1. Education and Culture Name Education and Culture Capacity Building in the field of Higher Education DOS AND DON’T’S FOR A GOOD PROPOSAL Erasmus+ Contact Seminar with the Western Balkans VIENNA 17-18 December 2015 Edit Dibra Albanian NEO

2. DO’S: How can I start? 1. Have a"broad knowledge" of Erasmus+  What/who is it for? How does it work? What activities does it support and how? Contact NEO/NA/IRO 2. Have a concrete idea for an international cooperation project  Does it fit the programme' s objectives, priorities, requirements, intervention modalities, etc.?  Does it address your institution needs? National and regional priorities? 3. Define the needs as precisely as possible: Check Concrete facts, Refer to studies, statistics providing their sources Consult institutions, studies, local economic actors Consider previous and running projects (EU counterparts and NEOs/ICP) 4. Your idea is supported by your institution  You have discussed it with the relevant authorities  You will be supported for the proposal preparation and, if successful, the project implementation

3.  You can set up (/be part of) an international partnership for carrying out the project  All proposals start from individual initiatives.  But be sure that your project has received the full commitment and support of the participating institutions  Start locally  In your institution (other colleagues, services, departments, authorities, etc.)  Among local stakeholders (other universities, education providers, employers, local / regional / national authorities, NEOs in Partner Countries etc.)  International partners  Colleagues / Organisations you (/your partners) have worked with in the past  Each partner must  Bring and gain a concrete added value to/from the project  Be the best to achieve the project’s objective;  the most needing the project’s outcomes  best suited to ensure the project’s implementation and sustainability Cooperation is based on trust, but formalized agreements may be helpful DO’S: How can I build a strong partnership?

4. DO’S: Drafting the proposal  B road knowledge of Erasmus+ is not sufficient anymore  Respect the Call requirements & criteria (You must become a "master" in the relevant Erasmus+ Action (objectives, priorities, requirements, criteria, etc.) The GUIDELINES  Most probably, you will need to adapt your idea to the Action requirements.  Drafting the proposal is a shared exercise (team group): prepared and agreed jointly by the partnership.  It reflects the partners shared responsibilities at project implementation stage  It requires regular revisions/rewriting in order to ensure Consistency and coherence Comprehensiveness Fulfilment of all the E+ Action requirements Be clear, well-structured, focused, concise, to the point (See the guidelines, the FAQ, NEOs when doubts) Choose the language common/comfortable to all project partners Have your final draft proofread by a colleague not involved in the proposal

5. DO’S: Drafting the proposal  Manageable partnership (Average consortium size: 12 partners (min. 6 –max. 34)  Define together ambitious but realistic objectives and deadlines  Design a good LFM and use it like tool / guide for the project design phase and then, as a monitoring tool during the implementation phase Define specific and measurable indicators of progress and give sources and means of verification to check whether the indicators have been met Plan your dissemination and start it accordingly at the early stages of the project (progressive scale: People directly participating in the project- Other teaching, academic staff, students – faculties, HEI, national authorities, regional) Demonstrate that project achievements will be maintained (developed) (sustainability) by the staff of the Partner Country institution(s) once the project is finished (establish necessary structures, statutes, budgetary input, obtain accreditation, infrastructure etc)  Keep the award criteria in mind (They are a useful indication of what will be considered as most important in the project proposals)

6. DO’S When drafting A good proposal is  COHERENT in its entirety; avoid contradictions; avoid "patchwork"  SIMPLE: better a few well-chosen words than long/vague explanations  CONCRETE: use examples, justify your statements, bring proofs  CLEAR: Follow the questions and answer them in the right order  EXPLICIT: do not take anything for granted; don't assume: experts cannot read your mind; avoid abbreviations or explain them  RIGOROUS: the application is the basis on which your project will be implemented; it is also the cornerstone of your partnership commitment  FOCUSED: stick to what is asked  COMPLETE: ensure (twice!) you have followed all the instructions and that the proposal fulfils all the mandatory requirements.

7. Eligibility Criteria Exclusion & Selection Criteria Award Criteria 7 What is assessed? Assessment of CBHE Projects

8. DO’S for a successful project In the last call : relatively high percentage of ineligible applications (12%) due to insufficient understanding of minimum requirements for consortia; Most of eligibility criteria (see E+ Programme Guide – CBHE action) are featured in the e-form; following criteria are double checked by the Agency staff:  Formal submission requirements  Grant size and duration  Applicant, Partners and Partnership requirements (number of partners, status of the grant applicant & partners, etc.) Respect the eligibility criteria It does not matter how well the project has been designed if it does not fulfil the eligibility criteria: this will lead to the automatic rejection of the proposal It does not matter how well the project has been designed if it does not fulfil the eligibility criteria: this will lead to the automatic rejection of the proposal

9. DO’S for a successful project Based on supporting and administrative documents, like the declaration of honour, legal entity form, profit and loss accounts... The institution is not in one of the situations described in section C. Exclusion criteria of the Guidelines (such as bankruptcy, professional misconduct, subject of fraud, corruption, administrative penalties, conflict of interest, etc.) Legal person status of the applicant organisation Financial capacity to complete the proposed activities (private entities only) Operational capacity to complete the proposed activities What is assessed? Exclusion and Selection Criteria

10. DO’S : Award criteria Relevance of the project – 30 pts/ at least 15 points  The national/regional priorities are addressed  Focus on Partner Country needs Quality of the project design and implementation – 30 pts  Academic / training content and the pedagogical approach  Consistency between project objectives methodology, activities and budget proposed  Coherence with the LFM  Clearly identified challenges/risks of the project and mitigating actions proposed Quality of the project team and the cooperation arrangements – 20 pts  Regional dimension and diversity Impact and dissemination – 20 pts  Accreditation of new courses, study programmes etc. To be considered for funding, proposals must score at least 60 points in total and - out of these points at least 15 points for "Relevance"

11. DEFINITION The project contributes to the achievement of the policy objectives of the participating partners It is based on and addresses real needs & problems of the target groups CONTENT How clearly the project addresses the Programme objectives and priorities ( thematic, national and regional priorities) Needs analysis and presentation of specific problems addressed Definition of target groups What is innovative or complementary to other initiatives How the project was prepared What is assessed? Award Criterion 1 – Relevance What is assessed? Award Criterion 1 – Relevance

12. DON’T’S - Don’t tailor a proposal to generic directives, policies: A project is meant to address concrete and specific needs - Don’t write it alone: Make clear to project applicants/partners that a “fundable” idea cannot be developed on one’s own office: joint preparation which is the best ground for joint project implementation -Don’t copy paste projects/parts: a project must be unique, there never two identical situations: Take the ownership of the project When writing: - don’t assume that the assessors neither know you, your institutions or your countries, or don’t know anything at all…  can guess what you think or refer to…  have time to « translate » too poor English, French or German…  will take beautiful and cliché statements at face value…  assessors don’t take the time to carefully read the proposals in their entirety and you can copy paste  don’t use a calculator…

13. Erasmus+ Relatively high percentage of ineligible applications (12%) due to insufficient understanding of minimum requirements for consortia; Pay particular attention to the eligibility criteria, mainly minimum number of nationally recognised HEIs in consortia; Respect strictly the national / regional priorities addressed to each Partner Country affecting the score on Relevance (threshold of 50% must be reached to pass to the next selection stages); A need to mobilise new institutions (not the usual suspects) both in Programme and Partner Countries, as grant holders and/or partners; Outreach beyond the capital cities to institutions in the regions and the periphery; Insist on the need to empower the Partner Country& regional partners from the early stages of the proposal preparation. Lack of innovative approaches (new content and methodologies) Lessons Learned from the last call CBHE