1. GRADUA Project   Kick-off meeting April 5th, 2018 AGRICULTURE UNIVERSITY OF TIRANA
Dorel Manitiu, Ph.D
ALMALAUREA – INTERUNIVERSITY CONSORTIUM
BOLOGNA, ITALY

2. ROLE OF THE PARTNERS For a successful implementation
Must be fully informed about the project and aware of the implementation constraints. They should:
know the proposal and the expected results
know their role and responsibilities
know the contractual framework & the financial rules
respect the Partnership Agreement
work in full transparency with the coordinator (inform of any changes / delays)
have the full support of their organisation.
be aware of any institutional and/or legal constraints that can affect the project implementation!

3. ROLE OF THE PARTNERS Implement activities under their responsibility
Support the coordinator (e.g. providing information and supporting documents for reporting)
Cooperate with the key institutional services in their organization
Contribute to the dissemination of the project results in their organization, community and/or region

4. WP number TASK WHO DEADLINE
Collection of information from other universities and draft of WP.1 report
- And decoding tables
AUT-UBT and other partners
February 2018
(draft version ready)
WP.5.1
Online questionnaire definition (based on Almalaurea model and adapted to Albanian context)
All partners
April 2018
(draft version in analyzing phase)
WP.3
Participation in training meeting: researchers (1), IT (2) - software developer and other, secretariat staff (1)
first pre-training to be held in Bologna before summer 2018
WP.3.1
Research training on survey methodology (1st researcher short training)
Training to be held in Agriculture University of Tirana before summer 2018
WP.3.2 and 3.3
IT and secretariat staff training (1st short training)
22-26 October or 5-9 November 2018 in Tirana Polytechnic

5. DOCUMENTS TO BE SENT TO COORDINATOR
Detailed information for the elaboration of the monitoring reports (quality reports – every year; intermediate report – April 2019 compulsory for the second tranche of the grant)
COMPULSORY Documentation for the conduction of the external audit :
staff
mobilities
other expenditure (equipment, subcontracting)

6. FOR MONITORING REPORTS
IN ORDER TO ALLOW THE COORDINATOR TO DRAFT THE MONITORING REPORTS:
All partners should provide for:
Narrative section:
Internal Quality of the project implementation at partner level:
activities implemented at local level (draft a minute after each internal meeting)
internal Quality Assurance measures;
project visibility
Impact and sustainability: dissemination activities at local level (mailing list to students; present the project during career days (if), link the Project web site to your university web page
Quality of the cooperation: Project management at partner level; involvement of other partners and stakeholders (periodic local meetings, skype with other partners – Ministry – Coordinator)

7. Documentation for staff involved in the project:
FOR THE EXTERNAL AUDIT
Documentation for staff involved in the project:
Staff involved = staff reported in joint declaration and timesheet
= staff involved in mobilities – mobility report
Appointment letter for the staff involved , signed by the legal representative (must contain the position in the organization – as from the employment contract - and the role in the project:
position in the Project (manager, researcher, technical and or administrative) BUT COMPATIBLE WITH THE POSITION IN OWN INSTITUTION (AS BY EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT)
Employment contract (or Ministry decision, etc.) – COMPULSORY!
Organization statement (authorization) regarding the modality of payment for the reported staff* AND PROOF OF PAYMENT: bank transaction to the final beneficiary
* If is not specified in partnership agreement or if will change during the implementation phase of the project
(AVOID AS MUCH IS POSSIBLE CASH PAYMENTS!)
Copies of payslips for the the months reported in timesheets

8. GRADUA: staff costs Supporting documents:
The staff convention must be signed by the person performing the activity then countersigned and stamped by the person responsible (e.g. rector, dean) in the institution that employed this person.
One working day defined according to applicable national legislation/ institutional practice.
Declared working days per individual may not exceed 20 days per month or 240 days per year! – RESPECT THE NUMBER OF DAYS ALLOCATED FOR EACH STAFF CATEGORY (MANAGER, RESEARCHER, TECHNICIAN AND ADMINISTRATIVE)
ATTENTION! THE SAME PERSON CANNOT SIGN TWICE!
Example: rector: legal representative - staff: same person (the rector) as manager

9. GRADUA: staff costs Supporting documents for summarize:
The staff convention
Timesheets
Employment contracts
Payslips for the months declared in timesheet
If the staff is paid directly from the Project budget:
bank transfer from coordinator or from own institution to beneficiary bank account

10. GRADUA: Mobility
The grant contributes to the travel of staff involved in the project, from their place of origin (home institution within the partnership) to the venue of the activity and return
(including visa fee and related obligatory insurance, travel insurance and cancellation costs if justified).
Financial support will be provided only for travels that are directly related to the achievement of the objectives of the project.
Activities and related travels must be carried out in the project beneficiaries' countries.

11. GRADUA: Mobility Attention!
In the context of a circular travel (e.g.: a participant leaves his/her place of departure A in order to participate in a project activity in another location B, and then leaves B to participate immediately in a second project activity in a third location C, before returning directly to his/her place of departure A), the grant contribution to the travel costs will be calculated with the sum of:
The unit cost amount corresponding to the distance band from A to B +
The unit cost amount corresponding to the distance band from B to C
In case of circular travel, the final travel (in order for the participant to return to his/her original place of departure) is never taken into account for the calculation of the grant contribution to the travel costs (this is due to the fact that the unit cost amounts used for calculating the grant contribution are already covering return trips)

12. GRADUA: Mobility Costs of stay
In order to apply the correct unit cost, the beneficiary must identify the duration in days of the activity (including the travel from their place of origin to the venue of the activity and vice-versa) and apply the corresponding unit costs as defined in Annex I of these Guidelines.
Supporting documents:
Individual Travel Report (ITR)
Invoices, receipts, boarding passes and proof of payments (bank transaction, etc.)
Agendas
Attendance / Participant lists
Tangible outputs/products * Example: today: discussion regarding EU financial rules, questionnaire, etc
Minutes of meetings
Attention! The existence of a formal employment relationship between the employee and the beneficiary institutions is required in order to participate to any travel.

13. GRADUA: Equipment Supporting documents: Invoices
Bank statements (bank transation, etc)
Tendering procedure for expenses exceeding €
Proof that the equipment is recorded in the inventory of the institution (Erasmus+ stickers will be available soon)
(to be provided by each partner)

14. GRADUA: Subcontracting
Subcontracting refers to: implementation of specific tasks being part of the action, by a third party, to which a contract has been awarded by one or several beneficiaries. Subcontracting is intended for specific, time-bound, project-related tasks which cannot be performed by the Consortium members themselves.
Evaluation activities and auditing (Certificate on the Financial Statement)
Printing, publishing and dissemination activities
Translation services
Web design and maintenance
Logistic support for the organisation of events, etc
Supporting documents:
invoices, subcontracts and bank statements (SUCONTRACTING THE INTERPRETERS, for example)
in case of travel: copies of travel tickects, boarding passes;
tangible outputs/products

15. GRADUA: Cofinancing DO NOT BE SCARED!
For cofinancing make a statement regarding other expenditure that you made during the Project implementation phase and not specified in the project proposal
See the Project proposal!
ATTENTION: do not repeat the expenditure: example: a mobility in Bologna, you cannot declare as cofinancing (a lunch that you pay); each participant has the daily allowance (as by project proposal); if will participate an additional staff member (with own institution resources and not reported in the financial statement), yes, you can declare it!
Can be declared: staff costs, utilities (estimation of internet, phones, fax expenditure), printing and publishing not supported by Project grant, logistic support for events (meetings in your university, etc.)

16. Guidelines for the Use of the Grant
Reference document
Erasmus+ Programme
Capacity-Building projects in the field of Higher Education (E+CBHE)
Guidelines for the Use of the Grant
_09_january_2018_0.pdf
Related call for proposals
Deadline
Call reference
Capacity Building in the Field of Higher Education 2017
09/02/ :00 (CET/CEST, Brussels time)
EAC/A03/2016
Action(s) covered:
Key Action 2: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
Erasmus+ - Key Action 2 - Capacity building in the field of higher education

17. Dorel Manitiu, Ph.D
AlmaLaurea Inter-University Consortium