Glossary

The following explanations are provided for guidance and to provide easy-reference. They have no legal authority, and do not replace any official definitions set out in the Council decisions or elsewhere.

Access rights

In research and innovation projects, this term means licences and user rights to foreground or background.

Affiliated entity

According to the FP7 rules, any legal entity under the direct or indirect control of a participant, or under the same direct or indirect control as the participant, control meaning any of the following: (a) the direct or indirect holding of more than 50% of the nominal value of the issued share capital of the legal entity concerned, or of a majority of the voting rights of the shareholders or associates of that entity; (b) the direct or indirect holding, in fact or in law, of decision-making powers in the legal entity concerned.

Associated countries

Non-EU countries which have concluded a science and technology cooperation agreement with the European Union. In the context of proposal consortia, organisations from these countries are treated on the same footing as those in the EU.

Background

Information and intellectual property rights (granted or applied) held by the participants prior to their accession to the grant agreement and which are needed to carry out the project or to use foreground.

Beneficiary

A participant that concludes a grant agreement with the European Commission.

Call for proposals (or "call")

Announcement or proposals for research activities in a certain theme.

Common Pot

See virtual common pot or real common pot

Consortium

Entity constituted by all the participants working in the same research and innovation project. The European Commission is not a party.

Consortium agreement

A private agreement that the participants in a research or innovation project conclude amongst themselves for its implementation. It allows participants to implement and complement the provisions of the grant agreement and to regulate internal issues related to work organisation, intellectual property, financial and other matters. It should not contradict the grant agreement signed with the European Community or affect participants’ obligations thereto. It is required by all FP7 funded projects, unless otherwise indicated.

Coordinator

The participant identified in the grant agreement who, in addition to obligations as a participant, carries out specific co-ordination tasks on behalf of the consortium.

CORDIS service

A web service providing access to all the documentation related to FP7, and access to the electronic proposal submission service.

Deliverable

A deliverable represents a verifiable output of the project. Normally, each work package will produce one or more deliverables during its lifetime. Deliverables are often written reports but can also take another form, for example the completion of a prototype etc.

Dissemination

The disclosure of project results by the participants through any appropriate means, including publication in any medium. Publications resulting from the formalities to protect results, such as the publication of patent applications, do not qualify as dissemination activities.

ERA-Nets and ERA-Net scheme
Starting with the European Framework Programme 6 for Research and Technological Development, the European Commission introduced the ERA-Net scheme. The three letters E.R.A. stand for "European Research Area" and include the intention to create a European internal market for research, restructuring the European research fabric and the development of a European research policy. The ERA networks, ERA-Net(s), have been created to support the cooperation and coordination of research programmes in the EU at the trans-national level.

European Technology Platforms (ETPS)

Provide a framework for stakeholders, led by industry, to define research and development priorities, timeframes and action plans on a number of strategically important issues where achieving Europe's future growth, competitiveness and sustainability objectives is dependent upon major research and technological advances in the medium to long term.

Financial Guide

European Commission guide intended to provide the participants in FP7 research projects with information on the financial aspects of indirect actions (principles applicable to the EC financial contribution, reimbursement of eligible costs, responsibility, sanctions, etc) (see also financial rules).

Financial Rules

Financial Regulation and its Implementing Rules applicable to the general budget of the European Communities. The rights and obligations of beneficiaries of a grant agreement shall be in accordance with these rules (see also financial guide).

Foreground

All the results, whether or not they can be protected, that are generated under a project. Such results include information and related intellectual property rights (see also background).

FP7

The Seventh (Research) Framework Programme (2007-2013). The Framework Programme is structured in four specific sub-programmes: Cooperation (trans-national cooperation on policy-defined themes), Ideas (investigator-driven research based on initiatives of the research community), People (support of training and career development of researchers), and Capacities (support of research capacities).

FP6

The Sixth (Research) Framework Programme (2002-2006).

Funding scheme The type of support that can be given to a project within a call. The funding schemes have different objectives, and are implemented through different grant agreement conditions.

Grant agreement

The legal instrument that provides for Commission funding of successful proposals. Contract signed between the European Commission (representing the European Community) and one or several beneficiaries (e.g. participants to a research project) granting an EC financial contribution for the implementation of their project. It generally consists of a core text (indicating the maximum EC financial contribution) and several annexes, including a description of the work to be carried out under the project (annex I) and general conditions governing its implementation, the financial contribution and rules on intellectual property, use and dissemination (annex II).

ICT

Information and Communication Technologies.

Intellectual Property Rights

Legal rights, regardless of whether they are based on registration, that aim to protect creations and inventions resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields.

Joint Research Centre (JRC)

The Commission’s own research laboratories.

KBBE – Knowledge Based Bio-Economic

The KBBE will play an important role in a global economy, where knowledge is the best way to increase productivity and competitiveness and improve our quality of life, while protecting our environment and social model. It is a sector estimated to be worth more than € 1.5 trillion per year.

Marie Curie Actions (MCA)

Marie Curie actions are designed for researchers and include a set of research training, career development and mobility schemes. The opportunities offered by these actions may support researchers of any nationality at any stage of their career.

MemberState

The EU-27 - Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK.

Milestone

Milestones are control points where decisions are needed with regard to the next stage of the project. For example, a milestone may occur when a major result has been achieved, if its successful attainment is a pre-requisite for the next phase of work.

National Contact Points (NCP)

Persons officially nominated by the national authorities to provide tailored information and advice on each theme of FP7, in the national language(s).

Negotiation

The process of establishing a grant agreement between the Commission and an applicant whose proposal has been favourably evaluated, and when funds are available.

Networks of Excellence (NoEs)

One of the instruments under FP6. It is meant for long-term multidisciplinary objectives (rather than specific results) with the final objective of strengthening scientific and technological excellence in Europe.

Proposal

A description of the planned research activities, information on who will carry them out, how much they will cost, and how much funding is requested.

Research organisation

A legal entity established as a non-profit organisation that carries out research or technological development as one of its main objectives.

RTD

Research and technological development.

SCAR - StandingCommittee on Agricultural Research

The SCAR committee is a high-level forum for advising on and agreeing activity under its new mandate. In this context it considers proposals for action from Member States, from non-research advisory committees of the institutions of the EU and from other relevant stakeholders.

SME

Small or medium sized enterprise. This definition applies to businesses with fewer than 250 employees and a turnover less than €50 million. Small businesses employ fewer than 50 people and have a turnover of less than €10 million, while micro businesses employ fewer than 10 people and have a turnover of less than €2 million.

Subcontractor

Third party to a grant agreement that signs an agreement with one or more beneficiaries to carry out part of the work of the project.

Third Country

Countries that are not EU Member States, Candidate or Associated Countries

Thresholds For a proposal to be considered for funding, the evaluation scores for individual criteria must exceed certain thresholds. There is also an overall threshold for the sum of the scores.

Two-stage submission

Some calls require proposals to be submitted in two stages. In this case, applicants initially present their idea in a brief outline proposal. This is evaluated against a limited number of evaluation criteria, or sub-criteria. Applicants successful in the first stage will be invited to submit a full proposal at the second stage, which will be evaluated against a broader range of criteria.

Virtual common pot
The virtual common pot is one of the most commonly used funding models by the ERA-Nets. Another term also used in the past for the model of the virtual common pot was "national contributions model". The second important funding model used by the ERA-Nets is the "Real common pot" model.

In the virtual common pot model, each country will fund those components of transnational research proposals which take place domestically and therefore one country will fund research carried out in their own country.

The adoption of this funding model, in which national funding is applied in a transnationally coordinated way, has a wide range of implications, for example:

funding within each country will be based on the funders existing funding rules;
the maximum funding rates will therefore differ between countries;
eligibility of costs will vary between countries;
proposals must be scaled to remain within the available budget within each participating country.

Whilst at first glance this might seem complex, the rules within each country should already be familiar to potential participants.

Work package

A work package is a major sub-division of the proposed project with a verifiable end-point - normally a deliverable or a milestone in the overall project

Work programme

A formal document of the Commission that sets out the research objectives and topics to be addressed. It also contains information that is set out further in this guide, including the schedule and details of the calls for proposals, indicative budgets, and the evaluation procedure.