project proposal · report report final report submission of project results the proposal first...

Project Proposal Project Proposal Monique Bossi

[email protected]

APREAgency for the Promotion

of European Research

ShERACA: training seminar for administrators – Cairo , 3 – 4 October 2010

•Workflow

•Participants Portal

•Part A


Workflow of project lifecycle

ProposalPreparation

Projectidea

12 months

1 – 3 years

Mid Term

Report Report

Final ReportProject ResultsSubmission of

the proposal

First indicationfrom the

EC

Signed grant agreement

with theEC

3 - 6 months 2 - 4 months 2 - 3 months Start/Kick off

Negotiations ProjectExecution


Participant Portal

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/


Participant Portal

What is it for?

• SHORT TERM

• Registers your organization in order to get a PIC

•Offers external stakeholders (participants, LEARs, coordinators,…) a

unique entry point, based on a single sign-on (ECAS), to access URF,

NEF (negotiation and amendment sessions), lists of projects…

• Helps the participants to identify what they can perform through

the portal to support their organisations and their projects

• LONG TERM PERSPECTIVE

• Centralized document access (delivery and consortium

documents)

• Homogeneity and visibility on Business Processes (transparency)

• Access to calls information, consortium building, etc.

• Management of proposals

• …


• The access to the Portal and its underlying services requires an ECAS account

• New users are invited to register on the European Commission Authentication Service (ECAS).

• Note! The e-mail address – as indicated in EPSS – is the trigger to identify the users and credit them with the relevant rights.

Participant Portal

How does it work?

Creation of an ECAS accounthttps://webgate.ec.europa.eu/aida/selfreg


7

Participant Portal

Participant Data Management

� The registration through the Unique Registration Facility (URF) aims at avoiding redundant requests for FP7 participants’ legal and financial information

� The Central Validation Team (CVT) centralises the collection of legal and financial documents and validates all participating organisations only once

�All organisations participating in FP7 and CIP will be assigned a Participant Identification Code (PIC) following the verification of their existence and a validation of their legal status through the URF

� A PIC has been assigned to all organisations with FP7 grant agreements and communicated to the grant agreement contact points

� New participants can easily get a PIC by registering online

�Organisations must appoint a Legal Entity Authorised Representative (LEAR) who will be in charge of providing the legal and financial documents to the CVT and of requesting, using URF, modifications to the legal and financial data held by the Commission

� The use of the PIC in proposal submission is optional but highly recommended

One legal entity, one PIC


Participant Portal

Steps to get a PIC

1. Check whether your organization is already registered

(http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/appmanager/participant

s/portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=searchorganisations)

2. If NOT, obtain an ECAS account and password

3. Register your organization using your ECAS account details. After providing all

the necessary details, press the [CONFIRM] button to submit your registration

information to the Central Validation Team (CVT)

4. CVT will then complete the necessary steps to identify your organisation (eg.

asks for official documents, etc…)

5. After identification, the CVT begins a verification process that will eventually

lead to the appointment of a Legal Entity Appointed Representative (LEAR).

During this period, the data that you have declared about your organization

can no longer be modified. Once uploaded, these documents cannot be

withdrawn or modified, except by the validated LEAR.

6. Upon registering your organization, you will receive a Participant

Identification Code (PIC).

7. PIC can be used for proposal submission after 48 hours


Participant Portal

your homepage


� At an early stage identify the validated/non validated

participants � Not validated participant should appoint LEAR and send necessary documents to the URF� Refer to Cordis (information on Participant Portal): http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/pp_en.html� Important role of the LEAR (to request validation and provide documents; for changes in recorded legal data; for input of financial information if financial check needed…)

Validation

PROBLEMATIC CASES� SME: because of the additional documents SME checklist and SME check� Natural person because of the different type of documents: a copy of the passport

/ ID card• Problem for the personnel costs• Certificate on the average personnel costs


� Principle of the Research GA: co financing

� Operational capacity: capacity to complete the proposed action or

work programme (technical, scientific, technological, managerial,

administrative…)

� Financial capacity� Goal:

• Making sure that the participant has the financial capacity to complete

the action

• Protecting the EC financial interests

Assessing the participant

capacity


PRIVATE LEGAL ENTITY• Coordinating an action• Requesting an EC contribution

> 500 000 EUR• Whose financial capacity is

doubtfulDocuments to be provided•Balance sheet•Profit and losses accounts•Statutory audit reports of the last accounts if available•An external audit report certifying the accounts MUST be submitted if EC contribution > 500 000 EUR•Excel sheet currently available on CORDIS (gives an indication on the financial viability of an organisation –does not mean approval by the Commission – fin capacity check is broader – co financing, eg. )

Assessing the participant capacity

Financial viability check

NATURAL PERSON (documents to be provided)•Last income tax declaration•Certified declaration of the current patrimony•Exhaustive list of the debts broken down in short and medium/long term debts as certified by its creditors•An audit report if > 500 000 EUR


PARTICIPANT

• May / May not participate

• Financially weak organisation may participate but not

coordinate

• May participate but closer monitoring, audits, technical

reviews, etc…

Commission will inform

• The coordinator that a participant may not participate due to

insufficient results

• The relevant participants that the results are weak and take

any related protection measures

Assessing the participant capacity

Financial capacity outcome


A2.1� Legal data (address, legal name, etc.)

� Status


A2.2� Organization

Legal status


Building the BudgetBuilding the Budget


To get our costs approved

Our goal

To receive the EC contribution


DIRECT COSTS

Only those activities related to the selected funding scheme will be

editable!!!

Method of calculation

indirect costs

Selected Funding Scheme

Form A3.1: Budget proposal


1.1.Selected funding schemeSelected funding scheme

&&Type of activitiesType of activities


What is a funding scheme?

The funding schemes structure the way projects are su bmitted in response to a call for proposals and funded within a g rant

agreement.

The funding schemes may stipulate inter alia the:

• types of activities supported

• nature and number of eligible participants

• mode of partnerships

• provisions for the use and ownership of the research results


Funding schemes

• Collaborative projects– Support for research projects carried out by consortia with participants from different

countries, aiming at developing new knowledge, new technology, products, demonstration activities or common resources for research. The size, scope and internal organisation of projects can vary from field to field and from topic to topic.

– Range: from small or medium-scale focused research actions to large-scale integratingprojects for achieving a defined objective.

– Projects should also target special groups such as SMEs and other smaller actors (CSOs –Civil Society Organizations)

• Network of Excellence– Support for a Joint Programme of Activities implemented by a number of research

organisations integrating their activities in a given field, carried out by research teams in the framework of longer term cooperation

• Coordination and support actions– Support for activities aimed at coordinating or supporting research activities and policies

(networking, exchanges, trans-national access to research infrastructures, studies, conferences, etc.)

• Research for the benefit of specific groups (SMEs o r CSOs)– Support for research projects where the bulk of the research and technological development

is carried out by universities, research centres or other legal entities, for the benefit of specific groups, in particular SMEs, associations of SMEs or Civil Society Organizations.


Collaborative Projects

CP

Cooperation

Capacities

Network of Excellence

NoE

Cooperation

Capacities

Coordination and Support Action

CSA

Cooperation

People

Ideas

Capacities

Funding schemes – Specific programmes


• Research and technological development activities: up to 50% of eligible costs.

– However, it can be up to 75% for:• Non profit public bodies, secondary and higher education establishments and research

organisations, SMEs, and • Security related research (in certain cases)

• Demonstration activities (to prove the viability of new technologies, eg. testing of products such as prototypes) : up to 50%

• Other activities* including management & training: up to 100%

• Frontier research actions : up to 100 %

• Coordination and support actions : up to 100%

• Training and career development of researchers acti ons : up to 100%

Upper funding limits (1)



• Principles of co-financing and no-profit

• Reimbursement according to the type of organisation, of action and/or activity

• Calculation based on accepted costs of each beneficiary• Eligible costs

• Flat rate

• Lump sums

• A combination of them

• NEW in FP7: No ceiling of 7% of the total EC

contribution for management costs

• Total amount of payments cannot exceed the maximum amount of EC contribution referred in Article 5 of the G.A.



• Research and technological development activities: up to 50% of eligible costs.

• However, it can be up to 75% for:• Non profit public bodies, secondary and higher education establishments and research

organisations, SMEs, and • Security related research (in certain cases)

• Demonstration activities (to prove the viability of new technologies, eg. testing of products such as prototypes) : up to 50%

• Other activities* including management & training: up to 100%

• Frontier research actions : up to 100 %• Coordination and support actions : up to 100%• Training and career development of researchers acti ons : up to 100%


*other activities?

• Management activities (eg. reporting, distribution of Community financial contribution and its administration, etc…)

• Training activities• Dissemination (eg. Establishment of website, presentation of the

project during conferences, scientific publication, etc…)• Networking and coordination (e.g. organisation of a seminar for

networking; meeting or travel for coordination purposes)• Intellectual property (eg. filing and prosecution of patent

applications, including patent searches and legal advice or the payment of royalties to a third party for intellectual property rights which are needed to implement the project)

• Studies on the socio-economic impact of foreground • Promotion of the exploitation of project’s foreground (eg. feasibility

studies for the creation of spin-off, etc…)


Maximum reimbursement rates of eligible costs

Research and technological development

Demonstration activities

Management of the consortium

activities

Other activities

Networks of excellence

50%* 50%*

75%75% 100%100% 100%100%•Collaborative projects•Research for the benefit of SMEs

50%* 50%*

75%75% 50%50% 100%100% 100%100%

Coordination and Support actions 100%**100%** 100%**100%**

* For beneficiaries other than no profit public bodies, higher education establishment, research organisation and SMEs

** The reimbursement of indirect eligible costs in case of Coordination and Support Actions may reach a maximum of 7% of total direct costs,excluding those for subcontracting and costs of reimburement of resources made available by third parties, which are not used on the premises of the beneficiary



75% 50%

100%100%50%

100%

100%


2.2.Direct and Indirect costsDirect and Indirect costs


DIRECT COSTS


editable!!!


indirect costs




Direct & Indirect costs

Tot. E L I G I B L E C O S T S

I N D I R E C T C O S T S

D I R E C T C O S T S


To be considered eligible costs must be :

• ACTUAL (real and not estimated or budgeted)

• INCURRED BY THE BENEFICIARY

• IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITS USUAL ACCOUNTING AND MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES (national accounting rules; no specific accounting system for FP7 projects)

• INCURRED DURING THE PROJECT DURATION – exception: costs relating to final reports and audit certificates!!!

• USED FOR THE SOLE PURPOSES OF ACHIEVING THE PROJECT OBJECTIVES (essential for the project implementation; in a manner consistent with the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness)

• RECORDED IN THE ACCOUNT OF THE BENEFICIARY (and, in case of any contribution from third parties, in the accounts of third parties)

• INDICATED IN ANNEX I TO THE GA

Eligibility Criteria


• Identifiable indirect taxes, including Value Added Tax (VAT)

• Duties• Interests owed• Provisions for possible future losses or charges• Exchange losses, cost related to return on capital,• Costs declared or incurred, or reimbursed in respect of

another Community project, (avoiding double funding!),• Debt and debt service charges, excessive or reckless

expenditure

Non-eligible costs


ELIGIBLE COSTSELIGIBLE COSTS ==DIRECT COSTS + INDIRECT COSTSDIRECT COSTS + INDIRECT COSTS

Costs attributable directly to the project

Costs NOT attributable directly to the project, but incurred in direct relationship with direct eligible

costs

Total eligible costs


Costs of personnel assigned to the project

Direct costs (personnel)

• Hired by the beneficiary in accordance with its national legislation;

• Work under the sole technical supervision and responsibility of the beneficiary;

• Includes "permanent employees“ and "temporary employees“;

• Personnel costs should reflect the total remuneration : salaries plus social security

charges (holiday pay, pension contribution, health insurance, etc.) and other statutory costs

included in the remuneration;

• Personnel must be remunerated in accordance with the normal practices of the

beneficiary. Only the costs of the actual hours worked by the persons directly carrying out

work under the project may be charged.


Person -months calculation

Productive hours must be calculated according to the beneficiary's normal practices. Productive hours per year should exclude annual leave, public holidays, training and sick leave.

210 working days- year could be considered representative in most cases

For example:•Total days in a year 365•Weekends -104•Annual holidays -21•Statutory holidays -15•Illness/Others -15•Workable days in a year 210

1PM ≠ calendar monthproductive hours per month = 1 PM

Productive hours per year/12= productive hours per month

Working time is the total number of hours, excluding holidays, personal time, sick leave, or other allowances.


Example of a time -sheet template


To keepTo keep - pay roll

- time sheets

- contract

- methodology used for productive hours

- CV

- reports on the activities carried out

Personnel costs – to keep


• Travel and subsistence allowance for staff taking part to the project

• Purchase costs of durable equipment (depreciation cost is charged in each relevant reporting period, even if the equipment is bought before the start of the project)

• Consumables - only if bought after the start date of the project

• Certificate on financial statements and certificate on methodology

• etc…

Direct costs (other direct costs)


TRAVEL

actual travel and related subsistence costs relating to the project

may be considered as direct eligible costs, providing they comply

with the beneficiary's usual practices and are adequately

recorded, like any other cost

To keepTo keep- Boarding pass

- Agenda of the meeting

-Attendance list

- Actual reimbursment:

- taxi, hotel, restaurant, bus… invoices/tickets…

- Per diem:

- any documents stating the costs incurred (e.g.

internal rules…)


Other direct costs

� Equipment: purchased for the purposes of carrying out the

action, must be determined according to the beneficiary's usual

accounting practice. Only depreciation can be charged.

�Consumable: Any consumables necessary for the

implementation of the project may be considered as direct

eligible costs if bought after the start date of the project

•Other costs: organization of events, promotional material…

- any documents stating the costs incurred

(invoices…)

- any useful documents expaining the beneficiary’s

own procedures used to identify the costs (e.g.

depreciation rules, awarding criteria, reports)

To keepTo keep


Sub-contracts: A subcontractor is a third party which has entered into

an agreement on business conditions with one or more beneficiaries,

in order to carry out part of the work of the project without the direct

supervision of the beneficiary and without a relationship of

subordination.

Direct costs (sub -contracts)

- invoices, contracts, CV, description of the task

- any useful documents expaining the beneficiary’s

own procedures used to identify the costs (e.g.

awarding criteria, reports)

To keepTo keep


DIRECT COSTS


editable!!!


indirect costs




Direct & Indirect costs





• For all beneficiaries: – either actual indirect costs or simplified method

– standard flat rate* of 20% of direct costs minus subcontracting and third parties not used in the premises of the beneficiary

• Non profit Public Bodies, Secondary and Higher Education establishments, Research Organisations and SMEs unable to identify their real indirect costs per project, may apply for a transitional flat rate of 60% for funding schemes with RTD

• For CSA* : reimbursement of indirect eligible costs limited to 7% of direct costs

Indirect Costs (overheads)

*Sheraca is a CSA – Coordination and Support Action


Indirect costs – actual costs I

Personnel 50.000

Subcontracting 0

Travel costs 10.000

Other costs 15.000

TOTAL DIRECT COSTS 75.000

� Calculation of indirect costs for actual and simplified is applied

e.g. for APRE is 55% of personnel costs = 27.500€

methodology for identification of indirect

costs rateTo keepTo keep

TOTAL COSTS = 75.000 + 27.500 = 102.500€


Indirect costs – flate rates II

Personnel 50.000

Subcontracting 0

Travel costs 10.000

Other costs 15.000


� Calculation of indirect costs for flat rate can be 60% or 20%:

75.000 (total direct costs) *60%= 45.000


nothing!!! the reimbursement is a flat rateTo keepTo keep

TOTAL COSTS = 75.000 + 45.000 = 120.000€TOTAL COSTS = 75.000 + 15.000 = 90.000€


Indirect costs – flate rates III

Personnel 50.000

Subcontracting 0

Travel costs 10.000

Other costs 15.000


� Calculation of indirect costs for actual and simplified is applied

� Calculation of indirect costs for flat rate is always 20%:


For CSA : for all benficiaries reimbursement of indirect eligible costs limited to 7% of direct costs = 5.250

nothing!!! the reimbursement is a flat rateTo keepTo keepShERACA: training seminar for administrators – Cairo , 3 – 4 October 2010

Total Costs





Lump -sum for ICPC

• ICPC (International Cooperation Partner Countries) beneficiarieshave got the option being reimbursed on the basis of eligible costs or lump-sums

• Lump-sum contribution per country income group

**ListList of ICPC economies provided by Annex I to the Cooper ation Specifiof ICPC economies provided by Annex I to the Cooper ation Specifi c Programmec Programme

Economy of the ICPC*Economy of the ICPC* ContributionContribution

(EUR/researcher/year)(EUR/researcher/year)

low-income 8.000

low-middle income 9.800

upper middle income 20.700


ICPC Lump -sum - Upper funding limits

Funding scheme Non profit public bodies, secondary and higher

education establishments, research organizations and

SMEs

All other organizations

Collaborative project 75% 50%

Network of excellence 75% 50%

Coordination and support action

100% 100%

Support for “frontier”research (ERC)

100% 100%

Research for the benefit of specific groups

75% 50%

Support for training and career development of

researchers (Marie Curie)

100% 100%


Lump -sum for ICPC - example

EXAMPLE:SME from ICPC country (low-income) having chosen a lump-sum, in a 3-years collaborative project GA with 6 researchers working on theproject full-time and 3 working part-time at 50%

Total researcher-years for the project: 3 years x 7.5 researchers/year= 22.5

EU contribution for the SME: 22.5 researcher/year x EUR 8,000 /year= EUR 180,000 x 0,75 (75%reimbursement rate for a SME in a collaborative project)= EUR 135,000


RECEIPTSRECEIPTS


Receipts (1)

• Financial transfers or their equivalent to the beneficiary from third parties

• Contributions in kind from third parties

• Income generated by the project

RECEIPTSRECEIPTSif allocated to the beneficiary specifically for the project

NO RECEIPTSNO RECEIPTSif their use is at discretion of the beneficiary’s management

RECEIPTSRECEIPTSif generated by actions undertaken in carrying out the project and from the sale of assets purchased under the GA

NO RECEIPTSNO RECEIPTSif generated from the use offoreground resulting from the project


Receipts (2)

• at final payment the Community financial contributio n will takeinto account any receipts of the project

• if Community financial contribution + receipts for the project > eligible costs = reduction of EC contribution

[example:Eligible costs: 100, EC contribution: 50, receipts: 50 = no impactEligible costs: 100, EC contribution: 50, receipts: 20 = no impactEligible costs: 100, EC contribution: 50, receipts: 60 = EC contribution will be reduced to 40]


COMMUNITY COMMUNITY FINANCIAL FINANCIAL

CONTRIBUTIONCONTRIBUTION


� Calculation based on accepted costs of each beneficiary

� Applying the upper funding limits per activity and per beneficiary

Reimbursement of eligible costs




EC CONTRIBUTION

�EC contribution cannot give rise to any profit

�Total amount of payments cannot exceed the maximum EC contribution (Article 5 ofthe G.A.)


The budget

25.000

10.000

7.000

20% of total direct costs (personnle + travel + other

2.450

7% of total direct costs (personnle + travel + other

42.000

Total direct + total indirect costs

39.250

Total direct + 7% indirect costs

42.000

39.250

2.450

7.000

10.000

25.000


The Form C – financial statement


Questions?


Thank you for your attention!

APREAgency for the Promoton of

European Research

via Cavour, 71

00184 – Roma

www.apre.it

[email protected]

Monique Bossi
