Roma How to prepare a successful proposal in FP6 Floriana Di Giacomo, NCP IST APRE Agenzia per la promozione della ricerca europea Napoli,

The good news A lot of money is waiting for you in Brussels You can really work on an international scene Cooperate to create critical mass, while sharing risks Work with the best in the field Open up new markets using the latest technology Positive for your image and reputation

The bad news The paperwork is killing Running a large project is very complex Writing a proposal is expensive You never know if you will get the money Badly performing partners spoil it for you It’s not so easy to cooperate with those …

“Good ideas will always get funding” NO!

Basic Rule No. 1 To be successful in any funding scheme you need to fully understand the purpose of the granting agency and ACCEPT IT!

Basic Rule No. 2 Participation in FP6 has to fit within the strategy of your organisation

The Beginning To see if your ideas fit FP6, read: The Call Text The Work Programme The Guide for Proposers (the right one!) FP6 in Brief Talk to your National Contact Point Consult your (international) network

Building a consortium Use your network, but not only your friends Look for Balance, Complementarity, Excellence, Commitment Again check with NCPs Partner search on Ideal-IST ( Dedicated projects to help you: EPIST (focus e-inclusion/e-health) LINK (focus electronics) Naomitech (focus micro & nano technologies)

Writing a good proposal Write for the evaluator Friday afternoon principle Paradox 1: Detail - Concise Paradox 2: Realistic – Scientifically Interesting Write in a clear, organised way Provide a logical, gripping and correct summary Check with the Guidance Notes for Evaluators

Things to consider Experience of the coordinating institution? Letters of interest? Length of the proposal? Sound financial and organisational framework Management structure should fit project size

The Evaluation Criteria Integrated Projects will be checked on Relevance3/5 Potential Impact3/5 S&T excellence4/5 Quality of the consortium3/5 Quality of the management3/5 Mobilisation of resources3/5 Overall threshold24/30

Relevance Does the proposal properly address the objectives of the call? If you fail this one, forget the rest… Check all the levels of the work programme

The Work Programme Two levels of clues: Access to and preservation of cultural and scientific resources Objectives Focus The aim is to develop systems and tools which will support the accessibility and use over time of digital cultural and scientific resources. This requires work to: – Support the emerging complexity of digital cultural and scientific objects and repositories, through enriched conceptual representations, and advanced access methods. – Explore how to preserve the availability of digital resources over time, through novel concepts, techniques and tools.. 1. Research into the conceptualisation and representation of digital cultural and scientific objects, of multiple forms and origin, to exploit the potential of these resources for developing new forms of interactive or creative experiences. This requires methods, systems, tools and enabling technologies to support indexing, retrieving, aggregating, using and creatively exploiting primarily non-textual and complex objects and their integration into sustainable digital library services. Work should apply leading-edge technologies (especially in knowledge technologies, VR, visualisation). Applications should clearly integrate heterogeneous resources, and address specific user communities and stakeholders, involving innovative scenarios of use. Instruments: STREPs will.

Potential Impact Answers a very simple question: Why spend European taxpayers’ money on this project? Is it ambitious, does it solve anything? Will anyone do anything with the results? Is it beneficial to Europe or only to XX?

S&T excellence Are there clearly defined objectives? Progress beyond state-of-the-art? Does the S&T approach enable the project to achieve its objectives? Means: can you give the evaluator the feeling that your methods really work Threshold 4/5 means: YOU HAVE TO BE REALLY, REALLY GOOD!!!

Quality of the consortium Can these people really do this? Prove to the evaluator your: Quality Complementarity Commitment Describe all roles, even for future partners Show SME / INCO involvement, but only when relevant!!!

Quality of the management Does the management structure match the complexity of the project? Can these people really do it? Is there a good IPR plan?

Mobilisation of resources Good plan, but can they find the people, money and machines to do it properly? Is the financial plan adequate?

Other issues Ethical Safety Gender Third Country participation Only mention when relevant!!

Finally Submit your proposal on time!! Electronically or on paper Murphy’s Law applies unconditionally!!

Information General info on Cordis National Contact Points Information Society Technologies Background on instuments Any document

Find more help EPIST NAOMITECH LINK Consortium Agreement Model Contracts

Even more help APRE – AGENZIA PER LA PROMOZIONE DELLA RICERCA EUROPEA Piazza Marconi 25 – Roma Tel – fax IST team Floriana Di Giacomo & Daniela Mercurio SPORTELLO CAMPANIA c/o Consorzio Technapoli Via Olivetti Pozzuoli tel. 081/ /3 081/ fax 081/

Grazie per l’attenzione!