Project kick off meeting
When the project is granted, it is recommended to hold a kick off meeting with the project leader and personnel from the research support, at local and perhaps central level. UiO EU-Office has developed a presentation for ERC project kick off meetings, that can be adapted for the individual projects.
Template kick off meeting presentation
Open Access and Data management in H2020
The Open Research Data Pilot aims to improve access to and re-use of research data generated by H2020 projects, while taking into account the need to balance openness and protection information. Open access to research data is therefore a default option, but with the possibility of opting out when justified. Participation in the pilot is not part of the evaluation critera.
While the proposal is not supposed to contain a full data management plan (DMP), you must submit a first version of your data DMP (as a deliverable) within the first 6 months of the project. Recommended templates are available.
More information about Open Access and DMP on Funding and Tender portal H2020 online manual
UiO's web pages about data management and DMP
Communication of the project and acknowledgement of EU funding in H2020
Beneficiaries of H2020 funding must promote the project and its results, according to the dissemination activities promised in the proposal. Dissemination is part of the "Impact" part of the proposal and hence taken into consideration as part of the evaluation.
Read more about communicating the project at Participant Portal H2020 online manual
Beneficiaries of H2020 funding have the obligation to explicitly acknowledge that their action has received EU funding. For information about obligations and rights when communicating the EU-project, please refer to Nettsider for EU-prosjekter ved UiO (Norwegian)
Eligible Costs in a Horizon 2020 Project
All the rights and obligations are specified in the General Model Grant Agreement. The annotated Version explains and illustrates the legal text and includes the finanical guidelines. Some projects, like European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Sklodowska-Cuire Actions (MSCA), have their own Model Grant Agreement, which may be downloaded under Reference Documents in the Funding and Tender portal.
In order to be eligible the project costs must be:
- incurred by the beneficiary
- incurred in connection with the action
- incurred during the project duration
- identifiable & verifiable in the beneficiary¡¯s accounts
- compliant with national law
- reasonable, justified, in accordance with sound financial management (economy & efficiency)
- indicated in the budget
Please note that non- deductible Value Added Tax (VAT) is an eligible cost under Horizon 2020.
In the project budget the costs are distinguished in the following categories: direct personnel costs, equipment costs, other direct costs, subcontracting costs, and indirect costs.
Personnel costs
UiO's usual employment conditions, for example salaries levels, shall be followed. All staff, whose costs are charged to the project, have to document the time worked on the project by time sheets. The templates for time sheets are found here. Employees who work exclusively on the project can instead fill in a "Declaration on Person".
All time spent working on the project must be documented with approved time sheets:
- Timesheets is the basis for calculation of personnel costs and must reflect the reality
- Timesheets should document actual time spent on the project
- It is not necessary to report working hours spent on other activities than the EU-project, but be aware of sick leave, holidays and vacation.
- Timesheets are entered, signed and approved by the employee and the project leader on a monthly basis.
- Timesheets for the project leader must be signed by the Head of Department or equivalent.
UiO's guidelines on reporting personnel costs - main principles
The H2020 Grant Agreement presents different models on calculation of personnel costs to be reported. The University of Oslo (UiO) will in the following clarify UiO¡¯s guidelines on how to calculate and report personnel costs to the Commission on all UiO projects funded in Horizon 2020, with the exception of Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Actions.
- Personnel costs must be incurred in connection with the action as described in Annex 1 and necessary for its implementation
- All personnel costs reported in the Financial Statement must be based on the calculated hourly rate ¨C including full-time employees who do not operate with timesheets
- The calculation of the hourly rate shall be based on the last closed financial year.
At UiO, the hourly rate shall be calculated by dividing total annual personnel costs (salary including social costs) from the last closed financial year with the number of annual productive hours (1720 hours):
The hourly rate = Total annual personnel costs (salary incl. social costs) from the last closed financial year / Number of annual productive hours (1720 hours)
To find the reimbursable personnel costs, the calculated hourly rate must be multiplied by the number of hours recorded in approved timesheets:
Reimbursable personnel costs (to be reported in the Financial Statement) = Calculated hourly rate ¡Á working hours recorded in approved timesheets
For a full overview of all details on Reporting personnel costs, please refer to UiO's guidelines on reporting personnel costs
Equipment costs
For equipment costs, UiO's guidelines and systems for procurement have to be followed. Costs are depreciated with regards to UiOs usual practice. Only costs which are depreciated during the project period can be reported to the European Commission.
Other direct costs
These are for example travel costs, costs for holding meetings and conferences, costs for publications, and other consumables.
Subcontracting costs
Subcontracting costs must be defined in the Description of Action (Annex 1 of the Grant Agreement) and are just allowed for minor services which do not include research tasks.
Indirect costs
Indirect costs (overhead) will be covered by a uniform 25% flat-rate of all eligible direct costs. Eligible costs are reimbursed by 100 %.
Please note that Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions are budgeted as Unit Costs per person/month.
The Commission has published templates of periodic reports for Horizon 2020 projects (for RIA, IA, CSA and MSCA). Periodic reports in Horizon 2020 have two components: a technical (two parts) and financial report. Both templates are available for viewing on the Participant Portal in as single PDF document.
Exchange rate
In reporting, use average of the daily exchange rates published in the Official Journal of the EU calculated over the reporting period. You may use the editable charts on the website of the European Central Bank.
Certificate on the Financial Statements and Audit reports in H2020
If the total eligible direct costs are above 325 000 € (excluding the indirect costs/ovehead), a Certificate on the Financial Statements (CFS) has to be provided.
At UiO the Internal Auditing Unit issues the Certificate on the Financial statements. The Project manager has to contact the Internal Auditing Unit four weeks in advanced to make an appointment for the Audit and agree on procedures and delivery of documents.
The European Commission may order an audit of your H2020 grant during the project or at any time up to 2 years after the final payment. The audit can be conducted by the Commission's own staff or outsourced to external persons or bodies appointed by the Commission. On the basis of the audit findings, an audit report will be prepared. A draft audit report will first be sent to the beneficiary with a 30 day period where the beneficiary will be able to provide observations to the draft report. The auditors will then compile and reconcile any observations, and a final audit report will be prepared. Any claimed costs found to be ineligible will then be recovered or deducted from the next payment.
Resources
Funding and Tender opportunities - the Commission's portal
Templates for periodic Reporting (pdf)
Internal financing and incentives
(in Norwegian)
Certificates and guarantee documents for UiO
(Norwegian page, documents available in English)
Contact the Internal Audit Unit at UiO