EU - Horizon 2020

Mode of Application

MODE OF APPLICATION:

NOTE: The information herein refers to submission of proposals for collaborative projects highlighting the main features of the application process.
Instructions for submitting ERC and MSCA proposals can be viewed on the RGP’s ERC webpage and the RGP’s MSCA webpage respectively.
The application should be prepared according to the call requirements as published on each individual call webpage and the instructions included in the Proposal Technical Annex for the call (please see below).

Online Submission
Proposals shall be submitted electronically via the web-based Participant Portal Submission Service (PPSS), for which a User Manual is available. Applicants are strongly advised to submit proposals at least 48 hours in advance of the submission deadlines. Submitted proposals may be modified up until the deadline. Each time the proposal is submitted, the updated version is replaced with the previous one.

Initiating online submission (for coordinators):

• Enter the relevant theme page on the RGP’s website, and click the required topic. You will then be directed to the topic page on the Participant Portal.
• Click ‘START SUBMISSION’.
• You will now be requested to login to the European Commission Authentication Service (ECAS) or to register if you do not yet possess a user ID.

User ID
Obtaining a user ID from ECAS is mandatory in order to login to the Participant Portal and to use its various functions, including the submission of proposals and at a later stage, receiving notifications of the evaluation results. The same user ID is used for all later interactions with the agency. Upon registration, when presented with the question "Where Are You From?", please select the option - "External – Partners, Researchers, Citizens”.

PIC Number
Partners in collaborative projects will be required to provide the coordinator with Weizmann’s PIC number. Once the coordinator has entered the PIC number in the submission system, the data concerning Weizmann’s legal status will automatically be completed in the A forms (the proposal’s administrative forms). In order to obtain Weizmann Institute's PIC number, please contact the EU Desk.

Proposal Parts
Following are standard proposal templates for collaborative projects submitted to 2018-2020 calls. The definitive template to be used when writing your proposal is that available in the online submission system for each specific call.

• For Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Innovation Actions (IA)
• For Coordination and Support Actions (CSA)

The Administrative forms (A forms) are to be completed online on the PPSS. The Technical Annex (Part B) is to be uploaded to the submission system as two separate PDF files (one file comprising sections 1-3 and the other comprising sections 4-5). In the first stage of two-stage submission calls only certain sections of the A forms and Part B are requires, as indicated in the proposal templates.

Notes:

1. For coordinators: For the purpose of completing the budget section of the A forms, you should obtain the detailed budgets of all partners.
2. For partners: In order for the proposal to be accessible to you, you should first be defined as a contact person of the proposal by the project's coordinator.
3. For all applicants: In addition to Weizmann's scientific contact person(s), please make sure to include in the A forms a contact person of the RGP office, namely Gabi Bernstein (email: gabi.bernstein@weizmann.ac.il; phone: +972 89346728).

WEIZMANN INTERNAL PROCEDURES

• Internal budget approval: Please make sure to obtain written approval for the budget from the Projects Branch of the Finance Division before submitting the online application. In cases of two-stage submissions, this is only required at the second stage.
• Internal Form: A direct link to a pre-filled online Internal Form will be emailed to you for completion.
• Internal review: Please provide the RGP with a copy of your application for a review a week prior to submission and of the final submitted application for follow up purposes.

ETHICAL ISSUES

For all activities funded by the European Union, ethics is an integral part of research and is addressed by the EU through the ‘Ethics Appraisal Procedure’ from the proposal stage onwards to ensure that all research activities under H2020 are conducted in compliance with fundamental ethical principles.

How to complete your ethics Self-Assessment in the proposal preparation stage.

Financial Info

COST MODEL

Under the H2020 framework program including the ERC, the EU contribution will be 100% of the eligible costs. As a consequence all costs related to a specific project can be reported, including salaries of permanent personnel. For more information or questions about the costs eligibility, please contact your Departmental Administrator and/or EU Projects Team (Headed by Sima Cohen) at the Projects Branch in Weizmann’s Finance Division.

APPROVED OVERHEAD BY FOUNDATION

A 25% flat rate of the total eligible costs should be used for indirect costs (excluding direct costs of subcontracts).

SALARIES AND WAGES

All costs can be declared in H2020 projects, including salaries of permanent workers (including the PI).

TOSEFET MEHKAR ALEPH ALLOWANCE

The cost model under which H2020 grants are awarded allows for the partial reimbursement of all salaries, based on actual monthly effort reports (see EFFORT REPORTING below). Please note that further to VATAT regulations, if Tosefet Mehkar Aleph is not requested on a grant from an agency whose guidelines allow for the partial reimbursement of the PI salary, you will NOT be eligible to receive Tosefet Mehkar Bet on grants from this agency. RGP Comment: Each "PI" on an H2020 grant must have a distinct intellectual contribution to the project. Thus, in all cases, each PI should be listed at the same hierarchical level and to the same degree of detail, in the section describing the consortium partners in the proposal/Description of Work. In case of doubt regarding how one should be listed in the proposal in order to qualify as a "PI" on the project once it has been approved, please contact the EU Desk.

EFFORT REPORTING

The EU H2020 Rules for Participation indicate that "Eligible personnel costs shall cover only the actual hours worked by the persons directly carrying out work under the action.” The beneficiary must keep time records for the number of hours declared in writing and approved by the persons working on the action and their supervisors. In the absence of reliable time records of the hours worked on the action, alternative evidence supporting the number of hours declared may be accepted, if it is considered to offer an adequate level of assurance.

SUBCONTRACTING IN H2020

For advice on the inclusion of sub-contracting costs in the project's budget, please contact the EU Projects Team (Headed by Sima Cohen) at the Projects Branch in Weizmann’s Finance Division.

Intellectual Property

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP) AND CONSORTIUM AGREEMENTS

Please read an important message from the VP for Technology Transfer to Scientists:
"According to the regulations of the EU Horizon 2020, a consortium agreement has to be signed prior to the project kick-off. The consortium agreement enables us to ask for royalties and reach commercial terms on know-how developed during the project, as well as on pre-existing relevant know-how. Exploiting these advantages requires negotiation of commercial terms by Yeda in a short time frame. The "default" consortium agreement gives partners free access to any previous IP of the Weizmann Institute (even if created by other scientists) that is needed for the execution of the program. Thus, under some circumstances (e.g. IP that has already been commercialized), we shall not be able to join a consortium unless the agreement can be amended accordingly.

If you have any background IP (Patents or know how) that are subject to potential commercialization (this applies amongst other to any IP with Yeda.) that are crucial for the carrying out of your project please contact Adv. Aaron Jaffe at Yeda's legal department (Aaron.Jaffe@weizmann.ac.il, tel. 4094) as soon as you have the initial information on such a project. Feel free to contact aaron in incidences that prolonged negotiation may jeopardize your chance to join the project."

Websites and Links

EU WEBSITES AND LINKS

• Participant Portal
• Partner Search tool in the Participant Portal
• Horizon 2020 On-line Manual
• Horizon 2020 Experts database
• Horizon 2020 Glossary
• Guidelines to the Rules on Open Access in Horizon 2020

EXTERNAL SUPPORT AND INFORMATION SERVICES FOR H2020

• ISERD – The Israel-Europe R&D Directorate and National Contact Point
• UKRO - targeted information service for EU funding
  All researchers from the Weizmann Institute are eligible to register for this service, which allows users to receive e-mail information packages tailored to their specific research and policy interests at a frequency of their choice.

Advice and Recommendations

BECOME AN EVALUATOR

The RGP strongly recommends to register as an Expert Evaluator. Traveling to Europe (at the expense of the EU) to participate in review panels to evaluate submitted applications in your field will provide you with unique insight that should help in the preparation of an application to the EU. To increase your chances of selection as an evaluator, please inform the relevant National Contact Point (NCP) of your registration and ask them to endorse you to the relevant project officers at the EU. For further information or assistance, please contact the EU Desk.

CONSULTANCY SERVICES

The Weizmann Institute provides assistance to researchers in the form of partial support of consultancy fees for the preparation of H2020 applications, within the framework of existing agreements between Weizmann and the consultant companies. Support is offered to researchers submitting applications as a coordinators and to ERC applicants. In order to initiate the consultancy service and receive the partial support, a request should be sent to the RGP. Please see further details on the consultants and follow procedure at:
   1. ERC application - view the ERC ‘Consulting Services’ tab
   2. Coordinator of a collaborative project - view below - to be updated shortly