H2020 FET-Open Info Session How to submit a proposal 28 May 2014
Outline Where to find relevant information Basic modalities Submit your proposal Evaluation process
Where to find relevant information? 3
H2020 Calls Call and all necessary documentation are published on the Participant Portal http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal User friendly Participant Portal Easy to find funding opportunities Interaction with EC services through ECAS login 4
Basic modalities 13
Types of actions supported by grants Research and innovation actions Innovation actions Coordination and support actions SME instrument Programme Co-fund ERANET Co-fund Pre-commercial procurement Co-fund Public procurement of innovative solutions Co-fund 14
FET CSA: Conditions for participation Minimum conditions For standard collaborative actions (RIA and IA) 3 legal entities, each established in different MS/AC For CSA : 1 legal entity For SME Instrument and programme co-fund 1 legal entity established in a MS/AC Additional conditions To be set out in the Work Programme (i.e. number of participants, type of participants, etc.)
Eligibility for funding Entities established in MS or associated countries or third country identified in the WP Entities created under Union law International European interest organisation Other entities may receive funding if : participation is essential or such funding foreseen in bilateral arrangement between the Union and third country/international organisation Disclaimer : legally not binding
Simplified Funding Model 1 reimbursement rate by action (same rate for all beneficiaries and all activities): Up to 100% for Research and Innovation actions (+CSA) Up to 70% for Innovation (non-profit entities up to 100%) and Programme Co-fund actions. WP to specify the reimbursement rate (e.g 33% for ERA NET Cofund) 1 method for calculation of indirect costs: Flat rate of 25% of total direct costs, excluding subcontracting, costs of third parties and financial support to third parties If provided in WP, lump sum or unit costs Funding of the action not exceed total eligible costs minus receipts
Submit your proposal 18
Electronic Submission Electronic Submission System accessed from the call page ECAS password PICs for all partners Prepare proposal, On-line for structured part - Part A Upload non-structured part Part B - pdf files Submit the proposal! Validation checks Complete submission, before the 17h00 deadline Submission failure rate = + 1% Only reason for failure; waiting till the last minute Technical problems Panic-induced errors (uploading the wrong proposal) Too late starting upload, run out of time 19
Part A Administrative forms - online Section 1 Title, acronym, objective etc. Fixed and free keywords 2000 character proposal abstract previous/current submission Declarations Section 2 (one form per partner) Participant Identification Code (PIC) compulsory! Department Dependences Contact information Other contact information 20
Structured Part A online 2/2 Section 3 Cost and requested grant details Section 4 Ethics' questionnaire Section 5 Call specific questions: clinical trial, Stage 2, SME Instrument, Open Data Pilot, ERA-NET PCP-PPI 21
Part B 2 pdf files: Section 1-3 Based around evaluation criteria: Excellence Eg. Objectives, concept, progress beyond state-of-art... Impact Eg. Potential impact (incl. with reference to WP); measures to maximise impact (dissemination, communication, exploitation) Implementation Including work packages descriptions 22
Part B 2 pdf files: Section 4-5 Section 4: Members of the consortium Including information on third parties and subcontractors Section 5: Ethics and Security Template supplied by the submission system (.rtf) 23
Submission in H2020 Self-check for SME status, financial viability Simpler but tougher page limits for Part B, Sections 1-3 as a general rule warn and watermark in first round of calls - 50 Pages for CSA, applicable for FET - 70 Pages for RIA and IA, not for FET => For FET Proactive and FET Open Research and Innovation Actions strict limitation: 1+15 pages as eligibility condition - not applicable to FET CSA -
Successful electronic submission Each submission overwrites the previous one Make an early submission to check out the procedure and your proposal Make your final submission in good time..then look at what you submitted while there is still time to resubmit a correct version Never (ever!) plan to submit in the last 30 minutes of the call! If in trouble, immediately call the submission service helpdesk 25
Evaluation process 26
FET submission and evaluation FET-Open & FET-Pro-active Specific evaluation procedure FET-HPC Standard evaluation procedure FET-Flagship Specific evaluation procedure
FET-Open call Call FET- Open Continuously open Cut-off date every 6 months March & Sept, starting as of Sept 30, 2014 Submission & Evaluation 1 step submission 1 stage evaluation based on FET specific evaluation criteria High quality peer review 4 experts per proposals to best address multi-disciplinary nature of FET Grant Grant based on proposal 'as-is' -> No negotiation All information needed has to be in the proposal! Time to contract of max. 8 months from cut-off date ESR within 5 months, contracts within 3 extra months!
FET-Open RIA One step submission and evaluation Part A: Administrative part of the proposal Part B : Scientific part of the proposal 16 pages core proposal Cover page Section 1: S&T Excellence Section 2: Impact Section 3: Implementation Additional information Section 4: Members of the consortium E.g. legal entity, CV, subcontract, third party Section 5: Ethics and Security Ethics self-assessment & supporting documents Security checklist Cover page strictly limited to 1 page! Section 1,2 & 3 are strictly limited to 15 pages! Section 4 & 5 are not covered by the page limit. - FET annotated proposal template available on-line - Proposals are not anonymous!
FET-Open CSA One step submission and evaluation Part A: Administrative part of the proposal Part B : Scientific part of the proposal 50 pages core proposal Cover page Section 1: S&T Excellence Section 2: Impact Section 3: Implementation Additional information Section 4: Members of the consortium E.g. legal entity, CV, subcontract, third party Section 5: Ethics and Security Ethics self-assessment & supporting documents Security checklist Cover page strictly limited to 1 page! Section 1,2 & 3 are 'limited' to 50 pages (rest watermarked) Section 4 & 5 are not covered by the page limit. Use standard proposal template for CSA on Participant Portal http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/call_ptef/pt/h2020-call-pt-ria-ia-csa_en.pdf
Evaluation process Remote phase Individual Evaluation Report 1 Panel in Brussels Entire process monitored by independent experts Proposal Individual Evaluation Report 2 Individual Evaluation Report 3 Draft CR ESR Ranking Step 1: - Eligibility check - Assignment of experts Step 2: IER - Experts prepare Individual Evaluation Report (IER) Individual Evaluation Report 4 Step 3: - EC Quality check of IER Step 4: Draft CR - Collation of 4 IER comments per criteria - median score per criteria Step 5: Panel finalise CR: - Check IER comments - Add panel comments - Decide on final score Step 6: Ranking on: - Total score - If tied: topic overlap -> S&T score -> Impact score -> SME budget -> gender balance
Final CR=> Evaluation Summary Report Panel Comment S&T Excellence: score /5 - Expert 1 comments - Expert 2 comments - Expert 3 comments - Expert 4 comments Impact: score /5 - Expert 1 comments - Expert 2 comments - Expert 3 comments - Expert 4 comments Implementation: score /5 - Expert 1 comments - Expert 2 comments - Expert 3 comments - Expert 4 comments Remarks Total weighted score /5
Eligibility Standard criteria +1 FET specific criteria The part B (cover page and sections 1, 2 and 3) is strictly limited to 16 A4 pages and shall consist of: A single A4 title page with acronym, title and abstract of the proposal. Maximum 15 A4 pages consisting of an S&T section (section 1), an Impact section (section 2) and an Implementation section (section 3). A proposal that do not comply with these page limits will be declared ineligible. Not applicable to Coordination and Support Actions
Selection criteria Operational capacity (no specific provisions) Operational capacity means that the applicants must have the professional competencies and qualifications required to complete the proposed action or work programme: it may be assessed on the basis of specific qualifications, professional experience and references in the field concerned. Financial capacity Only coordinator of actions equal or superior 500 keur, except specific cases No verification for public bodies, entities guaranteed by MS or AC and higher and secondary education establishments
Evaluation criteria (Research project) Excellence Impact Implementation Clarity of targeted breakthrough and its specific science and technology contributions towards a long-term vision. Novelty, level of ambition and foundational character. Range and added value from interdisciplinarity. Appropriateness of the research methods. Threshold: 4/5 Weight: 35 60% Importance of the new technological outcome with regards to its transformational impact on technology and/or society. Quality of measures for achieving impact on science, technology and/or society. Impact from empowerment of new and high potential actors towards future technological leadership. Threshold: 3,5/5 Weight: 20% Quality of the workplan and clarity of intermediate targets. Relevant expertise in the consortium. Appropriate allocation and justification of resources (personmonths, equipment, budget). Threshold: 3/5 Weight: 20%
Evaluation criteria (FET-Open CSA) Excellence Impact Implementation Clarity of objectives Contribution to the coordination and/or support of high-risk and high-impact research for new or emerging areas or horizontally Appropriateness of the coordination and/or support activities Transformational impact on the communities and/or practices for high-risk and high-impact research Appropriateness of measures for spreading excellence, use of results, and dissemination of knowledge, including engagement with stakeholders Quality of work plan and management Relevant expertise in the consortium Appropriate allocation and justification of resources (personmonths, equipment, budget). Threshold: 3/5 Weight: 36 40% Threshold: 3/5 Weight: 40% Threshold: 3/5 Weight: 20%
Selection of proposals All above threshold proposals in each topic are listed in descending order of overall score Proposals are selected for funding starting from the top of the list, until the available budget is exhausted For this specific CSA call, for each of the scope items a), b), d), e) and f) at most one proposal will be funded. 37
Experts Appropriately qualified individuals may apply to work as experts in H2020 evaluations Application via Participant Portal Selection per call to ensure broad ranging and expert group; avoiding conflicts of interest Call for experts opened 38
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