According to the work programme, the EECA countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

The budget depends on the size, the needs and the activities proposed in the Action Plan by each applicant, legal entity as well as of the proposal's duration. The budget should be realistic, feasible and reasoned accordingly and this will be analysed during the scientific evaluation.

The applicants should present a clear and detailed analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) of the applicant research entity. This SWOT analysis should be the basis of the preparation of the Action Plan composed by a coherent set of measures indicated in the Work Programme.

By sending your request at the following e-mail: DIGIT-EFP7-SUPPORT@ec.europa.eu

If there is a duplicate registration, the new (2nd) PIC will change and the participant will learn about it during negotiation.

The URF can be found at the following link: Interface for self-registration of new entities.

The URF service will provide the users with an intuitive and user-friendly web based interface which will allow participants to register and submit their legal and financial data. LEARs will be able to access the URF to perform updates on the legal and financial data of his organisation

If you think that the incorrect data might put at risk the eligibility of your proposal (for example, the SME status is incorrect), then you should submit your proposal without entering the PIC by manually re-entering all the legal and financial data.

If your organisation does not have an FP7 grant agreement, then you should create an account in the Participant Portal in order to be able to register your organisation in the Unique Registration Facility (URF) at the CORDIS webpage. A PIC is provided at the end of the registration process and can be then used for proposal submission after 48 hours. During registration, URF does not check for duplicate registrations; this will be done if your proposal is retained for negotiation.
For further information please see: Interface for self-registration of new entities.

All organisations that have an FP7 grant agreement have received a unique code (the PIC –Participant Identification Code), to be used for identifying the participant in any future proposal in the programmes managed by the "Research Directorates-General". The PIC is being communicated to all contact points for FP7 grant agreements known to the Commission. You will need to find out within your organisation who are contact points for FP7 grant agreements; they will be able to tell you what your PIC is. If you cannot find any contact point within your organisation, then you should ask the URF help desk DIGIT-EFP7-SUPPORT@ec.europa.eu to put you in contact with them. Please note that in order to avoid identity theft, the URF help desk will not be able to provide you with the PIC; From September 2008 onwards, there will be also a service available where every participant will be able to search whether or not his organisation already has a validated PIC. If it is the case then the participant should take contact with the LEAR of his organisation in order to get the PIC. The LEAR or Legal Entity Appointed Representative is a natural person appointed by a legal signatory of a legal entity to perform on its behalf certain tasks in the context of the legal entity's dealings with the Research DGs of the Commission.

Yes. To register as an expert, you need to fill in the form in the FP7 Experts Database. Go to the FP7 Experts Management Module at https://cordis.europa.eu/emmfp7/index.cfm.

There are two options. The first one is to register individually. If you go to the address https://cordis.europa.eu/emmfp7/ you can click on the link "Register as an Expert".

The second option is to be recommended by your organization. In the last case, an organization may submit a list of names of persons that it recommends as experts.

Choose the "Register as an Expert" link at https://cordis.europa.eu/emmfp7/index.cfm and fill in the registration fields to create your account. You will then be able to enter your details on the FP7 EMM database.

Organizations may submit lists of names of persons that they recommend as experts. Choose the "Organization registration to recommend Experts" link at https://cordis.europa.eu/emmfp7/index.cfm and fill in the registration fields to create your account.

Small businesses (SMEs) are a main driver of innovation and the major employer within Europe. However, as it is often difficult for SMEs to fully fund their own research, it has long been a priority to provide support. This includes targeted research projects through part of the specific programme "Capacities". The Research Executive Agency (REA) will manage virtually all of the SME-dedicated part of the Capacities programme. Get more at Q: What is "Research for the Benefit of SMEs" (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises)? A: Small businesses (SMEs) are a main driver of innovation and the major employer within Europe. However, as it is often difficult for SMEs to fully fund their own research, it has long been a priority to provide support. This includes targeted research projects through part of the specific programme "Capacities". The Research Executive Agency (REA) will manage virtually all of the SME-dedicated part of the Capacities programme. See more details at http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/index_en.cfm?pg=sme.

There are no specific calls for organisation of conferences and events under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) neither in EU member states nor in the third countries . Funding for thematic research under the FP7 is implemented through the specific programme "Cooperation", information on which can be found on CORDIS at http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/cooperation/home_en.html. We suggest that you consult the Provisional Work Programmes, available for every theme. These provide a detailed overview of different topics, activities and funding schemes.

There are no specific calls for providing funds for participation of researchers from the third countries in the international scientific conferences carried out in EU member states under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Funding for thematic research under the FP7 is implemented through the specific programme "Cooperation", information on which can be found on CORDIS at: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/cooperation/home_en.html.. We suggest that you consult the Provisional Work Programmes, available for every theme. These provide a detailed overview of different topics, activities and funding schemes.

Associated Countries are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Israel, Turkey, Croatia, Serbia, Republic of Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Albania, and the Faroe Islands (by June 2010). Kosovo is still negotiating the association terms, and should be regarded as the Third Country until the negotiations are concluded. The latest news on countries becoming associated during the course of FP7 will be posted on the Community Research & Development Information Service (CORDIS) web site http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7.

No. Indirect taxes and duties, including VAT, are all ineligible costs.

The consortium determines the allocation of each tranche of the Community financial contribution between the contractors, in accordance with the contract and any relevant decisions of the consortium (to be agreed in the Consortium Agreement). Therefore, the co-ordinator shall distribute payments without delay in accordance with the grant agreement and any provisions in the consortium agreement (the latter cannot contradict the provisions of the grant agreement).

Yes, as a general rule it will be possible according to similar principles as in FP6. However you should consult the FP7 Guide to financial issues on budget transfers from and to ICPC participants using lump sum financing.

As set out in Article II.4.4 of the FP7 model grant agreement a certificate on the financial statements shall be submitted for claims of interim payments and final payments when the amount of the Community financial contribution claimed by the beneficiary under the form of reimbursement of costs is equal to or superior to EUR 375 000 when cumulated with all previous payments for which a certificate on the financial statements has to be submitted. This certificate must be forwarded in the form of a detailed description verified as factual by its external auditor (Form D - Annex VII).

It is possible that one member of the consortium (the coordinator) is responsible only for tasks listed in Article II.2(3) of the FP7 model grant agreement (coordinator's tasks) whereas research tasks (and management tasks referred to in Article II.16.5), are carried out by other partners. In a project there could be a participant which has only management costs. In this case its reimbursement may reach a maximum of 100% of the total eligible costs whatever its legal status.

As set out in Article II.15 of the model grant agreement direct costs are all those eligible costs which can be attributed directly to the project and are identified by the beneficiary as such in accordance with its accounting principles and its usual internal rules. The distinction therefore between direct and indirect (eligible) costs of the project would be determined by the beneficiary's accounting principles, ie how the particular cost is recognized by these principles. The most typical examples of direct costs would be personnel hired to work for the project and the purchase of the equipment that is to be used in the project. In any case, costs have to be compliant with the eligibility criteria set out in Article II.14 of the FP7 model grant agreement. It is to be noted that the model grant agreement provides that for personnel costs, only the costs of the actual hours worked by the persons directly carrying out work under the project may be charged.

No, there are no predefined limits for personnel costs in FP7. Personnel costs of the beneficiary depend on the average salary in its organization and amount of work in the project (actual hours worked by the persons directly carrying out work under the project).

Yes, in FP7 collaborative projects (which are the only funding schemes which foresee "demonstration" as a separate activity) eligible costs relating to demonstration activities are reimbursed by the European Commission at 50% regardless of type of entity (see Article II.16 of the FP7 model grant agreement).

Demonstration activities mean activities designed to prove the viability of new technologies that offer a potential economic advantage but which cannot be commercialized directly, (eg testing of products like prototypes). The EC contribution may reach a maximum of 50% of the total eligible costs.

There is no obstacle to submit more than one proposal even if in the same subject matter or covering similar objectives of the work programme. In addition it is possible to participate in more than one proposal in the same subject area however the work carried out in the projects funded by the EC cannot be duplicated (ie the same work cannot be funded twice).

TAs laid down in Article 25 of the FP7 Rules for participation, there is always one project coordinator. The specific tasks for which the coordinator is responsible are defined in Article II.3 of the FP7 Grant agreement: 1. The coordinator shall: a) administer the Community contribution regarding its allocation between beneficiaries and activities, in accordance with this grant agreement and the decisions taken by the consortium. The coordinator shall ensure that all the appropriate payments are made to the other beneficiaries without unjustified delay; b) keep the records and financial accounts making it possible to determine at any time what portion of the Community financial contribution has been paid to each beneficiary for the purposes of the project; c) inform the Commission of the distribution of the Community financial contribution and the date of transfers to the beneficiaries, when required by this grant agreement or by the Commission; d) review the reports to verify consistency with the project tasks before transmitting them to the Commission; e) monitor the compliance by beneficiaries with their obligations under this grant agreement. The coordinator may not subcontract the above-mentioned tasks. The above tasks may not be split up between two or more partners. On the other hand, tasks related to coordination of the project that are NOT listed in the above Article (e.g. scientific coordination of the project) can be carried out by other beneficiaries, however this other beneficiary will NOT be considered as a project's coordinator (the coordinator is a beneficiary identified as such in the grant agreement who carry out referred to in the above-mentioned Article II.3 of the GA).

A legal signatory of each legal entity will be asked by the Commission to appoint one person (the so-called LEAR - Legal Entity Appointed Representative) for being the correspondent towards the Commission on all issues related to the legal status of the entity. The LEAR provides the Commission with up-to-date legal and financial data (including supporting documents, where necessary) and commits to maintain the account so that it is up-to-date enabling future use for grants and other transactions between the entity and the Commission research (and other) programmes

The PIC or Participant Identification Code is a 9 digits unique identifier for every validated legal entity. Participants will not have to submit their legal and financial information (and supporting documents) each time they submit a proposal or negotiate a grant agreement, but just their unique code - the PIC.

Participants will not have to submit their legal and financial information (and supporting documents) each time in preparation of a new grant agreement with the Research DGs, but just their unique code (PIC) Participants will be able to see, at any moment in time, what are the legal and financial data that the Commission holds about them; they will be able to propose changes if their records are not correct or up-to-date; any new transactions will automatically take the changes into account, which will reduce administrative workload. The central validation team in the Commission will establish a privileged relationship with the legal entity appointed representative (LEAR), which will alleviate administrative and scientific personnel from the task of repeatedly providing legal and financial information and related supporting documents.

If your organization does not have an FP7 grant agreement, then you should register your organisation in URF through the Participant Portal. A PIC is provided at the end of the registration process that can be used for proposal submission after 48 hours. During registration, URF does not check for duplicate registrations; this will be done if your proposal is retained for negotiation. For more information see http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/appmanager/participants/portal.

Once the LEAR has updated the legal- or financial information, the changes in EPSS and NEF will be effective 48H after its change in URF.

In FP7, the international cooperation means collaboration of the EU member states and associated countries with countries beyond the EU which are called “third countries”. The cooperation between the member states is classified as intra-European collaboration.

The Strategic Forum for International Scientific and Technological Cooperation (SFIC) is an expert group whose aim is to facilitate the further development, implementation and monitoring of the international cooperation of the EU and its member states. In practice, this means sharing information and consultation between the partners (Member States and the Commission) with a view to identifying common priorities which could lead to coordinated or joint initiatives. The group also aims at coordinating activities and positions vis-à-vis third countries and within international fora. SFIC is composed of high-level represetatives of the Member States and the European Commission. The chair of SFIC is designated from among the representatives of the Member States for a period of two years. In 2010, Mr. Volker RIEKE, acting director of the Directorate General for European and International Cooperation in Education and Research in the BMBF (Germany) is holding this position. The SFIC Work Programme for 2009/2010 is based on three pillars: 1. Establish effective and efficient working structures for SFIC: tools for information sharing; pooling of knowledge; develop contacts with stakeholders worldwide; exchange with other policy fields (development, trade…); measures allowing an assessment of international S&T cooperation policies; networking between science counsellors; marketing measures for SFIC; 2. Generate an impact on the international S&T cooperation activities of SFIC members: identify a limited number of S&T areas (mainly global challenges) and strategic partner countries; joint cooperation objectives and instruments should be identified; strategic policy measures should be proposed in variable geometries; contribution to bi-regional dialogue structures; interaction with international research policy fora; 3. Fostering the international dimension of the European Research Area: exchange with other ERA-Initiatives to ensure coherence; review instruments of the Framework Programme and of national research funding programmes according to their potential to foster international cooperation; compile results from international cooperation projects into strategic policy formulation.

Specific international cooperation activities (SICAs) are an FP7 instrument made to enable and encourage the participation of low and middle income countries to participate and get funding in FP7. They are thematic calls in topics of mutual interest and can be found in the 10 different programme areas of the “Cooperation” Programme. The participation criteria for a consortium are usually a minimum of 4 participants from different countries: 2 of them from the target region (or country) + 2 from MS or AC.

A participant can submit his proposal without using a PIC in the following cases: Important fields (such as the legal name or the legal status) displayed after entering a PIC is totally incorrect, The participant is a new organization and wants to submit your proposal for a call which closes in less than 48 Hours. The use of a PIC is not compulsory for proposal submission but it is strongly recommended.

Yes, additional partners can be added to the consortium, either on the initiative of the proposers, or in response to the recommendations made by the expert evaluators in stage 1 (e.g. need for a certain scientific expertise), or by the ethical committee (expertise specifically related to e.g. use of animals as source of cells for culture or experimentations).

The application process is entirely on-line. Only in exceptional circumstances, involving disability, will a paper application be accepted. Please, see the call text for further information.

The "People" programme is a specific programme of the "Seventh Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities" (FP7). It supports the development of researchers' careers through a range of fellowships and networking activities, commonly known as the "Marie-Curie" actions. The Research Executive Agency (REA) will manage virtually all of the People programme.

Applicants may submit their proposal in any official language of the European Union, and it is recommended to include a full translation in English. In any case, an English translation of the abstract must be included in the proposal.

Other than the proposal itself (parts A and B), no further supporting documentation is required unless specified in the work programme and guide for applicants that can be found in cords in the information package of each call.

Yes, it’s possible.

There is no stipulation that the same person cannot be involved in more than one consortium.

Yes, provided that you are eligible for both schemes.

The current work programmes (for 2011) contain full details of the calls for proposals most of which will be launched in late July 2010 immediately after the new work programmes are adopted. In some thematic programmes, e.g., ICT the schedule of the calls is different.

You are advised to consult the following link where more detailed information on FP7 budget is available: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/budget_en.html.

In general, costs are eligible if "used for the sole purpose of achieving the objectives of the project and its expected results, in a manner consistent with the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness (Article II.14.1.e) of ECGA". Thus if those rights/licenses are used only for the purpose of the project and are necessary to achieve the project objectives they are - in general - eligible.

At the submission phase there is no need to conclude the Consortium Agreement. That is going to happen in the negotiation phase before the contract with EC is signed if the proposal is positively evaluated. At the stage of submission of proposal you need to list your partners / consortium participants.

No. The proposals on the reserve list within the previous call are not automatically transmitted to the next call. Applicants should resubmit a revised version, specifying that it had been submitted before, and providing the following information: proposal number and the main differences between the new proposal and the old one. The proposal's previous assessment mark will not be taken into account. It is important to note that the evaluation criteria can change between calls and the reference document for proposal preparation must be that of the current call.

Please, contact the EPSS helpdesk (support@epss-fp7.org) for any query relating to the use of the electronic submission tool.

Yes, all the participants (including the Coordinator) must fill in one A2 form each. The coordinator also fills in one form A1 and one form A4 with details for each participant (one per line). The participant numbers correspond to those defined in the A2 forms (participant number one is always the network coordinator). Associated partners should not fill in the A2 form and are not listed separately in the A4 form. Note, however, that each associated partner must be identified in the proposal narrative (Part B). In order to avoid any problems or delays in the communication between the applicants and the REA please make sure that: 1. The name of the legal entity is correct (in the original language) 2. The address provided in the field 'administrative data' corresponds to the legal entity (and not to the institute or department - this should be provided in the field 'contact points') 3. The e-mail address is and stays valid as this will be used for further correspondence.

The Commission issues a special information package for each call for proposals, which is available on-line on the page of the relevant call on CORDIS. The information package includes all background documents and forms needed to prepare a project proposal. Typically, this comprises: a) Call/Theme specific documents

b) The relevant Guide for Applicants, containing detailed information and advice for potential applicants Included in the information package for each call for proposals. c) General FP7 documents

v) Rules for submission of proposals and the related evaluation, selection and award procedures. For general documents, please, search the FP7 library at http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/find-doc_en.html.

The best way to ensure that your proposal is suitable is to study thoroughly the appropriate work programme, which explains all the areas/topics that are subject to a call for proposal. Should applicants require any clarification on the content of the work programme, they can contact their National Contact Points, whose details can be found at the following website: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/get-support_en.html.

Any meaningful short name can be chosen. It is simply used to improve legibility of the proposal, there is no legal value assigned by the participant itself.

Yes, you are right. Part B templates do vary slightly from call to call, funding scheme to funding scheme, and theme to theme.

There is no official form. The disclaimer is there to prevent proposal coordinator entering reference institution in their proposals without even contacting them.

The "call fiche" published on Cordis specifies the minimum number of participants: as a rule, for collaborative projects there should be at least three legal entities, each of which must be established in a Member State or associated country, and no two of which may be established in the same Member State or associated country. Beyond this minimum, you have to decide yourself how many and what exactly partners you need for the most effective implementation of a project. E.g., in ICT Programme the STREP consortium usually consists of 6-15 partners, IP – 10-20.

Organizations in countries associated to FP7 are eligible to apply for funding. Applications from organizations based in the third countries will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

FET (Future and Emerging Technologies) is a separate part of the ICT Theme working as incubator and pathfinder for new ideas and themes for long-term research across all ICT disciplines. Its mission is to promote high risk research, offset by potential breakthrough with high technological or societal impact. There are 2 dimensions of FET: FET-Open and FET-Proactive.

FET-Open is a 'bottom-up' approach for exploring promising visionary ideas that can contribute to challenges of long term importance for Europe. Despite of other parts of ICT Theme it’s implemented via continuous calls for proposals.

FET-Proactive is a 'top-down' approach fostering novel non-conventional approaches and foundational research in selected themes in response to emerging societal and industrial needs.

Find more about FET at http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/programme/fet_en.html.

It’s an obligation of a coordinator to inform consortium members about the results of evaluation as soon as he(she) gets them from the Commission. So, don’t hesitate to ask your Coordinator about that. However, we strongly recommend you to check your spam-box first – the message might be there.

There are several opportunities however none of them is about funding research itself. They rather support R&D activities in different ways. The opportunities to support research carrier development and staff exchanges are foreseen in the “People” Programme within which the followings schemes are available for researchers and R&D centers from EECA:

• - Initial Training Networks (ITN) - both for EECA organizations and individual early stage researchers,
• - Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP) – for EECA organizations,
• - International Incoming Fellowships (IIF) – for EECA individual experienced researchers,
• - International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF) – for EECA organizations,
• - International Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) – for EECA organizations.

More information about participation in the “People” Programme: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/mariecurieactions/home_en.html/

Within the “Capacities” Specific Programme the most suitable option is “Research Infrastructures” Programme which supports existing ICT infrastructure and, in particular,

• - Integrating Activities - providing a wider and more efficient access to, and use of, the research infrastructures exiting in EU Member States, Associated Countries and at international level when appropriate (including: transnational access, joint research and networking;
• - ICT-based e-Infrastructures - supporting a number of interrelated topics designed to foster the emergence of a new research environment in which ‘virtual communities’ share and exploit the collective power of European scientific and engineering facilities,

as well as new research infrastructure.

Besides, “International Cooperation” dimension of the “Capacities” Programme gives a chance to reinforce cooperation with EU neighbors via supporting their ICT R&D centers within ERA-WIDE calls.

More information about “Capacities” Programme: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/capacities/home_en.html. Finally, European Research Council under the umbrella of “Ideas” Programme awards grants through open competition to projects headed by young and established researchers, irrespective of their origins, who are working in Europe. The aim here is to recognize the best ideas, and retain and confer status and visibility to the best brains in Europe, while also attracting talent from abroad.

Find more about ERC grants: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ideas/home_en.html.

There is no common answer as situation is different within the region. To get the answer, please, address FP7 contacts or FP7 National Information Point in your country. You can find their contact data at fhttp://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/third-countries_en.html.

No, taxes on salary are considered eligible costs in the FP7. Thus, to report personal costs of the staff involved in FP7 project the accounting office in your organization should consider “net salary + individual income tax + social insurance + other taxes”, as well as the time spent for the project.

According to the bank requirements, the bank should have a justification of the bank transfer. In case of FP7 they usually submit to the bank translated into Ukrainian and notarized copy of a contract and any document containing information about the budget of the institution in the Project. It may be Annex 2 or a letter from the Project coordinator.

Source name	URL address
CORDISPartners Service	http://cordis.europa.eu/partners-service/home_en.html
FFG, Austria	http://rp7.ffg.at/partnersuche
Brussels Enterprise Agency, Belgium	http://bea.ecomready.com/partnersearch/
NCP Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique – FNRS, Belgium	http://www.ncp.fnrs.be/NCP-NRS/recherchepartenaire.php
Israeli Directorate for EU Framework Programme	http://www.iserd.org.il/
PRAXIS/HELP FORWARD, Greece	http://www.help-forward.gr/en/services/rtdps.shtml
Agency for the Promotion of European Research-APRE, Italy	http://www.apre.it/FormaAssist/RicercaPartner.htm
Agency for International Science and Technology Development Programmes, Lithuania	http://www.tpa.lt/7BP/partneriu_paieska.asp http://www.tpa.lt/ENG/FP7/partners.htm
Malta Council for Science and Technology	http://www.mcst.gov.mt/page_fp7.aspx?id=78
The Institute of Fundamental Technological Research PAS, Poland	http://www.kpk.gov.pl/7pr/eoi/index.html
EUROSFAIRE, France	http://www.eurosfaire.prd.fr/
Betatechnology Ltd., UK	http://www.betatechnology.co.uk/contact
Nis-Nest Database	http://researchers.nisnest.gr/person/list/?results_per_page=10&country=RU#results_researchers
Czech RTD is a project of the Technology Centre AS CR	http://www.czechrtd.info/partner-search/
Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain	http://ope.isciii.es/opesocios/
Ideal-IST	http://www.ideal-ist.net/
ICTprofiles. Search for Austrian partners	http://www.ictprofiles.at

It is possible to bypass the CORDIS call selection page once you have obtained a username and password. The URL to connect is: https://www.epss-fp7.org.

When the project coordinator adds a partner in the consortium using their PIC number, (s)he needs to make sure that the organization associated with PIC is indeed the correct one. For that purpose EPSS will show the key details related to the PIC number (like the name and address of an institution), so that the project coordinator could verify the selection. On the other hand, the individual participants need to verify the details of the data associated with the PIC number and decide whether they will go ahead and use it.

It is possible to bypass the CORDIS call selection page once you have obtained a username and password. The URL to connect is: https://www.epss-fp7.org.

At the bottom of each form the validation errors are listed. Make sure that all fields have values, as all of them are mandatory. If you need to introduce a value in a field that has no meaning, use "-" or "0" values (if the field is character or number respectively). In particular, in the A3, only integer numbers are accepted, without spaces, "," or ".".

Partners can only edit forms that apply to themselves, like A2. Only the proposal coordinator can edit all other forms. If a mistake is found in other forms, please contact the project coordinator.

Only the project coordinator is authorized to upload Part B files. Other partners can only download the files.

Foreground resulting from the project is owned by the participant generating it. When foreground is generated jointly (i.e. where the separate parts of some result cannot be attributed to different participants), it will be jointly owned, unless the participants concerned agree on a different solution, e.g. joint ownership.

Valuable results (foreground) should be protected.

Protection is not mandatory in all cases, though the decision not to protect foreground should preferably be made in consultation with the other participants, which may wish to take ownership. If valuable foreground is left unprotected, the Commission may take ownership.

IPR protection, dissemination and management activities can be an instance of "other activities" in an FP7 project (as referred to in Article 33.4 RfP – Article II.16.4 of GA – See Financial Guidelines ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/beneficiaries_en.pdf for more details). Accordingly, the European Union financial contribution may reach a maximum of 100% of the total costs of these activities subject to the eligibility criteria being fulfilled.

It should be noted that under the access to another participant’s foreground or background is only to be granted if the requesting participant needs that access in order to carry out the project or to use its own foreground. Participants can freely define in any manner (for example in a positive or negative way) what is needed for the project (i.e. background available for access by each other).

Where dissemination of project results (foreground) does not adversely affect its protection and use, there is an obligation to disseminate it swiftly. Each participant shall ensure that the foreground it owns is disseminated as soon as possible.

However, any dissemination (including publications or on web-pages) should be delayed until a decision about its possible protection has been made (through IPR or trade secrets). The other participants may object to the dissemination activity if their legitimate interests in relation to their foreground or background could suffer disproportionately great harm.

IPR and related issues should be considered when preparing a proposal, since the Rules for Participation state that one of the evaluation criteria relates to the "the potential impact through the development, dissemination and use of project results". Therefore, the inclusion of an appropriate plan for the use and dissemination will contribute to receiving a positive evaluation of the proposal. This plan should describe appropriate activities to ensure the optimal dissemination and use / exploitation of the project results, including the management of intellectual property rights.

Following the positive evaluation of the proposal and after completion of the negotiation stage, the agreed upon plan for the use and dissemination will form a segment of Part B of Annex I to the Grant agreement (also called the "Technical Annex").

The general recommendation says that participants should refrain from choosing and using a project name/acronym/logo which is identical or close to a trademark registered by a third party for goods and/or services in the same area.

As for the logos, there are limitations for using the EU emblem in them. It may be used only with the prior agreement of the Commission.

When participants are allowed to use the European emblem, they should do so in its entire and original form, and always separately from their own logo or trademark. Once the contractual relationship between a participant and the European Commission has expired, the participant should cease to use the European emblem, and withdraw its representation from any new documentation.

Multidisciplinarity is concerned with the study of a research topic within one discipline, with support from other disciplines, bringing together multiple dimensions, but always in the service of the driving discipline. Disciplinary elements retain their original identity. It fosters wider knowledge, information and methods.
Examples
Research Topic: Discovery of a particular drug
Host discipline: Pharmacology
Complementing disciplines: Biochemistry, Chemistry, Medicine.

Interdisciplinarity is concerned with the study of a research topic within multiple disciplines, and with the transfer of methods from one discipline to another. The research topic integrates different disciplinary approaches and methods.
Example
Research Topic: Robotics
Host versus complementing disciplines: this has changed over the years and with the expansion of the field, there could be different host(s) and complementing disciplines from Mechanical, Electrical and Computer engineering, Mathematics, Informatics and Computer Science, Neuroscience or Psychology.

Crossdisciplinarity is concerned with the study of a research topic at the intersection of multiple disciplines, and with the commonalities among the disciplines involved.
Example
Research Topic: Biologically Inspired Engineering
Host disciplines: Engineering, Material science
Complementing disciplines: Biology, Zoology Interactions are very strong with commonalities in the way biological systems and engineering counterparts are viewed.

Transdisciplinarity is concerned at once with what is between, across and beyond all the disciplines with the goal of understanding the present world under an imperative of unity of knowledge. Examples
Research Topic: Synthetic Biology, Cognition, Artificial Intelligence.

Yes, you can re-submit the proposal, e.g., next year, if there is a topic in the Work Programme which it fits in. Recommendations and suggestions given by evaluators should be taken into account within proposal development.

The first option is to choose the real costs model: in this case the Commission will reimburse your real overheads, even if they are higher than 60% of direct costs. You should also take into account that in some EECA countries overheads are calculated as percentage to the personnel costs, while the Commission calculates them as a flat rate to the direct costs.

The second option is to agree with a bit lower rate of overheads than your organization is used to. The significant benefit is this case is that you should not report to the Commission how you spend this money.