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This information refers to the Fifth Framework Programme, this Programme is now closed and information on the Sixth Framework Programme can be found at on our new Sixth Framework Programme pages. Section 1: Application Procedures and Requirements
How do I apply?
Section 2: Project Partners
Which countries can participate?
Section 3: SMEs (Small to Medium Sized Enterprises)
Are there any special measures for SMEs?
Section 4: Intellectual Property Rights Will
I own the intellectual property rights to the results of the project?
Section 5: Pre-submission assistance
Can proposers contact the Commission?
Section 6: Steps taken immediately after a project is submitted
I've submitted my proposal - What happens now?
Section 7: Further Questions
Can I register as an evaluator for the Programme?
Section 1: Application Procedures and Requirements The first step to take is to read the EESD Work Programme (WP). The ENERGIE WP was revised for the Final Call for ENERGIE Proposals put out on 24th October 2000. A Revision document was produced to be used in conjunction with the March 2000 edition of the Work Programme. The revised WP is divided into two parts. The major part (60% of the budget) comprises ‘target actions’. The Target Actions will cover the following fields:
For the remainder of the budget (40%), all topics in the latest version of the Work Programme (March 2000 Edition) will be kept open to fund proposals of outstanding quality that will contribute to the ‘Priorities of Strategic Importance to the EU’ which are:
Click here for more information on the ‘Priorities of Strategic Importance to the EU’ This part of the call is called the General Call and any application to this area of the Programme must address at least one of the ‘Priorities of Strategic Importance to the EU’. To obtain a copy of the work programme please contact the Helpline or download from www.cordis.lu/eesd . Once you have found the area that you would like to submit your proposal against, it is important to plan your research as soon as possible. You should obtain a full ENERGIE Information Package at this stage which contains all the essential documents you will need. Other useful documents such as "How to Write an RTD Proposal" are available, but are not automatically included in the Information Package. The ENERGIE Helpline UK can advise on the documents you need, and e-mail or post them to you. The documents will give some idea of the requirements of an application and the Commission's required size and scope of a proposal. It is a time-consuming process requiring commitment and considerable staff input. However, this should not be a deterrent to applying, as the rewards to be gained are considerable. The next step is to identify potential project partners in other eligible countries (see below). Once a project co-ordinator is selected to lead the project, the administrative requirements should be fulfilled including submission of a "Pre-Proposal Check", and completion of the application forms. Throughout the process of preparing a proposal it is important to bear in mind the overall requirements of the Framework Programme that every project must adhere to. The Commission states that a good proposal will comprise "relevant research to achieve clear objectives" and will include each of the following: scientific excellence; innovation; a European dimension; clear objectives to fit the programme; high quality project management; a balanced distribution of workload; clear timescale plus workplans; written in understandable and non-technical language; a well-defined and marketable project result.
The Fifth Framework Programme is now closed. For information on the Calls
for proposals under FP6 please visit our Sixth Framework
Programme
pages. The first Call for Proposals was published on 20th March 1999, and there were two deadlines for submission which varied depending upon the key actions. The first deadline was 15th June 1999 and the second was 4th October 1999. The Third Call for Proposals was issued on 14th March 2000 with a deadline of 31st May 2000. The Fourth and Fifth Calls for Proposals were published in the Autumn of 2000 with deadlines in February, March and December 2001. Who can participate in the Programme? Any agency, public or private, is eligible to participate. Participants must carry out, or be about to carry out, research, technological development or demonstration (RTD). They may also participate if they are potential users of these RTD results, or are able to assist in their dissemination or exploitation. It is particularly important to note that, irrespective of the organisations involved, research should not have reached the market development stage but instead should be applied research with clear potential for practical exploitation. What is the Work Programme and why do I need it? The Work Programmes are the documents that give the concrete agendas and priorities for research based on the formal objectives of the Fifth Framework Programme. It is essential for project proposers to read the Work Programme for the specific Programme they are interested in. The ENERGIE Work Programme was revised during the summer of 2000 and a Revision document was published to be used in conjunction with the March 2000 edition of the Work Programme. It is essential that both documents are obtained. A revised version of the Work Programme was published in August 2001. This contains information on two new calls for proposals issued in August and September 2001. More information on these calls can be found below. The Work Programme has not changed in any other way from the October 2000 edition. It is essential that any proposal being submitted to the Commission addresses the priorities set out in the Work Programme. In many fields there are quantitative targets set that the Commission expects proposers to address. The demonstration of an awareness of these targets and of the overall Commission priorities is vital for a successful proposal. Contact the ENERGIE Helpline to obtain copies or download from www.cordis.lu/eesd . What level of research is the EU looking for in projects? In the broadest terms, project proposals must be based upon research and technological development (RTD) or demonstration. It is important to note that research should not have reached the near market development stage but instead should be applied research with clear potential for practical exploitation. What percentage of costs does EU funding cover? This figure varies depending upon the activity you are being funded under but as a general rule, the EU funds up to a maximum of 50% of research costs, and 35% of demonstration costs, and it is to be seen as a co-financing instrument, not as "gift" financing. Only the eligible costs will be part-funded by the Commission, this generally means the costs of the ‘innovative’ elements of the project. All elements of the funding requested must be realistic and justifiable. There are a number of different cost methods that can be used, details of these can be found in the Guidance Notes for the Part A Application Forms. Support for training fellowships, networks and accompanying measures can be up to 100%. What size should my project be? The Commission prefers larger projects – typically EU funding of 1.2M€ for Research projects and 1.4M€ for Demonstration projects, but costs must be realistic for your project objectives. If you are looking to increase the size of your project consider incorporating dissemination and exploitation activities as an Accompanying Measure, rather than just inflating costs artificially as this will be picked up in the evaluation. In the broad evaluation criteria the Commission states that a good proposal will comprise "relevant research to achieve clear objectives" and will include each of the following: scientific excellence; innovation; a European dimension; clear objectives to fit the programme; high quality project management; a balanced distribution of workload; clear timescale plus workplans; written in understandable and non-technical language; and a well-defined and marketable project result. Before putting in a proposal it is vital to understand the criteria against which your proposal will be evaluated. More information on the evaluation criteria can be found in How to Write a Winning Proposal . Advice on whether a proposal addresses the evaluation criteria is available from the ENERGIE Helpline and also from the Commission who will examine draft proposals against the broad criteria listed above. (See question on pre-proposal checks below). Many proposals fail on innovation – how can I check the state-of-the art? Remember that in order for the Commission to fund a project it must be innovative across the EU, and not only in the UK and therefore it is essential for a proposer to demonstrate knowledge of the state-of-the-art on an EU-wide scale. Much research into this can be done on the Internet, by checking networks that work in the same technology area, and the CORDIS web-site for details of projects which have already been identified for funding under the Framework Programmes ( www.cordis.lu/eesd/src/projects.htm ). Following this it is advisable to contact the UK Technical Experts via the ENERGIE Helpline, and your local Innovation Relay Centre. Don’t forget that the European Commission’s Scientific Officers have the most up-to-date knowledge on projects being contracted and in preparation. They will be able to advise you, and in some cases put you in touch with organisations with proposals in the same field to avoid duplication. The ENERGIE Helpline will be able to give you the contact details for the relevant people. ProTool (Proposal Preparation Tool) is a specialised software programme developed by the Commission, to assist participants of all FP5 Programmes to enter their proposals correctly, and check the necessary administrative and financial details, thus reducing the risk of the proposal being rejected because of incorrect or missing data. Individual consortium members can use ProTool to enter the data for their own organisation, and then e-mail this data to the co-ordinator. Using ProTool the co-ordinator then puts these individual contributions and their own organisation details together into a complete proposal package. Data entry is supported by extensive use of drop-down menus, allowing the user to simply select the appropriate entry from the list, thus minimising the risk of omissions or arithmetical errors. Even if you are submitting by paper, ProTool can assist with the preparation of your proposal. You can download ProTool from the CORDIS web site http://www.cordis.lu/fp5/protool . The web site also has a Frequently Asked Questions page and you can download a ProTool guide which takes you through downloading the software, installing it and using it to submit your application. It is highly recommended that you obtain a copy of the Users Guide BEFORE you attempt to download or use ProTool. To submit your proposal electronically you first need to obtain a Digital Certificate. These are available in the UK from PriceWaterhouseCoopers. There are 2 types of certificates - Class I for a one-off use only, and Class II which is valid for 12 months and can be used as often as you like during that period. PWC have developed a very comprehensive web site which will explain this process to you. Visit http://www.fp5-csp.org/ ProTool is certainly an extremely useful application for anyone submitting an FP5 proposal, but be aware that there have been numerous bugs in the software. There have been 4 new versions of the software released in the last 12 months alone. Our advice is to have a look at the software as early as you can, and decide if you are going to use it or not. Paper submission is still a possibility and the most common method used. If you are going to submit your proposal electronically, obtain your certificate immediately so you have it ready. If you are not, use ProTool to complete your Part A forms and then print them out. NB. There is no longer a need to have ORIGINAL signatures on the application forms. Copies of complete signed proposals will now be accepted (Guide for Proposers Part 2 – August 2001) Proposals can be submitted in two ways: 1. Once the proposal has been created using ProTool it can be sent electronically. This requires a "sealing mechanism" including encryption. The project co-ordinator must include a "digital certificate" through which the proposal is electronically "signed". At this stage, a validation file is created which identifies the specific project. The validation file must be received by the Commission before or on the deadline date. The full proposal file must then be received unmodified, as verifiable from the unique identification code, not later than 48 hours after the deadline. 2. Alternatively, you can use ProTool to assist you in preparation of the Part A application forms, after which the project co-ordinator can print them out. Alternatively you can bypass the PPT and prepare the proposal directly on the application forms included in the information packages. Proposals received in paper copy must be sent by mail or delivered to the Commission to the address specified in the Call for Proposals by the deadline given. Proposals sent by courier must arrive before the deadline. More information on the submission procedures, including how many copies of the proposal must be submitted, can be found in the Guide for Proposers Part 2. Section 2: Project Partners Which countries can participate? In addition to the EU, partners can come from ‘Associated States’ who participate with funding from the 5th Framework Programme (for example the candidates for accession) or from ‘Third Countries’ who can participate on a self-funding basis (for example China and the USA). Partners from other countries may be allowed on a case by case basis. These countries are only eligible if they are self-financing and only if their participation brings significant added value to the project in terms of achieving the aims of the Framework Programme. For full details see page 24 of the Guide for Proposers Part 1. How do I find suitable project partners? The best advice we can possibly give is to form a consortium with members you have had previous experience of working with. Remember that you are perhaps embarking upon a 2-3 year project of considerable financial value, and you need to be sure you form the best partnerships possible. The new approach to FP5 encourages participation of end-users even at the R&D stage, and the best way to tackle this is through the supply chain approach. Think laterally and include the whole team - researchers, manufacturers, distributors, marketers, end-users. This approach should also help you to meet the criteria of geographical coverage of the consortium members. However, if this approach is really not possible there are other ways of finding suitable partners. Contact your Trade or Research Associations, they may be able to help. There is also a regional network of Innovation Relay Centres (IRCs) across Europe. They are familiar with FP5 and have the advantage of knowing the organisations within their region. They can use their contacts across Europe to search for suitable partners. A list of IRCs can be found on the CORDIS web site at http://www.cordis.lu/irc Another possibility is the Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) which offers an "Expression of Interest" Service enabling organisations to find potential project collaborators. Key Information about every subscriber is listed so that other organisations searching for a partner with particular expertise are able to obtain contact information. The service also provides automatic email notification alerting subscribers when organisations and institutions have posted new FP5 Expressions of Interest. Details of research interests, collaboration needs, the countries in which you would like to find a partner, the type of organisation you would like to work with and the specific 5FP programme and key action of interest should be registered online. The application form can be found on the CORDIS web site www.cordis.lu . However, feedback received by the ENERGIE Helpline indicates that this route has not been particularly successful for UK participants, and should only be considered once you have exhausted all other possible routes. How many partners do I need to find? How many countries do consortia have to include? The general rule is that there needs to be a minimum of two full partners from two different Member States or from one Member State and from another country that has signed an agreement giving it "associate" status to participate in the Framework Programme (see above). It has been suggested that an average project will have 5 partners and will represent more than 3 countries. However, the Commission has also stated that the number of partners and their geographical origin is of less importance to the proposal evaluators than the content and anticipated results of the project. Should I co-ordinate the project? As a result of negative experiences with project co-ordination under the Fourth Framework Programme, project management has increased in importance in Fifth Framework Programme projects compared to the Fourth. It is strongly advisable that the project co-ordinator has previous management experience in the field of EU research projects. If you do not have relevant experience in this field, it is probably wise to leave this role to another project member or to look for someone within your organisation that could take on this role. Depending upon the size of the project, the project manager could be required to give a significant time input to the project. The importance of this role should not be underestimated and it is a criterion that all proposals will be assessed against by the Commission. How many projects can my organisation be involved in? There is no rule on how many projects you can be involved in as an organisation or as an individual – the issue here is to be realistic. An evaluator may see that your organisation is over-stretched and feel that the resources provided would be inadequate. Alternatively it may be that one person intends to try to co-ordinate too many projects. In this event the evaluators could ask for the co-ordinator to be changed before agreeing to fund a project. Submitting many proposals may look like you are not taking any of them seriously, and it will definitely not increase your chances of success. Section 3: SMEs (Small to Medium Sized Enterprises) Are there any special measures for SMEs? There are two types of SME Specific Measures - Exploratory Awards and Co-operative Research Actions, more commonly known as CRAFT. The number of SMEs required in a consortium to be eligible to apply for a CRAFT award is 3. There are eligibility criteria for a company to be classified as an SME. These are:
SMEs are able to take part in the main shared-cost actions as well. For further details on the SME Specific Measures, contact the ENERGIE Helpline. Are there any special requirements from SMEs? SMEs participating in the Framework Programme have to able to demonstrate that they are capable of carrying out the research programme. This includes showing that they are a financially viable entity and likely to remain so. Normally this should not be a problem, but for very small or new SMEs, or those whose main turnover is from European funding, the Commission may require a bank guarantee to ensure that Community funding is not lost if a company goes under, or to safeguard against possible fraud through the setting up of dummy companies. Bank guarantees are expensive and onerous on those who are required to provide them, however, very few companies are actually asked to provide a bank guarantee. Can an SME be a lead contractor in a project? Yes, SMEs can co-ordinate projects, however, there are potential disadvantages. The Commission requires that the lead contractor takes full responsibility for guaranteeing the funds paid by the Commission - if the lead contractor is very small, and the project funds represent a large proportion of its turnover, the Commission may require a bank guarantee; if a larger company is the lead contractor this is less likely to be necessary. We recommend that first-time participants in Framework research do not take the lead role in a project consortium. For the special SME measures, an SME will have to be the lead partner; whilst this can be onerous, it may be that assistance on management of the programme and administrative duties can be found from the research providers, many of whom may have taken part in projects before and might be able to help with paperwork. Section 4: Intellectual Property Rights Will I own the intellectual property rights to the results of the project? The Commission has attempted to clarify the situation as regards the access rights to knowledge created during the project and to pre-existing know-how. The general rule for RTD projects is that the intellectual property created by the project is the property of the partner who has carried out the work. However, in the case of 100% Commission funded projects, the intellectual property rights belong to the Commission rather than to the members of the consortium. How do I find out about intellectual property rights? The Intellectual Property Rights Helpdesk run by CORDIS, is a valuable resource that can assist with more than simply answering queries on IP issues relating to project results such as how to define and protect intellectual property and to check the licensing status of existing know-how. They are also able to help in the interpretation of Commission contracts and with the legal issues related to the formation of a consortium, and how to handle a consortium agreement. It is worthwhile registering with this free service as queries can only be submitted by registered organisations. This can be done through the Internet at: http://www.cordis.lu/ipr-helpdesk or by email at: info@ipr-helpdesk.org . Section 5: Pre-submission assistance Can proposers contact the Commission? You are positively encouraged to contact the EU Scientific Officers directly. The Scientific Officers are responsible for putting together the Work Programme and they will moderate during the evaluation process. The ENERGIE Helpline can pass on the contact details for the appropriate Scientific Officer. By contacting the Scientific Officer proposers may receive vital advice and guidance that can only come from the Commission. What is a pre-proposal check? How useful is this and how long will it take? A pre-proposal check service is available from the Commission upon request in order to advise the project proposers whether their project fulfils the criteria, and is within the scope of the Call. This is an optional service that project proposers may use as long as they submit information at least 6 weeks before submission deadline. In response, the Commission will return a standardised checklist within 5 working days. Scientific content will not be examined at this stage but it is a useful service to ensure that proposals meet the formal eligibility criteria. Project proposers are not required to adopt the advice given by the Commission nor will the pre-proposal be checked against the full proposals received later. Although the information you receive back will not be detailed, it will give you the name of the Scientific Officer who has read your proposal summary. We strongly recommend that you then contact this person directly to discuss your proposal further. You will receive a lot more information verbally during an "informal" discussion, than you will through the formal written procedure. If your response does not give contact details for the Scientific Officer, just contact the ENERGIE Helpline who can give you the necessary details. Do I have to pre-register my proposals? Some programmes under FP5 will require project proposers to "pre-register" their proposal. This will mean names and addresses of partners, the title and short summary of the project should be submitted to the Commission. This will be required no later than three weeks before the deadline. The Commission will then send out a "proposal number" which must then be quoted on the main proposal. The purpose of this is to facilitate the planning of the evaluation sessions and to speed up this part of the process. Pre-registration of proposals is not been a requirement under ENERGIE, but if it becomes so, it will state this in the Call text published in the Official Journal. Check with the Helpline if you are in any doubt. Section 6: Steps taken immediately after a project is submitted I've submitted my proposal - What happens now? Your proposal will first receive an eligibility check. This is carried out by the Commission to check that you have fulfilled all areas of the eligibility criteria such as geographical coverage, number of partners etc. If your proposal is eligible then it will go through to the evaluation stage. Your proposal will be evaluated by a two panels: one of scientific and technological experts, and then by socio-economic experts (highlighting the increased importance placed upon the socio-economic impact of your project). The Commission then draws-up Priority Lists. If your proposal is successfully evaluated, you will be placed upon the Immediate Negotiation (IN) list, and commence Contract Negotiations with the Commission. If your proposal is recommended for funding but the budget allocated cannot fund all successful proposals then the lower scoring proposals will be placed on the Reserve List (RL). This list is used to replace any proposals that were placed on the IN list but fail at the Contract Negotiation phase. Finally, if you are unsuccessful your proposal will be placed upon the Rejected (R) list. The evaluators may make recommendations for modifications to your proposal for re-submission under the next Call. The evaluation process takes at least 3 months. Contract Negotiations follow a successful evaluation and these can take a further 3 months, totalling a minimum of 6-7 months from submission to the finalisation of Contracts. Which areas of the proposal will be negotiated with the Commission? In order to prepare and finalise a contract, the Commission will examine the costs of the resources to be used and the technical work to be carried out. These issues will be discussed with the project proposers and are to be negotiated at this time. When will I find out if my proposal is successful? Following the preparation of the priority list of proposals, the co-ordinators of proposals listed will be contacted in writing and will receive a summary report of the evaluation of their proposal, and a request for further the administrative information required for the preparation of the contract (Contract Preparation Forms). There can be delays in notifying proposers of their results so please contact the Helpline who can check the status of a proposal for you. Section 7: Further Questions Can I register as an evaluator for the Programme? The European Commission is very keen to recruit new evaluators for its expert database, as evaluators are rotated on a regular basis. In particular, women are under-represented on these panels and applications are specifically requested. In addition to payment for fees, travel and subsistence, you will gain valuable experience if you are planning to submit a proposal in the next Framework Programme. For details go to http://www.cordis.lu/expert-candidature/ . The forms have been recently simplified, and can be filled in or amended on-line, and stored until you are ready to submit. What is a ‘newly associated state’ or NAS? This term refers to the candidate countries for accession that are the subject of a Call for Proposals to add NAS to existing ENERGIE projects. This is now closed When will the next call for proposals under ENERGIE be issued? The Next Framework Programme is currently under negotiation. It is expected that the Programme will be launched in November 2002, with the first calls for proposals in early 2003. More information on the next framework programme can be found on our Sixth framework programme pages
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