1. ADMINISTRATION and MANAGEMENT
SHEMERA
Euro-Mediterranean research cooperation on gender and science:
SHE Euro-Mediterranean Research Area
ADMINISTRATION and MANAGEMENT
Kick-off meeting
Brussels, 4th-5th May 2011
Clara Creixams

2. Table of contents CONSORTIUM WORKPLAN ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT
FINANCIAL ASPECTS

3. 1. Consortium composition

5. 2. Grant Agreement
The contract with the EC is called Grant Agreement (EC-GA). It is signed by the EC, the coordinator and the rest of the partners. It is compound by:
An administrative standard part
Annex I, which is the DoW, Description of Work, where all the project is detailed. The Commission assumes the DoW once the Grant Agreement is signed.
Signing the A2.5 form, each partner agrees with the Grant agreement in general and, more specifically, with the DoW.

6. 3. Consortium Agreement
There is another agreement, which only concerns the members of the consortium, called Consortium Agreement (CA). It establishes the framework of the relationships within the consortium, between the partners.

7. 3. Consortium Agreement 3.1. General Commitments
to take part in the efficient implementation of the project, and to cooperate, perform and fulfil, promptly and on time, all its obligations under the EC-GA and this Consortium Agreement
to notify promptly, in accordance with the governance structure of the project, any significant information, fact, problem or delay likely to affect the project

8. 3. Consortium Agreement 3.2. Management bodies and decision making
Coordinator:
represents the consortium towards the EC
is the intermediary for any communication between the EC and the parners
is the intermediary for the EC payments to the consortium
is the overall responsible for the project management and the deliverables submission to the EC

9. 3. Consortium Agreement 3.2. Management bodies and decision making
Coordinator:
is responsible for the scientific and technical implementation of the project
will be taking care of the project’s common activities (administrative issues, budget, communication flow, IPR, etc)
chairs all meetings of the General Assembly, unless decided otherwise by the General Assembly.

10. 3. Consortium Agreement 3.2. Management bodies and decision making
Project office:
gives technical support to the Coordinator
is constituted by the Coordinator and the project manager with the support of the administrative and financial department of CIREM

11. 3. Consortium Agreement 3.2. Management bodies and decision making
General Assembly:
main governing body of the project
consists of one authorized representative delegated by each partner, authorised to deliberate, negotiate and decide on behalf of the partner
any member:
should be present;
may appoint a substitute or a proxy to attend and vote at any meeting;
and shall participate in a cooperative manner in the meetings.

12. 3. Consortium Agreement 3.2. Management bodies and decision making
General Assembly:
partners agree to abide by all decisions of the General Assembly.
shall not deliberate and decide validly unless two-thirds (2/3) of its Members are present or represented (quorum)
each present Member shall have one vote
decisions shall be taken by a majority of two-thirds (2/3) of the votes

13. 3. Consortium Agreement 3.2. Management bodies and decision making
Project Management Board:
consists of the work package and task leaders
has the role to supervise the technical activities running in the project, monitor the progress, notice any deviations from the work plan and provide quality assurance measures
will provide guidance and support to the Coordinator on the realization of the work plan
its tasks include monitoring the cross-issues to ensure that any deviations from the project plan are identified early and resolved such that the impact on the overall project objectives are minimized
may initiate corrective steps, if necessary, the realization of which will be decided on by the General Assembly

14. 3. Consortium Agreement 3.2. Management bodies and decision making
WP leaders:
are responsible for the planning and delivery of the respective individual work packages
are directly responsible for coordinating the activities to be performed under their authority according to the workplan
are responsible for the timely delivery of a given set of deliverables, for overseeing the planning, implementation, coherency, relevant financial management and reporting of their work package
will also be responsible for ensuring coordination with other work package leaders, where appropriate
will also be responsible for reporting to the Coordinator on planning, progress and delivery

15. 3. Consortium Agreement 3.2. Management bodies and decision making
Task leaders:
are responsible for the planning and delivery of the respective individual task
are directly responsible for coordinating the activities to be performed under their authority according to the workplan
are responsible for the timely delivery of a given set of deliverables, for overseeing the planning, implementation, coherency, relevant financial management and reporting of their task
will also be responsible for ensuring coordination with other task leaders, where appropriate
will also be responsible for reporting to the corresponding WP leader on planning, progress and delivery

16. 3. Consortium Agreement
3.2. Management bodies and decision making

17. CONSORTIUM
WORKPLAN
ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT
FINANCIAL ASPECTS

18. 4. DoW
The DoW (Description of Work) is the Annex 1 of the Grant Agreement. It is a detailed description of the work to be done within the project.
The work to do in 3 years is divided in Work Packages (WP). There are 8 WPs in Shemera

20. 5. Quality control High quality results of the project are expected
A 9-monthly internal reporting procedure will be set up in order to facilitate the monitoring of the project and ensure quality control. The Work package leaders will send a 9-monthly progress report to the Coordinator, based on the reports provided to them by the Parties participating in the respective work package
The Coordinator will take care of the final revision and acceptance of the documents produced within the project
The Coordinator is entitled to withhold any payments due to a Party identified by a responsible Consortium Body to be in breach of its obligations under this Consortium Agreement or the EC-GA, or to a Beneficiary which has not yet signed this Consortium Agreement

21. 6. Deliverables
The “products” of the project that the consortium delivers to the Commission are called “deliverables”
There will be 21 deliverables along the project

22. 6. Deliverables

23. 6. Deliverables

24. CONSORTIUM
WORKPLAN
ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT
FINANCIAL ASPECTS

25. 7. Reporting 7.1. Project reports
The consortium will report about the project implementation to the European Commission in months 18 (interim report) and 36 (final report) of the project
It is a report against the DoW for a concrete period. It includes the following information: publishable summary, report against the objectives for the period, update on the state-of-the-art, WP progress report, project management, deliverables and milestones, dissemination, use of resources and financial statements.
Each Party shall submit to the Coordinator, no later than thirty (30) days after the end of each reporting period, the Project Reports falling on its responsibility
In addition, a 9-monthly internal reporting procedure will be set up in order to facilitate the monitoring of the project and ensure quality control

26. 7. Reporting 7.2. Partner reports
All partners will have to report to the coordinator about all the work done every 9 months. It is part of the internal project monitoring for which the coordinator is responsible
It will include
Technical report
Financial report

27. 7. Reporting 7.3. Technical report
For each work package (except project management), the following information should be provided:
A summary of progress towards objectives and details for each task
Highlight clearly significant results
If applicable, explain the reasons for deviations from Annex I and their impact on other tasks as well as on available resources and planning
If applicable, explain the reasons for failing to achieve critical objectives and/or not being on schedule and explain the impact on other tasks as well as on available resources and planning (the explanations should be coherent with the declaration by the project coordinator)
A statement on the use of resources, in particular highlighting and explaining deviations between actual and planned person-months per work package and per beneficiary in Annex 1 (Description of Work)
If applicable, propose corrective actions

28. 8. Meetings
8.1. Calendar
There are 5 project meetings of the General Assembly foreseen:
The Coordinator shall chair all meetings of the General Assembly, unless decided otherwise by the General Assembly

29. 8. Meetings
8.2. Minutes
The chairperson shall produce written minutes of each meeting which shall be the formal record of all decisions taken. Draft minutes shall sent to all members within 10 calendar days of the meeting
The minutes shall be considered as accepted if, within 15 calendar days from sending, no member has objected in writing to the chairperson with respect to the accuracy of the draft of the minutes.
The chairperson shall send the accepted minutes to all the members of the General Assembly, who shall safeguard them

30. CONSORTIUM
WORKPLAN
ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT
FINANCIAL ASPECTS

31. 9. Budget The total budget of the project is 2.372.195,32 €.
The EC contributes in a percentage depending of the type of activity:
The EC contribution to the Shemera project is ,00 €
Each partner will co-finance the amount non covered by the EC with working hours and/or by other means

32. 10. Indirect costs 4 methods for determining the indirect costs:
1.a Actual (real) indirect costs
1.b Simplified method for determining real indirect costs
2. Standard Flat Rate
3 . Special Transitional Flat Rate
The choice of the ICM (Indirect costs Calculation Method) is related to the legal status of the organisation and to the type of accounting system that this one uses. Entities having a developed analytical accounting system use real indirect costs (option 1.a) .
The simplified method (option 1.b) is provided for entities having an accounting system for determining the indirect eligible costs at the level of the legal entity (without the possibility to assign them to the individual project).
The special transitional flat rate (option 3; 60% of the direct eligible costs minus costs for subcontracting) can be chosen only by non-profit public bodies, secondary or higher education establishments, research organisations and SMEs who are unable to identify with certainty their real indirect costs for the project.
As an alternative to the above, all types of legal entities may opt for the standard flat rate (option 2; 20% of the direct eligible costs minus costs for subcontracting).

33. 11. Payments
The EC payments are always done through the coordinator. The coordinator transfers then the corresponding amount to each partner without undue delay

34. 12. Conversion rates
Costs shall always be reported in EUR in the financial statements submitted to the European Commission Beneficiaries with accounts in currencies other than EUR shall report in EUR on the basis of the exchange rate that would have applied either:
on the date that the actual costs were incurred or
on the basis of the rate applicable on the first day of the month following the end of the reporting period
For both options, the daily exchange rates are fixed by the European Central Bank (ECB) and may be obtained at the following internet address:
The choice must be the same for all reporting periods in a given EC-GA

35. 13. Accounting
The economic contribution of the EC is based on actual costs. This means that every direct cost charged to the project must be able to be accounted (justified)
Every worked hour must be showed in the time sheets and every spent penny must appear on the expenses sheets
Every direct cost charged to the project must be showed in the expenses sheets and must be supported by an original official document: payslips, invoices, tickets,…, that the partner must keep for justification
Attention for travels!! To have a plane ticket accepted as a project expense, you must krrp the invoice AND both boarding passes (going and return)

36. 13. Accounting
In accordance with its own usual accounting and management principles and practices, each Party shall be solely responsible for justifying its costs with respect to the Project towards the Commission. Neither the Coordinator nor any of the other Parties shall be in any way liable or responsible for such justification of costs towards the Commission.
A Party which spends less than its Project share will be funded in accordance with its actual duly justified eligible costs only
A Party that spends more than its share of the Consortium Budget will be funded only in respect of duly justified eligible costs up to an amount not exceeding that Party’s share

37. 14.Financial management
Each partner has some person-months for management, which includes the financial management of their part of the project
Each partner’s money not spent will have to be returned to the EC or will not be paid by the EC
Every partner can get an audit from the EC in the following 5 years from the end of the project

38. 12. Financial reporting
All partners will have to report to the coordinator about all the direct costs charged to the project every 9 months
9 monthly financial reporting includes
Time sheets: working hours spent
Expenses sheet: personnel costs, subcontracting, other direct costs
Expenses summary
In month 18 and month 36, financial reporting to the EC includes also Form C

39. 12. Financial reporting
Time sheets

40. 12. Financial reporting
Expenses sheets

41. 12. Financial reporting
Expenses summary

42. 12. Financial reporting
Form C

43. Thank you for your kind attention