Third Health Programme 2014 -2020
– preparing a project proposal
Ingrid Keller
Coordinator – Health Programme
European Commission,
Consumer, Health and Food Executive Agency
Proposals received 2008-2013
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Total
154
183
115
38
87
67
644
Conferences
43
45
27
35
42
47
239
Operating
Grants
26
26
25
35
46
45
203
2
4
10
5
5
5
31
225
258
177
113
180
164
1117
Instruments
Projects
Joint Actions
Total
Irish participation in 2HP – type of
actions co-funded
2%
9%
5%
Projects
47%
Joint actions
Conferences
Operating grants
Tender
37%
Irish participation in 2HP –
organisations and partner co-funded
Organisation type
Type of partners
Academic organisation
7%
13%
4%
Commercial
organisation
22%
Governmental
organisation
36%
40%
Non profit
organisation excluding
the above
Non-governmental
organisation
Associated
Main
78%
Irish participation in 2HP – average
evaluation grade Projects
Country
EU-28+EFTA
62.29
25.57
23.56
EV Crit A Total
18.71
16.80
EV Crit B Total
18.00
58.26
17.89
EV Crit C Total
EV Overallmarks
Participation 2HP Projects MP
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
AT
BE
BG
CY
CZ
DE
DK
EE
ES
FI
FR
GR HR HU
IC
Submitted
IR
IT
Funded
LT
LU
LV
MT NL NO
PL
PT
RO
SE
SI
SK
UK
General principles EC funding
Applicable to all financing mechanisms
1. Co-funding rule: external co-financing from a source
other than EC funds is required (own resources or
financial contributions from third parties)
2. Non-profit rule: the grant may not have the purpose or
effect of producing a profit for the beneficiary
(total Expenses = total incomes)
1. Non-retroactivity rule: only costs incurred after the
starting date defined in the grant agreement can be cofunded
2. Non-cumulative rule: only one grant can be awarded for a
specific action carried out by a given beneficiary
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Eligibility criteria
• Applicants must be legally established.
• Only applicants from the 28 EU Member States
plus Norway and Iceland can apply.
• A project proposal must be submitted by at least
3 different legal entities from 3 different eligible
countries.
• The only eligible activities are those listed in
section 2.1 "Grants for projects" in the work
programme 2014.
• The co-funding is meant for a future project.
Running projects cannot be supported.
Exclusion criteria
• Exclusion from participation:
• being bankrupt,
• convicted of an offence concerning professional
conduct,
• guilty of grave professional misconduct
• not in compliance with their obligations relating to
the payment of taxes
• Exclusion from granting procedure:
• conflict of interest
• guilty of misrepresenting the information required
by the Agency
Selection criteria
• Financial viability
• Not if < 100 000€ EU co-funding or if public
• If > 750 000€ -> attach audit report
• Self-check must be performed
If the self-check result is "weak" do not be
discouraged from applying!
• Operational capacity
• Self-declaration
• Provide information on capacity
Award criteria - I
1 – policy
relevance
2 – technical
quality
3 – management
quality
4 – budget
adequacy
TOTAL
Maximum points
Threshold
10
8
Threshold in % of
max. points
80%
10
6
60%
10
6
60%
10
6
60%
40
26
Award criterion 1 - Policy and
contextual relevance
• Sub-criteria:
• Relevance of the contribution to meeting the
objectives and priorities defined in the annual
work plan of the 3rd Health Programme, under
which the call for proposals is published,
• Added value at EU level in the field of public
health,
• Pertinence of the geographical coverage of the
proposals is high,
• Consideration of the social, cultural and political
context.
Award criterion 2 - Technical
quality
• Sub-criteria:
• Quality of the evidence base,
• Quality of the content,
• Innovative nature, technical complementarity and
avoidance of duplication of other existing actions
at EU level,
• Quality of the evaluation strategy,
• Quality of the dissemination strategy and plan.
Award criterion 3 - Management
quality
• Sub-criteria:
• Quality of the planning and appropriate task
distribution to implement the project,
• Relevance of the organisational arrangements,
including financial management,
• Quality of the partnership.
Award criterion 4 – Overall and
detailed budget
• Sub-criteria:
• Relevance and appropriateness of the budget,
• Consistency of the estimated cost per applicant
and the corresponding activities,,
• Realistic estimation of person months per work
package
• The budget allocated for evaluation and
dissemination is reasonable.
Types of participants
• Project coordinator
• Other beneficiaries
applicants
• Affilited entities
Several entities form one for the purpose of the action
Legal and/or financial link to another beneficiary
Must comply with eligibility criteria
• Subcontractors
• Do not sign grant agreement
• Get 100% of the cost reimbursed
• Collaborating stakeholders
Page 16
• Do not sign the grant agreement
• Cost not eligible
CONTENT PREPARATION
NEW – electronic submission system
• Part A
• administrative "form": title, keywords, abstract,
partners, overview budget (60/80% ?), checklist
with criteria
• Part B
• free-flow text, according to template (PDF)
• You need to write your own proposals
• Template gives the mandatory structure
Evidence base and problem
analysis
• Analysis of the health problem and its impact on
society/quality of life
- incidence, prevalence, distribution,
development over time
• Analysis of the factors underlying the problem
(determinants)
• Effectiveness of proposed measures, applicability
in the proposed context
Defining the objectives
• General objective – relate to purpose and vision
and is set as the main single aim.
• Specific objectives are the concrete activities you
carry out to achieve your general objective.
• Often active verbs e.g. assess needs, revise,
assemble, compare, investigate or develop.
Make the objectives S.M.A.R.T
• Specific - Specify the target group and the factors that
need to be changed
• Measurable - Formulate objectives in a measurable format
e.g. numbers to be reached, increased awareness by 25
%...
• Appropriate - Make sure objectives are achievable and
attainable, acceptable for the target group?
• Realistic - Ensure that you can realistically achieve the
objectives given the project’s resources: time, money,
staff?
Time-bound - Connect objectives to a time line. State
when you will achieve the objective e.g. within 3 months,
by February 2015?
Indicators
• Are the base for the evaluation - need to
measure the performance of the project
• Should be directly linked to the specific
objectives, for each specific objective, one or
more indicators can be defined
• Should be separated into:
• Process indicators
• Outcome/output indicators for effect evaluation
the level to which the objective is reached
• -> per specific objective
Formulation of an indicator
Step
Example
Basic
indicator
Peer educators trained
Quantity
Number of peer educators trained
Quality
Number of peer educators trained in
counselling that passed the test
Time
Number of peer educators trained in
counselling that passed the test in 2015
Target
Increase from x to y in the number of peer
educators trained in counselling that passed
the test in 2015
(Horstman, 2002)
Types of indicators
• Process indicators
• Are related to the outputs of the project
(deliverables, structures created,
materials produced/published)
• e.g. 120 condom distribution points have been
created in night life venues in the city before the
end of 2015
• Impact/outcome indicators
• Measure broader results achieved by
project activities and outputs
• e.g. Contraceptive use by the target group has
increased from 30 to 40% over the last twelve
months
Methods and means
 - The activities of the project needs to be
described
 - Every specific objective should be achieved by
aplying a method/ using means
 - Methods need to be scientifically validated &
match the staff expertise
 - Answer the question: Why are these the most
effective methods to achieve your objectives?

Target group
• Identify the groups who will be involved in
and benefit from the project.
• Be specific, try to find a segment of people
who are as homogenous as possible e.g.
girls / aged 11-15 /in school settings
• Ensure that the planned methods for the
interventions are relevant for this particular
group
Policy and contextual
relevance
• Contribution to the third health programme and
the annual work plan, other EU policies e.g.
Communication on HIV/AIDS
• Strategic relevance, EU added value and
innovation
• Pertinence of the geographical coverage
• Adequacy of the project with social, cultural,
policy context
7 ways to create EU-added value
• 1. Implementing EU legislation
• Objective: ensuring that legislation is implemented
correctly
• Example: JA on Facilitating collaboration on organ
donation between national authorities in the EU
• 2. Economies of scale
• demonstrate ‘return on investment’ for MS & ensure
sustainability
• Objective: To save money, and to provide better service
to citizens
• Target: No duplication of efforts
• Example: JA on Forecasting health workforce needs for
effective planning in the EU
7 ways to create EU-added value
• 3. Promotion of best practice
• Objective: Citizens benefit from state of the art best
practice, capacity building where necessary
• Target: ‘best practice’ applied in all participating MS
• Example: JA on Mental Health and well-being
• 4. Benchmarking for decision making
•
•
•
•
Focus on indicators with real impact on decision making.
Objective: To facilitate evidence based decision making
Target: Real time data comparison available
Example: JA on Improvement of HIV prevention in
Europe
7 ways to create EU-added value
• 5. Cross border threats
• Objective: To reduce risks and mitigate consequences of
health threats
• Target: Depending on individual threats
• Example: JA on the impact on maritime transport of
health theats
7 ways to create EU-added value
• 6. Movement of persons
• Patients crossing borders, migration issues and Brain
drain - movement of workers across Europe
• High ‘EU legitimacy’. Ensure high quality Public Health
across EU MS. Added value depends on the scale of the
problem
• Example: JA on Forecasting health workforce needs for
effective planning in the EU
7 ways to create EU-added value
• 7. Networking
• Very difficult to put into objectives, targets, and
indicators.
• Is a ‘side effect’ of other actions
• Is the rationale of the funding of ‘networks’
• Is very important for dissemination of the results to all
MS including non-participants
Managing the project implementation
• An evidence based problem analysis that takes into
account
• Policy and contextual relevance leads to defining the
general objective of the project.
• This is translated into several specific, s.m.a.r.t
objectives.
• Link target groups, methods and means to each
objective and expected outcomes and indicators of
these.
Group activities in work packages
with defined deliverables.
Work packages
- horizontal tasks: coordination, dissemination and
evaluation (mandatory)
- vertical tasks: actions fulfilling the objectives (max 6)
WP 1 – coordination of the project:
Specifications, Description of work, List of deliverables, Milestones
Horizontal
WP:s
WP 2 – dissemination of results
WP 3 – evaluation of the project
Core
WP:s
WP 4
WP 5
WP 6
WP 7
• Description
of work
•deliverables
• Milestones
Timetable
specification
36 months
Project example
Steering Committee
WP 1: Coordination
WP 2: Dissemination
WP 3: Evaluation
WP 4
WP 5:
WP 6:
Improvement
of existing
Instruments
Urban
Environment,
Transport
related
physical
activity
Healthrelated
fitness
4.1
Q Core Development
4.2
Q Workplace Module
5.1
Environmental Determinants
4.3
Accelerometry
5.2
Active Transportation
6.1
Fitness Test for adults
4.4
Assessment of PA in Children
5.3
GIS Data Analysis
6.2
Fitness Test for children
By D. Meusel
35
Timetable
• Applicants can use format they prefer
• Suggestion: GANTT chart
ANY QUESTIONS ON
CONTENT?
Budget
Eligible costs
 Connected with the subject of the GA and included in the
Technical annex and in the budget description
 Necessary for the performance of the action
 Reasonable and justified “good housekeeping”
 Generated during the lifetime of the action
 Actually incurred by the beneficiaries (including affiliated
entities), using applicable accounting principles
 Identifiable and verifiable, in particular being recorded
in the accounting records of beneficiary
Cost
Categories
Direct Costs
1. Personnel cost
2. Subcontracting costs
3. Travel Costs and subsistence allowances
4. Equipment
5. Other goods and services
Indirect Costs
6. Overheads – flat rate of 7% of total direct costs
Non-Eligible costs
• Return on capital
• Debt and debt services charges
• Provision for losses or potential future liabilities
• Interest owed, doubtful debts
• Exchange losses
• VAT – depends – watch new grant agreement!
• Cost declared by a beneficiary and covered by another
action funded by a EC grant
• Contribution in kind
5 Sources of income
•
•
•
•
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Co-funding request from the EU budget
Applicant financial contribution
Income generated by the action
Other External resources
ANY QUESTIONS ON THE
BUDGET?
Tips
• Plan for each Work Package separately
• Identify:
• Activities necessary to achieve objectives
• Cost elements (and cost category) of each activity
• Partners participating in a given activity
• For simplicity use EC rules
• EUR 500 per roundtrip flight + EC rules on subsistence
• Depreciation rules for equipment (straight line, 36
months for software / computers and 60 months for
other items)
Tips cont.
• Confusion of Staff & Subcontracting
• Consult HR department
• Partnership / Consortium Agreement
• Signed by each partner
• Internal project management
• Roles and responsibilities of partners
• “Project management” minded staff at main partner and WP
leaders, Financial manager at main partner
• Read the grant agreement
• Send documents in time! Delay of 1 partner delays the whole
action
Page 45
External experts for evaluation
http://ec.europa.eu/eahc/ami/
Thank you!
Ingrid Keller
Dipl.oec.troph., MPH, MSc, CAPM
Coordinator – Health Programme
European Commission
Consumer, Health and Food Executive Agency
Health Unit
ingrid.keller@ec.europa.eu
http://ec.europa.eu/chafea/