ethical, financial and administrative
management including [for each of the beneficiaries]
obtaining the certificates on the financial statements or on
the methodology
• implementation of competitive calls by the consortium for
the participation of new beneficiaries, where required by
Annex I
• obtaining any financial security such as bank guarantees,
when requested by the Commission
• any other management activities foreseen by the annexes,
except coordination of research and technological
development activities
• NB 7% limit of total costs in FP6 limit removed
but….participants are expected to self-regulate
Dos!
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•
Carefully read the text in
the work programme
Research previous and
current projects
Meet with consortium
partners (if applicable)
Register in EPSS
Make sure all forms are
completed correctly
Get someone to read
through your proposal
Discuss budget early with
us
• For ERC: Absolutely adhere
to page limits-longer
proposals WILL NOT be
evaluated
• Submit before the deadlineSTRONGLY advised!
• Register as an expert with
CORDIS (evaluator, reviewer
or monitor expert):
https://cordis.europa.eu/
emmfp7/
• Contact us for advice and
support
• Register with UKRO
• Attend UKRO proposal
writing training events
Don’ts!
• Do not undertake co-ordination of a consortium if
this is your first EU application
• Do not submit a proposal without having
obtained approval from the university (this
involves contacting us and having us cost and
process your application)
• Do not submit proposals for collaborative projects
to ERC
• Do not solely rely on CORDIS/UKRO etc. for
finding partners-use existing contacts
• Do not submit on the last day of the deadline!!!
Any questions?
If you are thinking of applying
for EU funding
…
Call us on extensions:
– 0140 (Dimitra)
We are here to help!
– 4193 (John)
We can give you detailed
information on:
E-mail us:
• the work programme
[email protected]
• how to apply
• how to structure the
[email protected]
proposal
• what documentation you
need
• eligible costs
Further training
• UKRO (free):
http://www.ukro.ac.uk/subscriber_services/event
s/index.htm#0607_training_development
• Bluebell Research:
http://www.bluebell-res.co.uk/