COFUND: The coordinator of a COFUND project is asking a co-funded researcher’s university to pay an annual amount as part of their co-funded contribution. The university however is not listed as a partner in the proposal. What should be done?

The COFUND is a mono-beneficiary action, which means that there is only one beneficiary that signs the Grant Agreement and who can directly claim unit costs. The other types of partners in the COFUND are Implementing Partners and Associated Partners.

Implementing Partners are legal entities that can receive financial support from the Beneficiary and implement the MSCA COFUND Doctoral or Postdoctoral Programme. Implementing Partners are not signatories of the Grant Agreement. Therefore, they cannot claim costs of the programme directly from the European Research Executive Agency. Implementing Partners can employ researchers.

Associated Partners are entities which participate in the action (e.g. providing training or secondments), but without the right to charge costs or claim contributions. They contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement. Associated Partners may not employ the researchers under the action. They can be established anywhere in the world and can be from any sectors. Any funding received is based on agreement with the coordinator.

While there are no letters of commitment required from any partner at the application stage, it is recommendedthat financial arrangements be discussed at this stage to avoid any misunderstandings at a later point. If the proposal is funded, and partners are involved, the signature of a Partnership Agreement between the Beneficiary and all partners is strongly recommended to regulate the internal relationship between all participating organisations. The Partnership Agreement must comply with the obligations laid down in the Grant Agreement.

SE: Is there a ‘typical’ number of secondments within a Staff Exchanges project?

A proposal’s optimality is not the number of secondments but its excellence, provided that the eligibility criteria are met.

The average project budget is around 1M EUR, but projects might have higher or lower budgets. The maximum number of person-months that can be funded in a Staff Exchanges project is 360 corresponding to a maximum funding amount of EUR 1.65 million.

COFUND: The coordinator of a COFUND project is requesting that part of the contribution from partners within the project is paid in cash. Is this standard practice?

There is no rule on this, and the partners have to agree this between themselves.

COFUND: Can an institution provide the co-funding from its own budget, or does it have to come from national funding sources?

Match funding can come from a variety of sources, including in-kind contributions, internal funding, Implementing / Associated partners, etc., the only exception is that it cannot come from another EU funding source.

PF: If a MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow receives permission for part-time employment, is the project extended accordingly, or should the fellow do all the activities in the 24 months declared in the proposal?

The duration of a MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship project is always automatically extended if part-time employment is agreed.

PF: Can a request for a part-time employment in Postdoctoral Fellowships be sent to REA in the Grant Agreement Preparation period?

In the MSCA Financial Guide (p. 12) it says that “Requests for part-time employment may only be accepted in agreement with the supervisor and beneficiary and with prior notification to the granting authority via the mobility declaration (see section 4 on the mobility declaration).” This would mean that requests for part-time employment should happen after the Grant Agreement has been signed.

DN: Does a beneficiary who intends to leave a Doctoral Networks project have to give the consortium a notice period or can they decide to finish the project immediately?

This should ideally be included in the Consortium Agreement, as in the Grant Agreement there is no such clause.

DN: If a beneficiary leaving a Doctoral Networks project is due to reimburse some funds based on the financial calculation that will be completed in the termination process, is it the coordinator’s responsibility to ensure these funds are repaid or is it the Research Executive Agency’s – and are those funds returned to REA or to the coordinator?

The coordinator is responsible for getting the overpaid amounts back from the leaving beneficiary and the sum has to be paid to the coordinator. The amounts will be considered as paid to the consortium by REA and will affect the final payment. The leaving beneficiary is the one who has the legal responsibility to pay back to the coordinator - see the Model Grant Agreement page 49, Article 22.3.2 Amount due at beneficiary termination — Recovery: “…If payment is not made by the date specified in the debit note, the granting authority will enforce recovery in accordance with Article 22.4.”

Also, a specific process will be followed in the EU Funding and Tenders Portal - Reporting process - terminated beneficiary.

DN: Does the 40% rule still have to be respected if a beneficiary leaves in the middle of the Doctoral Networks project?

The 40% rule still has to be respected. It has to be respected until the end of the project, irrespective of the changes in the consortium, early termination of fellows, etc.

PF: Are the Seal of Excellence projects automatically considered for ERA Fellowships?

Seal of Excellence projects are not automatically considered for ERA Fellowships.