What are Coordination and Support Actions (CSAs)?
Coordination and support actions are defined as the funding scheme which provides "support for activities aimed at coordinating or supporting research activities and policies (networking, exchanges, trans-national access to infrastructures, studies, conferences, etc.)."
Therefore research, technological development or demonstration activities are not to be supported under CSAs.
The minimum condition is the participation of one legal entity. In general, depending on their specific objectives, support actions may have duration from some months up to a few years. Reimbursement is based on eligible costs (based on maximum rates of reimbursement specified in the grant agreement for different types of activities within the project); in some cases the reimbursement of indirect costs is based on a flat rate.
Focus of CSAs under the ERC-2012-SUPPORT-1 call on Gender aspects in career structures and career paths
The ERC is an ambitious and autonomous entity which aims to establish itself as a world-leading institution for science funding. Expectations about what it can and will achieve are very high. It is therefore be necessary for the ERC to develop methods to assess progress towards its objectives.
In its monitoring and assessment strategy, the ERC Scientific Council has developed a broad ranging understanding of quality standards and contributing topics and methodologies for assessing the qualitative and quantitative impacts of the ERC activities. These activities are part of a set of complementary assessment activities of the Commission, such as the monitoring system of the Framework Programme. It draws on good practice and experience from Member States' evaluation activities of national research systems, international research institutions' activities, as well as other existing studies.
As described in the ERC Work Programme 2012 the overall purpose of the work to be funded under the ERC 2012-SUPPORT-1 call is to support the ongoing monitoring, assessment and evaluation work as well as to contribute to the future strategy development.
The work foreseen will assist the ERC in engaging in creative and exploratory thinking, from a broad and diverse set of perspectives, to arrive at a mature and well-considered position on this important set of issues and to establish data collection. The call complements the project and studies already supported from the ERC-2008 and ERC 2009-SUPPORT calls.
Duration of projects for this specific call is expected to be of up to one year. It is foreseen that a range of different methods could be appropriate, recognising that different approaches may be appropriate for different disciplines. In all cases, the expected output of the studies should have an impact on the ERC's operations and should not be of a theoretical nature.
Who can apply?
Coordination and Support Actions are open to legal entities situated in Member States, or Associated countries and established under the national law of the respective Member State or associated Country.
Applications from International European Interest Organisations (such as CERN, EMBL, etc.) or the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, and legal entities established in third countries are also eligible. Legal entities established in third countries can receive funding if their participation is essential for carrying out the action.
Registration of legal entities in the Commission's Early Warning System (EWS) and Central Exclusion Database (CED)
To protect the EU's financial interests, the Commission uses an internal information tool, the Early Warning System (EWS) to flag identified risks related to beneficiaries of centrally managed contracts and grants. Through systematic registration of financial and other risks the EWS enables the Commission services to take the necessary precautionary measures to ensure a sound financial management.5 EWS registrations are not publicly disclosed. However, registrations will be transferred to the Central Exclusion Database (CED) if they relate to entities that have been excluded from EU funding because they are insolvent or have been convicted of a serious professional misconduct or criminal offence detrimental to EU financial interests. The data in CED are available to all public authorities implementing EU funds, i.e. European institutions, national agencies or authorities in Member States, and, subject to conditions for personal data protection, to third countries and international organisations.
The Work Programme informs you that the details of your organisation (or those of a person who has powers of representation, decision-making or control over it) may be registered in the EWS and the CED and be shared with public authorities as described in the relevant legal texts.
More information on the EWS and CED can be found here: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/sound_fin_mgt/ews_en.htm
When can I apply?
Calls announced in the ERC Work Programme 2012 are published on the ERC website, the CORDIS website, the Participant Portal and in the Official Journal of the European Union. You must consult these documents.
Indicative budget: EUR 150 000 from 2012 budget.
Union contribution: Based on the reimbursement of eligible costs the Union financial contribution shall correspond to 100% of the total eligible and approved direct costs, and a reimbursement of a flatrate of 7% of the total eligible direct costs towards indirect costs The level of funding represents a maximum overall figure – payments must be justified on the basis of the actual costs of the project.
Minimum number of participants: At least one independent legal entity established in one of the Member States, or one of the Associated countries (in the case of the participation of more than one legal entity the participants are not obliged to establish a consortium agreement).
Indicative timetable for this call
Publication of call
12 October 2011
Deadline for submission of proposals
12 January 2012
Evaluation of proposals
February 2012
Contract agreement preparation
May 2012
How to apply – completing the CSA application?
The application involves two distinct components:
Part A contains the administrative information about the proposal and the participants. The information in part A is entered through a set of on-line forms.
Part B is in the form of a "template", or list of headings, rather than an administrative form. Part B of the proposal is uploaded by the applicant into the Electronic Proposal Submission Service (EPSS) described above.
Box 1: Proposal submission - Important to know
- Proposals cannot be submitted without prior registration (pre-regostration), which is required to obtain an EPSS login name and password.
- Proposals sent by other means than EPSS will not be accepted.
- Proposal formats and page numbers are limited strictly.
- Only the material that the proposal contains within the page limits while respecting the indicated layout parameters will be evaluated.
- Evaluation is based on a peer review process with a panel composed of internationally renowned scientists and scholars.
- Please note that the working language of peer review evaluation Panel is English.
For more information: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/ideas?callIdentifier=ERC-2012-Support-1
