Finance Helpdesk Newsletter #31

Upcoming Financial Workshops

Timesheets for Marie Curie Projects

Sick leave within Marie Curie Projects

Conferences outside the EU and Associated States

Equipment service contracts

Pre-financing Interest within Marie Curie

The Negotiation Facility (NEF2)

Updated FP7 Book by Mr Myer Morron (FREE) V2.5

Upcoming Open Workshops:

15/04/2010 2 Day FP7 Financial Workshop in London-Heathrow, UK

05/05/2010 2 Day Marie Curie Financial Workshop in Brussels, Belgium.

07/05/2010 1 Day FP7 European Research Council (ERC) Workshop in Brussels, Belgium

Timesheets for Marie Curie Projects:

We are always asked during our workshops whether researchers need to fill in timesheets.

The answer is "yes".

Researchers must record their time on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis using a paper or a computer-based system. The following information should be included:

-           Full name of host organisation as indicated in the EC Grant Agreement (ECGA)

-           Full name of the researcher

-           Title of project as indicated in the ECGA

-           Time period concerned (for instance on daily, weekly, monthly basis) according to the host organisation’s normal practice;

-           Number of hours. All hours claimed must be able to be verified in a reliable manner;

-           Full name and a signature of a supervisor (person in charge of the project).

-           The complete time recording system should enable reconciliation of total hours in cases where personnel work on several projects during the same period.

Sick leave within Marie Curie Projects:

Q: If a researcher is sick: after how many days / weeks / months will the EC reduce their yearly amount? Do we have to inform the EC that the employee has been sick for the last 6 months?

A: The researcher has a work contract with the Host institutions which will state the provisions for annual and sickness leave according to the internal rules of the beneficiary. However, the Host institution must inform the Commission of any event which might affect the implementation of the FP7 Marie Curie Grant Agreement. Please refer to Annex 3 of your contract.

Conferences outside the EU and Associated States:

Costs incurred for a conference taking place for example in USA or Japan, are eligible costs.

You may have to justify yourselves during reviews however, so it is best that the trips were included within the Description of work to keep everyone happy.

If not, then it may be a good idea to discuss it with the Project Officer.

Equipment service contracts:

Assuming that the equipment in question is used on the project, then there is no reason why the service contract could not be an eligible cost (proportional to its use). The problem comes in knowing whether it is an eligible direct cost or not.

The first thing to check is how your company normally treats "service contract on machinery" in your books of account. If it is treated as a direct cost then it may be eligible if the charging is proportional to the use of the equipment in the project. However, in most circumstances this type of cost is normally treated as an overhead and as such, it should also be treated as an overhead for FP7 purposes.

Pre-financing interest within Marie Curie:

Q: For individual Fellowships, does the host organisation need to declare interest on the pre-financing?

A: Yes. Please refer to Annex 2(II.17) of the contract which states that: “The Commission shall recover from the beneficiary, for each reporting period following the implementation of the agreement, the amount of interest generated…”

Interest on the pre-financing will be deducted from the next interim payment for the project which the EU gives to the Consortium.

The Negotiation Facility (NEF2):

As of January 2010 NEF has been upgraded to NEF2.

The main difference is that now in NEF2 as well as the administrative data that is required, there are other whole sections which are required to be filled in i.e. Breakdown of the Workpackages, Tasks, Deliverables and Milestones.

NEF2 gives us a clue that in the future, all of the DoW will be produced online.

Important Note about NEF2 layout: When the GPFs are downloaded and printed out then the A? Number of the page is clearly marked. However, when working online there is no reference to the Page titles A? – When comments are given by the Project Officer, he will refer to page A? Finding this page when online is not so easy.

Updated FP7 Book by Mr Myer Morron (FREE) V2.5:

Version 2.5 of Mr. Myer W. Morron’s FP7 Book, is an update to the FP7 Book which follows on from the highly acclaimed FP5 and FP6 versions.

The downloadable book continues to be free as it was in the previous framework programs. The book is constantly updated and registered users are notified of important changes and updates by Email.

The book is over 250 pages long and covers subjects such as:

·          Background to changes in FP7

·          Overview of rules of participation

·          Benefits of participation in a Collaborative R&D project

·          Reasons not to participate

·          Brief Overview of Framework Program Seven and CIP

·          FP7 Funding Schemes (Types of Projects)

·          Framework Program Seven changes

·          Partner Search

·          Proposal preparation and submittal

·          What to do if your Proposal Fails

·          Project Roles

·          Financial Aspects

·          Use of External Consultants

·          What to do when your proposal is to be funded

·          Consortium Agreement

·          Problems during the project

·          Project Management

·          Project Ethics and Good Practice

·          European Technology Platforms

·          Ethical Considerations in FP7

·          SME Status

·          Intellectual Property Aspects

·          How to write a proposal

To download, please click here.

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