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

SPECIFIC INFORMATION

DOCUMENT

Design Clusters

Technologies for Components and Subsystems (TCS)

"Fostering Excellency in Design Skills and Broadening their Use"

September 1997

An abstract giving background information about Design Clusters is available.

1. Abstract
2. Objectives and scope
3. Organisation of Design Clusters
4. Proposals sought: 4.1. Proposals for design experiments; 4.2. Proposals for technical coordination and dissemination

5. Submission of Proposals
6. Evaluation of Proposals
7. Further Information
8. Reply Form
9. Annex I: Forms, Codes and Glossary
10. Annex II: Rules on Participation
11. Annex III: Financial and Contractual Conditions

Design Clusters

1. Abstract

The Design Clusters action aims at the further development and broad introduction of advanced design skills in specified areas of electronic design. Two technical areas are presently addressed, namely:

1. Low Power Design: 'Low Power' is interpreted as a significant relative decrease in power consumption.

and

2. Mixed-Signal Design: 'Mixed-Signal' refers to a class of circuits which combine both analogue (continuous-time and/or sampled data) and digital signal conditioning and processing functions. It relates to the solution of problems found in integrating such mixed functions on a single device.

The action consists, for each technical area, of a cluster of design experiments comprising research, development and best practice.

An independent coordinator assumes the responsibility of coordination of each cluster and dissemination of best practice.

2. Objectives and Scope

There are two interlinked objectives:

to foster excellency in the specified design skills;
to bring these skills to broad industrial use

Design experiments combine R&D; (research and development) and best practice work, that is work addressing the transfer of design methodologies(1) to practical use. At least one industrial user must be involved.

In line with the objectives of the action, design experiments will be obliged to share experience with other participants of the action and with third parties. The shared experience, know-how and other results, and the method of dissemination, are defined at the outset of the experiment. The disseminated results should enable third parties to reproduce essential achievements in comparable designs.(2)

3. Organisation of Design Clusters

An independent organisation (the cluster coordinator) is assigned the task of technical coordination and dissemination, in order to facilitate the exchange between design experiments and the dissemination to third parties. This task involves in particular

to structure, coordinate and monitor overall the different design experiments
to define, together with the participant(s) of each experiment, the precise targets and contributions to the overall action
to verify actual results and achievements against targets
to guide the capturing of experiences and methodologies, and to contribute as required
to promote the dissemination and wider use of experiences and methodologies
to provide technical services for action participants as required.

The design experiments for each technical area (low power design, mixed signal design) are organised as a set of clustered projects.
(The original document contains a drawing at this place)

The 'technical coordination and dissemination' task is the subject of a bilateral contract between the cluster coordinator and the Commission.
The research, demonstration and best practice (RDP) work of each single design experiment is defined in a contract between the participants of the design experiment and the Commission (the RDP contract
The information capturing and dissemination (IC&D;) work within each single design experiment is defined in a contract between the participants of the design experiment and the cluster coordinator (the IC&D; contract). This comprises in particular
- the capturing of techniques and experiences in a manner such that other organisations are able to take-up the methodologies concerned, and
- the participants' contributions to activities for disseminating their results to third parties

The RDP part of a design experiment is linked to its IC&D; part (and thus to the cluster coordinator) through special clauses in its RDP contract.

The Commission contributes up to 50% of the full costs of the RDP work of a design experiment. It contributes up to 100% of the specific costs of the IC&D; work and up to 100% the specific costs of the cluster coordinator. For more details on contractual and financial conditions see Annex III.

Depending on the case, part of the Commission's contribution (e.g. 10%) to the costs of a design experiment should be used for the IC&D; work.

4. Proposals sought

Proposers are requested to submit brief proposals providing clear and concise descriptions of each of the items outlined below.

Each submission for a design experiment or for technical coordination and dissemination can be made by one or more proposers and should contain a plan of work. The proposal consists of two parts:

Part 1 consists of administrative and financial information on the proposer(s). The appropriate forms are included in Annex 1.
Part 2 contains a description of the work and related technical and industrial information.

In order to ease the evaluation, Part 2 should follow the structure indicated below.

4.1 Proposals for design experiments

Proposals for design experiments should focus on the RDP work but outline also the essential elements related to IC&D.; They should be as concise as possible (the appropriate level of detail depends on the type of the experiment).

Format of proposals:

Technical Area (Low Power or Mixed-Signal) to which experiment contributes (1 line).
Title of the design experiment (1 line).
Duration in months (1 line).
Objective and summary of the experiment (max. 15 lines)
For industrial user(s): Evidence that the proposer manufactures and sells products, to which the work is applicable
General design experience of proposer(s), and their experience in their selected technical area in particular (½ page).
Technical specification of existing product and quantification of the expected improvement (1 page).
Description of the methodology and rationale for its choice, and of possible improvements of that methodology in the design experiment.
Expected increment in design capabilities.
Economic assessment of the impact of the new technology on the business of the proposer(s). This assessment should contain current and projected sales; a description of the market, an analysis of the competitive position of the product on the market and how the proposed work would enhance the competitive position; planned schedule and conditions for market introduction.
The potential for replication of the results within the proposing organisations.
Planning for broader dissemination. Since details on how to organise the dissemination activities will be defined later together with the cluster coordinator, the presentation should focus on:
1. Description of the results made available to third parties (methodologies, application experiences, tools, ...), and the form in which they can be made available
2. Outline of specific measures which will be taken to "capture" techniques and experiences
3. Identification of the target audience(s) which could most benefit from the dissemination of the results
4. Proposed dissemination mechanisms (detailed plans are not required; they will be defined later together with the cluster coordinator).
5. If the design experiment involves the use of complementary "background" (e.g. existing internal tools, technologies, methods, ...) which is normally not available to third parties, the accessibility of this background must also be addressed.
Phased workplan (including milestones) for the experiment together with duration and deliverables of each major task and, where appropriate, risk assessment and critical path. Description of the role of involved partners (including subcontractors) together with a breakdown of effort and costs. A bar chart; an overview of the main project milestones and deliverables; and an overview of resources per partner and major task. (2-5 pages)

Explicit resources should be identified also for the IC&D; work of the design experiment.

Evaluation Criteria:

Submissions will be evaluated against the following criteria:.

Conformity with objectives and scope of the action:
- The proposal deals with design methodologies in one of the defined technical areas
- At least one proposer develops and sells products to which the work is applicable
The proposer(s)
- Do the proposer(s) have adequate experience in design?
- Does the proposal comprise the (minimal) number of participants strictly necessary to achieve the goals?
- Conformity with rules on participation (Annex II)
Soundness of the technical approach
- Adequate description of approach and quantified targets
- Suitability of the approach and evidence that the targets can be reached
Improvement of methodologies and products
- Improvement of methodologies over established industrial practices
- Relative improvement of proposers' products
Increment of industrial design capabilities

(Can a significant increment of industrial design capabilities be expected?)

Economic impact for proposer(s)
- Potential enhancement of the competitive position of the reference products, and the potential for marketing of the enhanced products
- The timeliness and likelihood to which the results will be used in the reference products
- Potential for use in additional products of the participating organisations
Potential for wider use
- Content and quality of the information and other results offered for dissemination; can third parties on this basis reproduce essential achievements of the design experiment?
- Adequacy of methods and form of the offering to facilitate wide use
- Relevance of the offer to other potential users
- Accessibility of complementary background, where applicable
The duration, estimated efforts and costs
- Are estimated efforts and costs in a sound relation to the work, the goals and the expected results?
- Is the requested project funding in a sound relation to the value of the dissemination offer?
- Is the proposed duration adequate for the work?
The organisation of the work
- Are the major development phases and milestones clearly presented?
- Are the major development phases and milestones clearly presented?
- Are the major tasks well identified and scheduled?
- Are the major deliverables well identified? Do they represent the main results? Are they suited to assess the achievement of targets?
- Are roles and contributions of each participant well identified and appropriate for the work?
- Are there significant risks? Are these risks adequately identified and addressed?

4.2 Proposals for technical coordination and dissemination

The coordinator of the Low Power Design cluster is already assigned (Technical University of Delft - DIMES). No further proposals for coordination of this cluster are needed at this time.

Proposals for coordination of the Mixed Signal Design cluster were already invited in the call of March 1997, however the response to this call and the evaluation results were not known at the time when this document was prepared. It may be that no further proposals are needed. It is therefore firmly advised to contact the Commission before preparing a proposal for coordination of the Mixed Signal Design cluster.

Format of proposals

Technical Area to be coordinated (Mixed-SignalDesign) (1 line)
Title of proposal (1 line)
Duration: 2-3 years
Summary of proposals (max. 15 lines)
The Proposer(s)
- Describe the involved organisation(s) and their key staff, in view of their required experience and competence
- If several organisations want to share the task, describe how
Technical and Industrial Characterisation of the Field
- Structured overview of essential design methods for different design levels, with typical applications
- Characterisation of the industrial mainstream and state-of-the-art of design methodologies and related electronic products
- State-of-the-art in research and related potential for further industrial progress
- Principle industrial requirements in the foreseeable future
Important Feasibility and Success Factors
- Concepts for technical coordination, information capturing and dissemination.
  Focus on important factors which have a strong influence on eventual feasibility and success of the action.
Relevant Cost Factors
- Estimated / proposed costs per task (see list of coordinator tasks), with discussion of rationale
- Details on labour rate and overhead costs

Evaluation criteria:

Technical and industrial competence
- Technical and/or industrial experience in the field
- Knowledge of the industrial and scientific environment
- Proposers' technical and/or industrial reputation
Organisational and managerial competence and concepts
- Experience with coordination of complex and/or multi-national projects
- Other evidence of relevant organisational and management skills
- Concepts related to organisation and management of the action
- Adequacy of proposers' available infrastructure
- Proposers' organisational and managerial reputation
Competence and concepts for information capturing and dissemination
- Experience in related activities
- Sufficient understanding of relevant technical and industrial background
- Concepts related to information capturing and dissemination
- Adequacy of proposers' available infrastructure
Costs and resources
- Realistic and adequate costing, reasonable distribution of resources

5. Submission of Proposals

You should submit one full original of each proposal plus 6 copies. 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 Design Clusters action is identified in the work programme as task 2.28. 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. Design Clusters 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.

6. Evaluation of Proposals

Each submission will be evaluated by international experts. The experts are bound by a confidentiality agreement. The evaluation and selection will have due regard to the criteria here and will be carried out under the responsibility of the Commission.

The results of the evaluation and selection of design experiments will be communicated also to the cluster coordinator.

7. Further Information

Should you have any specific questions on the Design Clusters' action, please address them to either

Michael Hohenbichler tel: +32.2.296.90.43 fax: +32.2.296.83.89

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

(for low power design)

Colette Maloney tel: +32.2.296.90.82 fax: +32.2.296.83.89

e-mail:colette.maloney@dg3.cec.be

(for mixed signal design).

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

8. Reply Form

If you are considering or intending to prepare a proposal for Design Clusters, please fill out the following form and return it to the given address, in order to aid the planning of the evaluation. The information will be kept confidential. It is purely informal and does not anticipate the submission of a proposal.

Esprit DESIGN CLUSTERS Action

Reply Form

Involved Organisations:	Contact Point: Name: Organisation: Mail Address: Tel.: Fax: email:
Please tick in the appropriate box
Design Experiment	o Low Power	o Mixed Signal
Preliminary Title
Technical Coordination and Dissemination	o Low Power (not called at present)	o Mixed Signal
Brief characterisation of the planned proposal: (3)

o I am interested in participating in a proposer's workshop in Brussels

Return Michael Hohenbichler or: Fax: +32-2-296.8389

address: European Commission, Rue de la Loi 200, (N-105 2/93), B-1049 Bruxelles

9. Annex I: Forms, Codes and Glossary

Forms to be used in the preparation

of a Proposal for the

Design Clusters Action

Forms 1a: Proposal administrative summary (a))

Form 1b: Proposal resource breakdown (a)

Form 2: Individual Participant Profile (a)

List of Codes

Glossary

Acknowledgement of receipt (b)

_________________________________________________

(a) To be included in part 1 of the proposal

(b) To be included in the same parcel as the submitted proposal copies

FORM 1a : PROPOSAL ADMINISTRATIVE SUMMARY
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: DC				Acronym (max 10 char):
Proposal Title (max 160 char):
Work Programme Tasks: DESIGN CLUSTERS (Task 2.28) Tick appropriate box below to indicate type of proposal							Duration (in months)
o Low Power Design Experiment		o Mixed Signal Design Experiment		o Low Power Coordination & Dissemination		o Mixed Signal Coordination & Dissemination
List of participants
No	Organisation Names (b)	Country	Role (c)	Org. Type	Fund Regime (d)	Costs for RDP work in ECU (e)	Costs for IC&D; work in ECU (f)	Funding for Participant in ECU (g)	Effort in Person Years (h)










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.
(a) Before applying for Technical Coordination and Dissemination, contact the Commission to check whether the call for this task is still open. (b) Short name for participants that use such a name in Form 2, and legal name if such a short name does not exist. (c) Role: C=Coordinator, P=Partner (other contractor), A=Associate Contractor, S=Subcontractor. See Annex III. Relevant subcontractors should be shown separately but their cost and funding counts like a part of their main contractor's budget. (d) Funding Regime (S/A). This column refers only to the RDP work of design experiments. S means "shared costs" funded at 50%; A means "additional costs" for Research Institutes or Universities with funding at 100%. Research Institutes or Universities might be obliged to be funded at 100% of additional costs if they cannot demonstrate that an analytical budget accountancy system is used which can appropriately support the cost reporting required. For details see Annex III. (e) If funding regime A is chosen, the figure should only cover additional costs. See also Annex III (f) For details on allowable costs for IC&D; (see Annex III) (In proposals for "technical coordination and dissemination" all costs fall in this category). (g) Total Esprit funding requested for participant's RDP and IC&D; costs. RDP costs are funded at 50% or 100% depending on the funding regime. IC&D; costs are funded at up to 100%. See also Annex III (h) In case of funding regime A, the figure should cover the whole effort (not only the additional one).


FORM 2 : INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPANT PROFILE
Programme Name: Esprit						Acronym:
Proposal Title:
Legal identification of the Participating Organisation
Short name: (!)					Legal Status: (j)		Organisation Type:
Company Registration No:						VAT No:
Legal Name: (k)
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):					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)? :(l)
If the answer is Y, please indicate the participant(s) name(s):

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

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	Subcontractor
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

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 : TCS-Design Clusters (Task 2.28)

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

10. 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:

their participation is in the interest of EU policies
if financial support by the EU is requested for the proposal, at least one industrial company from the EU or associated and financially contributing states is 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
at least one industrial company from the EU or associated and financially contributing states is 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
at least one industrial company from the EU or associated and financially contributing states is 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.

11. 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.

Conditions for the RDP part of design experiments:

The contract used for the RDP part of a design experiment is the standard Cost Reimbursement Contract for RTD as adapted to the Esprit programme, but including special provisions for sharing experiences and results with third parties, and for linking it to the contract for the IC&D; part of the design experiment (and linking it thereby to the cluster coordinator; see below). 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 for the standard contracts. 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 the consortium on management and exploitation aspects. A model text is not available as it would depend very much on the specific situation of the consortium and the work done under the contract.

The essential contractual/financial aspects for RTD contracts 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 100% additional cost method. This method excludes labour cost of permanent staff and allows only limited overheads. For precise details see the contract text.
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 and a review meeting held with external expert reviewers, to monitor the progress.
A project may contain:
- normal partners or contractors, signing the contract and having full rights and obligations, including joint and several responsibility for the work. If there is more than one contractor, one of them will take the task of design experiment 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.

Participants (contractors and associate contractors) who, due to the rules on participation (Annex II), can not receive a Community contribution to their costs, are required to contribute an amount of 5000 ECU per year to the costs of the cluster coordinator.

Conditions for the IC&D; part of design experiments and for the cluster coordinator:

The contract used for the cluster coordinator is based on the standard Commission contract for concerted actions. The IC&D; work of a design experiment is carried out through an associate contract to this under the same financial conditions.

Allowable costs are personnel costs (not including overheads), exchange and mobility costs (costs of meetings and travels), costs of support services (e.g. for information capturing), and other allowable costs as agreed with the Commission. Costs for research work are not allowable. Overheads may be charged as a flat rate (up to 20%) of the total allowable costs.

The Commission contributes up to 100% of these costs.

(1) 'Design Methodologies' address design techniques and design flows. They may cover various design levels (device to system) and applications.

(2) The sharing of product specific intellectual property, however, can be restricted as agreed upon.

(3)Design Experiments: Technical characterisation. Technical Coordination and Dissemination: Characterisation of proposers and specific competencies

SPECIFIC INFORMATION

DOCUMENT

Design Clusters

Technologies for Components and Subsystems (TCS)

Design Clusters

Format of proposals:

Evaluation Criteria:

Format of proposals

Evaluation criteria:

Delivery of your Proposal

Continuous Submission

Esprit DESIGN CLUSTERS Action

Reply Form

Involved Organisations:

Contact Point:

Forms 1a: Proposal administrative summary (a))

Form 1b: Proposal resource breakdown (a)

Form 2: Individual Participant Profile (a)

From EU member states

From associated and financially contributing states

From other European countries, Australia, Canada and South Africa

Organisations from other states

International organisations

Conditions for the RDP part of design experiments: