C.2 Coordinating a Horizon Europe Project – special course for Coordinators (Bergen)

This one-day course will help coordinators (and coordinators to be) to prepare to successfully coordinate their Horizon Europe projects. It is built on our direct, hands-on experience gained in coordinating projects under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.

In this course, participants will learn all about the bright and the dark side of being a coordinator. The combination of practical presentations and hands-on tips will introduce all the aspects you need to know about efficiently coordinating your actual cost and lump sum projects: from setting up a consortium agreement, through handling delays, IP conflicts, cultural differences, not fully achieved targets and so much more, through surviving the reporting, the technical reviews and the closure of the project, only to continue for at least one more year to maximise the impact of your project.

Agenda

08:30–09:00 Arrival of participants

09:00–09:15 Event Opening and introduction to the course

09:15–10:30 Coordination duties - Legal matters

A step-by-step introduction to the Coordinator’s duties - including key tasks, roles, benefits, and challenges associated with coordination responsibilities. We will review the preparation of the Grant Agreement, from receiving the Invitation to GAP letter through to the final signature of the GA. In addition, we will explore the relevant sections of the DESCA 2.0 Model Consortium Agreement (LS and standard) and highlight the topics that should be discussed with partners.

(10:30–10:45 Coffee Break)

10:45–11:45 Administrative tasks, horizontal duties and internal systems

In addition to the mandatory administrative duties, such as maintaining good working relation with the PO and providing regular updates, the EC expects Coordinators to represent the project at various events or in different professional communities which are usually not foreseen in your proposal. Moreover, horizontal topics such as ethics issues, open science obligations will put additional task to the coordinators to do list. At the same time Coordinators have to build easy to use internal systems for supporting the implementation of the project and the proper monitoring. All these topics will be covered in this practical presentation.

(11:45–12:30 Lunch Break)

12:30–14:00 How to coordinate the Continuous reporting and Periodic reporting?

In this session, we will walk through the complete reporting cycle from the coordinator’s perspective. We will review each task in detail and clarify the input required from partners. To support the coordinator’s work, we will share practical templates and good practices. The session will also cover how to monitor results, KPIs, and tasks, as well as when and how to initiate a Grant Agreement amendment if needed.

We will additionally address the financial aspects of project management — from pre-financing to distributing the final balance. How do we monitor project spending? What data and insights does the internal financial report provide? How should budget-related requests from partners be handled? And how do we manage deviations?

(12:30–13:15 Lunch break)

13:15–14:00 Financial management of the projects

In this presentation, we will go through all the financial aspects, from pre-financing to the distribution of the payment of the balance. How do we monitor project spending? How detailed should an internal reporting be? What data and figures does this internal financial report provide? How do we handle budget related requests from partners? What to do with deviations? This presentation will answer all these questions.

(14:00–14:15 Coffee Break)

14:15–15:00 Workshop: Coordination case studies and scenarios

Under the moderation of trainers, participants will analyse and discuss solutions to real-life coordination scenarios such as: Conflicts on exploitation and intellectual property rights (IPR) issues; Disagreements on dissemination and scientific publications; Delays and quality problems in results; Overspending and underperforming partners etc.

--- 

About the Horizon Europe courses 

The Research Council of Norway offers a structured series of courses for applicants to Horizon Europe. The courses are organised by topic, project role, and level of experience.  

Introductory courses (Series A and E) are digital and suitable for all roles, while Series B, C, and D are in-person, role-specific courses that typically run over one or two days. 

C. Project Management

Courses in the C-series are suitable for Project Managers and Advisors responsible for planning and implementing Horizon Europe projects. See all the course offerings.

C.1 Research and Innovation Project Management: the first steps 
C.2 Coordinating a Horizon Europe Project – special course for Coordinators 
C.3 Horizon Europe Project Management and Reporting 
C.4 Legal Agreements in Horizon Europe