Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions How to find partners for MSCA projects? Sandra Vidović, 19th October 2017

Transcription

1 Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions Sadržaj How to find partners for MSCA projects? Sandra Vidović, 19th October 2017

2 Proposal idea Think about your end goal of the project What do you want to achieve and which expertise you need to get there Find a perfect call Do you want to host one or several Early stage researchers or host experienced researcher Do you want to exchange knowledge and experience with partners Focus on excellence Does your prospective partner represent the top of his/her field? Focus on impact achieving European Added Value Coordinator vs. partner

3 Capacity building Operational capacity is one of the evaluation criteria in MSCA Identify your capacity (research infrastructure, administrative staff, researchers) 1 or 2 staff member Minimum infrastructure Hiring more staff managers and technicians Established infrastructure Staff project managers, technicians, administrative staff Full infrastructure Source: Grace McCarthy, MSCA NCP Ireland

4 MSCA activites for each Stage MSCA strategy Identification of potential partners Secondments/short visits/trainings Partner organisation Seed stage Growth stage Networking with potential partners Recruitment of researchers Partner organisaton or beneficiary Beneficiary of ITN /RISE Role of coordinator Expansion stage

5 Role of a coordinator Responsible for management of the project and liasion with Project officer at EC Keeping records, Amendments, Reports & payment requests, Deliverables, Dissemination & exploitation of results Benefits of being the Coordinator of a project: Appointment of the project manager Direct contact with the Commission and their staff Overall control of the project direction and budget Chairing of the Project Management Committee A de facto preferential position with respect to exploitation and rights Better visibility and publicity Potential challenges of being the Coordinator of a project: More resources may be required for management and administration than can be claimed Executive level commitment is required Better knowledge and experience of the process and procedures is required More management attention is required Consider coordination of a proposal if: The project is strategically important - It is basically your idea Your organisation has multinational project management experience - You have a suitable Project Manager Your company has been established for several years and is financially secure You have previously participated in a EU project (not mandatory if your organization is a major world player and of sufficient size and stature)

6 Identifying partners Start by identifying important stakeholders Make sure that each partner brings something to the table Build on existing partnerships, but do not rely on them Give opportunity to the younger generation of high-potential researchers Shows your interest in career development Involve people that you work well with MSCA projects are multy-year relationships (up to 4 years) Previous successful collaborations can be used to showcase the strength of your consortium and mitigate risks Make sure that you develop a consortium that can operate independently of other initiatives and base for future funding

7 Identifying partners Start on time yearly calls for MSCA Read the 2 year work programme Considered developing a consortium before the call is published Functioning network with an aligned vision has a much easier time submitting proposals when the calls come, and already carry the credibility of a working infrastructure 4 months of the call duration is to might be to short to build strong and lasting consortium

8 Establishing management structure Establish a solid project management structure Successful consortia have non-scientific management framework to ensure the project runs according to plan and allows the researchers to focus on the research Include a project management partner with demonstrated expertise this will convince reviewers that you will be able to meet deadlines within the available budget

9 Key question while creating consortium Are they reliable? Good partners good consortium Are they suitable for the purposes of the Project? Is their Organisation able to provide the necessary resources? Do they bring added value to the Consortium? Do they contribute to gender balance? Gender balance in MSCA project management is one of evaluation criterium

10 Characteristics of a Good Consortium Experienced coordinator Researchers with track record Relevant expertise and skills Good infrastructure and resources Involvement of competent staff Partners contributing to triple i dimension Gender Balance Multidisciplinary Partners have Complementarity (no major overlaps) and synergies Relevant stakeholders Good distribution of work Added value of each partner Previous collaborations Commitment

11 How to find partners for MSCA consortium projects Via contacts during previous or existing projcts Participating at the conferences dissemination of your results Your own research (supervisor) / techincal /business partners Participation at Euorpean interest organisations or associations Participatin at Commission sponsored or national Info days or Brockerage events MSCA NCP structure transnational cooperation and distribution of interests Fill in the partner search form and Net4Mobility Expression of Interest (

12 Partner search tools 1. CORDIS EU Research Partners - CORDIS is the European Commission's primary public repository and portal to disseminate information on all EU-funded research projects and their results in the broadest sense. It offers one of the largest databases of partner profiles (selfregistered profiles). 2. Ideal-ist Partner Search - Ideal-ist is an international ICT network, with more than 70 ICT partners from EU and non-eu countries. 3. Partner Search for NMP - The core objective of the Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies (NMP) theme is to improve the competitiveness of European industry, and generate the knowledge needed to transform it from a resource-intensive to a knowledge-intensive industry. 4. Fit for Health 2.0 Partner search - Fit for Health 2.0 aims to sustainably enhance the participation of European industry, in the health-related theme of Horizon 2020 in particular research-intensive, high-technology small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 5. Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Partner Search Tool - IMI supports collaborative research projects and builds networks of industrial and academic experts to boost pharmaceutical innovation. There are also opportunities for SMEs, such as innovative biotech enterprises.

13 Partner search tools 2 6. Enterprise Europe Network - The Enterprise Europe Network is a key instrument in the EU's strategy to boost growth and jobs. Bringing together close to 600 business support organisations from more than 50 countries, it helps small companies seize the unparalleled business opportunities in the EU Single Market. 7. NET4SOCIETY Partner Search Support - NET4SOCIETY is the international network of NCP Societal Challenge 6 ("Europe in a changing world: inclusive, innovative and reflective societies") and Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH). 8. Innovation Place Innovation Place is a European consultancy organisation that advises on innovation management and grants. It can help you in connecting to the right organisations for your projects all around Europe. 9. EUresearch Swiss guide to European research and Innovation - Euresearch is a Swiss network mandated by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation to provide targeted information, hands-on advice and transnational partnering for European research and innovation programmes. 10. European Long-Term Ecosystem Research Network (LTER) - LTER helps development management options in response to global change challenges while contributing to Europe s knowledge base. 11. Etna 2020 transport - The network of the Horizon 2020 National Contact Points for Smart, Green and Integrated Transport

14 Consortium partners Key messages If you are a Coordinator... Analyse the needs of your project in terms of expertise, experience and capacity before contacting potential partners Make sure partners are indeed eligible! Evaluate/Screen each partner carefully If you are a Partner... Make yourself, your lab, your company visible Advertise your interest in H2020 participation Attract the attention of Coordinators Have in mind! A Coordinator has very little time Your Profile / Expression of Interest may be the only information a Coordinator has on you

15 Should we sign a consortium agreement for our Horizon 2020 MSCA project? If so, are there any specific templates available? The signing of a consortium agreement is compulsory under a few Marie Skłodowska- Curie calls only there are no consortium agreements in mono-beneficiary projects (Individual Fellowships) Consortium agreement is useful in case of a multiplicity of partners from different backgrounds (industry, academia) and will help you to clarify management and intellectual property issues. In terms of intellectual property, please note that the rules in MSCA bear many similarities to the rules applicable in standard Horizon 2020 research and innovation actions (which most models are based on). So far, two model Consortium Agreement templates have been published for MSCA-ITN projects, on the basis of the DESCA model: the LERU model and the BAK model. More information IPR Helpdesk - Consortium agreement

16 Consortium agreement 2 Shall the partner organisation in a MSCA project also sign the Consortium Agreement? The consortium agreement is an agreement between members of the consortium, to set out their internal arrangements for implementing the grant. It is purely internal. Partner organisations are not signatories to the grant agreement and have neither rights nor obligations under it. They do not form part of the consortium, and hence, the do not sign consortium agreement. Partner organisations will, of course, have an interest in some/all project results (e.g. those developed by researchers while on secondment at their premises). Those issues will be however dealt with in a separate arrangement - partnership agreement. Partners do not have a general interest in all results, nor should they be involved in consortium decisions regarding exploitation or dissemination strategies: they are, after all, only third parties to the project.

17 Good luck! Sandra Vidović Horizon 2020 National Contact Point for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes Frankopanska 26, HR Zagreb Phone +385 (0) Fax +385 (0)