European Community Rules for Participation in FP7

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European Community Rules for Participation in FP7
MEDA GO TO EUROPE (Enhancing the participation of
Mediterranean countries in the area of food,
agriculture and fisheries, and biotechnology in
FP7)

• What you must know before setting out to
  participate in an FP7 project

Cairo, 16th May 2007
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Rules for Participation

• Rules for Participation (Regulation (Ec) No.
  1906/2006 of the EP) comprise
• Definitions
• Minimum conditions for participation
• Procedures
• Calls for Proposals
• Submission Evaluation
• Implementation and Grant Agreements
• Consortia requirements
• Community financial contribution
• Dissemination, use and access rights (IPR)

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Definitions

• Legal entity
• Participant
• Research organisation
• Third country
• International Cooperation Partner Country
• Public body
• Funding Scheme
• Small and Medium Enterprise (SME)
• Work Programme
• Foreground knowledge
• Background Pre-existing know-how

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Minimum conditions for the participation

• General - Who can participate?
• Private company, public organisation
  (University, Research centre) or individual
  organisation in
• Member States (MS) the EU-27
• Associated countries (AC)
• Candidate countries Turkey, Croatia
• Third countries (ICPC)
• Three independent participants from three
  different Member States (MS) or Associated
  countries (AC)
• Natural persons may participate
• Additional conditions can be established by the
  work programme or specific programme (i.e. re
  number of participants, place of establishment,
  type of participant)
• AC EU non member countries associated to FP7,
  ie, Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Norway and
  Switzerland
• ICPC International Cooperation Partner
  Countries

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Minimum conditions for the participation

• Specific
• Frontier research actions (funded by the European
  Research Council) at least one legal entity
  established in a Member State or Associated
  country
• Collaborative projects addressing the
  participation of international cooperation
  partner countries in parity with MS or AC
  minimum is four participants of which 2 in MS or
  AC and 2 in ICPC countries
• Participation of international organisations and
  participants from third countries if in addition
  to minima

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Procedures Calls for Proposals

• Calls for proposals define
• Objectives of the call
• Context of the call (policy context, approach,
  structure of the Work Programme, Funding schemes,
  Int. Coop.)
• Content of the call (Activities/Areas and Topics
  eligible to the call)
• Implementation of calls (timetable of deadlines
  connected to Areas and Topics)

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Submission Evaluation

• In FP7 only submission of project proposal by
  EPSS (Electronic Proposal Submission Service)
• Evaluation criteria known in advance
• Evaluation criteria established in Specific
  Programmes and Work programmes
• Transparent, fair and impartial evaluation
  procedures with help of independent experts

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Evaluation Criteria

• Selection and award criteria are set out in the
  work programme and specific programme
• General evaluation criteria
• Scientific and/or technological excellence
• Relevance to the objective of the specific
  programme
• Potential impact through the development,
  dissemination and use of the projects results
• The quality and efficiency of the implementation
  and management

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Implementation and Grant Agreements

• Participants implement the work jointly and
  severally towards the Community and carry out
  work of a defaulting partner unless the
  Commission relieves them of that obligation
  (technical responsibility)
• Financial collective responsibility does not
  apply in FP7
• Commission to assess risk of default and may
  establish a mechanism to cover financial loss
• If implementation of the project is impossible or
  participants fail to implement it, the Commission
  shall ensure its termination

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Implementation and Grant Agreements

• Model grant agreement to be drawn up
• to establish rights and obligations of
  participants (including submission of reports,
  termination etc.)
• identify whether and what part of the EC
  financial contribution is based on reimbursement
  of eligible costs, lump sums or flat rates
• Identify which changes in composition of the
  consortium require prior publication of a
  competitive call, and
• shall reflect the principles laid down in the
  European Charter for Researchers and the Code of
  Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers
  (synergies with education, engagement with the
  broad public, increase of the participation of
  women, and socio -economic aspects of research)
• specific provisions for certain types of actions
  (IPR particularly)
• grant agreement comes into force upon signature
  by the coordinator and the Commission and applies
  to each participant that has acceded to it

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Consortia requirements

• Project partners have to sign Consortium
  agreement prepared by the Coordinator
• Consortium agreements obligatory unless exempted
  by call for proposals
• Role of the Coordinator
• - monitors the compliance by participants in
  the indirect action with their obligations
• - verifies all necessary formalities on legal
  entities identified in grant agreement for
  accession to the grant agreement
• - financial manager, intermediary and
  distributor of co-financing funds of EC
• - connection with EC as intermediary for good
  communication betwenn EC and partners in frame of
  good progress of the project
• Changes in consortium membership possible
  (partner change and also change of coordinator)

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Community financial contribution

• Eligibility for Funding
• Legal entities from Member States and Associated
  countries or created under Community law (and
  JRC)
• International European interest organisations
• Legal entities established in international
  cooperation partner (ICPC) countries
• and
• International organisations, third countries
  other than ICPC, if provided for in specific
  programme or work programme or essential for
  carrying out action or provision for funding is
  provided for in a bilateral agreement between
  Community and the third country
• Basis for Funding
• Reimbursement of eligible costs with flat rates
  and lump sums
• Flat rates, including scale of unit costs
• Lump sum amounts

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Intelectual Property Provisions

• The definitions
• Background is pre-existing know-how
• - held by participants prior to their accession
  to the grant agreement
• - needed for carrying out the project or for
  using its results
• - may be defined by the participants
• foreground is all knowledge, results of the
  project and attached rights
• ownership - each participant owns the foreground
  it generates

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Intelectual Property Provisions

• Ownership each participant owns the foreground
  it generates
• Joint ownership
• (in absence of specific agreement default
  joint ownership regime applies) any owner can
  grant non-exclusive licenses to third parties,
  subject to prior notification and fair and
  reasonable compensation to the other owner(s)
  with no right to sub-licence.
• Transfer of ownership of foreground
• Prior notification only to the other
  participants who may waive their rights to be
  notified regarding specific third parties
• Requirement to notify Commission may be in
  grant agreement,
• Commission may object to transfers or
  exclusive licenses to third
• countries if contrary to ethical or
  competitiveness principles

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Intelectual Property Provisions

• Protection, use, dissemination, publication
• Foreground capable of industrial or commercial
  application shall be protected
• Owner of foreground may transfer to another
  participant if it does not wish to protect or to
  the Commission
• Foreground to be used and disseminated
• Notice of dissemination (including publication)
  to be given to other participants (not
  Commission)
• Publications and patent applications must
  indicate the Community financial assistance

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Intelectual Property Provisions

• Access rights
• Participants define the background they need and
  may exclude but not necessarily prior to
  signature of EC grant agreement
• Requests for access rights within one year after
  the end of the project or other period to be
  agreed by participants
• Possible to grant exclusive licenses if other
  participants waive their rights
• Commission no longer informed of granting of
  access rights to third parties, unless foreseen
  in the grant agreement
• Special provisions for certain types of actions
  e.g. frontier research, research for the benefit
  of specific groups, security research

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Where to find out more about the rules for
participation?

• Official website of FP7
• http//cordis.europa.eu/fp7/participate_en.html
• Rules for Participation in FP7 - Regulation (Ec)
  No 1906/2006 of the European Parliament
• http//cordis.europa.eu/fetch?ACTIONDSESSIOND
  OC1LANENRCN8375CALLERFP7_LIB
• IPR helpdesk

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Tips from the experiences of other

• Join the FP7 project as a partner not as a
  coordinator to get some experiences first
• Participate in projects dealing with themes
  which are part of your professional work and/or
  strategy
• Do not participate only to get money

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Any questions?
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION.
MEDA GO TO EUROPE (Enhancing the participation of
Mediterranean countries in the area of food,
agriculture and fisheries, and biotechnology in
FP7)

• Sebastjan RosaUniversity of PrimorskaScience
  and Research Centre of KoperSLOVENIAsebastjan.ro
  sa_at_zrs-kp.siwww.zrs-kp.si

Cairo, 16th May 2007