1. COST Office Update Monica Dietl, Director COST Office CSO meeting – Brussels, 15-16 May 2013

2. 2 COST Office Staff Members Keystone of COST Motivated by the opportunities COST offers European researchers, the COST Office staff members are committed to honesty, discipline and work to provide the best services to the scientific community. Tomorrow their future is at stake.

3. 3 Facts before 1 st April 2011 Changes in management:  Previous Financial Controller left in January 2010  Previous Legal Affairs Officer left in February 2010  Previous HoSO left in March 2010  New Legal Affairs Officer started in May 2010  New Financial Controller started in July 2010  Previous Director left in August 2010  New HoSO started in September 2010

4. 4 Facts before 1 st April 2011 Consequences:  Disruption in the Management Team from January 2010 to April 2011 (14 months)  Lack of guidance and instructions  Impact on trust from the team, structure, progress in projects and daily operations  Impact on procedures, workflows and practices  Impact on the implementation of the COST Grant System (CGS)

5. 5 Facts after 1st April 2011 Challenges:  Adaptation to new Management Team and change in management methods  Establish guidance and directions  Restore confidence among the teams  Solve legal issues: labour regulations, travel policy, delegation of authority, contracts, etc.  Assessment and improvements of CGS

6. 6 Positive developments:  Additional EUR 30 + 10 Mio from EC  COST mentioned in the H2020 proposal  Development of procedures, revision of processes (HR, Finance, IT)  Increase in budget and in number of Actions  Impact on SOs & AOs tasks and need for adaptation of Action allocation Facts since 1st April 2011

7. 7 New challenges:  Announcement on the future of ESF while new perspective and projects for the COST Office  CSO preparation of the NIS  Separation and transition Roadmap exercise  Council Secretariat activities transferred to COST Office  Potential risk of staff leaving the COST Office due to  significant increase of workload  uncertainty for the future Facts since 1st April 2011

8. 8 Increase of workload vs staff

9. 9 Average number of Actions

10. 10 20112012 Total% % Incoming Staff1427.94%1222.56% Departing Staff1223.95%1120.68% Total days% % Sickness Absence3593.26%3763.21% Maternity leave2722.47%1721.47% Parental Leave430.39%1000.85% Time Credit520.47%520.44% Working Accident00.00%40.03% TOTAL absences7266.59%7046.02% 20112012 TOTAL FTE50.153.2 Total worked days1102211704 Human Resources Data

11. 11  Information Systems Manager – June 2012  Inclusiveness & Excellence Policy Officer – May 2012  Data & Impact Analysis Officer – April 2013  Several new AOs & SOs – 2012-2013  Head of Communications & Conferences – May 2013  Head of Science Operations – June 2013  COST Office still attractive – stable turnover New staff members 2012-2013

12. 12 Stable staff turnover Staff turnover has been stable since 2004 (average 18%) with a small pick in 2006

13. 13 Staff replacement rate Emptied position being replaced by new comers; all leaving staff members have been always replaced!

14. 14 Organisational Chart  60% staff interviewed – Summer 2012  Final report MGC – September 2012  Validation phase – March 2013  Revision Job Profiles & appointments on-going  Envisaged date of implementation – June 2013 Current Organisational Chart

15. 15 New Organisational Chart

16. 16 Human Resources on-going work  Mobile Policy in place since June 2012  Trainings to staff on-going as of April 2013  Labour Regulation entered into force May 2013  Travel Policy in place as of June 2013  Offices reorganisation to cope with additional staff and increased meetings in July 2013

17. 17 Finance

18. 18 COST Budget Overview

19. 19 COST Evolution of Science Activities expenses

20. 20 Annual Report No. 6  COST Office prepared Annual Report  ESF submitted the Annual Report 2012 the 1 st March 2013  Minor comments received from the EC on 24 April 2013  Revised version sent by ESF to the EC on 30 April 2013  Final approval in expectation

21. 21 Amendment N. 6  COST Office already drafted the Amendment  Meeting with the EC-ESF 6 May – possible decommissioning costs agreed to be added to the Amendment  Amendment to be submitted by ESF to the EC once the Annual Report has been approved  Some questions are still under development:  Transition scenario  Cut-off rules

22. 22 ECA Audit 2012  Auditors thanked the ESF/COST Office for the well prepared exercise  New internal guidelines and procedures in place demonstrate an improvement in the quality and efficiency of the work  Auditors will transmit outcome to EC  EC will send letter with the recommendations to ESF

23. 23 Other Finance and Legal Items  COST Rules for CSO approval  Vademecum for ESF approval  Internal guidelines in progress  Improvement of BCT and Iris performance and stability  Revision of Action Model Grant Agreement and Amendment  Sample Agreements (external service/product providers) IT tools adaptation

24. 24 Information Systems

25. 25 Current Developments in ITS  COST Rules & Vademecum  Online TRR (paperless)  e-COST enhancements  BCT and Iris improvements  Enterprise content management (DMS)  TDP Pilot updates on-going Tight collaboration with all Office teams

26. 26 Science Operations

27. 27 Total number of pre-proposals: 775 (612 + 163 TDP) TDP No of pre-proposals Open Call Evolution

28. 28 Pre-proposals Distribution by Domain

29. 29 Funded COST Actions per OC

30. 30 Roadmap

31. 31 Jan July October Last Amendment of FP7 October July April Jan April Start Double Accounting Accountant 1 Implementation of Chosen Scenario: COST Action Management Plan Transfer of Knowledge Plan Transfer of IT Tools Training Finance Team Transfer of Contracts Preparation for Transfer of Contracts Inventory Contracts Separation of IT Tools Accountant 2 Consultants (Legal, Finance, IT) IT Developper End of EC-ESF Grant Agreement Reporting Workflows, Job Profiles, Duties Additional Employment Budget, Training Needs Define Cut Rules Finance SOP & Finance Training HR 2013 2014 IT Contracts Milestones Additional Staff Recruitment and Consultants Transfer of Knowledge to Accountant NIS Established NIS Operational Extension of EC-ESF Grant Agreement Reporting NIS Statutes approved Elaboration of Scenario on COST Action Transfer Selection of Chosen Scenario EC-NIS Agreement Financial and Budget Analysis

32. 32 Conclusion A year from the end of FP7 COST II GA  COST Office staff members are doing their upmost to responsibly accomplish their duties  To support they need support, trust and future  Decisions are needed:  The NIS statutes must be established now  The transfer scenarios are needed to avoid disruption of COST Actions  The transition has already started