A revised version of the DESCA models for consortium agreements is now available on the DESCA website. You can find there
-DESCA 3.0 with elucidations
-DESCA 3.0 working document without elucidations
-Overview of modifications to DESCA 2.0
-DESCA report on the stakeholder consultation
and much more information and supporting documents.
We would like to cordially thank the DESCA team for all its efforts!
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Sunday, 10 April 2011
NET4SOCIETY published "SSH experiences with FP7 - a Commentary"
How to improve conditions for SSH researchers in FP7 and beyond?
Last year NET4SOCIETY, a network of the 44 National Contact Points (NCPs) for Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH), carried out a survey about the experiences of researchers from the scoio-economic sciences and humanities with FP7.
The full results of the survey have recently been published and presented to the European Commission.
A summary of results and the report are available for download here.
Last year NET4SOCIETY, a network of the 44 National Contact Points (NCPs) for Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH), carried out a survey about the experiences of researchers from the scoio-economic sciences and humanities with FP7.
The full results of the survey have recently been published and presented to the European Commission.
A summary of results and the report are available for download here.
Saturday, 5 February 2011
New Head of office at Swisscore
In its latest newsletter of Jan 2011, Swisscore informs that on 1 March 2011, Maryline Maillard, Head of Office since February 2007, will leave SwissCore. She will work for the University of Fribourg where she will be responsible for third-party fundraising, in close contact with both Euresearch and the Swiss national science foundation SNSF.
Her successor David Bohmert started on 1 February 2011. Born and raised in Switzerland, he studied public administration in the Netherlands and has worked there in several positions in tech transfer, fundraising and research policies. Prior to starting at Swisscore, he has worked in Brussels already, contributing to setting-up the Netherlands house for Education and Research (Neth-ER).
Download the newsletter.
Her successor David Bohmert started on 1 February 2011. Born and raised in Switzerland, he studied public administration in the Netherlands and has worked there in several positions in tech transfer, fundraising and research policies. Prior to starting at Swisscore, he has worked in Brussels already, contributing to setting-up the Netherlands house for Education and Research (Neth-ER).
Download the newsletter.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Update of FP7 grant agreement
The Finance Hekpdesk informs that on 24 Jan 2011, the European Commission adopted new measures that affect current and future FP7 Grant Agreements.
The Commission adopted three measures with immediate effect on the management of EU research grants in the current EU research programme (FP7):
· Allowing more flexibility in how personnel costs are calculated so that EU research grant-holders can apply their usual accounting methods when requesting reimbursement for average personnel costs. They will no longer need to set up entire parallel accounting systems just for this purpose;
· SME owners whose salaries are not formally registered in their accounts can now be reimbursed, through flat-rate payments, for their contribution to work on research projects.
· A new steering group of senior officials from all the Commission departments and agencies involved will remove inconsistencies in the application of the rules on research funding.
In line with these changes, Annex II of the FP7 Grant Agreement has been updated. The new version is available here.
The Finance Helpdesk also published an interesting list of FAQs around this topic, enjoy reading their related newsletter.
The Commission adopted three measures with immediate effect on the management of EU research grants in the current EU research programme (FP7):
· Allowing more flexibility in how personnel costs are calculated so that EU research grant-holders can apply their usual accounting methods when requesting reimbursement for average personnel costs. They will no longer need to set up entire parallel accounting systems just for this purpose;
· SME owners whose salaries are not formally registered in their accounts can now be reimbursed, through flat-rate payments, for their contribution to work on research projects.
· A new steering group of senior officials from all the Commission departments and agencies involved will remove inconsistencies in the application of the rules on research funding.
In line with these changes, Annex II of the FP7 Grant Agreement has been updated. The new version is available here.
The Finance Helpdesk also published an interesting list of FAQs around this topic, enjoy reading their related newsletter.
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
SME participation in EU-funded research
On 16 Nov 2010, DG RTD published the 6th progress report on SME participation in FP7. The full report is available here.
According to this report there is hope that the 15% target of SME participation will be met before the end of FP7 in 2013: The EU contribution to SMEs in the Cooperation scheme sees a positive trend (15.4 % in 2010 as compared to 14.7% for the whole duration of FP7 so far). SMEs represent 35,4% of the participating entities in FP7 so far, which is the "highest single group participating in FP7".
The report of the recent FP7 interim evaluation (see for example the related SCIPROM news below), however, states that SMEs have a "success rate of only 17% compared to 20% for all applicants". "Most important, the participation rate of SMEs does not reflect the actual exploitation of results nor the global competitiveness of SMEs". And: “More attention should be paid to the quality and constructive engagement of SME participation rather than just widening it. In this way, the key role of SMEs as the bridge from pre-competitive research to innovation could be enhanced.”
According to this report there is hope that the 15% target of SME participation will be met before the end of FP7 in 2013: The EU contribution to SMEs in the Cooperation scheme sees a positive trend (15.4 % in 2010 as compared to 14.7% for the whole duration of FP7 so far). SMEs represent 35,4% of the participating entities in FP7 so far, which is the "highest single group participating in FP7".
The report of the recent FP7 interim evaluation (see for example the related SCIPROM news below), however, states that SMEs have a "success rate of only 17% compared to 20% for all applicants". "Most important, the participation rate of SMEs does not reflect the actual exploitation of results nor the global competitiveness of SMEs". And: “More attention should be paid to the quality and constructive engagement of SME participation rather than just widening it. In this way, the key role of SMEs as the bridge from pre-competitive research to innovation could be enhanced.”
Interim evaluation of FP7 - report of the expert group available
On 12 Nov 2010, an independent expert group has published a report summarizing the results of their interim evaluation of FP7.
The group lists the following "key strengths" of FP7:
- FP7 is considered broad, well equilibrated in terms of geographical spread and and topics covered.
- The principle of excellence in project selection is largely achieved
- Mobility and training are making a valuable contribution to capacity building
- FP7 has a positive influence on research infrastructures
- Calls have been processed effectively and funds have been allocated in a reasonably timely manner
As "Areas in need of improvement" the group has identified the following:
- Administrative burdens
- The goal of boosting female participation to 40% has not been reached, currently only 30% of the researchers involved are female.
- Industrial participation in particular of SMEs is still hampered by complex procedures
Issues considered "New concerns and dilemmas" include the following:
- Research at national and EU levels needs to be better coordinated
- Success rates are low in many areas and imply a considerable waste of research resources; success rates are generally lower in the member states which only recently joined the EU
- Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs) are perceived inconsistent in legal structures and procedures and the overhead rates are considered too low to cover the costs of participants
The full report is available here.
The group lists the following "key strengths" of FP7:
- FP7 is considered broad, well equilibrated in terms of geographical spread and and topics covered.
- The principle of excellence in project selection is largely achieved
- Mobility and training are making a valuable contribution to capacity building
- FP7 has a positive influence on research infrastructures
- Calls have been processed effectively and funds have been allocated in a reasonably timely manner
As "Areas in need of improvement" the group has identified the following:
- Administrative burdens
- The goal of boosting female participation to 40% has not been reached, currently only 30% of the researchers involved are female.
- Industrial participation in particular of SMEs is still hampered by complex procedures
Issues considered "New concerns and dilemmas" include the following:
- Research at national and EU levels needs to be better coordinated
- Success rates are low in many areas and imply a considerable waste of research resources; success rates are generally lower in the member states which only recently joined the EU
- Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs) are perceived inconsistent in legal structures and procedures and the overhead rates are considered too low to cover the costs of participants
The full report is available here.
International collaboration in EU-funded research - HEALTH projects
The number of EU-funded research projects with international participation is growing steadily. To face borderless challenges, international approaches are required and more and more collaborative projects are open to partners from outside Europe.
The EC recently published a brochure entitled "International collaboration in EU-funded research" presenting a number of HEALTH projects with international participation - providing both an interesting insight into existing initiatives and an inspiration for future project ideas.
The EC recently published a brochure entitled "International collaboration in EU-funded research" presenting a number of HEALTH projects with international participation - providing both an interesting insight into existing initiatives and an inspiration for future project ideas.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)