5. Funding instruments
Costs capable of being funded
General funding instruments and financing models in FP7
Selected forms of funding in detail
Special forms of financing models
Costs capable of being funded
Which costs can be reimbursed?
| Eligible costs | Non-eligible costs |
Costs can be approved according to the following criteria: |
The following costs cannot be approved: |
|
|
Source: BMBF (publ.): Submitting applications in the Seventh Research Framework Programme”, Bonn, Berlin 2007; p.27.
Regarding eligible costs one differentiates between direct and indirect costs.
Direct costs
Included in direct costs are all financial expenditures, which are verifiable and can be directly attributed to a project (on the basis of a centralised chronology).
This also includes travel costs, personnel costs, protection of property rights, expenses for procurement of equipment, etc.
Indirect costs
Included in indirect costs, expenses can be claimed which cannot be in the first instance attributed to a project, but are in fact positioned in immediate connection with the direct costs. Indirect costs are for example: expenses for telephone and photo-copy, rental of rooms, electricity and heating, and administrative costs. There exist two possibilities regarding reimbursement of indirect costs: Either the project-partners (donees) have the actual costs accrued for a project reimbursed, or they receive a flat-rate overhead for the indirect costs.
General funding instruments and financing models in FP7
FP7 makes available a palette of various funding instruments (so-called “Funding Schemes”), which are essentially still based on the recognised forerunner models of FP6, and bundle these in part. The specific programme “Cooperation” guarantees, in particular, continuation of the previous cooperation projects. It funds the project-related networking and collaboration of universities, industry, research installations and other actors with the European Union.
FP7 basically distinguishes the following forms of funding:
- Collaborative Projects
- Networks of Excellence
- CSA – Coordination and Support Actions
- Support for training and career development of researchers
- Research for the benefit of special groups (especially SMEs)
- Funding of research infrastructures
- Association contributions to multi-financed research initiatives
Selected forms of funding in detail
Collaborative Projects
The well-known instruments from FP6, STREP and IP, are being continued in FP7 under the concept “Collaborative Projects“ (“Large-Scale Integrating” and “Small or Medium Focused Projects”). The goal here is the creation of new knowledge and the development of new technologies and products. Research and innovation-, demonstration- or training-measures form the core activities in cooperation projects.
Project volume and duration:
The project volume can vary, depending on the call for proposal and the content, between 2 and 10 M euros; the duration normally lies between 2 and 5 years.
Funding quota:
The funding quotas span, depending on the make-up of the project partners, from 50% to 75%.
Further information:
CORDIS:
http://www.CORDIS.europa.eu/fp7/what_en.html#funding
BMBF:
http://www.forschungsrahmenprogramm.de/verbundprojekte.htm
Networks of Excellence
The goal here is the discontinuation of fragmentation in the European research landscape and the dissemination of knowledge by means of, for example, exchange and training within the network. In certain domains, long-term cooperations should be built up and research contents coordinated with one another. The funding ensues in this case according to standard flat-rates.
Further information:
CORDIS:
http://www.CORDIS.europa.eu/fp7/what_en.html#funding
BMBF:
http://www.forschungsrahmenprogramm.de/noe.htm
CSA – Coordination and Support Actions
The goal here is either the coordination or support of research activities and research strategies as well as SMEs through networking, exchange, studies, conferences, etc.
Project volume and duration:
The project volumes vary between 2 and 3 M. euros. The average duration of the projects amounts to max. 3 years.
Funding quota:
The funding quotas amount to 100% for all legal persons. The overhead-rate is limited, i.e. “capped” with 7% (on the basis of all direct costs).
Further information:
CORDIS:
http://www.CORDIS.europa.eu/fp7/what_en.html#funding
BMBF:
http://www.forschungsrahmenprogramm.de/csa.htm
Research for the benefit of special groups (SMEs in particular)
This kind of project should be considered in the sense of an assignment by the SME, rather than a cooperation project.
Who will be funded?
Further information:
CORDIS:
http://www.CORDIS.europa.eu/fp7/what_en.html#funding
BMBF:
http://www.forschungsrahmenprogramm.de/instrumente.htm
Special forms of financing models
In addition to the recognised, conventional models for cooperation projects, other forms of funding (partially previously known):
Coordination of national research programmes - ERA-NET+
The target group here does not consist of enterprises or scientists, rather the EU member states themselves, which coordinate their national programmes for research funding, in order to be able to execute more joint calls for proposals.
The so-called “ERA-NETs“, which have previously been introduced at FP6, are continued for this purpose in a similar form in FP7 and strengthen the European research domain by means of an improved coordination of research activities.
In the context of these ERA-NETs, one can continue to count on secondary calls for proposals, again for the future, which open interesting cooperation and funding possibilities for science and commerce.
Further information:
CORDIS:
http://www.CORDIS.europa.eu/fp7/what_en.html#funding
BMBF:
http://www.forschungsrahmenprogramm.de/era-net.htm
Special forms of funding for “Ideas” and “People”
The specific programmes for fundamental research (funding and individual projects) and mobility (scholarships / prizes for researchers) respectively exhibit their own, fix forms of funding and models for financing, as well as accounting procedures, which are usually even simpler to handle than collaborative projects, for example.
Furthermore, there is a series of other special forms, which are, in part, still in the planning or experimental stages. The so-called “Joint Technology Initiatives“ (JTIs), belong to this list, and they will nevertheless assume an ever-increasing role. More details concerning this matter are available under separate releases by the European Commission.
Further information:
CORDIS:
http://www.CORDIS.europa.eu/fp7/what_en.html#funding
Summary of the funding quotas
Depending on the type of project, number of partners, and activities, the following funding quotas are differentiated (not valid for SME-specific projects!):
Research & Technological Development
75% for universities and research institutions as well as SMEs
50% for all other legal persons
Demonstration activities
50% for all legal persons
Coordination, costs for auditing and other activities
100% for all legal persons
Coordination and support actions(CSA):
100% for all legal persons (Overhead rate 7%)
