for a successful application Part III. Do's and don'ts for a successful application A good proposal/project must be based on a thorough needs analysis fed by its local partners and supported by documented facts and evidence. When starting to plan a project, the consortium must ensure that similar activities have not already been funded. This information can be found in the lists of projects published by the EACEA, as well as by consulting the NEO and/or the EU Delegation in the partner countries concerned. When selecting partners, it is important to a) look for a diversity/complementary of expertise and b) be able to justify for each of them the concrete added value that the partner will bring to (and/or gain from) the project. Particular attention must be paid to the involvement of the Partner Country partners, in order to ensure project ownership at their level (from needs analysis up to dissemination and sustainability of results). When relevant (e.g. cooperation university–enterprises), non-academic partners must be included. The project design must be realistic and be based on a logical sequence of activities in the work plan, as well as on precise and measurable indicators in the Logical Framework Matrix. Potential risks have to be defined and mitigation measures need to be foreseen. Sustainability must be foreseen from the start of the project through the active involvement and commitment of local stakeholders (e.g. higher education authorities, non-academic partners, etc.) The financial sustainability must be based on a solid (/realistic) business plan aiming at maintaining (/further developing) the project results.

Link project objectives & regional priorities I. RELEVANCE ('The Why') Needs analysis What is the starting situation? What competences do the targets group lack/need? Use concrete evidence & up-to-date sources & references to justify needs for each country and target group If similar project(s) are already financed, explain your project's added value Link project objectives & regional priorities At Programme level At National/regional level At Institutional level Award criteria relevance: It explains WHY the project is needed and justifies it Examples of expert comments: Needs Analysis: Baseline situation not described: Proposal does not give any insight into which competences and qualifications are already available or still missing among (the teachers and researchers) . The difficulties of establishing a statistically-based needs analysis must be acknowledged, but some consideration of anticipated skills requirements, gender issues, demographic trends, etc. would have been desirable. Proposal do not approprately derive from the conclusion of the general and referenced desk research (ex. survey on the the current programmes in area in the PCs) Link to institutional/universities strategies: “The project makes a firm statement that the targeted sector is in need of development in the Partner Countries but this statement could be better underpinned by making reference to university strategies or other more formal documentation.”

II. PROJECT DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION ('The How') Feasibility Be reasonable! Overly ambitious objectives not feasible Don't lose sight of time! Remember, you have only 2-3 years to implement a successful project Pay attention to the logical sequence of activities (ex. timing for trainings and external quality evaluation) Logical framework matrix (LFM) Use quality indicators & method of measurement (Quantification of deliverables, size of audiences & deadlines) Don't ignore the risks! Include detailed description of risks and how you plan to deal with these Quality Assurance Internal: Internal peer review of quality of deliverables External: Lack of external evaluation of content quality It explains HOW: the project methodology and the rationale for its choice Examples of experts comments: LFM The Logical Framework Matrix is very schematic and does not include all necessary information. It leaves sections blank or referring to other boxes in the matrix and it does not contain enough detail regarding activities or the inputs required. Not all work packages are included and, in general, it does not provide an overview of the project, its phases and the resources allocated, as required. The proposal describes a thorough list of assumptions in the logical framework matrix, but some apparent risks are not always properly described in detail (e.g. copyright issues, intercultural communication challenges, etc.). Another real risk - the academic calendar differences between European and Latin American higher education institutions - was not sufficiently taken into account. The complicated issue of accreditation in the partner countries involved is not sufficiently broached and could constitute the major threat to this project. As a result, realistic, appropriate and reasonable mitigating actions are not comprehensively proposed. Definition of Indicators of progress Indicator of progress = Quantitative or qualitative factor or variable that provides a simple and reliable means to measure achievement, to reflect the changes connected to an intervention, or to help assess the performance of a project Indicators must be specific and measurable Ambitious but realistic targets and deadlines should be defined Participation of key stakeholders in their definition is important because they are then more likely to understand and use them for management decision making How indicators will be measured = Sources and means of verification to check whether the indicators have been met Where can I find the relevant information? Information sources that are effectively available and reliable (Publications, Documents, Decisions, National / Institutional Statistics, Reports etc.) Methods facilitated during the project to collect the information needed to assess the indicators (Monitoring, Market study, questionnaires, interviews, etc.) Indicators allow to monitor the progress in the implementation of a project and to take necessary measures in case of difficulties Definitions on Assumptions & Risks Risks = External factors outside the control of the project, but which are critical for the achievement of its objective Assumptions and risks analysis = elaboration of hypotheses about factors or risks which could affect the progress or success of the project The assumptions and risks analysis allows to identify, or to give the means to identify, the risks that could be faced and to take the necessary measure as early as possible Guiding questions: What are the assumptions required for the achievement of the project? What are the risks which should be taken into account? What are the possible measures to limit or prevent these risks? Have these measures been translated in project activities whenever possible? Comment of Quality Assurance “very much focused on the administration of the project (monitoring of progress) and insufficiently on the quality of processes and deliverables. A baseline assessment/pre-testing at the beginning of the training and assessment at the end would allow evaluation of the progress through a post training assessment. The view of students should be taken on board in the elaboration of teaching material, assessment and quality assurance procedures. In particular in assessing student workload, providing student feedback to the quality of teaching students’ input is essential – even in the development phase of the project – and the consortium is strongly advised to amend the project in this regard.

III. QUALITY OF TEAM AND COOPERATION Balanced and justified distribution of tasks Talk about each partner's contribution and why you have divided up the tasks in this way Complementarity of skills and competences Describe each partner's experience and the role they will play in the project activities Budget Try to be cost effective, no excessive management costs Plan for technical staff too! Non-academic partners Involve other sectors and partners (labour market, NGOs etc.) Associated Partners If you involve Associated Partners, describe their added value! Make sure they're not just APs on paper It explains HOW: the project methodology and the rationale for its choice Examples of experts comments: LFM The Logical Framework Matrix is very schematic and does not include all necessary information. It leaves sections blank or referring to other boxes in the matrix and it does not contain enough detail regarding activities or the inputs required. Not all work packages are included and, in general, it does not provide an overview of the project, its phases and the resources allocated, as required. The proposal describes a thorough list of assumptions in the logical framework matrix, but some apparent risks are not always properly described in detail (e.g. copyright issues, intercultural communication challenges, etc.). Another real risk - the academic calendar differences between European and Latin American higher education institutions - was not sufficiently taken into account. The complicated issue of accreditation in the partner countries involved is not sufficiently broached and could constitute the major threat to this project. As a result, realistic, appropriate and reasonable mitigating actions are not comprehensively proposed. Definition of Indicators of progress Indicator of progress = Quantitative or qualitative factor or variable that provides a simple and reliable means to measure achievement, to reflect the changes connected to an intervention, or to help assess the performance of a project Indicators must be specific and measurable Ambitious but realistic targets and deadlines should be defined Participation of key stakeholders in their definition is important because they are then more likely to understand and use them for management decision making How indicators will be measured = Sources and means of verification to check whether the indicators have been met Where can I find the relevant information? Information sources that are effectively available and reliable (Publications, Documents, Decisions, National / Institutional Statistics, Reports etc.) Methods facilitated during the project to collect the information needed to assess the indicators (Monitoring, Market study, questionnaires, interviews, etc.) Indicators allow to monitor the progress in the implementation of a project and to take necessary measures in case of difficulties Definitions on Assumptions & Risks Risks = External factors outside the control of the project, but which are critical for the achievement of its objective Assumptions and risks analysis = elaboration of hypotheses about factors or risks which could affect the progress or success of the project The assumptions and risks analysis allows to identify, or to give the means to identify, the risks that could be faced and to take the necessary measure as early as possible Guiding questions: What are the assumptions required for the achievement of the project? What are the risks which should be taken into account? What are the possible measures to limit or prevent these risks? Have these measures been translated in project activities whenever possible? Comment of Quality Assurance “very much focused on the administration of the project (monitoring of progress) and insufficiently on the quality of processes and deliverables. A baseline assessment/pre-testing at the beginning of the training and assessment at the end would allow evaluation of the progress through a post training assessment. The view of students should be taken on board in the elaboration of teaching material, assessment and quality assurance procedures. In particular in assessing student workload, providing student feedback to the quality of teaching students’ input is essential – even in the development phase of the project – and the consortium is strongly advised to amend the project in this regard.

IV. IMPACT AND SUSTAINABILITY Sustainability strategy Plan measures/activities to enhance sustainability of your project results Further development & use of results & outcomes should be devised and agreed upon before end of project Involvement of stakeholders - institutional & political support Involve relevant authorities and target groups early to contribute to project sustainability Broaden scope of sustainability-related activities Consider opportunities outside purely academic sphere (e.g. funding sources, internships etc.) Seek official recognition/ validation/accreditation of project results in a timely manner Dissemination and valorisation Incremental element of multiplication effect of project results Plan training of staff and stakeholders indicating sufficient numbers, content of training and number of trainees NB. Sustainability may not concern all the aspects of the project. In each project some activities or outputs may be maintained, while others may not be so necessary to maintain. Planning should be progressively adapted to various phases of the project implementation Beginning: 1)Written strategy Middle: 2) Possible adaptations End of project 3) Sustainabiity and exploitation plan of the developed deliverables