UNIRESEARCH
UNIRESEARCH
Integrating EU-fin and EU-xpert in their Project management services for FP7 projects
UNIRESEARCH BV provides services in the areas of national and European subsidies, such as the EC’s Seventh Framework Programme. The services are aimed at supporting a customer through all stages of a research project: from topic selection and project inception, through building a consortium and writing a proposal, to contract negotiation and project execution. At present, Uniresearch manages 20 EC-funded research projects, varying from small collaborative projects (6 partners) to large-scale integrated projects (over 30 partners). Uniresearch is active in the following sectors: Mobility & Transport, Process Technologies, Chemistry, Materials & Nano Science, Environment & Energy, and Security.
In most cases, the technical coordination of a project remains in the hands of the customer, while Uniresearch is responsible for the project management and administration. Although Uniresearch utilizes their own web-based management tool, they have decided to purchase EU-fin (the FP-tools financial management and reporting tool) and EU-xpert (the FP-tools technical or scientific reporting tool). The idea is to validate the benefits of both tools by integrating them in their existing management services for a pilot project called THORAX (http://www.thorax-project.eu).
People make the difference
In the sequence of creating and executing research projects, Uniresearch can help to identify ideas for research and advise on applicable subsidies. During the following stage Uniresearch writes and submits the proposal, in consultation with the proposed consortium, and expands the consortium by including the best suitable partners for the project. Tools such as EU-doc (under development, see elsewhere in this newsletter) as well as EU-fin (available, see elsewhere in this newsletter) can support the writing and composition process. The Framework Programme success rate (since 1997) of Uniresearch is 75% (114 out of 153), which is significantly higher than the average success rate of 20% in FP7. This is due to the fact that Uniresearch selects potentially successful ideas, has a network in Brussels that assesses the quality of ideas, has broad experience and works with multi-disciplinary teams.
Once the initiative has been selected for funding, Uniresearch guides the consortium through EC contract preparations. This means that Uniresearch consultants assume the responsibility for revising the original proposal and budget breakdown in accordance with the evaluator’s remarks, and facilitates the process of concluding a Consortium Agreement. Moreover, back office staff are dedicated to collecting all the administrative information required for the timely preparation of the EC contract.
Project management
It is expected that Uniresearch’s project management services will be enhanced by the integration of EU-fin and EU-xpert into their web-based management tool. Project progress – in technical and financial terms – will be monitored every three months and the FP-tools software plays a crucial role in this ‘early warning’ system for the project coordinator. The input provided by the project partners in FP-tools, will also be used for the obligatory periodic reporting to the European Commission.
EU-xpert, the scientific reporting tool
Advantages expected by Uniresearch: by using EU-xpert, the mailing of different versions of Word documents will come to an end. Automatically generated e-mails can also be sent to partners requesting their contribution and to monitor this process. Moreover, all the partners can see what others have already contributed. Ultimately, the final reports produced will have a uniform layout.
EU-fin, the financial reporting tool
Advantages expected by Uniresearch: the project set-up of EU-fin is easy and adjustable. Partners can change their own data. There is a clear overview, with an export facility to Excel for detailed pivot table queries. Partners can easily locate budget details, costs and anticipated amounts of EC-funding. Another important benefit is that FORM C data is easily extractable.
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