1. Non-
Non-RTD Activities
under FP7
Dr Radu Rautiu, Senior Project Manager
Dr Kornelia Jumel, Project Manager
Imperial College Consultants Ltd
6th November 2009

2. ICON and FP7 participation
 Imperial College Consultants wholly-owned company (formerly FC model)
wholly-
 ICON acts as Consortium Manager when Imperial is a main beneficiary/partner
 Co-opted from the Proposal(s) Phase and responsible for setting-up management
Co- setting-
structures, overall budget check, lobbying, non-RTD activities oversight, proposal
non-
submission
 Active in Negotiation Phase for budget adjustments, Consortium Agreement advice
(CA), and also for GPF and paperwork, changes to the Annex 1 to GA
 In Execution Phase, recruits APM/PM from day one ( ) organizes kick-off meeting,
Phase, y (!), g kick- g
periodic reviews, project meetings and workshops/conferences
 ICON acts as a communication hub between all beneficiaries and main beneficiary
 ICON deals with all the financial activities at consortium level, forecasting budgets,
sends disbursement instructions (to main beneficiary’s finance dept)
beneficiary s
 ICON sets-up the project website and also the extranet (project working area), and
sets-
the content management system (CMS), organizes dissemination activities
 On large Collaborative Projects ICON coordinates the training activities (
g j g (internal
and external plus networking)
 ICON provides access to external experts, QA/QC and also best practice
 ICON performs the project closure and responsible with IP exploitation plans

3. Professional Project Management Office
Project
Manager /
Dedicated Assistant
Project Manager
Admin
External Finance
Core Team
Admin
Consultants Technical
Experts Manager
Contract
Training/ Executive
Media Extended Legal Expert
Virtual Team
Expert Team
Events
Organiser

4. Framework Activities
Risk Analysis
Advantages Disadvantages - Risks
• Higher OH rates (93-100%)
(93- • Long negotiations (with EC)
• Staff recharge and dedicated staff • Delayed start of project > recruiting
(economy of scale) • Bureaucracy and paperwork
B d k
• Support of a professional Project (reduced from FP6)
Management Office for continuity • Repeated requests for information
• Internal training benefits or paperwork k
• Enhancing internal skills set • ‘Peak & through’ activities
• Networking across EU and world-
g world- • Under-estimation of resources
Under-
wide with various organisations • PO micromanagement
• Very good for organisation’s track • EC changes of personnel – no
record ‘institutional memory - no hand-outs
institutional memory’
memory’- hand-
• (May lead to further commercial • Non-performing beneficiaries
Non-
work, restricted tenders, etc) • Non-performing or ‘weak’ scientific
Non-
coordination

5. ICON - FP7 participation (1)
ti i ti
evaluation letter of
funding
f di
EC
Main
ct)
Beneficiary grant
reement (contrac
agreement
preparation
SAL
ON
forms
OTIATIO
PROPOS
DoW
submission
ICON updated budget
p g
NEGO
Grant Agr
Negotiation
Set-up
Set
S t-
Consortium
CA
Stakeholders
End-
End-Users

6. ICON - FP7 participation (2)
ti i ti
EC
POS -CONTRACTUAL
t)
eement (contract Main
M i
Beneficiary Dissemination
OTIATION
Web & Extranet
FP6/7 networking
ICON IPR management
CA
NEGO
Gra Agre
ST-
ant
ST
Consortium
Stakeholders

7. Best Practice
Some Lessons Learned
• Clear distinction and allocated resources for Consortium Management vs Research
Management
• Good delegation of responsibility to the Core people in the Project, use of Deputies
• Regular interim reporting from partners (quarterly reports) and regular resource
forecasting-
forecasting- budgeting
• Good templates and help notes on periodic reporting and admin-financial paperwork
admin-
• An early f
functional extranet not only a ‘web page’, with CMS implemented, forums, tiered-
C S f tiered-
access areas
• Email overkill !!!! Keep it at a minimum, do not overwhelm, have separate mailing lists, use
the web-based calendar for news, events, meetings, workshops
web-
• Invite and involve your PO to crucial meetings / workshops, meet them directly and
discuss potential problems
• Keep a close collaboration with the Scientific Coordinator (PI) at all times.
• Ensure continuity in administering and managing the consortium
• Have a good and detailed CA but keep it trim and clear
• Keep good back-ups of time sheets and paperwork for everyone involved.
back-

8. ICON’s Brussels Offi
ICON’ B l Office
ICON’s European Office
20-
20-22 rue du Commerce, Brussels
Dedicated office WiFi & ADSL
Costed to Projects
Meeting room (8-10 people) WiFi -by booking
(8-
in advance only. Underground parking.

9. Brussels- European Institutions
Brussels- E
B l I tit ti
ICON’s Office
20-
20-22 rue du
Commerce
1000-
1000-Brussels
for Eurostar
& Thalys

10. Managing a Very Large Consortium
Communicate
Delegate
Timely
Professionally