University of Trieste

PHD school in Nanotechnology

Writing a proposal

… with particular attention to FP7

Maurizio Fermeglia

The Basics

• You do not go to Brussels to „lobby” for your project

• You understand that FP7 is about trans-European cooperation

• You read and understand the Work Programme and the Guides

• You accept and play according to the rules – no special treatment for NMS and Candidate Countries

General Comments

• How do you get started?• Work Programme +

other official documents.– Consult before you

submit:– FP7 Helpdesk– Scientific Officers, other

FP6/FP7 contacts– NCPs– Get additional intel on

what the priorities are– Read the news, watch TV,

follow-up what’s going on in Europe

General Comments• FP7 proposals are evaluated in Brussels by

independent evaluators:– Background: academic, industry, consulting– Geographical representation of Europe– Gender balance

• Understand the human factor of the evaluation system!

General Comments• Cutting edge science: only in Ideas! The rest:

– Applied research + demonstration (good ideas + innovation)– Integration of EU research– Europe as a whole must benefit from it

• Trans-European collaboration is not a tool but an objective!

• Submitted proposals are all good or very good– Your proposal will need to be excellent– Competition is very high – Success rate: lower than with national programmes

• FP7 proposals are evaluated in Brussels by independent evaluators:– Background: academic, industry, consulting– Geographical representation of Europe– Gender balance

The Idea

• Initial idea: this is core!!!!• Core consortium – the rest is built

around it• Initial priorities may change: Work

Programme• Centre of gravity may change: new

partners• Project idea: summarised in 1 paragraph

- can be used to attract experienced project partners

University of Trieste

PHD school in Nanotechnology

The Proposal

The proposal• Download from Cordis

(complete package, always the latest version)

• Part A: administrative info• Part B: technical info• Electronic submission

only

The Proposal

Part B:0. Cover page1: Scientific/technical quality2. Implementation3. Impact4. Ethical Issues5. Consideration of gender aspects

The Proposal

1. Scientific/technical quality– 1.1 Concept and objectives– 1.2 Progress beyond the state-of-the-art– 1.3 S/T methodology and associated work plan

The Proposal

2. Implementation– 2.1 Management structure and procedures– 2.2 Individual participants– 2.3 Consortium as a whole

• Sub-contracting• Other countries• Additional partners

– 2.4 Resources to be committed

The Proposal

3. Impact– 3.1 Expected impacts listed in the work programme– 3.2 Dissemination and/or exploitation of project

results, and management of intellectual property

The Proposal• 4. Ethical Issues• 5. Consideration of gender aspects

The Proposal

Your proposal will have to be– Based around an interesting novel idea– Implemented using an appropriate

methodology– Structured and written in a clear way– Addressing the Work Programme and EU

priorities– Realistic in terms of resources (never

underestimate!)– Short

Description of the project

1. Scientific and/or technical quality, relevant to the topics addressed by the call1.1 Concept and objectives1.2 Progress beyond the state-of-the-art1.3 S/T methodology and associated work plan

2. Implementation2.1 Management structure and procedures2.2 Individual participants2.3 Consortium as a whole2.4 Resources to be committed

3. Impact3.1 Expected impacts listed in the work programme3.2 Dissemination and/or exploitation of project results, and

management ofintellectual property

4. Ethical Issues5. Consideration of gender aspects

dr. Cecilia Blasetti - Elettra ST

Participate in the scientific ideas/evaluation during CREATION of the DoW

Summarize

Costs estimates

Description of Work: to be done ..

Evaluation Criteria

Two steps evaluation (NMP)

Typical research project

Typical research project in FP7

University of Trieste

PHD school in Nanotechnology

Planning the project management

Criteria 2: implementation• “Quality and efficiency of the implementation

and the management• “Appropriateness of the management

structure and procedures”

• Guide for Applicant: Cap. 2 Implementation• Parag. 2.1 “Management structure and

procedures “ – describe the organizational structure and decision-

making mechanism of the project – show how they are matched to the complexity and

scale of the project”• Maximum length for Section 2.1: five pages

Managing structure

Managing structure

Communication structures / Communication flows

• Meetings• Phone conferences• Web-based communication platforms

(extranet)• Internal newsletter,…• Reporting structures• Meetings:

Common mistakes in proposals

Case studies• MCUBE (Coordination Action) • MULTIPRO (FP6 STREP)• MULTIHYBRIDS (FP6 Integrated Project IP)• NANOMODEL (FP7 Collaborative project)