Marie Curie Individual Actions in FP7

1
Marie Curie Initial
Training Networks Workshop at University College
Cork, 27 June
2008 Dr. Dagmar M. Meyer Marie Curie National
Contact Point
www.iua.ie
2
Outline of the presentation

• Introduction to the Marie Curie Initial Training
  Networks
• What are ITNs, who can participate, how does it
  work?
• Hints for the proposal preparation
• Evaluation process and criteria
• Things to keep in mind

3
Part 1

• Marie Curie Initial Training Networks
• Budget distribution in the People programme and
  general principles
• Participants and their roles
• Eligible researchers
• ITN activities
• Financial aspects

4
Overview of the Marie Curie Actions
Initial training of researchers Marie Curie
Initial Training Networks (ITN)
Life-long training and career development Marie
Curie Intra-European Fellowships (IEF) European
Reintegration Grants (ERG) Co-funding of
regional/national/international programmes
(COFUND)
Industry-academia pathways and partnerships MC
Industry-Academia Pathways and Partnerships
Scheme (IAPP)
International dimension MC International Outgoing
and Incoming Fellowships (IOF / IIF) MC
International Reintegration Grants
(IRG) International Research Staff Exchange
Scheme (IRSES)
Specific actions Researchers Night (NIGHT),
other specific actions
5
Budget breakdown for 2008

• Calls on 2008 budget, total 483.16m

ITNs plus 145 m (?) from the 2009 budget
6
Objectives of the ITNs

• Directed at Early Stage Researchers
• Strengthen and structure initial training of
  researchers at European level
• Attract students to scientific careers
• Improve career perspectives by broad skills
  development (including private sector needs)

7
Main features

• International network of participants
• Joint Research Training Programme
• Training through research
• Complementary competences modules
• Exposure to both public and private sectors
• Industry involvement
• Mutual recognition of the quality of the training
• Grant agreements with Commission for four years,
  max. duration of fellowships 3 years

8
Research areas

• Bottom-up approach
• Evaluation carried out in panels (data 2007)
• Chemistry (13)
• Social and Human Sciences (9)
• Economic Sciences (2)
• Information Science and Engineering (20)
• Environmental and Geo-sciences (10)
• Life Sciences (26)
• Mathematics (3)
• Physics (17)

9
Who are the participants?

• Organisations that are actively involved in
  research and/or research training
• Universities/Institutes of Technology
• Private and public research institutes
• Companies big and small
• International Organisations (CERN, UNESCO, )
• The European Commissions Joint Research Centre
• NGOs
• Etc.

10
Which countries can they come from?

• 27 Member States (MS)
• 11 Associated Countries (AC)
• Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Israel,
  Switzerland, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Serbia,
  Turkey, Albania, Montenegro
• Third Countries (TC)
• More than 140 International Cooperation Partner
  Countries (ICPC) can receive funding
• Other Third Countries (OTC) normally self funded

11
Types of ITNs

• No more than 40 of the total EC contribution may
  be allocated to the benefit of organisations
  within one country in Multi-site ITNs.

12
Types of ITNs
13
Partner status
14
Private sector participation

• At the highest possible level
• Expected minimum involvement of industry - Level
  3
• Clear evidence of the commitment of industry to
  be included in proposal

15
Eligible researchers
INITIAL TRAINING
Transfer of NEW COMPETENCES
16
Transnational mobility

• Researchers can be nationals of any country other
  than the country of the premises of the host
  institution
• Nationals of Third Countries can only be
  recruited by hosts located in MS or AC
• Researchers must not have resided or carried out
  their main activity in the country of the host
  for more than 12 months in the 3 years
  immediately prior to their recruitment
• Special rules in case of
• Dual citizenship
• European researcher returning from a third
  country
• Third Country researcher having resided in Europe
  for a long time
• International organisations as host institutions

17
Role of visiting scientists

• Complement the networks capacity to transfer new
  knowledge
• Strengthen supervision of the network-wide
  training activities
• Exceptional and duly justified, with explicit
  reference to the punctual training events he/she
  will provide or organise
• Reasonable duration of appointment

18
Typical ITN activities

• Training
• Networking
• International conferences open to external
  researchers

19
Training activities

• Training on scientific and technological
  knowledge through researchindividual
  personalised projects within the framework of the
  research topics defined by the network
• Provision of structured training courses
  tutoring, lecture courses, teaching
• Available either locally or from another
  participant of the network
• Local training programmes to be coordinated to
  maximise added value

20
Training activities

• Intersectorial visits and secondments
• Development of network-wide training activities
  workshops, summer schools
• Exploitation of the interdisciplinary and
  intersectoral aspects of the project
• Exposure of the participants to different schools
  of thought
• Provide complementary training in IPR, project
  management, presentation skills, language
  courses, ethics, communication, entrepreneurship,
  proposal writing, task coordination
• Coordinated by a clearly identified Supervisory
  Board

21
Training activities

• Personal Career Development Plan
• For researchers recruited for 6 months
• Early Post-Docs
• Intersectoral or interdisciplinary Transfer of
  Knowledge
• Taking part in the management of the research
  project
• Organisation of training events
• Training objective to make them more
  independent and to provide them with the skills
  to become team leaders in the near future

22
Networking activities

• Organisation of scientific/managerial network
  meetings
• Invitation of external experts
• Attendance at international conferences and
  workshops
• Electronic networking
• Collaboration with other ITNs
• Organisation of a final network conference

23
Events open to external researchers

• International conferences, workshops, seminars,
  summer schools, etc.
• Should provide an opportunity to
• exchange knowledge with more experienced
  researchers
• disseminate the skills and knowledge of the
  network

24
Supervisory Board

• Clearly identified
• Ensures that scientific and technological
  training is balanced with complementary skills
  training
• Composed of representatives of each of the
  participants in the network as well as external
  representatives
• Industry involvement

25
Community contribution

• Eligible expenses for the activities carried out
  by the recruited researchers

Budget category, see Work Programme 2008
26
Living, mobility and travel allowances

• Living allowance (including all mandatory
  deductions) basic rate submitted to
  country-specific coefficient (IE113.3,
  UK109.2, FR104.4, DE101.5, ES 95.5, )

• Mobility allowance (500/800 monthly, depending
  on family situation at recruitment country
  coefficient applies)
• Travel allowance (250 - 2500 every 12 months,
  depending on distance)

27
Community contribution

• Eligible expenses for the activities carried out
  by the host organisations
• Contribution to the research/training/Transfer of
  Knowledge programme expenses (E)
• Fixed amount of 600 / researcher-month
• Contribution to the organisation of international
  conferences, workshops and events (F)
• Fixed amount of 300 / researcher-day for
  researchers from outside the network and for the
  duration of the event
• Management activities (G)
• 7 of the total EC contribution for Multi-site
  ITN
• 3 of the total EC contribution for Mono-site and
  Twinnings ITN
• Overheads -10 of direct costs (except
  subcontracts) (H)

28
Indicative timetable for Initial Training Networks
29
Success rates in first Marie Curie ITN call
in 2007

• Stage 1
• Proposals submitted 905 (104 Irish
  participations in 86 distinct proposals, 14 as
  coordinators)
• Proposals invited to Stage 2 197 (14 proposals
  with 1 Irish participant each, none as
  coordinator)
• Stage 2
• Proposals submitted 196 (14 Irish participations
  in 14 distinct proposals)
• Proposals on the ranked list 68 (7 proposals
  with 1 Irish participant each)
• Overall success rate 7.5

30
More information

• Official website of the FP7 People (Marie
  Curie) programme on CORDIS
• (information on calls, work programme, guide for
  applicants, etc.)
• http//cordis.europa.eu/fp7/people/

31
Key contacts

• IUA Marie Curie Office National Contact Point
• Dr. Dagmar Meyer (dagmar.meyer_at_iua.ie)
• Dr. Conor OCarroll (conor.ocarroll_at_iua.ie)
• mariecurie_at_iua.ie
• 01 676 4948
• Enterprise Ireland National Contact Point
• Focus on Industry - Bill Kee
• bill.kee_at_enterprise-ireland.com
• 01 808 2277

32
Part 2

• Hints for the proposal preparation
• Evaluation process and criteria
• Things to keep in mind

33
Proposal preparation first steps

• Download all the necessary documentation
• Do your homework background reading! (Rules of
  the programme but also some policy background)
• Choose your consortium carefully what kind of
  research and training expertise is needed?
  Exploit complementarities and synergies!
• Establish contacts with chosen partners well
  ahead of time (financial support for preparatory
  meetings etc. available from Enterprise Ireland)

34
Submission procedure

• Only electronic submission using EPSS (Electronic
  Proposal Submission Service)
• Proposal has two parts
• Part A administrative information about
  proposal, applicant and host institution
  (prepared forms)
• Part B free text covering a number of predefined
  aspects of the project, limited number of pages
  (prescribed font size and margins), limited size
  of pdf-file
• Deadline is STRICTLY enforced

35
Evaluation criteria basic principles

• Evaluation according to criteria provided in the
  Guide for Applicants
• Different criteria carry different weights
• Thresholds for some evaluation criteria
• Overall threshold is 70
• All issues need to be addressed! Competition is
  fierce dont waste your chances.
• Always keep in mind the objectives of the
  activity!

36
Evaluation process

• All proposals undergo initial eligibility check
• Evaluation by at least three experts from an
  international pool (not all experts are exactly
  from your field of speciality!!)
• Proposals that miss a threshold are rejected
• Remaining proposals are ranked within each panel
• All applicants receive evaluation summary report
  (very useful for re-submission!!)
• Distribution of funding to different panels in
  proportion to proposals submitted
• Reserve lists in case of late withdrawal etc.

37
Initial Training Networks Part B

• Evaluation criteria and thresholds
  (overall threshold 70)

38
Initial Training Networks ST Quality

• ST objectives of the research programme,
  including in terms of inter/multi-disciplinary,
  intersectoral and/or newly emerging
  supra-disciplinary fields
• Scientific quality of the research programme
• Appropriateness of research methodology
• Originality and innovative aspects of the
  research programme. Knowledge of the state-of
  the-art.
• Weight 30, Threshold 3/5

39
Initial Training Networks Training

• Quality of the training programme. Consistency
  with the research programme.
• Complementary skills offered Management, Grant
  Writing, Communication, Ethics, Commercial
  exploitation of results, Research policy, IPR,
  Entrepreneurship, etc.
• Importance timeliness of the training needs
  (e.g. multi-disciplinary, intersectoral and newly
  emerging supra-disciplinary fields)
• a) For multi-site proposals Adequate combination
  of local specialist training with networkwide
  training activities.
• b) For mono-site proposals Adequate exploitation
  of the international network of participants for
  the training program
• Appropriateness of the size of the requested
  training programme with respect to the capacity
  of the host
• Weight 30, Threshold 4/5

40
Initial Training Networks Implementation

• Capacities (expertise/human resources/facilities/
  infrastructure) to achieve research adequate
  task distribution
• Appropriateness of industry involvement
• Adequate exploitation of complementarities
  synergies among partners in terms of research and
  training
• How essential is non ICPC Third Country
  participation, if any, to the objectives of the
  research training programme
• Plans for the overall management of the training
  programme (demarcation of responsibilities,
  recruitment strategy etc)
• Networking and dissemination of best practice
  among partners. Clarity of the plan for
  organising training events (workshops,
  conferences, training courses)
• Weight 20, Threshold 3/5

41
Initial Training Networks Impact

• Contribution of the proposed training programme
  to the improvement of the career prospects of the
  fellows
• Provision to establish longer term collaborations
  and/or lasting structured training programme
  between partners' organisations, including
  private academic partners
• Where appropriate, justification of the training
  events open to external participants and their
  integration in the training programme
• Where appropriate, mutual recognition of the
  training acquired by multipartner hosts
• Where applicable, relevance of the role of
  visiting scientist with respect to the training
  programme.
• Weight 20, Threshold none

42
Hints for a successful proposal

• Follow the guide for applicants and address all
  issues mentioned in the explanatory notes
• Plan your writing - focus on one section at a
  time, but keep the overall picture in mind
• Dont be repetitive the same issue may appear
  in various sections, but from different
  perspectives, so dont simply cut-and-paste!
• Be concise and observe the page limit

43
Hints for a successful proposal

• Stick to the structure suggested in the guide for
  applicants keep the evaluators happy!
• The evaluators may not all be world experts in
  exactly the area of your proposal avoid using
  very specific jargon and acronyms
• Provide the evaluators with evidence for your
  claims, but avoid external resources (links to
  websites etc.)
• Graphics and charts can be very helpful, but
  dont overdo it! Make sure they are readable in
  black white.

44
Hints for a successful proposal

• Get a colleague to read through your proposal and
  do a mock evaluation
• If in doubt, ask your National Contact Point for
  clarification!
• If you want to avail of our pre-submission
  proposal check, allow enough time for feedback.
• Regularly upload preliminary versions of your
  proposal, and dont forget to hit submit!
• Keep the deadline - 5pm Brussels time means 4pm
  Irish time!!

45
And finally.

• Good luck!!!