The deadlines and procedures are set out in the evaluation result letter. For more information on complaints about proposal rejection: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/funding-tenders-opportunities/display/OM/Complaints+about+proposal+rejection.

Evaluators are instructed to strictly stick to the evaluation criteria, and REA are closely monitoring that. Please note that if such a construction weakens the proposal in any way, according to the evaluation criteria, then it will be penalised under this criterion.

There is no concept of ‘affiliated entities’ in DN, there is the concept of associated partners linked to a beneficiary, whereby there was a pre-existing link between the associated partner and the beneficiary, not created for the purpose of the proposal. Their eligibility is linked to the eligibility of the beneficiary to which they are legally linked.

The institutions involved would be aware of their status as validated by the EC validation services when they get their final PIC.

A helpful list is that of the members of EIROforum: https://www.eiroforum.org/about-eiroforum/members/

In such cases, they should be included as “simple” associated partners, and the link should be described in parts B1 and B2.

In such cases, they should be included as “simple” associated partners, and the link should be described in parts B1 and B2.

The deadlines and procedures are set out in the evaluation result letter. For more information on complaints about proposal rejection: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/funding-tenders-opportunities/display/OM/Complaints+about+proposal+rejection.

Yes. Such an additional contract in the US can be for example to ensure equivalent benefits and social security coverage. Below is an example provided by the European Commission:

Example: A BE university recruits the fellow for the total duration of the action (i.e. provides the main employment contract under the action) and sends him/her to a US university. Continuing the Belgian social security during the stay in the US could be too expensive, so that the beneficiary asks the US partner organisation to conclude an additional employment contract, in order to insure the researcher in the US.

Yes, there has to be a transfer of money from the institution of the return phase to the partner hosting the outgoing phase. Partnership agreement should be signed and should define such a transfer. Country correction coefficient (CCC) of the partner hosting the outgoing phase will be applied. The transfer can include not only living allowance but also mobility and family contribution or transfer of institutional contribution.

No. The researcher should be recruited by the institution of the return phase (the European beneficiary) under an employment contract that covers the entire duration of the grant agreement, including the outgoing phase (36 months total). It is then possible for the partner hosting the outgoing phase (the Third country organisation) to sign an additional employment contract with the researcher for just those 24 months of the outgoing phase, but the main contract will be with the beneficiary in Europe. In the practice different scenarios can occur, e.g. for the time of the outgoing phase (i.e. 24 months) the institution of the return phase will provide unpaid leave to the researcher – i.e. the researcher remains employee of the institution of the return phase but receives no salary from this institution.

It may be possible if the challenges are insurmountable.

Firstly, the fellow and the beneficiary should of course try to solve the issues and also document the process.

But if that fails, they should contact their Project Officer. Best practice would be to already be able to suggest an alternative that would ensure that the project could be implemented according to/or as close as possible to what has been evaluated.

The return phase always lasts 12 months, there are no exceptions. Starting at the European institution counts as outgoing. This means that if the outgoing phase is 24 months, only 21 months will be left after the secondment at the European return host.

There are no such templates beyond the standard consortium agreement template, such as the one provided by DESCA (https://www.desca-agreement.eu/desca-model-consortium-agreement/).

For Associated Partners, applicants have to click on the button on the Funding and Tenders Portal and then apply the PIC. For further steps in Form A and description of their role in Part B, applicants should follow instructions in the template.

For associated partners linked to a beneficiary, similar steps apply, but the type of link and description of the activities must be described in Part B.

There are three types of IMPACT in SE:

1. Economic Impact: boosts global & inter-sectoral collaborations

Triggers global inter-sectoral networking & innovation in TC and mobility flows between TC and Europe/ AC Increases active involvement of industry partners Consists on fostering innovation Facilitates technological development Transfers knowledge and deploys solutions It may include the impact the project will generate on participating companies in terms of revenues and profits, employment creation, market share, etc.

2. Social Impact: is a positive contributor to MSCA careers and employment for both male and female researchers

Concentrated on the generation of knowledge Involves R&I in developing, supporting and implementing Union policies Applies innovative solutions in industry (including SMEs), and addresses global challenges

3. Scientific Impact: contributes to fertilize advances across disciplines

Consistent fair representation in all the main research disciplines (majority of RISE projects ≥2 fields of science) Includes in particular the promotion of scientific excellence Creates high-quality new knowledge, skills, training and mobility of researchers

These three impacts are tracked with Key Impact Pathways (KIPs) which are divided as: ·

Scientific impact:

o Creating high-quality new knowledge

o Strengthening human capital in R&I

o Fostering diffusion of knowledge and Open Science ·

Societal Impact:

o Addressing EU policy priorities & global challenges through R&I

o Delivering benefits and impact via R&I missions

o Strengthening the uptake of R&I in society

Economic/ Technological Impact:

o Generating innovation-based growth

o Creating more and better jobs o Leveraging investments in R&I

When talking about impact, this is prospective, it is in the future, assuming that the project is successful and that it achieves everything that it set up to achieve. The applicants could base themselves on some other studies to strengthen or build their case about the impact they could have, before the impact is actually achieved.

There are different scientific panels and proposals are ranked within their scientific panel. Proposals in some panels are more STEM-oriented and would have a different kind of impact than proposals in the SOC panel for instance, but these proposals would not compete against the STEM-oriented proposals. It should also be considered that the impact is now broadened to encompass not only a purely scientific impact but also impact on the society at large. This can be an area where the SSH proposals could actually have a competitive advantage.