Administrative Process for Projects Funded via the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation: Horizon Europe

Applications for project funding

1. When initiating the application procedure, the project leader should contact the Grants and Innovation Office (GIO) without delay to obtain information on the call for proposals in question and its rules of participation. Depending on the funding instrument and whether the university will be a grant recipient or coordinator, the GIO, together with the Project Leader and project Finance Officer, plans which parties need to be involved and which necessary measures need to be taken in the project portal.
2. The project leader is to without delay inform the university's project owner (Head of Department or equivalent for the activity where the project is organisationally located) that an application for external funding has been initiated. The project leader must ensure the project application has a green light to proceed, in accordance with the applicable organisational and decision-making procedures, from the Dean of Faculty (or equivalent) and, where applicable, the Vice-Chancellor.
3. The project leader contacts the project finance officer, who prepares a project budget based on the Project Leader's resource needs for project implementation, in accordance with the project description in the application. The budget is drawn up in a specific template taking into account EU financial rules and procedures.
4. The project finance officer is responsible for informing the project leader about the project budget.
5. The project finance officer is responsible for preparing a full cost calculation.
6. The project leader is responsible for coordinating any partnerships/consortia and the content of the application for the university's participation. However, the project leader may receive support and guidance from the GIO in the selection of partners and the drafting of the application (excluding budget-related issues).
7. If there is a need for support and/or resources from other university departments, the project leader is responsible for consulting both the project participant and his/her service planning manager.
8. The project leader anchors the completed application with the project owner. The application is signed/approved by the relevant manager in accordance with the internal procedures and the financial limits indicated in the organisation and decision-making procedures.
9. A project certificate ("project certificate for externally funded projects" Reg. no. 442-20) must be signed as the application procedure is managed in a web-based portal which requires it. The project certificate should be accompanied by both the application and the budget appendix. A scanned copy of the signed project certificate is to be sent by email to the Registrar's Office. The project certificate shows that the project owner accepts the application (including possible co-financing) and supports the implementation of the project in case of a positive decision by the Commission. The project certificate mandates the GIO and the Finance Office to carry out the necessary project administration in the project portal.
10. If the process is interrupted without submitting the application, the project leader shall notify the relevant parties.
11. The project leader is responsible for submitting the application. Submitted applications are not formally supported by the university unless the internal administrative process is followed.
12. The project leader is responsible for the recordkeeping of the completed application and the project certificate.

Decision on the application

13. After the European Commission has announced the award decision, the project leader must notify the project owner and interested parties, and file the decision to grant or reject, as well as the EU's "Evaluation Summary Report" (ESR).
14. If the project is awarded funding, the university will be invited to the Grant Agreement preparation (GA preparation) through the online project portal. If the GIO is not already informed, the project leader should contact the legal counsel to initiate contractual work on the consortium agreement, if necessary.
15. The project leader and the project finance officer shall verify administrative information, the project budget, as well as the project description for the part concerning the university.
16. The legal counsel and the project finance officer are responsible for following the instructions and procedures involved in the contract negotiation. The PLSign (EU Project Legal Signatory) appointed by the Vice Chancellor signs the agreement (Declaration of Honour/GA). Please note that this electronic signature can only be done if a signed project certificate (based on the decision scheme) is available for the project. Otherwise, the regular decision-making procedure for signing is applied. The Declaration of Honour should be recorded at the Registrar’s Office.
17. The project leader informs the communication officer at the university's communication office. However, news of granted funding for a project shall not be published until the GA is signed by all parties. The project leader is responsible for informing the communications office when this has happened.
18. In the case of collaboration agreements, the university’s legal counsel is responsible for legal support in contract negotiation and contract writing with both external partner organisations and funders. After signing the agreements, each of the university's participating researchers must sign a researcher certificate ("Researcher Certificate" Reg. no. 443-20). A researcher certificate is an internal document used when the University of Borås enters into an agreement on research collaboration, where the university is expected to dispose of the specified background information and results obtained for the project implementation. The certificate aims to ensure that contractual obligations related to intellectual property in a project will be followed in a responsible and committed way by each individual researcher. Negotiation of contractual terms and conditions with partners or coordinator should be done through legal counsel. Cooperation agreements and research certificates must be registered by the Project Leader.
19. For coordinated projects, the project finance officer is responsible for developing procedures for reporting and monitoring the project budget and informing the consortium's financial contacts.
20. If additional project participants from the university are to participate in the project, the project leader is responsible for consulting both the project participant and relevant manager.
21. The relevant manager decides on the scheduling of project participants according to the established project calculation.
22. The project finance officer registers the project in the job planning system and allocates project participants as decided by the job planning manager.
23. The project finance officer is responsible for compiling information about the project and requesting a project number (file/project) in the university's financial system according to current procedures.
24. The project finance officer is responsible for keeping information on applied for and granted external research funds updated according to current procedures to enable the extraction of statistics and produce inventory protocols according to the timetable for the financial year.
25. The legal counsel is responsible for planning and holding a start-up meeting, which should be attended by relevant people from the administration, in addition to the project Finance Officer and Project Leader.

Implementation and follow-up

26. The project leader leads and coordinates the work of project participants according to the project implementation plan.
27. The project leader is responsible for reporting as specified in the GA.
28. It is the responsibility of the project participant to continuously report their productive time worked in the timesheets produced by the finance office that meet EU requirements.
29. The project leader is responsible for collecting the completed timesheets of the project participants on a monthly basis. These are then submitted to the project finance officer.
30. The project leader is responsible for collecting and compiling data from project participants for internal reporting in the university's workforce planning system. Feedback, registration, and follow-up in the service planning system regarding time spent in the project is done according to current procedures.
31. The project leader is responsible for ensuring that internal monitoring of the project's finances is carried out at least every six months.
32. In case of any changes, the project leader updates the project implementation plan and the project cost estimate, the latter with the support of the project finance officer. If a reallocation of the funder's project budget is required, the project leader contacts the project finance officer for the further process (see point 35).
33. The project finance officer is responsible for ensuring that the project's accounting is done in accordance with applicable regulations and internal procedures. The project finance officer also supports the project leader and GIO in contacting the funder regarding the project's finances and carries out any ongoing financial reporting to the funder and requisitions granted funds. The project finance officer submits “Periodic Financial Reports” to the coordinator.
34. In coordinated projects, all project partners submit their "Periodic Financial Reports" to the project finance officer who is responsible for compiling these reports to a "Financial Report" which is then submitted to the European Commission.
35. In coordinated projects, the project finance officer is responsible for transferring the EU funding to the consortium.
36. The project leader is responsible for ensuring that research results and reports (including interim reports) in the project are registered and that publications are registered and published in the university's publication database for electronic publication and registration of research publications.
37. The project finance officer is responsible for keeping records of “Periodic Financial Reports” and other financial documents.
38. For coordinated projects, the project finance officer is responsible for keeping records of the consortium's Periodic Financial Reports and payment documents.
39. When communicating about EU-funded projects, it must always be stated who the funder is and the contract number, according to the instructions on the European Commission's website.
40. Communication with the project officer of the European Commission or the project coordinator during the course of the project should be done through the GIO if it concerns legal issues.
41. Changes in the implementation of the project or significant financial changes not covered by the budget flexibility rule require an amendment, which is handled by the GIO.

Conclusion of projects

42. The project leader submits the "Periodic Report" and the "Final Report" according to the applicable instructions. These should also be sent to the Registrar’s Office.
43. The project finance officer submits a Periodic Financial Report and a Final Financial Report for the project according to the applicable instructions, which must be registered.
44. The project leader should register ownership of research results in accordance with the GA; the GIO innovation advisor assists researchers.
45. The project leader is responsible for record keeping of the funder's decision on the approved final report or reimbursement and sends a copy to the project finance officer.
46. The project finance officer is responsible for preparing a final economic report. Analysis of major financial deviations is carried out by the project leader together with the project finance officer.
47. At project closure in the financial system, the project Finance Officer records a financial closure statement.
48. Upon completion of the project, the Project Leader is responsible for ensuring that all relevant documents are recorded at the Registrar’s Office and that research data is archived in accordance with the university's information management plan and the project's data management plan, if there is one.
49. The project leader informs the Registrar’s Office when the matter (project) is to be closed.
50. Results and experiences are followed up by the project leader and the project participants.
51. The European Commission has the right to examine and audit the project at any time during the implementation of the project and also several years after the final payment of the project, the number of years being specified in the contract. It is therefore of great importance that all handling of documentation and documents of various kinds is carried out correctly throughout the project. As rules and conditions may differ between different work programmes/years, the Project Leader is recommended to formally archive via the Registrar’s Office the call text and guide that applies to the particular work programme/year from which the project has been granted funding. In case of any changes in the work programme’s rules and conditions for the project in question, these will normally apply unless specifically stated. Changes in the rules and conditions that are detrimental to the project compared to the rules and conditions previously in force are usually not a requirement to apply.

Checklist

Reg. no. 967-23