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Erasmus+: Knowledge Alliances and Sector Skills Alliances

Infoday 23 November 2015

María-Luisa García Mínguez, Renata Russell (EACEA)

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How to submit a proposal

María Luisa G. Mínguez, Renata Russell Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency

Purpose of the presentation

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1. Identifying important issues in the application, selection procedures

2. Locating essential information and using it

3. Having better understanding of the selection process

4. Receiving some advice/tips for preparing your application

What to do in order to submit an application?

• Register in the Participant Portal • Check the compliance with the Programme

criteria for the relevant Action/field • Check the financial conditions • Fill in and submit the application package

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Registration in Participant Portal

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Only needed if you do not have a PIC number already. 1. ECAS - European Commission Authentification Service https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/cas

Registration in Participant Portal

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2. Register in Participant portal and get PIC http://ec.europa.eu/education/participants/portal/desktop/en/organisations/register.html

PIC for the Applicant and Partners

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NO OBLIGATION TO BEGIN VALIDATION PROCESS OF PIC

AT REGISTRATION/APPLICATION

STAGE

Erasmus Charter in Knowledge Alliances Applications

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http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/actions/erasmus-charter_en

Participating Countries - Programme Countries (p. 22)

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Non EU Programme Countries: Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Turkey

Member States of the European Union (EU) Belgium Greece Lithuania Portugal Bulgaria Spain Luxembourg Romania Czech Republic France Hungary Slovenia Denmark Croatia Malta Slovakia Germany Italy Netherlands Finland Estonia Cyprus Austria Sweden Ireland Latvia Poland United Kingdom

Countries which do not participate fully in the Erasmus+ Programme, but which may take part (as partners or applicants) in certain Actions of the Programme. The list of Erasmus+ Partner Countries is described in Part A of the Programme Guide, section 'Who can participate in the Erasmus+ Programme'.

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Participating Countries – Partner countries (p.23)

Important reference documents and tools

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A. VALOR dissemination platform http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/projects/ B. Partner Search Tool Open until deadline 26/2/2016 https://infodaykassatool.teamwork.fr/

Identifying and locating essential information and using it

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Orientation • Step 1 Understand Erasmus+ (general, specific issues) • Step 2 Locate key information and register in Participant portal • Step 3 Complete the application package • Step 4 Send the application package • Step 5 Prepare for the next stage (after approval of application)

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Step 1 Understand general issues on Erasmus+

A. Project content B. Importance of criteria - Transnational impact General (for Erasmus+) - Programme objectives - Exclusion criteria - Selection criteria - Organisational capacity C. Selection management - Financial capacity - Selection methodology Specific (for Knowledge Alliances - Equal treatment and Sectors Skills Alliances) - Eligibility criteria - Award criteria

Step 1 Understand specific issues on Erasmus+

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EACEA web page

• Call • Link to ECAS • Link to Participant Portal • Application package • Instructions for

completing the application package

• Partner Search Tool • Programme Guide

Programme Guide Knowledge Alliances: p125-133 Sector Skills Alliances: p134-147 • Start date • Maximum duration • Objectives • Maximum grant • Minimum consortium • Type of organisations in

consortium • Target groups • Scope and type of activity • Eligibility and award criteria

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Step 1 Understand specific issues on Erasmus+ Programme Guide

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Step 2 Locate key information

• Directorate General Education and Culture (DG EAC) Policy documents

• VET - Vocational education and training: http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/vocational-policy/index_en.htm

• Higher education: http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/higher-education/index_en.htm

Step 2 Locate key information

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Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) Non-policy documents (application, etc.) http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/ erasmus-plus/funding_en

FAQs

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Step 2 Locate key information Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency's (EACEA) web Results of selection

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Step 3 Complete the application package • What - Application package = eForm + Attachments/Annexes

Detailed project description (Word) Declaration of Budget and Gantt honour chart (Excel)

• How - eForm User Guide - Instructions for completing the Application Package

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Step 3 Complete the application package Detailed project description (Word)

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Step 3 Complete the application package Detailed project description (Word) Part 0. Summary of the application and involvement in previous relevant projects Please provide a short summary of the main features of your project Involvement in previous projects ! Use clear and concise language

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Step 3 Complete the application package Detailed project description (Word) Part I. Project relevance Why has the consortium decided to undertake this project? Analysis of the subject area (current state of the art) and innovative character Aims, objectives and expected results European added value KA – contribution of and benefits for the HE KA- contribution of and benefits for the business SSA- lot 1 and lot 2 have some specificities

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Step 3 Complete the application package Detailed project description (Word) Part II. Quality of the project design and implementation Methodology Overall project management Quality assurance, evaluation and monitoring Recognition and validation (when appropriate) Budget and cost effectiveness

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Step 3 Complete the application package Detailed project description (Word document) Part III. Quality of the partnership, the team and the cooperation arrangements Composition of the consortium Rationale for setting-up the partnership Description of the partners (aims, roles, capacity) Cooperation arrangements across the partnership Partner country participation (where applicable)

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Step 3 Complete the application package Detailed project description (Word) Part IV. Impact, dissemination, exploitation, and sustainability Target groups Sustainability and impact / results and outcomes (indicators!) Dissemination and exploitation strategy Open access to the educational resources Part V. Additional project information (if applicable) Part VI. Work plan and work packages Part VII. Specific arrangements regarding mobility (only for KA)

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Step 3 Complete the application package (How)

Instructions for completing the Application Package, the eForm and its User Guide will be available soon: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/actions/key-action-2-cooperation-for-innovation-and-exchange-good-practices/knowledge-alliances/knowledge-alliances-sector-skills-alliances-2016_en

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Step 4 Send the application package (eForm and annexes)

• If you experience technical difficulties with the submission of your eForm - contact the helpdesk (eacea-helpdesk@ec.europa.eu) by email BEFORE the submission deadline, explaining the nature of the problem.

• If you face technical problems CLOSE TO THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE,

please ALSO send a screenshot of the submission error message and time of occurrence, as well as a copy of the eForm and attachments.

Deadline: 26 February 2016 12 midday Brussels time. Online submission only.

Submission Problems

• Most problems happen on the last day in the last hour

• Importance of proof of problems (screen shots)

• Most problems can be solved if instructions and manuals are read carefully

• Information provided after the deadline

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In case of multiple submissions of the same application in the same selection round to the same National Agency or the Executive Agency, the National or Executive Agency will always consider valid the last version submitted before the deadline has expired. Applications sent by post, courier service, fax or email will not be accepted.

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Step 5 Prepare for the next stage (after approval of application) Month (approximately)/2016 Action

July/August Communication of selection results

September Collection of additional documents (e.g. Mandate letters from partners)

September/October EACEA will send you a contract

1 November 2016 or 1 January 2017 (KA only)

Start date of the projects

Selection of applications

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A. Formal check (Eligibility, Selection, Exclusion criteria)

B. Quality check (Award criteria - independent evaluators)

C. Selection (Ranking list)

Selection of applications

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Quality check (Award criteria - 2 independent evaluators) Experts • Common briefing • 2 Individual assessments • Consensus • Feedback to applicants • Experts have access to same information as applicants (no secret documents)

Selection of applications

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Quality check (Award criteria - 2 independent evaluators) Award criteria Title Maximum

points Threshold

Relevance 25 13

Quality of project design and implementation 25 (KA) 30 (SSA)

13 (KA) 16 (SSA)

Quality of project team and cooperation arrangements

30 (KA) 25 (SSA)

16 (KA) 13 (SSA)

Impact and dissemination 20 11

TOTAL 100 70

At the end of the evaluation procedure… the Executive Agency decides on the projects to be granted on the basis of: • the ranking list proposed by the evaluation

committee • the budget available for the action

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Work Programme 2016 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/more_info/awp/docs/c-2015-6151.pdf

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Non-cumulative award

- Identical or very similar applications

submitted by the same applicant or by other partners of the same consortium will be subject to specific assessment

- Applications submitted twice or more times by the same applicant or consortium will all be rejected

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For completing the form • Have the project idea firmly in mind in advance

of starting to complete the form • Take time to understand how the form is

constructed • Ensure that partner involvement (work packages

and budget) has been fully discussed and agreed

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• Allow time for drafting and reviewing and redrafting the texts

• Test your draft application on someone outside the partnership

• The time required is variable (a few weeks to more than a year from concept to finalisation)

• Partners who provide low quality input to the drafting of the application may not provide high quality input into the project!

• It is a time-intensive process and will require dedicated staff time

• Don’t wait until the last minute of the last day before submitting the eForm

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A strong proposal/application is • Coherent (problems, solutions, target groups, activities, budget,

ambitions/resources/competence) • Simple (objectives, approach) • Evidence based (ex-ante needs analysis, state of art) • Clear (identifying the need for such a proposal, solutions, and outputs) • Rigorous in its planning (which activities, when, for how long, and

with what resources) • Explicit (do not take for granted any information, if it is not in the

application it cannot be taken into account) • Circumscribed (a proposal is not about solving the world’s problems,

but about solving a specific issue)

Assistance - HelpDesk

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Assistance • EACEA-EPLUS-SSA@ec.europa.eu concerning Sector Skills Alliances • EACEA-KNOWLEDGE-ALLIANCES@ec.europa.eu concerning

Knowledge Alliances

HelpDesk • HelpDesk e-mail address: eacea-helpdesk@ec.europa.eu • HelpDesk phone: +32 2 299 0705