European Commission - Specific RTD programme in the field of Information Technologies

SPECIFIC INFORMATION

DOCUMENT

ESD Cooperative Research

Technologies for Components and Subsystems (TCS)

"Fostering Excellency in Design Skills and Broadening their Use"

September 1997

1. Objectives and Scope of the Action
2. Rules for Project Organisation
3. Eligibility Criteria
4. Financing Rules
5. Specific Partner Agreements
6. Proposals Sought
7. Evaluation Criteria
8. Further Information
9. Submission of Proposals
10. Annex I: Forms, Codes and Glossary
11. Annex II: Rules on Participation
12. Annex III: Financial and Contractual Conditions

1. Objectives and Scope of the Action

ESD Cooperative Research is an action to develop and to make available design and test solutions (tools and methodologies) to users through independent providers. The objectives are

* to increase the portfolio of available electronics design and test solutions relevant for European users; and

* to make these solutions readily available to the European users with professional support and maintenance.

The term "electronics design" covers all relevant design levels, circuit types and technologies. It includes also microsystems design.

The action consists of projects for the development of design and test solutions. This includes also the extension or engineering of existing solutions and prototypes.

A design and test solution is a solution for a defined set of design or test problems (the application range of the solution), available in a form that can be repeatedly applied in design and test processes with a well understood benefit. Typical examples are CAD tools and environments, test equipment, re-usable macro-cells and module libraries, and documented methodologies.

Within their application range, solutions must be re-usable for different designs with minor additional effort, and they must be reproducible for different users.

2. Rules for Project Organisation

Users and providers can participate to an ESD Cooperative Research project. Users are industrial companies that design and sell products with significant electronic content. Providers are companies that develop and sell design and test solutions to users and provide the related services.

The number of providers should be kept at a minimum. A consortium ideally comprises one provider only. Research institutions can participate as subcontractors.

The development work is carried out by the providers according to the joint requirements of the users. The users verify and assess the results, with the help of providers where appropriate. A results assessment report should be made available for publication.

3. Eligibility Criteria

The following constraints for project consortia must be strictly observed:

* There must be a least one user and one provider.

* European Dimension: There must be at least two non-affiliated (1) industrial participants (users and/or providers) from different Community member states (or one from a member state and one from an associated and financially contributing state).

(1) The term 'affiliated' is defined in the Glossary (Annex I).

4. Financing Rules

Esprit will contribute up to 50% to the allowable project costs (2).

In addition, the users shall make a significant financial contribution to the providers' (3) costs. In total they shall pay at least 20% of these costs. In order to favour work that is relevant for many users, however, no single user (4) should pay more than 30% of the providers' costs.

The Esprit contribution is linked to this financial contribution of the users as follows:

a) The Esprit contribution to the providers' costs will match the amount paid by the users. Both contributions together may reach up to 100% of the providers' costs.

b) The Esprit contribution to the users' costs will not be higher than the amount paid by the users to the providers.

Financial contributions of users affiliated to a provider in the project are not taken into account here. In particular, such users are not eligible for receiving an Esprit contribution.

Additional Comments:

The users' payment to providers does not count as allowable project cost of the users.

During a project the users shall provide to the Commission proof of their payments to providers. The corresponding Esprit contribution will be paid after receipt of these proofs.

(2) The rules for calculating allowable costs are the same as in Esprit RTD projects (see also Annex III)

(3) The notion "provider" includes in this chapter also a provider's associate and sub-contractors

(4) Affiliated users count as a single user.

5. Action Specific Partner Agreements

In order to facilitate the exploitation of results, users and providers shall agree on the essential issues at the outset of the project. This concerns in particular

Terms of maintenance and support (maintenance and support should be guaranteed for a reasonable period, e.g. 3 years.)
Exploitation rights of the provider as required for an unrestricted and commercially viable offering to third parties, and involvement of other participants to maintenance and support, if the solution is based on background (tools, technologies, patents, licences, ...) or developments of another participant.

Other relevant points should be addressed as applicable (e.g. modalities for user payments to provider; rules for conflict resolution; license terms for the developed solution; possible extensions of property rights; ....).

6. Proposals Sought

Interested organisations can submit proposals with a clear description of the items indicated below. A proposal consists of two parts:

Part 1 contains administrative forms (see annex I):

Form 1a: Contact Person and Project Synopsis
Form 1b: Proposal Resource Breakdown
Form 1c: Financing of Providers' Development Costs in the Project
Form 1d: Provider Costs for Marketing, Maintenance and Support outside the Project
Form 2: Individual Participant Profile (to be filled in by each participating organisation) accompanied by official authorisation letters

Part 2 will be read by the evaluators. It contains a description of the project and the planned exploitation. It should be as concise as possible (The shown chapter size is only inidicative). In order to ease the evaluation, it should follow the headings given below.

1. Title of the project

2. Administrative Summary and Resource Breakdown

(again forms 1b ,c and d

3. Project Summary

(½ page)

4. Objectives

(¼ page)

5. The Participants

characterisation of participants (organisations, key staff) in view of required competencies)
for the provider in particular: current business and available resources (1 page for main providers; ½ - ¼ page for other partners)

6. Background

problem and application background; currently existing solutions
participant background (tools, technologies, ...) on which the development is based.

7. Proposed Solution and Expected Result

description of the proposed solution with essential features
definition of the application range
discussion of re-usability and reproducibility aspects where necessary.
benefits for the designer

(1 -2 pages)

8. Technical Approach

(½ - 1 page)

9. Workplan

work should be structured in workpackages and tasks (task level only where appropriate)

recommended substructure of workpackage and task descriptions see below

(+/-5 pages)

10. Milestones and Time Schedule

overview of essential project milestones, characterised by verifiable achievements (workpackage or task results) and project month
bar chart (5) or equivalent presentation of the work schedule
(¼ - ½ pages)

11. Overview of Resources and Costs

a table with planned person-months per partner and workpackage / task
Identification of major cost factors (labour costs, equipment, consumables, services, travel, other costs) per participant, with brief explanation where appropriate

12. Exploitation of Project Results by Participating Users

concrete information on concerned products and design groups
planned measures for transfer of project results into their design & test processes
expected economic benefit for the concerned products
provisions for maintenance and support

(½-1 page per "significant" user; may be very short for others)

13. Relevance for Other Users

Identification of other concerned users, products and the related markets
Applicability of project results to these users and products

(½ - 1 pages)

14. Exploitation of Project Results by the Provider

(How will the provider access the market? Is the market likely to accept the offer?)

provider's marketing approach with concrete steps during and shortly after the project
expected business with focus on the first 1-3 years after project
consideration of resources for marketing, maintenance and support
discussion of existing and expected competition
explanation of the cost figures given on form 1d

(1-2 pages)

15. Outline of Specific Partner Agreements

(½ - 2 pages)

Recommended substructure of workpackages and tasks:

<Workpackage / Task Number and Title>
Contributing Partners
(listed with person-months per partner and indication of responsible partner)
Objective
(a sentence or paragraph)
Work Description
(a few sentences or paragraphs, identify specific partner contributions where appropriate)
Result
(a sentence or paragraph defining the expected workpackage / task result)

(5) See glossary in Annex 1

7. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated against the following criteria:

Eligibility:

Fulfilment of eligibility criteria

Conformity with objectives, scope and rules of the action:

Conformity with

objectives and scope of the action
rules for project organisation
financing rules

The proposers

Competence of partners for project implementation

Conformity with participation rules (see annex II)

Goals and approach

Clear statement and validity of objectives

Clear description of the problem and partner background

Clear description of proposed solution and expected results

Clear description of the technical approach

Feasibility and suitability of technical approach.

Organisation of the work

Adequate definition of milestones

Adequacy and feasibility of time schedules

Adequacy of task allocation and collaboration scheme.

Adequacy of management and responsibilities

Resources and Costs

Adequacy of planned resources and costs in respect of

the work
the expected results

Exploitation and Expected Impact for Users

Substance of the exploitation plans of the participating users

Expected impact for European users in general

Exploitation by Providers

Substance and feasibility of providers' exploitation plans (including maintenance and support with consideration of required resources)

Providers' commitment to exploitation (taking into account also their self-financed project costs)

Action Specific Partner Agreements

8. Further Information

Should you have any specific questions on the ESD Cooperative Research action, please address them to

Michael Hohenbichler tel: +32.2.296.90.43 fax: +32.2.296.83.89

e-mail: michael.hohenbichler@dg3.cec.be

If you have any general questions on proposal submission, you are advised to contact the IT Programme Information Desk at:

tel. +32-2-296.85.96 fax: +32.2.296.83.88 e-mail: esprit@dg3.cec.be

9. Submission of Proposals

Each proposal must have a co-ordinating proposer, shortly co-ordinator, and this section of the information package is primarily directed to him. Normally, the co-ordinator will become the project co-ordinator, if the proposal is ultimately successful

Proposals should be submitted by you, co-ordinator, and you will be responsible for the liaison with the Commission.

You should submit one full original of each proposal plus 6. This includes the forms and any useful information you choose to include, as long as it is relevant and limited in length.

It is your responsibility to assemble the proposal and you should submit it in one parcel.

It is also your responsibility to ensure that the proposal is delivered at the appropriate address before expiration of the deadline.

Delivery of your Proposal

Your proposal should be sent by courier or postal services or delivered by hand to:

IT Programme Office
Boulevard du Souverain, 191-197
B-1160 Brussels
Belgium

You must clearly mark on the parcel:

'Confidential: Proposal for the Programme for RTD in Information Technologies (Esprit)'

Important note

Do not send proposals by fax or E-mail. Do not announce by fax or telephone that the proposals are in the mail. Faxes and telephone calls of this nature hinder the operation of the Commission in handling proposals, and will not be acknowledged. Until two weeks have elapsed, do not telephone or fax to enquire whether your proposal has been received.

Do not send or deliver your proposal to Esprit or other Commission Offices. This would create considerable delays. The only correct address is the one mentioned above.

Continuous Submission

The ESD Cooperative Research action is identified in the work programme as task 2.27. This task is part of the 'continuous submission' scheme. This means that proposals can be submitted at any time during the period of the open call and will be evaluated at regular intervals. The present call (call of September 1997) is open until 17 March 1998. ESD Cooperative Research proposals will be collected for evaluation on the 15'th of December 1997, and in the second half of March 1998.

Acknowledgement of Receipt

You should include – in the parcel in which the proposal is delivered - a separate envelope containing the official 'Acknowledgement of Receipt' form as given in Annex I. On this you – the co-ordinator - must put your organisation's name and address and the title of the proposed project. This will ensure that the acknowledgement is returned to you correctly addressed.

Before it is returned, however, the Commission's reception staff will record the date of receipt and a unique reference number on the form. This reference number must be used in all subsequent correspondence relating to the proposal.

You should ensure that all proposers are given the proposal reference number and use it in all contacts with the Commission.

If you do not receive an 'Acknowledgement of receipt' within two weeks after the closing date of the Call, or the date of submission in case of a continuous Call, you should send a fax to the IT Programme office (Fax: + 32 2 6637200), indicating the acronym, title, domain, type of action and name of co-ordinator. You will receive an answer by fax within one week. You are strongly advised to retain proof of dispatch if the proposal is mailed or sent by courier.

10. Annex I: Forms, Codes and Glossary

Forms 1a-d: Administrative and financial overviews

Form 2 : Individual Participant Profile

Acknowledgement of receipt

List of Codes

Glossary

FORM 1a : CONTACT PERSON AND PROJECT SYNOPSIS
Programme Name: Esprit					Acronym:(max 10 chars)
Proposal Title:
Contact Person during the Proposal Evaluation
First Name:					Family Name:
Organisation Name:
Department Name:
Street Name:					Street No:
Post Code			City			Country:
Telephone:					Fax:
E-mail:
Project synopsis (maximum 1000 characters)

Please sign your answer to the following question
To the best of your knowledge, has this proposal, or a proposal that is similar in content, with your involvement or with the involvement of any of the partners in your consortium, been submitted to any other domain of Esprit or EU research programme? Yes / No If your answer is Yes, please give details (title of proposal, coordinator, name of programme, when submitted). Signature of Contact Person............................................................................................



FORM 1B : Proposal Resource Breakdown


Programme Name: Esprit			Action Type: EC			Acronym (max 10 char):
Proposal Title (max 160 char):
Work Programme Tasks (a):
1st Choice: 2.27			2nd Choice:		3rd Choice:		Duration (in months)
List of participants
No	Organisation Names (b))	User / Provider (U/P)	Country	Admin.Role (C/P/A/S)(d)	Org. Type	Costs in ECU (e) (S/A)	Esprit contribution in ECU	Effort in Person Years








Total Costs:			Total Funding:			Total Person Years:
Please copy this form if more space is needed to list the participants. The participation in the Proposal of all the Partners and Associated Partners, and at the levels indicated above, must be formally sanctioned by representatives of the said organisations in letters accompanying the proposal.

Please copy this form if more space is needed to list the participants The participation in the Proposal of all the Partners and Associated Partners, and at the levels indicated above, must be formally sanctioned by representatives of the said organisations in letters accompanying the proposal. (a) See Workprogramme (b) Start with USERS, followed by PROVIDERS. Relevant subcontractors should be shown separately but their cost and funding counts like a part of their main contractor's budget. Enter short name for participants that use such a name in Form 2, and legal name if such a short name does not exist. Research Institutions can participate as subcontractors. (c) A list of codes is supplied in this Annex (d) For associate (A) and sub-contractors (S), indicate also the number of the participant to whom they are assisgned. (e) Show here the allowable project costs. For users, allowable costs do not include their payment to providers. For providers, allowable costs do not include the costs on form 1d (f)].Costs of USERS shall NOT include their payments to providers. (f)See chapter "Financing Rules".



Form 1c : Financing of Providers' Development Costs in the Project



(figures in ECU)			<Provider>		<Provider>		Total for all providers (sum)
Payments to provider by <User> :
Payments to provider by <User> :
Payments to provider by <User> :
Payments to provider by <User> :
Total user payments to provider (sum):
Commission funding to provider :
Development costs born by provider itself :
Total development costs of provider (sum) : #

Shaded Fields: <Provider>: Fill in names of provider organisations <User>: Fill in names of user organisations Other Fields: Fill in the appropriate amounts in ECU. # The figures in this row must equal the provider costs shown on form 1b



Form 1d : Provider Costs for Marketing, Maintenance and Support outside the Project



(figures in ECU)			<Provider>		<Provider>		Total for all providers (sum)
During the project :
During the first 12 months after the project :
Sum

(4) there is no Esprit funding possible for these costs



FORM 2 : INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPANT PROFILE
Programme Name: Esprit					Acronym:
Proposal Title:
Legal identification of the Participating Organisation
Short name (h):				Legal Status (i):		Organisation Type:
Company Registration No:					VAT No:
Legal Name (j):
Department Name (if applicable):
Legal address of the Participating Organisation
Street Name:					Street Number:
Post Code:			City:			Country :
Telephone No:					Fax No:
Organisation's role in the proposal
Administrative role (C/P/A):				Functional role (S/U):		Relevant industrial sector :
Organisation details (if applicable)
Number of employees:					Is the participant an SME (Y/N)? (k)
Is your organisation affiliated to any other participant(s) in the proposal (Y/N)? (k):
If the answer is Y, please indicate the participant(s) name(s):

(h) A Short name should be included only if it is in common use outside the organisation (max. 20 char.). (i) e.g. SA, Ltd, GmbH, AG, EEIG, etc. (j) The legal name is the one used in contracts. (k) For definition see glossary. (l) A list of codes is supplied in this Annex.

Acknowledgement of Receipt

European Commission
Directorate General III: Industry
RTD: Information Technologies

Please write the name and address to which the acknowledgement of receipt should be sent in the box

VERY IMPORTANT We may ask the representatives of proposers to attend meetings and/or provide further information at any time after the closing date and especially in the first two months after this date. In your own interest please ensure that representatives are available at short notice during this period.

To be completed by Coordinating Partner
Reference :
Proposal Title :
Acronym :
Domain :

To be completed by Esprit Evaluation Coordinator
We are pleased to acknowledge receipt of your proposal above on :.................................................................. Your proposal is registered under Nr: ........................ (Please refer to this proposal number in future correspondence) Yours sincerely, Esprit Evaluation Manager

LIST OF CODES

1. COUNTRY
Code	Name	Code	Name	Code	Name
A	Austria	FL	Liechtenstein	N	Norway
B	Belgium	GR	Greece	NL	Netherlands
CH	Switzerland	ISR	Israel	P	Portugal
D	Germany	I	Italy	S	Sweden
DK	Denmark	IRL	Ireland	SF	Finland
E	Spain	ISL	Iceland	UK	United Kingdom
F	France	L	Luxembourg
Other according to standard ISO list
2. ADMINISTRATIVE ROLE
C	Coordinator	A	Associate Partner	P	Partner
S	Supcontractor
3. ORGANISATION TYPE
U	University	A	Public Administration	R	Research Institute
I	Industry	O	Other

S	Supplier	U	User

4. INDUSTRIAL SECTORS
Identify the relevant industrial sector of the organisation in the proposal and include the corresponding code in the appropriate space on Form 2
				Code
Business
Finance and Insurance				FI
Business, legal and management consultancy; holdings				BC
Publishing, printing and reproduction of recorded media				PP
Real estate activities				RE
Renting and leasing				RL
Lodging and restaurants				LR
Technical testing and analysis				TA
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of goods				WR
Community activities
Community service activities				CS
Education				ED
Energy production and distribution; gas and water supply				EN
Health and social work				HS
Recreational, cultural and sporting activities				RC
Recycling				CY
Post and telecommunications				PT
Transportation services				TS
Engineering (other than software engineering)
Electrical engineering and related technical consultancy				EE
Mechanical engineering and related technical consultancy				ME
IT activities
Audiovisual consumer electronics				IA
Electronic components				IC
Electronic engineering and related technical consultancy				IE
Industrial process control systems				IP
Office machinery and computers				IM
Software consultancy and supply, data processing and related Services				IS
Manufacturing
Aircraft and spacecraft				AS
Metals and alloys				MA
Chemical products				CP
Fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment				FM
Food products and beverages				FB
Furniture				FV
Leather and leather products				LL
Machinery, electrical and electrical instruments				EQ
Medical, precision and optical instruments				IN
Non-metallic mineral products				MP
Pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemicals and botanical products				PH
Pulp, paper and paper products				PA
Rubber and plastic products				RU
Textile and textile products				TE
Vehicles for land transportation				VL
Vehicles for sea transportation				VS
Wood and wood products				WW
Other activites
Agriculture and forestry				AF
Construction and building				CB
Fishing				FS
Mining and quarrying				MQ

Telecom products				IT

Activity code not provided above				NN

Glossary

Affiliated Organisation	Two organisations are affiliated if either one directly or indirectly controls the other or if both are directly or indirectly controlled by the same parent organisation. Organisation A is considered as controlling B if: A holds more than 50% of the share capital of B, or A holds more than 50% of the shareholder's voting rights of B, or A holds the decision making powers of B
Bar Chart	A graphical presentation of the time schedules of the different workpackages and tasks over a horizontal time axis. Workpackages and tasks are represented as horizontal bars ranging from their start to end date. Time should be measured in months relative to project start.
EU	European Union
EEA	European Economic Area, includes the EU, Iceland and Norway. The EEA agreement is not in force for Liechtenstein at the time of printing this document
EEIG	European Economic Interest Grouping. A legal entity consisting of several European organisations which could participate as such in a project under an EU programme. A guide to the role of EEIGs in RTD can be obtained from the IT Programme Information Desk (see section 5 in Introductory Booklet) and more detailed documentation is also available from Directorate General XV (Financial Institutions and Company Law)
EFTA	European Free Trade Association, includes Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland
ICT	Information and Communication Technologies
IT	Information technology
IPR	Intellectual property rights
JRC	Joint Research Centre of the EC
RTD	Research and technological development, including demonstration
SME	Small/medium sized enterprise. For SME Exploratory Awards, enterprises will be eligible if they satisfy simultaneously the following three criteria: has no more than 500 employees has an annual turnover of not more than 50 million ECUs is no more than one third owned by an organisation that does not satisfy the first two criteria, unless it is a financial investor such as a bank or venture capitalist
TCS	Technologies for components and subsystems: one of the three domains of underpinning technologies in the IT work programme

11. Annex II: Rules on Participation

From EU member states

The programme is open to all legal entities - i.e. people and organisations - established and carrying out RTD activities in the Member States of the European Union (industrial firms both large and small enterprises aimed at bringing products and services to the market - universities, higher education institutes, research organisations, etc.), and to the Joint Research Centre of the EC.

From associated and financially contributing states

Participation in this programme, with financial contribution from the EU, is open to any legal entity established or carrying out RTD activities in a third country associated with and contributing financially to the implementation of this Programme.

These are currently: Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein and Norway.

From other European countries, Australia, Canada and South Africa

Legal entities established and carrying out RTD activities in other European countries or in countries who have concluded an S&T; agreement with the EU (not financially contributing as described above) may participate in the programme on condition that:

the participation is in the interest of EU policies
the minimum stipulated number of legal entities from the EU and associated and financially contributing states are involved

These states are at printing date: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldavia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine, for which financial support by the EU, would in the case of acceptance of the proposal, normally be provided from funds other than the Esprit budget (an explicit request for such funding has to accompany the proposal).

Swiss, Australian and Canadian organisations may participate under the above conditions, but without funding from the EC. It is expected that agreement with South Africa will be reached in 1997, so that organisations from South Africa may from then on also participate under the above conditions without EC funding.

Organisations from other states

Legal entities established in states other than above listed, may participate on condition that:

the participation contributes effectively to the implementation of the Programme and provides mutual benefit to the interests of the EU and the state concerned
the minimum stipulated number of legal entities from the EU or associated and financially contributing states are involved

Organisations from Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan and the USA are not eligible for funding from the EU.

For organisations from other countries, financial support by the EU may be provided from funds other than the Esprit budget. An explicit request for such funding has to accompany the proposal.

International organisations

International Organisations may participate on condition that:

the participation contributes effectively to the implementation of the Programme
the minimum stipulated number of legal entities from the EU or associated and financially contributing states are involved

Financial support from the Esprit Programme may be provided to international organisations situated in Europe on a case by case basis. An explicit request for such funding has to accompany the proposal.

From EU member states

From associated and financially contributing states

These are currently: Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein and Norway.

From other European countries, Australia, Canada and South Africa

the participation is in the interest of EU policies
the minimum stipulated number of legal entities from the EU and associated and financially contributing states are involved

Swiss, Australian and Canadian organisations may participate under the above conditions, but without funding from the EC. It is expected that agreement with South Africa will be reached in early 1997, so that organisations from South Africa may from then on also participate under the above conditions without EC funding.

Organisations from other states

Legal entities established in states other than above listed, may participate on condition that:

the participation contributes effectively to the implementation of the Programme and provides mutual benefit to the interests of the EU and the state concerned
the minimum stipulated number of legal entities from the EU or associated and financially contributing states are involved

Organisations from Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan and the USA are not eligible for funding from the EU.

For organisations from other countries, financial support by the EU may be provided from funds other than the Esprit budget. An explicit request for such funding has to accompany the proposal.

International organisations

International Organisations may participate on condition that:

the participation contributes effectively to the implementation of the Programme
the minimum stipulated number of legal entities from the EU or associated and financially contributing states are involved

12. Annex III: Financial and Contractual Conditions

If your proposal is successful in the evaluation and is selected for further negotiation, the Commission services will contact you for finalisation of the Project Programme and budgetary aspects.

The Project Officers assigned to be the responsible Commission official will provide you with the necessary documentation. The time needed in this phase depends on the complexity and evaluators' comments, but normally negotiations would take between 4 and 8 weeks if the work is well planned by the consortium.

The contract used for ESD Cooperative Research projects is derived from the standard Esprit RTD contract taking into account the special provisions described in this specific information document. If you do not have a specimen yet, the Project Officer will give you one.

The Commission has published an information booklet concerning the contracting conditions and the standard Esprit contract. You can obtain this booklet by request from :

**** e-mail: info-dg12@DG12.cec.be; fax: +32/2 295 82 20 ****

The contract provides explicit definitions of the partnership, the reporting obligations, the allowable costs and other financial conditions and the intellectual property right conditions. The contractual terms cannot be overruled by a consortium agreement, but the latter is recommended to provide further detail for specific aspects mentioned in this information document, and for management and exploitation aspects.

The essential contractual/financial aspects are the following:

The Commission contributes 50% of the actual allowable costs, including overheads. Labour rates, including overheads, need to be accepted by Commission services on the basis of a detailed explanation using analytical budget accounting. For universities and research institutions which do not use analytical accounting systems, the Commission may decide that they must use the so-called additional cost method. Note that universities and research institutions are supposed to participate as subcontractors.
Reporting on results is to be described in the Project Programme, which will form Annex 1 to the contract. Normally every 6 or 12 months cost statements and progress reports are required. However deviating periods can be defined in the Project Programme as best suited for a specific project. Review meetings will be held with external expert reviewers as necessary.
Consortia consist of:
- normal partners or contractors, signing the contract and having full rights and obligations, including joint and several responsibility for the work. One of them will take the task of co-ordinator and is responsible for management and administrative tasks and for liaison with the Commission
- Associate partners, whose interests normally lie in a restricted part of the work and whose shares are relatively small. They will have an associate contract with a normal partner and take no joint and several responsibility. Rights will be appropriate to their share in the work. The conditions on allowable costs, audits and reporting are the same as for normal partners. Associate contractors provide standard cost statements and share in the costs of the work like normal partners
- Sub-contractors, who provide services at market prices. The full costs are born by the partner, who also acquires ownership of the result. The full costs of the services are allowable and the Commission contributes to these costs
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). The partner who creates (invents) will be the owner of the IPR. Every partner is obliged to provide free licenses for research and exploitation of the results obtained in the project to all contractors. They should also allow access on favourable conditions to background results where needed for exploitation of the project results. Partners have obligations to provide access to IPRs for research to EU and associated state participants in other projects. It is advised that you read carefully the precise contractual conditions, as stated in the Annex II to the standard contract, which you can receive on request at the ESPRIT Information Desk.