How to participate to FP7

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How to participate to FP7

• The FP 7 Rules for Participation

European Commission DG INFSO Belgrade 20/21
February 2008
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Minimum consortia

• Three independent legal entities from three
  different EU Member States or Associated
  countries (presently Albania (AL), Croatia (HR),
  Iceland (IC), Israel (IL), Liechtenstein (LI),
  FYR of Macedonia (MK), Montenegro (ME), Norway
  (NO), Serbia (SR), Switzerland (CH), Turkey (TR)
  Bosnia-Herzegovina (BA), Faeroe Islands (FO)
  under negotiation
• EEIGs composed of members that meet the criteria
  above can participate
• International (intergovernmental) organisations
  can participate
• Participants from third countries if in addition
  to minima
• Collaborative projects for specific cooperation
  actions (SICA) dedicated to international
  cooperation partner countries (ICPC) minimum 4
  participants of which 2 in different MS or AC and
  2 in different ICPC countries unless otherwise
  specified
• Support actions no restrictions

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Community funding

• Eligibility for Funding
• Legal entities from MS and AC or created under
  Community law (and the JRC)
• International European interest organisations
• Legal entities established in international
  cooperation partner countries (ICPC-INCO)
• and
• Legal entities established in 3rd countries other
  than ICPC-INCO, if provided for in SP or WP or
  if essential for carrying out action or if
  provision for funding is provided for in a
  bilateral agreement between Community and that
  country

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Reimbursement of eligible costs

• Cost reporting models eliminated all
  participants report direct and indirect
  (overhead) eligible costs
• Eligible costs
• Actual
• Incurred during the project
• Determined according to usual accounting and
  management principles/practices
• Used solely to achieve project objectives
• Consistent with principles of economy, efficiency
  and effectiveness
• Recorded in accounts (or the accounts of third
  parties)
• Exclusive of non-eligible costs
• Average personnel costs may be used if consistent
  with above and do not differ significantly from
  actual

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Direct costs IP, STREP, NoE

• Research and technological development
  activities 50 funding of eligible costs
  except for
• Public bodies (non-profit) 75
• Secondary and higher education establishments
  75
• Research organisations (non-profit) 75
• Small and Medium sized Enterprises - SMEs 75
• Demonstration activities 50 of eligible costs
  
• Other activities 100 including e.g.
  consortium management
• Direct costs CA, SA
• Coordination and support actions 100

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Indirect costs IP, STREP, NoE

• Any participant
• Actual indirect costs (participants may use a
  simplified method of calculation)
• or
• Flat-rate of direct eligible costs excluding
  subcontracts (to be established by the Commission
  currently 20)
• Non-profit public bodies, secondary and higher
  education establishments, research organisations
  and SMEs unable to identify real indirect costs
• Flat-rate of 60 of total direct eligible costs
  (until end 2009)
• Flat rate of minimum 40, to be established by
  the Commission (as of 2010)
• Indirect costs CA, SA
• Flat rate of indirect costs 7

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Controls and Audits (1)

• The Commission may, at any time during the grant
  agreement and up to five years after the end of
  the project, arrange for audits to be carried
  out, either by outside scientific or
  technological reviewers or auditors, or by the
  Commission departments themselves including OLAF
• Such audits may cover scientific, financial,
  technological and other aspects relating to the
  proper execution of the project and the grant
  agreement
• The European Court of Auditors shall have the
  same rights as the Commission for the purpose of
  checks and audits

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Guarantee mechanism and RSFF

• Commission will establish and operate a
  Participant guarantee fund
• Contribution to guarantee fund of 5 of the EC
  contribution by each participant, to be returned
  at the end of the project
• Guarantee fund replaces all other forms of
  financial guarantees
• Risk Sharing Finance Facility. The Community
  award a grant to the European Investment Bank to
  cover risk of loans or guarantees in support of
  research objectives set out under FP7
• The EIB shall provide these loans or guarantees
  in a fair, transparent, impartial and equal way

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IPR in FP7
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Intellectual Property Provisions
Main objectives

• to facilitate the implementation of the project
  and the exploitation of its results
• to provide a minimum framework while allowing
  participants flexibility to determine additional
  rules specific for their cooperation
• to ensure continuity with the FP6 IPR provisions
  but simplifying and improving these where
  appropriate

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Intellectual Property Provisions
Terminology

• Background information and attached rights
• which is held by participants prior to their
  accession to the grant agreement (no sideground)
• which is needed for carrying out the project or
  for using its results
• which may be defined by the participants
• Foreground all results of the project and
  attached rights

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Intellectual Property Provisions
Ownership each participant owns the foreground
it generates Joint ownership in absence of a
specific agreement, a default regime applies any
joint owner is entitled to grant non-exclusive
licenses to third parties, without any right to
sub-licence, subject to prior notification and
fair and reasonable compensation to the other
owner(s) Transfer of ownership of
foregroundPrior notification in principle only
to the other participants who may waive their
rights to be notified in advance regarding
specific third parties (requirement to notify
Commission may be in grant agreement, Commission
may object to transfers or exclusive licenses to
third parties established in non-associated
countries for ethical, competitiveness or
security reasons)
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Intellectual Property Provisions

• Protection, use, dissemination (publication)
• Foreground capable of industrial or commercial
  application must be protected taking into account
  legitimate interests
• Owner of foreground who does not wish to protect
  may transfer the foreground to another
  participant or an (affiliate) entity established
  in a Member State or associated country or to the
  Commission
• Foreground must be used and disseminated
• Notice of dissemination (including publication)
  to be given to other participants (not to
  Commission unless no protection)
• Publications and patent applications must
  indicate the Community financial assistance

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Intellectual Property Provisions

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

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Intellectual PropertyProvisions
Unless otherwise foreseen, an affiliate
entity established in a MS or AC will also enjoy
such access rights
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Intellectual Property Provisions

• Further questions on IPR?
• Helpdesk
• Other helpful tools (e.g. IPR guide, consortium
  agreement checklist) which are being created for
  FP7
• IPR Helpdesk (http//www.ipr-helpdesk.org)

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• Consortium agreements in FP7

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CA Structure - 1

• 1. Parties
• - identifies each party to the CA
• 2. Preamble
• summarises the context and the purpose of the CA
• 3. Definitions
• defines the important terms used throughout the
  CA
• 4. Subject
• - describes the subject of the CA with reference
  to the EC grant agreement where necessary
• 5. Technical Provisions
• 5.1. Tasks of each party
• 5.2. Non-financial resources made available
• 5.3. Project schedule
• 5.4. Changes

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CA Structure - 2
6. Managerial Provisions - describes the
provisions dealing with the management of the
project 6.1. Co-ordination and management 6.2.
Powers and responsibilities 6.3. Follow-up and
Supervision 7. Financial Provisions (beyond
those already included in the EC grant agreement
and its annexes) 7.1. Financial plan 7.2.
Mutual payments 7.3. Costs to be claimed under
the management activity 7.4. Changes -
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CA Structure - 3
8. Provisions regarding intellectual property
rights (IPR), dissemination and use - describes
additional provisions on IPR, use and
dissemination 8.1. Ownership of
foreground 8.2. Transfer of foreground 8.3.
Protection of foreground 8.4. Use of
foreground 8.5. Dissemination (including
publication) of foreground 8.6. Access rights
(licences and user rights)
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CA Structure - 4
9. General Provisions 9.1. Entry into force 9.2.
Duration / Termination 9.3. Amendments to the
CA 9.4. Confidentiality 9.5. Treatment of
classified data or information, treatment of
dangerous materials 9.6. Breach / non-compliance
and associated liability, indemnification or
penalties 9.7. Survival 9.8. Partial
invalidity 9.9. Communication 9.10. Applicable
law and jurisdiction 9.11. Number of copies,
languages and signature process 10. Funding
scheme specific provisions
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Thank you for your attention Questi
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