Industrialists Met in 7th Framework Program Seminar

The Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ICI) has organized a seminar for informing the industrialists on what they will gain with participation in the 7th Framework Program,(FP7) how an industrialist can participate FP7, matters to be considered when preparing a project. The seminar was given by TAGES CEO, Leyla Arsan, on 19th of February 2010 in ICI Odakule Assembly Meeting Room.

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7^thFramework Program Opportunities Seminar hosted representatives of organizations which give priority to R&D and want to make collaborations in international projects, industry representatives which have previously benefited from national and international funds. Approximately 80 representatives from various sectors like machinery/instruments, chemical/petrochemical, electronics, food, textile etc. participated to the workshop. TAGES CEO, Leyla Arsan, has presented theFP7 Project Application Process from opening of the project call to the implementation of the project.

The first topic of the morning section of the workshop was ‘What are the EU Programs and Projects? How the system works? What is Their Contribution toTurkey?’. Arsan, states that related groups as private sector, public institutions, universities, media, NGOs and EU institutions should work together in different Acquis topic for common mentality creating, developing together, disseminating in wide area and benefiting from the results together. Also Arsan talked about EU Community Programs, the steps of application form. She continued with stating that EU Community Programs includes sharing ideas, thinking the social and economic impact, working together with different cultures, building relations, communication, networking, scientific thinking and learning to work, designing projects, creating project proposals, consortium building and cooperating.

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The other topic was ‘What are the objectives of Framework Program projects and contribution to the Turkish Industrialists?’ Arsan explained the aims of the Program, its budget, research activities and scientific areas which are supported under the program, themes of 7^th Framework Program and budget allocation based on areas and themes. Arsan continued with presentations on ‘How does FP7 Project Process work? What should the industrialists do in thjs process?’. She described the steps of creating a project consortium, project roles and fund rates. While Arsan were describing the project types as big projects and small projects, she gave the real project examples which are funded in FP7 and gave the floor to the partners of these projects who are IntroSolutions with MEDSI Project, Friterm with FutureSME Project, Admarin Denizcilik with Hoverspill Project, Enocta with Elevate Project. She gave an advice on the importance of reading Work Programmes, following open calls and following forthcoming calls, becoming a member of technology platforms. She has finished the morning section by defining ‘How to Track Projects in Europe? How to contact with Project Owners or Partners?’ and stated the importance of using existing relations, registering partner search websites and project databases, correspondence with partners of the previously funded projects, searching project ideas by using common search tools and participating activities, promoting your company to become a partner of an EU project.

Arsan started afternoon session by defining ‘How should FP7 Project Partnership or the Project Preparation Be?. Arsan explained the process after participating to a project. She gave information about the structure of a project, work packages, project meetings, electronic application. Moreover she gave clues about the budget preparation such as the costs of project staffs and how it should be calculated, other costs like travel costs, equipment costs, subcontractor and overheads. Arsan talked about eligible and noneligible costs in projects, filling the Form C and important financial points for ‘What should be considered for financial and administrative processes?’ topic.

Also Arsan stated ‘What should be considered for Consortium and Intellectual Property Rules Agreement?’ She stated the structure of the Consortium Agreement, the important points that should be considered in Intellectual Property Rules At the last part of her presentation she talked about ‘What will happen if the project is accepted or failed? What should be considered?’. Arsan pointed how evaluation process will proceed, the threshold value for a successful project, the procedure to be followed in two cases: the project passes the threshold or the project is scored under the threshold.

If the project is not accepted, Arsan offered that:

According to the evaluation report, you should improve the project and submit it to the next suitable call.
You should consult for the renewal of the proposal with European Commission authority.
You should maintain your relationship with the consortium partners.

In the other case, Arsan described the steps of starting a project after the project is accepted. The first step and the most important think is the consortium agreement between European Commision and project consortium because the start of the project and the payment depend on this agreement. Kick-off meeting which is generally organized in Brussels or in coordinator’s country follows the consortium agreement. Arsan pointed the project audit and critical points, responsibilities of the coordinator and partners for following project deliverables, project management, attending project meetings which are organized in every 6 months on the last section of her presentation.

The workshop has also become very useful for the industrialists in terms of the networking and communication built between the participants during the networking breaks.