Marie Curie Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP) Dr Dagmar Meyer

Marie Curie Industry-Academia Marie Curie Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP)Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP)

Dr Dagmar MeyerDr Dagmar MeyerMarie Curie National Contact PointMarie Curie National Contact Point

University of Limerick, 19th May 2009 www.iua.ie

University of Limerick, 19th May 2009 An Irish Universities Association Presentation 2

Basic features of IAPP

• What are Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP)?– simple funding mechanism for partnerships between

commercial and non-commercial research performing organisations

– based on a common research project designed to exploit complementary expertise and create synergies

– bottom-up approach (no predefined priority areas)– project duration typically 4 years with the aim to

develop long-term collaborations


What does the funding cover?

• Funding is provided for– exchange of know-how and experience through inter-

sector secondments of research staff– research and networking activities (including workshops

and conferences involving external participants)• Optionally:

– recruitment of experienced researchers from outside the partnership, for transfer of knowledge and/or training of researchers

– for SMEs: research equipment (up to 10% of the EC contribution for each SME participant) in duly justified cases


Experiences from first two calls

• 2007 (budget €38.5m): – 102 proposals across Europe, 2 with Irish coordinators– 41 projects invited to negotiations, 5 on reserve list

(success rate: 40% !!)– no successful Irish applicant

• 2008 (budget €45m): – 141 proposals across Europe, 9 with Irish coordinators– 41 invited to negotiations, 10 on reserve list (success

rate 29%)– 5 (+ 1 from reserve list) of the 9 Irish proposals

successful, 14 successful Irish participations in total • Budget for 2009 call: €65m (increase of 44%!!)• Deadline: 27 July 2009 (no call in 2010 WP!!)


Who can apply?

• Consortium composition – basic rules– at least two partners from two different Member

States or Associated Countries– of these: one commercial partner, one non-

commercial partner– more partners can be added, from either sector,

from any country (including Third Countries)– most common size 2-3 partners, rarely more than

6-7 partners (first call: 1 successful proposal with 13, one with 15 partners)


Definition of “commercial sector”

• Examples for “commercial partners”– commercial enterprises (big or small companies;

SMEs, spin-offs, start-ups etc. particularly encouraged)– national organisations (if operating on a commercial

basis)• Basic requirement (cf. Work Programme):

– “Within this scheme, the commercial partners must be companies gaining the majority of their revenue through competitive means with exposure to commercial markets, and will include incubators, start-ups and spin-offs, venture capital companies, etc.”


Definition of “non-commercial sector”

• Examples for “non-commercial partners”– national organisations (e.g. universities & IoT’s, public

non-commercial research centres etc.)– non-profit / charitable organisations (NGOs, trusts, etc.)– International European Interest Organisations

(e.g. CERN, EMBL) – Joint Research Centre of the European Commission– International Organisations (e.g. WHO, UNESCO, etc.;

funding subject to certain conditions)• Any organisation that does not count as

commercial partner – if in doubt, contact us for clarification!


Location of participating organisations

• Where can the organisations be located?– Member States (MS)

• there are now 27 EU member states

– Associated Countries (AC) • There are now 12 ACs: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway,

Israel, Switzerland, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina

– Third Countries (TC)• more than 140 International Cooperation Partner Countries

(ICPC), e.g. South Africa, India, China, Russia, … (can be fully funded)

• other Third Countries (OTC), e.g. USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea… (normally self-funded)


Staff secondments (I)

• Staff secondments between partners from different sectors– main focus of the scheme– researchers of any level of experience are eligible (including

post-graduate students, e.g. for summer placements)– technical and managerial staff in well justified cases– no nationality restrictions, but in general the usual mobility

condition applies– secondments must in general be trans-national, but up to 30%

of person months in the consortium can be used for intra-national secondments


Staff secondments (II)

• Duration of secondments: – between 2 months and 2 years (cumulative over the

lifetime of the project, can be split into shorter periods)• Previous activity in the seconding organisation

and reintegration– participating staff must have been active in seconding

organisation for at least one year prior to the secondment– mandatory reintegration of at least one year after the final

secondment period (not funded by the project)


Staff secondments (III)

• Balance between partners– ideally, secondments should be reasonably balanced

between partners, but no expectation that they must be symmetrical as in one-for-one exchange

• One-way secondments not excluded if well justified (cf. Guide for Applicants):– “A consortium could make a good case for having more

secondment months from one sector (a large university department for example) to the other sector (a small company, where researchers are relatively few). Moreover, projects with secondments in only one direction are not excluded where there is a clear mutual benefit for both sectors, and where the consortium duly justifies this one-way exchange.”


Staff secondments (IV)

• Flexibility regarding who pays the salary– budget in principle allocated to the hosting organisation

(for determining the country coefficient etc.), BUT:– administrative flexibility as to who actually pays the

salaries out to seconded researchers– seconded researchers can stay on payroll of home

organisation, avoiding problems with social security contributions and benefits, tax, pensions etc.

– must be agreed on by the consortium partners in consortium agreement


Recruitment of researchers

• Recruitment of researchers from outside the consortium– optional and must be justified – at the level of the consortium not more person

months for recruitment than for secondments!– only experienced researchers are eligible (e.g. post-

docs or senior researchers)– technical or managerial staff not eligible– duration 12 – 24 months (split stays possible only in

very exceptional cases, e.g. for family reasons)– no nationality condition anymore – mobility conditions apply


Nationality and mobility conditions

• Nationality condition– there is no nationality condition anymore (in particular,

researchers can be recruited in their country of nationality)

• Mobility condition– researchers/staff members must not have spent more

than 12 months within the last 3 years prior to the secondment/recruitment in the host country

• International Organisations:– no mobility condition applies, but researchers cannot

have spent more than 12 months in the previous 3 years in their host organisation


Allowances to the researchers• Living allowance (including all mandatory deductions) –

basic rate submitted to country-specific correction coefficient (Ireland: 113.3)

Experience level Employment contract (€/year)

Stipend (€/year)

Early Stage Researchers (e.g. post-graduate students) 35,300 17,650

Experienced Researchers with up to 10 years exp. 54,300 27,150

Experienced Researchers with >10 years experience 81,400 40,700

• Mobility allowance (basic rate €500/€800 monthly, depending on family situation, submitted to country coeff.)

• Travel allowance (€250 - €2500 for every 12 months period or fraction thereof, depending on distance)

• Career exploratory allowance (€2,000 once, only for newly recruited researchers)


Contributions to the consortium members (I)

• Contribution for the execution of the partnership project/programme – €1200 per person month, covering:– costs associated to publication of vacancies/interviews– internal training actions– participation in research and transfer of knowledge

activities (research costs, participation in meetings and conference attendance, etc.)

– workshops and events (invitation of keynote speakers, publications, rental of premises, etc.)

– contribution to the expenses related to the co-ordination between participants (partnership meetings, detachment of staff, etc.)


Contributions to the consortium members (II)

• Management activities– max. 3% of total Community contribution

• Overheads– flat rate 10% of direct costs except subcontracting

• for SMEs: – research equipment (up to 10% of the EC contribution

for each SME participant) in duly justified cases


Indicative timetable for IAPP scheme

Publication of call 24 April 2009

Deadline for submission of proposals

27 July 2009, at 17:00:00 Brussels time (i.e. 16:00:00 Irish time!!)

Evaluation of proposals October 2009

Evaluation Summary Reports sent to proposal coordinators November 2009

Invitation for grant agreement negotiations December 2009

Letter to unsuccessful candidates from December 2009

Signature of first grant agreements from February 2010


Before the submission

• Applicants will need a “PIC” number (Participant Identification Code) – not mandatory at proposal stage but will facilitate the filing of A forms and handling of proposal by Commission (if successful, all participants have to get a PIC).

• Commercial sector coordinators should check their financial viability first (follow instructions in Guide for Applicants).


Submission procedure

• Only electronic submission using EPSS (Electronic Proposal Submission Service)

• Proposal has two parts:– Part A: administrative information about proposal,

coordinator and partner institutions (prepared forms)– Part B: free text covering a number of predefined

aspects of the project, limited number of pages (prescribed font size and margins), limited size of pdf-file (for this call: 30 pages, 11pt, 15mm margins)

• Deadline is STRICTLY enforced


Evaluation – basic principles

• Evaluation according to criteria provided in the Guide for Applicants

• Different criteria carry different weights• Thresholds for some evaluation criteria• Overall threshold is 70% • All issues need to be addressed! Don’t waste your

chances.• Always keep in mind the objectives of the activity!


Evaluation process

• All proposals undergo initial eligibility check• Evaluation by at least three experts from an international

pool (not all experts are exactly from your field of speciality!!)

• Proposals that miss a threshold are rejected• Remaining proposals are ranked within each panel• Distribution of funding to different panels in proportion to

proposals submitted • All applicants receive evaluation summary report (very

useful for re-submission!!)• Reserve lists in case of late withdrawal etc.


Evaluation criteria

Criterion Threshold (out of 5) Weighting (%)

S&T Quality 3 25

Transfer of Knowledge 3 20

Implementation 3 25

Impact - 30

Overview:


IAPP – S&T Quality

• S&T objectives of the research programme, including in terms of intersectoral issues.

• Scientific quality of the joint collaborative research programme.

• Appropriateness of the research methodology.• Originality and innovative aspects of the

research programme; knowledge of the state-of-the-art.

• Weight: 25%, Threshold: 3/5


IAPP – Transfer of Knowledge

• Quality of the transfer of knowledge programme; consistency with the research programme.

• Importance of the transfer of knowledge in terms of intersectorial issues.

• Adequacy of the role of researchers exchanged and recruited from outside the partnership with respect to the transfer of knowledge programme.



IAPP – Implementation

• Capacities (expertise / human resources / facilities / infrastructure) to achieve the research and exchange of know-how and experience. Fit between capacity of host and size of support requested.

• Adequate exploitation of complementarities and synergies among partners in terms of transfer of knowledge.

• Appropriateness of management plans (recruitment strategy, IPR strategy, demarcation of responsibilities, rules for decision making etc…).

• How essential is non-ICPC Third Country participation, if any, to the objectives of the knowledge transfer programme.



IAPP – Impact

• Provision to develop new intersectorial and lasting collaboration.

• Strategy for the dissemination and facilitation of sharing of knowledge and culture between the participants and external researchers (including international workshops, training events).

• Extent to which SMEs contribute to the project.• In case of SME participation: Adequacy of the available

infrastructure for the performance of the project. In case extra equipment is requested, necessity and justification in the context of the partnership.

• Weight: 30%, Threshold: none


More information

Official website of the FP7 “People” (Marie Curie) programme on CORDIS:

http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/people/ Follow the link to

“Find calls for this activity” to download the Work Programme 2009 and the

Guide for Applicants 2009 (call page accessible from 24 April 2009)

Deadline: 27 July 2009

http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/people/


EI support for FP7 applicants: travel grants

• Enterprise Ireland travel support:– for researchers in higher education / publicly funded

institutions– for visits by Irish researchers abroad to meet potential

partners or attendance at EU information days/workshops relating to FP7

– covers least-cost travel plus subsistence rates up to € 150 per day (typical length of visits: three days)

– Limit of € 3,000 over the period of FP7 has been abolished to allow for multiple visits – you can apply as often as you like!


EI support for FP7 applicants: coordination grants

• Enterprise Ireland coordinator support:– for researchers in higher education / publicly funded

institutions– to facilitate preparatory work leading to a proposal for

the coordination of any research project under FP7– grants up to a maximum of € 25,000– for coordinator (or internal approved staff) least cost

travel and subsistence expenses, costs of hosting meetings, communication costs with consortium members, employment of researcher for short-term analysis, professional services in preparation of application, strategy development and planning

– replacement teaching costs in well justified cases


EI support for FP7 applicants: feasibility studies

• Enterprise Ireland financial support for companies:– covers company negotiations with research partners

and/or preparation of joint R&D proposal for FP7 • Salaries• Overheads (30% of salaries)• Travel & subsistence• Consultancy fees

– covers all areas (incl. Social Sciences etc.)– grants to Enterprise Ireland clients up to a max of €

25,000 (with equal investment by the company)• Similar scheme in place for IDA client

companies


EI support for FP7 applicants: more details

More details on financial support is available on the Irish FP7 Portal at:

http://www.fp7ireland.com/Page.aspx?SP=225

http://www.fp7ireland.com/Page.aspx?SP=225


Meeting room facilities in Brussels

Irish Liaison Office for EU RTD

meeting room bookings:

Catriona WardEU R&D Liaison OfficePark LeopoldRue Wiertz 50 WiertzstraatBruxelles 1050 BrusselTel. +32 (0)2 673 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Marie Curie key contacts in Ireland

IUA Marie Curie Office – National Contact Point/National DelegateDr. Dagmar Meyer - [email protected]. Conor O’Carroll - [email protected]

[email protected] +353-(0)1-6764948

Enterprise Ireland – National Contact PointBill Kee - Focus on Industry

[email protected]+353-(0)1-7272277





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Marie Curie Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP) Dr Dagmar Meyer