Additional information on
project management
Gabriella Soos
REA Unit S2 – Space Research
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Table of content
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Where to find documents
Reporting
Auditing
Amendments to the Grant Agreement
Publication issues
FP7 web portal CORDIS
http://cordis.europa.
eu/fp7/
Open and closed calls
•Guide for applicants
•Work programme
Most important!
FIND A DOCUMENT
Database of experts
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Find guidelines and templates in Cordis
Key documents to read
The coordinator and/or the person in charge of the administrative and
financial issues in the coordinating organisation must read – at least the following documents:
 Guide to financial issues
 Guidance notes on project reporting
 Amendments Guide for FP7 Grant Agreements
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(Not legally binding)
Accessing the reporting functions:
the Participant Portal (1/2)
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/home
Log on to the
Participant Portal
Additonal information on
Participant Portal on the
online User Manual
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(Not legally binding)
The Participant Portal (2/2)
2. Once connected to the
Participant Portal, select
the tab "My Projects"
3. The list of the projects
you are involved will be
displayed.
4. For any of your
projects in the "Active"
phase, you can access: the technical reporting
(deliverables) - the
financial one (Form C).
5. Once you have clicked
on the link, you will be
redirected to the right
supporting application.
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Table of content
1. Where to find documents
2. Reporting
3. Auditing
4. Amendments to the Grant Agreement
5. Publication issues
7
Guidance Notes on Project Reporting
ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/project_reporting_en.pdf
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Periodic reporting and deliverables
During the course of the project, the consortium has to submit:
 The deliverables according to the timetable specified in the
Deliverables list
 A periodic report within 60 days of the end of each reporting
period (including the last reporting period)
BE ON TIME!
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Final Reporting
At the end of the project you have to submit:
1. A final report, within 60 days after the end of the project, comprising:
 A final publishable summary report covering results, conclusions and socio-economic
impact of the project;
 A report covering the wider societal implications of the project, in the form of a
questionnaire (gender equality actions, ethical issues, etc.)
2. After receiving final EU payment, the coordinator shall submit a report on the
distribution of the Community financial contribution between beneficiaries.
To be submitted 30 days after receipt of the final payment.
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Submission in SESAM
Reports, deliverables and financial statements (Form C’s) have to
be submitted in the IT application SESAM
 Access through the Participant Portal
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/
portal/appmanager/participants/portal
 1 part of the report completed only on-line:
 Publishable report,
 Explanations on use of the resources
 Tables of deliverables and milestones
 Report on work progress and achievements
 Follow the template (available at
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/find-doc_en.html )
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In SESAM submit only FINAL deliverables
In SESAM
 Both coordinator and beneficiaries can upload the deliverables, whereas
 ONLY the Coordinator can submit the deliverables at the due dates
 Upon the electronic submission, the coordinator receives a short generic, automated
‘acknowledgment of receipt’
 Important:
 Submit only final deliverables
 Once submitted the deliverable cannot be modified
 To change a deliverable, the project officer has to “reject” it and the coordinator
has to submit the finalised document
 SESAM is an “archive”, not to be used as a platform for working documents
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How to submit deliverables/reports?
By electronic means:
By post
1. Periodic / Final reports / deliverables, etc.
via web-based tool in the Participant Portal
 to the mail address indicated in article 8 of
the GA,
in parallel to the electronic submission:
2. Forms C via web-based tool in the
Participant Portal (via FORCE)
•
NB: The signed self declaration is part of
the electronic submission.
ONLY:
-
-
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the signed Forms C (prepared and
submitted via the web-based tools. The
coordinator should collect them and
send them to REA)
the certificates on financial statements
or on the methodology (only if
applicable!).
How to write the progress report on the
activities
Give a clear account of the project activities during the reporting period

The progress report




What did you do?
What did you achieve?
Which problems did you encounter?
Any deviations? Corrective actions?
 Clear, informative, straight to the point, concise
 Transparent communication
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Periodic report: the financial part
2 financial documents:
1. The explanation on the use of the resources

•
•
This is part of the report submitted on-line in SESAM
How did you spend your budget? Any deviations?
Personnel: Who worked on the project? How many person*months? How much?
KEEP TIMESHEETS
•
•
•
•
Travel: which trips? Where? Why? How much in total?
Meetings: collect participants’ signatures (especially if you reimburse or claim travel costs)
Any subcontracting?
Etc.
2. One Financial statement per beneficiary (Forms C) and a summary financial report for the
whole consortium

submitted via Participants Portal AND by post
(can be signed by any representative of the beneficiary)
 The coherence between the two financial documents has to be ensured.
 In addition the use of the resources has to be compared with the section “Resources to be
committed” in the Description of Work to explain deviations.
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Explain the use of the resources: an example
For each item, specify type of
activity:
−RTD
−Demonstration
−Management
−OTHER (e.g. dissemination)
Personnel: specify position (not name) and
no. of person-months of work
Equipment: has to be depreciated
Travels:
- distinguish between travels claimed under
RTD and travels for dissemination (OTHER)
- indicate title of meeting, date, location,
« purpose » of travel
Note to the coordinator: if one partner
overspends, it is up to the coordinator to
decide how much the partner can claim as
EU contribution (i.e. full amount if the
overspending is due to anticipated work, or
only the budget share agreed for the
reporting period and lower than the amount
which could be claimed).
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* All the entries are examples and purely for illustration
Some important financial rules
1. Interests generated by the pre-financing
 Coordinator to identify the interests generated by the prefinancing due to the beneficiaries, if any, at
the end of the 1st Reporting Period
2. Purchase cost of durable equipment and Depreciation
 Durable equipment (e.g. software, computers, etc.) is subject to depreciation, according to the usual
accounting rules of each partner
 Please see p. 61 and following of the Financial Guidelines (there is a new version dated 28/02/2011).
3. Participation in conferences and other public events
 Costs can be charged to a project ONLY if justified by a public presentation of the project activities
and results
 “Just to listen and network" cannot be charged
 Participation of several beneficiaries and/or various representatives of the same partner to be
justified
 If presentation of the project, the FP7 funding has to be properly acknowledged (see later)
 A copy of the submitted paper and/or the presentation, and the event agenda, have to be delivered to
the REA project officer (i.e. as deliverable).
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Approval of reports
After reception of the reports the REA may:
1.Approve the reports and deliverables: REA disburses the corresponding payments
within 105 days of their receipt unless the time-limit, the payment or the project has
been suspended;
2.Suspend the time limit if reports/deliverables have not been supplied, are
incomplete, unclear or raise doubts concerning the eligibility of costs claimed.
3.Suspend the payment at any time for the amount intended for the beneficiary(ies)
concerned: for details see Article II.5 of Annex II (General conditions) to the grant
agreement;
4.Reject the reports and deliverables by giving an appropriate justification and, if
appropriate, start the procedure for termination of the GA.
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Intermediate payments
Payments are linked to submission of
 a complete and correct report,
 deliverables
 Electronic and signed form C’s
 «The Commission shall evaluate and approve project
reports and deliverables and disburse the
corresponding payments within 105 days of their
receipt.»
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Prefinancing and Guarantee Fund
 Prefinancing
 If 2 reporting periods: 60% of EU contribution
 If 3 reporting periods: 160% of the average EU contribution per period
 Paid to the coordinator within 45 days following the date of entry
into force of the grant agreement
1. Guarantee Fund
 5% of maximum EU contribution
 No collective financial responsibility in FP7 as was the case in FP6 (still
collective scientific responsibility)
 At the final payment, the amount contributed to the Fund shall be returned to the
beneficiaries via the coordinator
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Technical reviews

Planned at the end of each reporting period
 Usually the review takes place 2 or 3 weeks after the submission of the report and
deliverables

Present the work carried out, the main achievements and the use of the resources
 Participation of the coordinator, participation of WP
leaders to be discussed on a case-by-case basis

Independent experts are appointed as external reviewers
 give external advice to the REA on the project
for the period concerned
 assist the REA by recommending any reorientation
that may be required.
ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/project_review_en.pdf
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Reporting: flow chart
submitted through the
Participant Portal
REPORT,
DELIVERABLES
and FORM C’s
Comments from
Project officer
Correction of
Report and
submission of v2
ALL documents
received, correct
and accepted
More than 1
iteration may be
necessary
Technical review
Payment
and
Assessment by the
financial officer
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For IT problems
Helpdesk for IT related questions
EC-FP7-IT-HELPDESK@ec.europa.eu
Tel: +32 2 29 87288 (08:30 – 16:30 CET)
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Table of content
1. Where to find documents
2. Reporting
3. Auditing
4. Amendments to the Grant Agreement
5. Publication issues
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Financial audits
 The Commission/REA may, at any time during the implementation of the
project and up to five years after the end of the project, arrange for financial
audits to be carried out, by external auditors, or by the Commission/REA
services themselves including European Anti-Fraud Office OLAF.
 The beneficiaries shall keep the originals or, in exceptional cases, duly
authenticated copies – including electronic copies - of all documents relating
to the grant agreement for up to five years from the end of the project.
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Table of content
1. Where to find documents
2. Reporting
3. Auditing
4. Amendments to the Grant
Agreement
5. Publication issues
26
Requests for amendments
Amendments are legal acts modifying the commitments
initially accepted by the parties and which may:
− create new rights or impose new obligations, or
− modify significant parts of the grant agreement (GA).
See: ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/amendments-ga_en.pdf
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When to submit an amendment request?
 When should the coordinator submit an Amendment request?
 If any GA provision needs to be modified and/or
 In case of major modification to the Description of Work
 When is an Information Letter sufficient?
 Changes to contact point/authorised representative, legal address/name
 In this case the LEAR of the concerned beneficiary should update the information in the
Participants Portal
 Only if necessary, beneficiaries are allowed to transfer budget between different activities and
between themselves (without amendment!), namely:
- the needs are clearly justified
- the work is carried out as planned in the Description of Work, and
- the Project Officer agrees.
Always refer to the Amendments Guide at
ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/amendments-ga_en.pdf
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Table of content
1.
2.
3.
4.
Where to find documents
Reporting
Auditing
Amendments to the Grant Agreement
5. Publication issues
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Publications and publicity
1.The beneficiaries shall, throughout the duration of the project, take appropriate
measures to engage with the public and the media about the project and to
highlight the EC financial support.
2.Any publicity, including at a conference or seminar or any type of information or
promotional material must specify that the project has received EC research funding
and display the European emblem.
3.Any publicity made by the beneficiaries in respect of the project must specify that it
reflects only the author’s views and that the Community is not liable for any use
that may be made of the information contained therein.
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Publications and publicity
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
All publications shall include the following statement:
The research leading to these results has received funding from the
European Community's Seventh Framework Programme ([FP7/2007-2013])
under grant agreement n° xxxxx (see Article II.30. of the Grant Agreement).

During and after the project, the coordinator shall provide references and an
abstract of all scientific publications relating to foreground at the latest two months
following publication (see Article II.30. of the Grant Agreement).

As part of the final project report, the coordinator will be required to submit a full list
of publications relating to foreground of the project.
Gabriella Soos
REA – Research Executive Agency
http://ec.europa.eu/research/rea
@
Gabriella.Soos@ec.europa.eu
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