Developing an FP6 Proposal and How We Can Help METU - Office of EU Affairs

Steps to follow Preparing a 2-page project outline Deciding whether to be the project leader or not Finding partners Developing an outline Writing it up properly Submitting, negotiating and signing the contract

What to include in the 2 Page Outline Objectives = the aim you want to achieve Innovation = your contribution to the state-of-the-art Partners = those you would like to be involved Outcomes = only the results of the project itself? Impact = the extent of impact your project will have: (economic, social, environmental) Policies = parallelism with relevant EC policies Duration = months/years it would take to complete Budget = amount needed for the successsful completion of the project

Why bother with a 2-page outline? 1. You turn your project idea into a precise, clearly expressed yet detailed statement u We may help by commenting on draft 2. We can use the outline to: u Identify timing of FP6 opportunities u Help you consider your IPR situation u Show ways to find partners u Test out your idea with the related Turkish NCP

Which one would you prefer to be : Coordinator or Partner? u Coordinators NEED to have project management experience, particularly of multi- partner projects u The burden of proposal development falls mostly on the co-ordinator u If you do NOT want to be the coordinator, related NCP can help you find a project to join

Finding partners u Alternatives to find partners l Your own networking (best alternative) l NCPs l CORDIS (as the last resource) u Use your project outline to prepare l Non-confidential project outline l Non-disclosure agreement l Confidential project outline DO NOT DELAY! you need to find most partners before you can develop your proposal

Steps Along the Way 2 page project outline Project leader or not? Partner / project finding Developing an outline Writing it up properly Submitting, negotiating and signing the contract

Proposal Assistance u NCPs can help Turkish SMEs, universities, other institutions to participate in FP6 u A grant from TUBITAK to financially help you in participating in FP6 by: l Awarding the project proposals that are eligible and have been elected for evaluation l Meeting travelling costs to meet with partners l Grants up to 12,000 Euros l Forms and guide at You do not have to be a project coordinator to apply

Fleshing out your outline u With most partners in place begin to define l content of the project l budget of the project l how the project is going to be managed Tasks, finance, IPR issues Communications (meetings and disputes) GET PARTNERS INVOLVED IN THIS

Writing it up is not magic!! u ‘Guide for Proposers’ l Format, content and length of proposal are given l Follow it precisely l Do not waffle or duck the questions asked u Know how the evaluators work l What kind of questions are they asking? l How do they allocate marks? l This information is all published l Ignoring it can be very costly ! u NCPs may comment on your draft proposal

Please the evaluator u Evaluators have l 1 hour to read and score your proposal l Many other proposals to score u Make life easy for them! l The first 2 pages must excite them! l Make it easy for them to give you marks l Diagrams and charts are easy to understand Remember you need to aim for > 80%

Steps Along the Way 2 page project outline Project leader or not? Partner / project finding Developing the outline Writing it up properly Submitting, negotiating and signing the contract

Submission u The Call for Proposals tells you the exact date and time by when proposal must be received l Electronic submission is mandatory now l It is possible to submit your proposal earlier and to modify it before the deadline l Do not leave it to the last minute as EC server may be overloaded

Negotiations u Evaluation of proposals can take up to 3-4 months u Contract negotiations start soon after u You need to be ready for suggestions to - reduce the budget - modify the project - join with other consortiums, etc.

There are 2 contracts u Contract between EC and each partner l The basic legal framework u Consortium Agreement between all partners l Adds details to this framework, especially Project management IPR protection and exploitation l Must be in place before EC awards the Contract

TIPS u Do not aim to be a coordinator if you are a new starter u Best way to find good, reliable partners is to attend conferences, seminars, workshops in your related scientific area u Do not ‘open’ your project to your potential partners in detail at first u IPR issues are vital and needs detailed reading due to the participation of SMEs in projects u Related documents can be found on the Cordis site and it is extremely useful

u Consortium Agreement is very important since it details all the phases of the project with relation to all partners, their job descriptions, responsibilities, etc. Read it in detail before it is too late! u Never think that the thresholds given in the Call for Proposals are enough for your proposal to be evaluated as successful. Aim for the highest, the best u Submit your proposal well ahead of the deadline for practical purposes

THANK YOU ! METU - Office of EU Affairs Middle East Technical University Ankara / Turkey Phone: Fax: