Periodic Report Summary 3 - ERA.NET RUS PLUS (Further linking Russia to the ERA: Coordination of MS/ AC S&T programmes towards and with Russia)
Project Context and Objectives:
The cooperation in science, technology and innovation (STI) has long been and remains a key pillar in the EU’s overall relationship with Russia. Russia has been the leading third country participant in FP7, both in terms of number of participations, and of budget. Russia and the EU share visions about research and innovation as in many active individual exchanges, joint projects, sharing and joint funding of large facilities and symmetric technology platforms.
The ERA.Net Plus with Russia (ERA.Net RUS Plus) as a follow-up of the ERA.Net RUS (2009 to 2014) has made another step to intensify and strengthen the STI cooperation between Russia and the EU through the joint funding of research projects on common topics in research and innovation. In this context, 30 consortium members, 22 from EU MS/AC and 8 from Russia (programme owners/programme managers), have implemented a Single joint call (Joint call 1) for transnational and scientifically excellent research projects in the two funding lines S&T (Nanotechnologies, Health, Environment/Climate Change, Social Sciences and Humanities) and Innovation.
With 63 funded projects in Joint call 1 - 45 in S&T and 18 in Innovation - and a financial volume of EUR 20 million of the national funding parties and the European Union, the ERA.Net Plus with Russia is already considered to be a major success. It has become not only the largest geographical ERA.NET so far, but also a flagship and leading initiative in the EU-Russia science cooperation. Based on the initiative of the ERA.Net RUS Plus consortium, another Joint call (Joint call 2) has been prepared and published in 2017. Within this call, another 35 projects are being funded – 27 in S&T and 7 in Innovation. This second call was driven by the high interest of the funding parties and with their partial support for the costs of the Call Secretariat and call implementation. It is being implemented without EU top-up. In total, within the so far three calls of the ERA.Net RUS (one call) and ERA.Net RUS Plus (two calls) since 2009, 179 projects have been funded for an estimated budget of about € 50 million.
Thus, the initiative has further enhanced the significance of the EU-Russian partnership and helped to reach a new strategic level in EU-Russian science cooperation with benefits for European and Russian S&T communities, policy-makers, economies and societies alike. The strategic impact that the ERA.Net RUS Plus has already made in the last two years is undeniable.
Representatives of the ERA.Net RUS Plus funding organisations expressed their interest in continuing to participate in yet another Joint all. Taking it one step further, recognising the importance of the common neighbours of the EU and Russia, i.e. the EaP countries, for friendly and peaceful EU-Russia relations, the ERA.Net RUS Plus consortium would like to extend its collaborative sphere in this realm under the label “ERA.Net RUS Plus EaP”. It should be outlined that in the past two ERA.Net RUS Plus call rounds, the EaP country Moldova was already participating with its funding Agency, the Academy of Sciences and its Centre for International Projects. For a next call, the ERA.Net RUS Plus initiative and its call secretariat have already received expressions of interest for participation in the call from funding organisations from EU and EaP countries already involved in the previous calls, and from additional potential funding partners such as Azerbaijan and Belarus. In order to prepare and implement this new call, the project lifetime has been prolonged by 12 months (ending in October 2019). The project meeting of October 2018 (originally planned as “final meeting”) has been used to launch the preparation of the new call.
The ERA.Net RUS Plus is a FP7 initiative running for now six years from November 2013 to October 2019. The initiative is coordinated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Project Management Agency, European and International Cooperation and implemented by a consortium of 30 prominent partners from EU MS/AC and from Russia.
The 3rd periodic report (P3) covers project activities from 1 May 2016 until 31 October 2018. It includes a list of the 63 funded projects of Joint call 1 and the actual national funds spent per project from the start of the projects until 31 October 2018.
Project Results:
Work Package 1: Preparation of the Single joint call
Work Package 1 has been fully completed during the first reporting period (P1).
Work Package 2: Implementing a Single joint call
Task 2.1 Publication of the Single joint call
Task 2.1 has been fully completed during the first reporting period (P1).
Task 2.2 Two meetings of the Joint call Secretariat
Task 2.2 has been fully completed during the first reporting period (P1).
Task 2.3 Implementation of the 2-steps evaluation procedure
Tasks 2.3.1 – 2.3.7 have been fully completed during the first reporting period (P1).
Task 2.3.8 Implementation of contracts, monitoring of funded projects
Summary of progress
The implementation phase for the selected projects in the innovation and S&T funding line has started in summer 2015. Umbrella Agreements have been concluded by all 63 funded projects.
A concept for the monitoring of the projects selected for funding was drafted and agreed on with the consortium members in late 2015. The final version of the monitoring concept has been subsequently implemented in an electronic online tool (PT-Outline) in April 2016. A first short report (R1) from the coordinators of the funded projects has been collected in 2016. The second and third reports (R2, R3) have been implemented in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Significant results
• 63 Umbrella Agreements were prepared, distributed and collected by DLR. Each Umbrella Agreement is signed by the respective project coordinator and DLR.
• Three rounds of reporting (R1, R2, R3) have been implemented for 63 projects.
Task 2.3.9 Mid-term review meeting (optional)
Upon decision of the consortium, the optional mid-term review meeting has not been implemented.
Task 2.3.10 Fourth meeting of the consortium (final meeting)
The fourth and final meeting of the consortium took place in Bonn on 8-9 October 2018. The meeting was organised as a “final meeting” (first day) and as a “launch event” (second day) for additional future activities of the consortium (joint call 2019). At the time of the event, the prolongation of the project had been applied for. However, the approval of the prolongation by the EU Commission has been delivered several days after the event (16 October 2018).
This final meeting/launch event thus aimed at looking back at the successes of two jointly funded ERA.Net RUS Plus calls, discussing future joint funding activities and introducing the initiative to additional interested Funding Parties, particularly from EU MS/AS and also from Eastern Partnership countries. The consortium members of the ERA.Net RUS Plus, funders of ERA.Net RUS Plus Call 2017, along with further interested funding organisations, were hence invited to review the achievements of the joint calls and lessons learnt, to discuss cornerstones, budgetary issues and next steps for the preparation of a call in order to be ready for a launch in spring/summer 2019 (“ERA.Net RUS Plus EaP”).
Looking back, it was emphasized that the project has become not only the largest geographical ERA.NET but also a flagship initiative setting new standards in European-Russian research cooperation. It greatly contributed to increasing coherence and coordination of national STI funding programmes, addressing common interests and fostering cooperation with benefits for European and Russian S&T communities and policy-makers. Spill-over effects to other policy areas in stimulating dialogue and cooperation (science diplomacy) were mentioned.
With regard to a possible additional call in 2019, first preparatory and organisational steps were undertaken. Amongst others, it was agreed that the Funding Parties would be asked for approval to use the available seeds money for covering the management costs. Also, it was agreed that further possible options for bridging the management implementation gap should be considered. It was also agreed that since the two call lines (S&T and Inno) will be merged, the Funding Parties will be asked to specify what thematic fields they will be able to support.
WP3: Assessment of progress and results of the Single joint call
Task 3.1 Assessment of progress and results
Summary of progress
During the reporting period the work on monitoring and evaluation of the progress and results of the implementation of the ERA.Net RUS Plus Single Joint Call (SJC) 2014 continued, and of the call 2017 it was undertaken.
As for the call 2014, the impact of the funded projects was assessed. By the end of the reporting period (end 2018) we have had the final reports of 41 S&T projects out of a total of 45 projects, and of 15 Innovation projects out of a total of 18 projects available. Key indicators were analysed, including publication output in peer reviewed journals, patents, PhDs completed in the projects, economic and societal impacts (e.g. prototypes). The general comments of project coordinators were also analysed. These referred mostly to improvements suggested for financial issues, and to a lesser extent to reporting issues. We should note that comments and complaints were relatively more frequent in the innovation call than in S&T.
For the call 2017, a satisfaction survey similar to the one for the call 2014 was implemented in Sep/Oct 2018. The monitoring team revised the previous questionnaire (of 2015) and the online survey for gathering information on the call implementation from applicants to the call and from funding parties. The following sections were included in the survey questionnaire:
• Quality of the call procedures and effort required
• Project related issues
• Overall evaluation of the ERA.NET RUS Plus programme and recommendations
The funding parties were asked a different set of questions with the same scoring system in the following sections:
• Preparation of the call
• Call implementation
• Perspectives for follow up activities
The survey was programmed online by HSE and implemented in the period September-October 2018.
The survey for project coordinators was sent in two batches, successful applicants and unsuccessful applicants of the two call lines (S&T and Innovation).
For the successful applicants to the S&T call, 28 coordinators were contacted, and 17 (60%) completed the questionnaire. For the non-successful applicants in the S&T call, 158 participants were contacted, and 23 (15%) completed the questionnaire. All coordinators for the innovation call were also contacted, but no response from those was received. The response rate was highest (60 percent) among successful applicants, which is expected. Among the non-successful applicants also a significant response rate could be generated. However, the response rates are below the survey 2015, where the rate among successful coordinators was close to 70% and for non-successful ones 28%.
The survey for funding parties was sent to 20 participants (in 2015 to 40 participants), and nine (45%) answered the questionnaire; in 2015 the response rate was significantly higher and reached 67.5%. Overall, the response rates can still be considered as quite high, which confirms the interest in these calls.
The results of the survey have been analysed by the monitoring partners and the key results were included in the D3.4 monitoring and assessment report. Monitoring results were presented repeatedly at ERA.Net RUS Plus meetings, e.g. at the meetings of the Group of Funding Parties (GFP) of the S&T call in November 2017 in Moscow, of the GFP Innovation in April 2018 in Bonn. Furthermore, the analysis of the survey among coordinators and funding parties was presented and discussed at the meeting of the Group of Funding Parties in October 2018 in Bonn.
Significant results
• D3.4 Monitoring and assessment report of the ERA.Net RUS Plus calls
Task 3.2 Analysis and sustainability
In this task follow-up activities to the ERA.Net RUS Plus call 2014 and the project overall have been implemented. Most significantly, the planning and implementation of a follow-up Single Joint call in 2017 were supported, as well as the ongoing preparation of another follow-up call in 2019.
The D3.3 Report on follow-up activities for a sustainable cooperation has been prepared in 2015, and updated in several iterations. The first version of the report was focused on the immediate follow-up opportunity of the call 2017, which was subsequently implemented with great success. In 2016 it was modified to v3, and the necessary measures to be taken for the ERA.Net RUS plus call 2017 were updated. Another revision to v4 was produced in 2017 and chapter 6 on "concrete steps beyond 2017" drafted. It included key issues for a third call round in 2019.
In the course of 2018 a request to the International Cooperation Service Facility (ISF) of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG R&I) was drafted in the form of a “cornerstones document” and updated several times. It served to demanding support for the administrative costs of the call 2019.
During 2018, the interest in the follow-up call 2019 was further explored by the call secretariat and the task partners. Participation was discussed with the special goal of regional widening to Eastern Partnership countries, and respective funding agencies in these countries contacted. We should note that Moldova has been participating in the ERA.Net RUS Plus calls since the beginning. A finance plan for call implementation was set-up, and a scientifically based selection of call themes considered. The runtime of the ERA.Net RUS Plus project was prolonged by one year to October 2019, so that the follow-up call can take place under the formal framework of the ERA.Net RUS Plus.
Consultations with funding parties have been undertaken and several declared their interest in participating in the follow-up call; e.g. in the survey among funding parties, 9 out of 9 respondents were interested in participating in a follow-up call. Additional potential funding parties beyond the ERA.Net RUS Plus GFPs have been contacted and asked for interest in joining a second round of calls (e.g. Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Belarussian State Committee for Science, Armenian State Committee for Science, Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, Science Development Foundation of Azerbaijan, National Agency for Research and Development of Moldova, Austrian Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Research, various funding bodies in France, etc.).
Other follow-up options have been outlined in the report, including a joint funding initiative, Art. 185 cooperation, and a joint RDI fund. These options have however not yet proven mature enough for the current stage of RDI cooperation between the EU and Russia. They have been included in D3.3 and will be available to the funding parties beyond the project duration for possible take-up.
Besides the deliverable, the task partners have worked on concrete steps for call implementation of the call 2017, including drafting the call guidelines 2017, organisation and participation in the Group of Funding parties and Scientific Council meetings. Follow-up options were presented and discussed at various meetings of the GFPs, including at the S&T call 2017 kick-off in Riga in April 2017, and at the Innovation call 2017 kick-off in Moscow in June 2017, and in particular at the GFP meeting in October 2018 in Bonn.
Significant results
• D 3.3 ERA.Net RUS Plus Report on follow-up activities for a sustainable cooperation
Task 3.3 Third Consortium Meeting
The third meeting of the consortium was planned to be organised by ZSI in autumn 2016. The coordinator and the task leader ZSI decided to postpone the meeting to spring 2017, and that organisation of the meeting should be done by one of the funding parties. This was due to the ERA.Net RUS Plus follow-up call round in 2017. The consortium meeting was combined with the kick-off of the follow-up call. It was organised by the Latvian funding partner VIAA in Riga in April 2017. Resources of ZSI for the task were re-allocated to support with ERA.Net RUS Plus follow-up (T3.2) and call 2017 implementation: developing call documents and procedures, support in project selection, monitoring of call.
3.2.3 Project management and coordination
Work Package 4 of ERA.Net RUS Plus is dedicated to coordination and management.
Main objective of WP 4 is the efficient coordination of all activities related to the project by managing all administrative, financial, and technical and communication aspects. This includes:
• Ensuring effective cooperation and networking among all partners
• Employing relevant controlling tools
• Fulfilling EC reporting procedures and handling communication with the Project Officer
• Presenting the initiative and its activities to relevant audiences
Task 4.1 Project coordination and consortium management
Achievements
All aspects relevant to the project consortium within the period from 1 May 2016 to 31 October 2018, including changes of partners and integration of partners in the running project have been managed smoothly. Due to the fact that the current ERA.Net RUS Plus cooperation is functioning extraordinary well, the consortium members have decided to use the ERA.Net RUS Plus cooperation framework (prolonged until October 2019) to implement a second round of a joint call (2017) and even a third joint call (2019). The second joint call has already implemented very successfully, with currently 35 projects funded (28 S&T projects and 7 innovation projects). Most of the funding agencies have already expressed their interest in another follow-up call in 2019. Given that financial resources are needed for administering an additional third call, a first planning of cost and framework conditions has been done.
The project coordination was achieved on time and lead to a highly successful project outcome, i.e. a large number of project consortia by Russian and European are being funded for joint research. Through the joint effort of the very large number of funding agencies, among of which are the main Russian funding agencies, a mutual learning process has taken place (and still is), which fosters the overarching goal of integrating Russia into the ERA. This success story is widely spread via suitable channels, i.e. e-newsletters, websites, press releases.
The prolongation of the project lifetime for another 12 months (until October 2019) as well as a change in the consortium (transfer of rights and obligations from the Moldovian partner Centrul Proiecte Internationale to the newly established Agentia Nationala Pentru Cercetare Si Dezvoltare) has been dealt with by a fourth amendment to the grant agreement. The coordinator kept track of all obligations of the grant agreement and monitored the finalization of deliverables. The transparency of the project status was ensured towards the EC and its project officer.
Task 4.2 Administrative and financial management
Achievements
Financial issues between the European Commission (EC) and the Coordinator under the terms of the Contract Agreement, and between the Coordinator and participants under the terms of a Consortium Agreement have been managed: Accounting, allocation and distribution of management budget to the consortium partners and reporting to the EC have been fulfilled. An internal reporting for the financial controlling and monitoring was requested from the partners by means of a Table of Nature Costs (TNC) every 12 months. As a result, all internal management costs were approved by the consortium.
Task 4.3 EC topping-up
Achievements
As of December 2017 (Month 50), all funding organisations together had transferred 95% of committed funding to the research projects. Only eight funding organisations (out of a total of 23) had invested less than 90%.
Task 4.4 Dissemination
Achievements
Dissemination activities within the ERA.Net RUS Plus initiative relied on the project website, feeding regular information to electronic newsletters and producing tangible information material. The project’s electronic leaflet has been continuously updated, if necessary. The website is being employed to distribute all relevant information about the calls and its outcome and to provide the contact details of all European and Russian contact points.
Changes in the consortium
A fourth amendment was necessary for two reasons:
• The prolongation of the project lifetime for another 12 months (until October 2019)
• A change in the consortium: The transfer of rights and obligations from the Moldovian partner Centrul Proiecte Internationale to the newly established Agentia Nationala Pentru Cercetare Si Dezvoltare.
List of project meetings, dates and venues within the reporting period
Kick-off meeting S&T 20-21 April 2017 Riga
Kick-off meeting innovation 29-30 July 2017 Moscow
S&T council meeting 26-27 October 2017 Chisinau
Group of funding parties meeting
(S&T) 23-24 November 2017 Moscow
Innovation council meeting 15 March 2018 Bucharest
Group of funding parties meeting (Innovation) 19 April 2018 Bonn
Joint Call Secretariat meeting 3 August 2018 Bonn
Final consortium meeting 8-9 October 2018 Bonn
Potential Impact:
Project planning and status
The project has successfully implemented the 63 funded projects of the first joint call. Thus, the general objectives of the project have been achieved.
List of Websites:
https://www.eranet-rus.eu/(opens in new window)
The cooperation in science, technology and innovation (STI) has long been and remains a key pillar in the EU’s overall relationship with Russia. Russia has been the leading third country participant in FP7, both in terms of number of participations, and of budget. Russia and the EU share visions about research and innovation as in many active individual exchanges, joint projects, sharing and joint funding of large facilities and symmetric technology platforms.
The ERA.Net Plus with Russia (ERA.Net RUS Plus) as a follow-up of the ERA.Net RUS (2009 to 2014) has made another step to intensify and strengthen the STI cooperation between Russia and the EU through the joint funding of research projects on common topics in research and innovation. In this context, 30 consortium members, 22 from EU MS/AC and 8 from Russia (programme owners/programme managers), have implemented a Single joint call (Joint call 1) for transnational and scientifically excellent research projects in the two funding lines S&T (Nanotechnologies, Health, Environment/Climate Change, Social Sciences and Humanities) and Innovation.
With 63 funded projects in Joint call 1 - 45 in S&T and 18 in Innovation - and a financial volume of EUR 20 million of the national funding parties and the European Union, the ERA.Net Plus with Russia is already considered to be a major success. It has become not only the largest geographical ERA.NET so far, but also a flagship and leading initiative in the EU-Russia science cooperation. Based on the initiative of the ERA.Net RUS Plus consortium, another Joint call (Joint call 2) has been prepared and published in 2017. Within this call, another 35 projects are being funded – 27 in S&T and 7 in Innovation. This second call was driven by the high interest of the funding parties and with their partial support for the costs of the Call Secretariat and call implementation. It is being implemented without EU top-up. In total, within the so far three calls of the ERA.Net RUS (one call) and ERA.Net RUS Plus (two calls) since 2009, 179 projects have been funded for an estimated budget of about € 50 million.
Thus, the initiative has further enhanced the significance of the EU-Russian partnership and helped to reach a new strategic level in EU-Russian science cooperation with benefits for European and Russian S&T communities, policy-makers, economies and societies alike. The strategic impact that the ERA.Net RUS Plus has already made in the last two years is undeniable.
Representatives of the ERA.Net RUS Plus funding organisations expressed their interest in continuing to participate in yet another Joint all. Taking it one step further, recognising the importance of the common neighbours of the EU and Russia, i.e. the EaP countries, for friendly and peaceful EU-Russia relations, the ERA.Net RUS Plus consortium would like to extend its collaborative sphere in this realm under the label “ERA.Net RUS Plus EaP”. It should be outlined that in the past two ERA.Net RUS Plus call rounds, the EaP country Moldova was already participating with its funding Agency, the Academy of Sciences and its Centre for International Projects. For a next call, the ERA.Net RUS Plus initiative and its call secretariat have already received expressions of interest for participation in the call from funding organisations from EU and EaP countries already involved in the previous calls, and from additional potential funding partners such as Azerbaijan and Belarus. In order to prepare and implement this new call, the project lifetime has been prolonged by 12 months (ending in October 2019). The project meeting of October 2018 (originally planned as “final meeting”) has been used to launch the preparation of the new call.
The ERA.Net RUS Plus is a FP7 initiative running for now six years from November 2013 to October 2019. The initiative is coordinated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Project Management Agency, European and International Cooperation and implemented by a consortium of 30 prominent partners from EU MS/AC and from Russia.
The 3rd periodic report (P3) covers project activities from 1 May 2016 until 31 October 2018. It includes a list of the 63 funded projects of Joint call 1 and the actual national funds spent per project from the start of the projects until 31 October 2018.
Project Results:
Work Package 1: Preparation of the Single joint call
Work Package 1 has been fully completed during the first reporting period (P1).
Work Package 2: Implementing a Single joint call
Task 2.1 Publication of the Single joint call
Task 2.1 has been fully completed during the first reporting period (P1).
Task 2.2 Two meetings of the Joint call Secretariat
Task 2.2 has been fully completed during the first reporting period (P1).
Task 2.3 Implementation of the 2-steps evaluation procedure
Tasks 2.3.1 – 2.3.7 have been fully completed during the first reporting period (P1).
Task 2.3.8 Implementation of contracts, monitoring of funded projects
Summary of progress
The implementation phase for the selected projects in the innovation and S&T funding line has started in summer 2015. Umbrella Agreements have been concluded by all 63 funded projects.
A concept for the monitoring of the projects selected for funding was drafted and agreed on with the consortium members in late 2015. The final version of the monitoring concept has been subsequently implemented in an electronic online tool (PT-Outline) in April 2016. A first short report (R1) from the coordinators of the funded projects has been collected in 2016. The second and third reports (R2, R3) have been implemented in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Significant results
• 63 Umbrella Agreements were prepared, distributed and collected by DLR. Each Umbrella Agreement is signed by the respective project coordinator and DLR.
• Three rounds of reporting (R1, R2, R3) have been implemented for 63 projects.
Task 2.3.9 Mid-term review meeting (optional)
Upon decision of the consortium, the optional mid-term review meeting has not been implemented.
Task 2.3.10 Fourth meeting of the consortium (final meeting)
The fourth and final meeting of the consortium took place in Bonn on 8-9 October 2018. The meeting was organised as a “final meeting” (first day) and as a “launch event” (second day) for additional future activities of the consortium (joint call 2019). At the time of the event, the prolongation of the project had been applied for. However, the approval of the prolongation by the EU Commission has been delivered several days after the event (16 October 2018).
This final meeting/launch event thus aimed at looking back at the successes of two jointly funded ERA.Net RUS Plus calls, discussing future joint funding activities and introducing the initiative to additional interested Funding Parties, particularly from EU MS/AS and also from Eastern Partnership countries. The consortium members of the ERA.Net RUS Plus, funders of ERA.Net RUS Plus Call 2017, along with further interested funding organisations, were hence invited to review the achievements of the joint calls and lessons learnt, to discuss cornerstones, budgetary issues and next steps for the preparation of a call in order to be ready for a launch in spring/summer 2019 (“ERA.Net RUS Plus EaP”).
Looking back, it was emphasized that the project has become not only the largest geographical ERA.NET but also a flagship initiative setting new standards in European-Russian research cooperation. It greatly contributed to increasing coherence and coordination of national STI funding programmes, addressing common interests and fostering cooperation with benefits for European and Russian S&T communities and policy-makers. Spill-over effects to other policy areas in stimulating dialogue and cooperation (science diplomacy) were mentioned.
With regard to a possible additional call in 2019, first preparatory and organisational steps were undertaken. Amongst others, it was agreed that the Funding Parties would be asked for approval to use the available seeds money for covering the management costs. Also, it was agreed that further possible options for bridging the management implementation gap should be considered. It was also agreed that since the two call lines (S&T and Inno) will be merged, the Funding Parties will be asked to specify what thematic fields they will be able to support.
WP3: Assessment of progress and results of the Single joint call
Task 3.1 Assessment of progress and results
Summary of progress
During the reporting period the work on monitoring and evaluation of the progress and results of the implementation of the ERA.Net RUS Plus Single Joint Call (SJC) 2014 continued, and of the call 2017 it was undertaken.
As for the call 2014, the impact of the funded projects was assessed. By the end of the reporting period (end 2018) we have had the final reports of 41 S&T projects out of a total of 45 projects, and of 15 Innovation projects out of a total of 18 projects available. Key indicators were analysed, including publication output in peer reviewed journals, patents, PhDs completed in the projects, economic and societal impacts (e.g. prototypes). The general comments of project coordinators were also analysed. These referred mostly to improvements suggested for financial issues, and to a lesser extent to reporting issues. We should note that comments and complaints were relatively more frequent in the innovation call than in S&T.
For the call 2017, a satisfaction survey similar to the one for the call 2014 was implemented in Sep/Oct 2018. The monitoring team revised the previous questionnaire (of 2015) and the online survey for gathering information on the call implementation from applicants to the call and from funding parties. The following sections were included in the survey questionnaire:
• Quality of the call procedures and effort required
• Project related issues
• Overall evaluation of the ERA.NET RUS Plus programme and recommendations
The funding parties were asked a different set of questions with the same scoring system in the following sections:
• Preparation of the call
• Call implementation
• Perspectives for follow up activities
The survey was programmed online by HSE and implemented in the period September-October 2018.
The survey for project coordinators was sent in two batches, successful applicants and unsuccessful applicants of the two call lines (S&T and Innovation).
For the successful applicants to the S&T call, 28 coordinators were contacted, and 17 (60%) completed the questionnaire. For the non-successful applicants in the S&T call, 158 participants were contacted, and 23 (15%) completed the questionnaire. All coordinators for the innovation call were also contacted, but no response from those was received. The response rate was highest (60 percent) among successful applicants, which is expected. Among the non-successful applicants also a significant response rate could be generated. However, the response rates are below the survey 2015, where the rate among successful coordinators was close to 70% and for non-successful ones 28%.
The survey for funding parties was sent to 20 participants (in 2015 to 40 participants), and nine (45%) answered the questionnaire; in 2015 the response rate was significantly higher and reached 67.5%. Overall, the response rates can still be considered as quite high, which confirms the interest in these calls.
The results of the survey have been analysed by the monitoring partners and the key results were included in the D3.4 monitoring and assessment report. Monitoring results were presented repeatedly at ERA.Net RUS Plus meetings, e.g. at the meetings of the Group of Funding Parties (GFP) of the S&T call in November 2017 in Moscow, of the GFP Innovation in April 2018 in Bonn. Furthermore, the analysis of the survey among coordinators and funding parties was presented and discussed at the meeting of the Group of Funding Parties in October 2018 in Bonn.
Significant results
• D3.4 Monitoring and assessment report of the ERA.Net RUS Plus calls
Task 3.2 Analysis and sustainability
In this task follow-up activities to the ERA.Net RUS Plus call 2014 and the project overall have been implemented. Most significantly, the planning and implementation of a follow-up Single Joint call in 2017 were supported, as well as the ongoing preparation of another follow-up call in 2019.
The D3.3 Report on follow-up activities for a sustainable cooperation has been prepared in 2015, and updated in several iterations. The first version of the report was focused on the immediate follow-up opportunity of the call 2017, which was subsequently implemented with great success. In 2016 it was modified to v3, and the necessary measures to be taken for the ERA.Net RUS plus call 2017 were updated. Another revision to v4 was produced in 2017 and chapter 6 on "concrete steps beyond 2017" drafted. It included key issues for a third call round in 2019.
In the course of 2018 a request to the International Cooperation Service Facility (ISF) of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG R&I) was drafted in the form of a “cornerstones document” and updated several times. It served to demanding support for the administrative costs of the call 2019.
During 2018, the interest in the follow-up call 2019 was further explored by the call secretariat and the task partners. Participation was discussed with the special goal of regional widening to Eastern Partnership countries, and respective funding agencies in these countries contacted. We should note that Moldova has been participating in the ERA.Net RUS Plus calls since the beginning. A finance plan for call implementation was set-up, and a scientifically based selection of call themes considered. The runtime of the ERA.Net RUS Plus project was prolonged by one year to October 2019, so that the follow-up call can take place under the formal framework of the ERA.Net RUS Plus.
Consultations with funding parties have been undertaken and several declared their interest in participating in the follow-up call; e.g. in the survey among funding parties, 9 out of 9 respondents were interested in participating in a follow-up call. Additional potential funding parties beyond the ERA.Net RUS Plus GFPs have been contacted and asked for interest in joining a second round of calls (e.g. Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Belarussian State Committee for Science, Armenian State Committee for Science, Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, Science Development Foundation of Azerbaijan, National Agency for Research and Development of Moldova, Austrian Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Research, various funding bodies in France, etc.).
Other follow-up options have been outlined in the report, including a joint funding initiative, Art. 185 cooperation, and a joint RDI fund. These options have however not yet proven mature enough for the current stage of RDI cooperation between the EU and Russia. They have been included in D3.3 and will be available to the funding parties beyond the project duration for possible take-up.
Besides the deliverable, the task partners have worked on concrete steps for call implementation of the call 2017, including drafting the call guidelines 2017, organisation and participation in the Group of Funding parties and Scientific Council meetings. Follow-up options were presented and discussed at various meetings of the GFPs, including at the S&T call 2017 kick-off in Riga in April 2017, and at the Innovation call 2017 kick-off in Moscow in June 2017, and in particular at the GFP meeting in October 2018 in Bonn.
Significant results
• D 3.3 ERA.Net RUS Plus Report on follow-up activities for a sustainable cooperation
Task 3.3 Third Consortium Meeting
The third meeting of the consortium was planned to be organised by ZSI in autumn 2016. The coordinator and the task leader ZSI decided to postpone the meeting to spring 2017, and that organisation of the meeting should be done by one of the funding parties. This was due to the ERA.Net RUS Plus follow-up call round in 2017. The consortium meeting was combined with the kick-off of the follow-up call. It was organised by the Latvian funding partner VIAA in Riga in April 2017. Resources of ZSI for the task were re-allocated to support with ERA.Net RUS Plus follow-up (T3.2) and call 2017 implementation: developing call documents and procedures, support in project selection, monitoring of call.
3.2.3 Project management and coordination
Work Package 4 of ERA.Net RUS Plus is dedicated to coordination and management.
Main objective of WP 4 is the efficient coordination of all activities related to the project by managing all administrative, financial, and technical and communication aspects. This includes:
• Ensuring effective cooperation and networking among all partners
• Employing relevant controlling tools
• Fulfilling EC reporting procedures and handling communication with the Project Officer
• Presenting the initiative and its activities to relevant audiences
Task 4.1 Project coordination and consortium management
Achievements
All aspects relevant to the project consortium within the period from 1 May 2016 to 31 October 2018, including changes of partners and integration of partners in the running project have been managed smoothly. Due to the fact that the current ERA.Net RUS Plus cooperation is functioning extraordinary well, the consortium members have decided to use the ERA.Net RUS Plus cooperation framework (prolonged until October 2019) to implement a second round of a joint call (2017) and even a third joint call (2019). The second joint call has already implemented very successfully, with currently 35 projects funded (28 S&T projects and 7 innovation projects). Most of the funding agencies have already expressed their interest in another follow-up call in 2019. Given that financial resources are needed for administering an additional third call, a first planning of cost and framework conditions has been done.
The project coordination was achieved on time and lead to a highly successful project outcome, i.e. a large number of project consortia by Russian and European are being funded for joint research. Through the joint effort of the very large number of funding agencies, among of which are the main Russian funding agencies, a mutual learning process has taken place (and still is), which fosters the overarching goal of integrating Russia into the ERA. This success story is widely spread via suitable channels, i.e. e-newsletters, websites, press releases.
The prolongation of the project lifetime for another 12 months (until October 2019) as well as a change in the consortium (transfer of rights and obligations from the Moldovian partner Centrul Proiecte Internationale to the newly established Agentia Nationala Pentru Cercetare Si Dezvoltare) has been dealt with by a fourth amendment to the grant agreement. The coordinator kept track of all obligations of the grant agreement and monitored the finalization of deliverables. The transparency of the project status was ensured towards the EC and its project officer.
Task 4.2 Administrative and financial management
Achievements
Financial issues between the European Commission (EC) and the Coordinator under the terms of the Contract Agreement, and between the Coordinator and participants under the terms of a Consortium Agreement have been managed: Accounting, allocation and distribution of management budget to the consortium partners and reporting to the EC have been fulfilled. An internal reporting for the financial controlling and monitoring was requested from the partners by means of a Table of Nature Costs (TNC) every 12 months. As a result, all internal management costs were approved by the consortium.
Task 4.3 EC topping-up
Achievements
As of December 2017 (Month 50), all funding organisations together had transferred 95% of committed funding to the research projects. Only eight funding organisations (out of a total of 23) had invested less than 90%.
Task 4.4 Dissemination
Achievements
Dissemination activities within the ERA.Net RUS Plus initiative relied on the project website, feeding regular information to electronic newsletters and producing tangible information material. The project’s electronic leaflet has been continuously updated, if necessary. The website is being employed to distribute all relevant information about the calls and its outcome and to provide the contact details of all European and Russian contact points.
Changes in the consortium
A fourth amendment was necessary for two reasons:
• The prolongation of the project lifetime for another 12 months (until October 2019)
• A change in the consortium: The transfer of rights and obligations from the Moldovian partner Centrul Proiecte Internationale to the newly established Agentia Nationala Pentru Cercetare Si Dezvoltare.
List of project meetings, dates and venues within the reporting period
Kick-off meeting S&T 20-21 April 2017 Riga
Kick-off meeting innovation 29-30 July 2017 Moscow
S&T council meeting 26-27 October 2017 Chisinau
Group of funding parties meeting
(S&T) 23-24 November 2017 Moscow
Innovation council meeting 15 March 2018 Bucharest
Group of funding parties meeting (Innovation) 19 April 2018 Bonn
Joint Call Secretariat meeting 3 August 2018 Bonn
Final consortium meeting 8-9 October 2018 Bonn
Potential Impact:
Project planning and status
The project has successfully implemented the 63 funded projects of the first joint call. Thus, the general objectives of the project have been achieved.
List of Websites:
https://www.eranet-rus.eu/(opens in new window)