The FP7 Inputs for building a project proposal AN INFORMATION POINT FOR FP7 IN PALESTINE: Training Seminar of experts Nicosia, Cyprus - 23-28 November

The FP7

Inputs for building

a project proposal

AN INFORMATION POINT FOR FP7 IN PALESTINE: Training Seminar of experts

Nicosia, Cyprus - 23-28 November 2008

CNR–DG Mediterraneo e Medio Oriente

Salvatore Di Napoli

Eligibility conditions for a proposal

Proposals must fulfil all of the eligibility criteria if they are to be retained for evaluation.

The following eligibilty criteria apply to all proposals submitted under a call:

Receipt of proposal by the Commission before the deadline date and time estabilished in the call

Minimum condition (such as number of participants), as referred to in the call for proposals

Completeness of the proposal, i.e. the presence of all requested administrative forms and proposal description

The content of proposal must relate to the topics set out in that part of work programme open in the call

Preparation of project proposal

FIND A CALLFIND A CALL


The concrete plans for implementing the Specific Programmes (Cooperation, Ideas, People, Capacities) are announced by the European Commission in annual “Work Programmes”.

These Work Programmes include the schedule of “Call for Proposals”, commonly known just as “Calls”, to be published during the year.

The Calls for proposals invite candidates to present, within a given deadline, a proposal for action which corresponds to the requirement of the Work Programme.

Preparation of project proposalFind a call

The full text of the Calls are published on FP7 section of Cordis, the web site dedicated to EU-supported research:

http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7

Cordis is continuously updated with the latest information on Calls for proposals, as well as other information and services related to Community research.

Cordis will help you to find information and plan your proposal.


http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7


Go to: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7

Search for partnersSearch for partners


Preparation of project proposalSearch for partners

Once you selected the Call, you can start looking for other organizations which work in the same area.

Then, simply contact them directly with a short presentation of your topic and idea, and ask them if they want to be part of your consortium.

Cordis has an established Partners Service for FP7, fostering public-private partnerships to design, propose and launch new projects.

You can use the search facilities to find international partners with the complementary expertise, profile or technology that you are looking for.


The Cordis Partner Service (http://cordis.europa.eu/partners-service)

The Partners Service is a free on-line service, tailor-made to help you to find the best research partners for your projects, either in the context of EU-funded Research and Development projects or within a broader search for technology-orientated partnerships.

The service includes details on thousands of active partnership requests from companies, research institutions and universities across Europe and around the world.


Build the Build the ConsortiumConsortium


The group of organizations in a project proposal is called “Consortium”.

Each organization which is a member of the consortium is called “partner”.

Then the consortium designates one organization amongst them to act as “coordinator”.

The coordinator of the consortium represents the contact point with the Commission, receives the Commission grant and distributes it to partners.

Preparation of project proposalBuild the Consortium

Preparation of project proposal Minimum consortium condition for eligibility

The consortium can be modified:

Before the signature of the contract (during the negotiation stage)

After the signature of the contract; in this case an amendment to the contract may be concluded.


The consortium can be modified because of different

reasons:

One partner decides to withdraw: in this case the consortium must decide whether to take in a new partner to cover the work, or the work is redistributed among the remaining partners

The consortium decides to add one (or more) organizations as partners: in this case it has to be clear that the Commission grant to the project will not be increased because of the enlargement of consortium but the new

partner (s) will have to be paid from the existing budget


Write the proposalWrite the proposal


A FP7 proposal has two parts:

Part A (administrative information about the proposal and participants)

Part B (scientific and technical content of proposal)

In some cases, the call for proposals requires additional annexes. For example, the ERC (European Research Council – FP7 Ideas) requests a commitment of the host institution to be sent together with the proposal.

Preparation of project proposalWrite the proposal

Part A includes:

A1 - Brief information about your proposal, with abstract

A2 - Administrative information about people (scientists in charge) and organizations

A3 - Financial information (estimated budget of the proposal)


Part A has to be completed online by each partner including coordinator.

The coordinator fills in A1 (abstract) and A3 (budget).

The partners, including the coordinator, each fill in their respective A2 (info about participants).


Part B is the scientific and technical part of the proposal.

Part B is written in .doc format, but then saved as .pdf file.

Part B must be uploaded on the EPSS system only as .pdf file.

Remember, please keep to maximum page lengths where these are specified.

Even where no page limits are given, or where limits are only recommended, it is in your interest to keep your text concise, since over-long proposals are rarely viewed in a positive light by Commission.


Part B can be divided in four section:

1. Scientific and/or technical quality, relevant to the topic addressed by the call

2. Implementation

3. Impact

4. Ethical issues


1. Scientific and/or technical quality, relevant to the topic addressed by the call

In this section, you have to describe:

the concept and objectives of your proposal

the associated work plan

a detailed work description broken down into Work Packages (WPs)


2) Implementation


the organizational structure of the project

the individual participants

the consortium as a whole

the resources to be committed


3) Impact


the expected impacts listed in the work programme

the steps that will be needed to bring about these impacts


4) Ethical issues

All the research activities carried out under the Seventh Framework Programme shall be carried out in compliance with fundamental ethical principles.

A proposal which contravenes fundamental ethical principles shall not be selected. Such a proposal may be excluded from the evaluation and selection procedures at any time.


4) Ethical issues

These areas are excluded from funding under FP7:

Research activity aiming at human cloning for reproductive purposes

Research activity intended to modify the genetic heritage of human beings which could make such changes heritable

Research activities intended to create human embryos solely for the purpose of research or for the purpose of stem cell procurement, including by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer


4) Ethical issues

Where appropriate and/or required by the call, proposals must include a section which:

Describes the potential ethical aspects of the proposed research regarding its objectives; the methodology and the possible implications of the results;

Justifies the design of the research project; Explains how the ethical requirements set out in the work programme will be fulfilled; Indicates how the proposal meets the national legal and ethical requirements of the

country where the research is performed; Indicates the timing for approval by any relevant authority at national level.

To this end, applicants are invited to fulfil the "Ethical issues table“ .



Ethical Issues TableEthical Issues Table

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTI ON !

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Documents

The FP7 Inputs for building a project proposal AN INFORMATION POINT FOR FP7 IN PALESTINE: Training Seminar of experts Nicosia, Cyprus - 23-28 November