E.3 - Grant Week (B.1+C.1+D.1)

Grant Week

The scope of Grant Week is to give a basic overview on the advantages and disadvantages of Horizon Europe collaborative projects. Would the researchers or research advisers be interested in proposal writing,
project management or finances, we offer a good introduction to all these topics. Participants could attend one or all three days depending on their interest and availability.

The course language is English, and the course is delivered by Europa Media.

Our Horizon Europe seminars are distributed into 5 topics (A-E) on three knowledge levels (1-3). Read more about the different courses.

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AGENDA DAY 1

09:00 – 09:15 Registration

09:15 – 09:45 Event Opening

09:45 – 10:15 What makes a Horizon Europe proposal successful

Introduction to the key success features of EU research and innovation projects. What are the steps, what are the tasks and responsibilities of a partner and the coordinating organisation? Best and worst practices will help highlighting how a successful or bad project looks like.

(10:15 – 10:25 Short Break)

10:25 – 11:15 Building a winning consortium

• Build the most suitable Consortium for your next EU project.
• What are the key aspects to consider while building up your
partnership?
• Your tools to find the right partners: searching facilities, networks, events and more.
• Maintaining partnerships and connections in the long run.
• Tips on networking events and virtual networking to be prepared in
these times.
• Understand the winning consortium characteristics in Horizon Europe.

(11:15 – 11:30 Coffee Break)

11:30 – 12:15 Key steps in proposal writing

With an Introduction to the Funding and Tenders Portal

Proposal writing steps – key elements, templates to consider – what to discuss and when. Intro to the tools and procedures set up by the European Commission.

(12:15 – 13:00 Lunch break)

13:00 – 13:30 How to smoothly Lead a proposal to submission?

• How to distribute the writing of the proposal amongst the key partners
• How to effectively mobilise your partners to unleash their full potential
in terms of their input to the proposal and mobilisation of their resources
• What are the key proposal sections that require input to be gathered and consolidated from all partners?
• How to make sure that your partners provide you with accurate data and input for the budget

(13:30 – 13:40 Technical break)

13:40 – 14:50 Exercise: Practicing the very basic tools

Under the moderation of trainers, participants work in groups on putting together work packages, Gantt charts, pert diagrams – understand the concept development procedure.

14:50 – 15:00 Remaining questions, end of course

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AGENDA DAY 2

08:30 – 09:00 Arrival of participants

09:00– 09:20 Event Opening, Introduction

09:20 – 10:00 An EU project lifecycle

Introduction to the implementation stages of an EU research and innovation project. What are the steps, what are the tasks and responsibilities of a partner and the coordinating organisation? Best and worst practices will help highlighting how a successful or bad project looks like.

(10:00 – 10:15 Short Break)

10:15 – 11:00 Getting your project started

Key tasks, tools, and procedures you need to know before you start
implementing the project – on an organisational level (formulate the work and roles internally) and on a consortium level (what would make you a good coordinator). Setting up the project management tools – a web platform or a package of Word and Excel templates? Web-based
communication, telcos or f2f events? How many, how often? Basic
templates for monitoring the performance of your consortium. Kick off
meeting.

(11:00 – 11:15 Coffee Break)

11:15 – 12:15 Short introduction to the reporting obligations and management duties

Brief overview of Continuous reporting and Periodic reporting: timeline,
responsibilities, task to be completed jointly or individually. Introduction to the Periodic report template. Payment schedule.

(12:15 – 13:00 Lunch break)

13:00 – 14:00 Workshop: Project Management Case Studies

Under the moderation of trainers, participants work in groups on real-life scenarios with problematic and challenging situations in R&I projects and discuss how to handle these or avoid them in real life.

(14:00 – 14:10 Short Break)

14:00 – 15:00 Golden tips for successful communication and dissemination

Tips and tools for setting up an efficient plan and successfully implementing your communication and dissemination activities. Examples and lessons learned from our running projects. Introduction to the tools offered by the EC.

15:00 Remaining questions, end of course

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AGENDA DAY 3

08:45 – 09:00 Registration and Welcome

09:00 – 09:15 Event opening: Introduction to the course and the participants

09:15 – 10:00 Introduction to Finances in Horizon Europe – Part I

• Key principles of EU funding for R&I projects
• Overview of the Annotated Model Grant Agreement
• Grant types and funding rules
• Importance of budgeting

(10:00 – 10:15 Coffee break)

10:15 – 11:00 Introduction to Finances in Horizon Europe – Part II

• Fundamentals of financial management in R&I projects
• Eligibility rules
• Direct and Indirect cost
• Introduction to the major cost categories in an R&I project budget

(11:00 – 11:15 Coffee break)

11:15 – 12:00 Resource Planning and Budgeting in H2020 Proposals

• Proposal budget vs. project spending
• Estimating costs: Personnel, travel, subcontracting and other direct
costs
• Coordinators vs. partners in budget planning
• Resource planning and budgeting tools
• Examples of budgeting process in small/medium vs. large-scale
projects

(12:00 – 13:00 Lunch)

13:00 – 15:00 Workshop: Resource Planning and Budgeting in HE Proposals

Participants will go through exercises to estimate their budget for a virtual proposal in which they are a partner. They will have to calculate their person-month rate correctly, estimate other direct costs such as travel, consumables, equipment, subcontracting, and demonstrate how their technical role and planned activities in the project are consistent with their planned resources and budget.

(14:00 – 14:15 Coffee break)

15:00 End of course