This 2-day training course will introduce the first crucial steps for getting a Horizon 2020 project started on the right foot, provide practical tips to ensure a sound technical implementation of your project, and go into the issues of financial management and reporting.

Our lecturers and workshop leaders are flesh-and-bone project managers and coordinators, whose day-to-day work is to make sure that their multiple projects are implemented according to EC Grant Agreement, problems are promptly tackled, and project partners adequately assisted in legal, technical and financial management issues.

Over the years we have helped almost 1,000 project managers and coordinators in understanding the legal, technical and financial rules of the Research Framework Programme and managing European projects.

Experience Europa Media's well-known "learning-by-doing" approach – presentations in the morning, then use your newly-acquired knowledge during the workshops specifically designed for the particular topics:

Project Management and Technical Reporting

• Grant Agreement negotiations – road to success and things that could go wrong.
• Getting started – models on Consortium Agreement, advance payment, bank guarantees, and the kick-off meeting.
• Efficient project management systems in practice – eligible and non-eligible costs, cost statements. Upgrading your system for FP7 and for Horizon 2020.
• IPR issues in practice – how to protect you background and how to benefit from the foreground
• Technical reporting – what to report and how?
• Technical reviews – Prepare for the best and worst opinion of the EC and the reviewers.

Workshop: Technical Management

During the workshop participants discuss real case scenarios related to coordination, budget, dissemination, modifying the project, etc..

Financial Management and Reporting

• Financial rules of FP7 and Horizon 2020 projects – how to harmonise EU rules with you national taxation and internal accounting principles?
• Eligible and non-eligible costs, cost statements – upgrading your financial admin system.
• Different calculation methods of Personnel costs – employees and consultants
• Allocation of Travel costs, Equipment, Other costs, and Overheads based on practical examples.
• Subcontracting and third parties – how to avoid rejection of costs?
• Pragmatic approaches in reporting – point-by-point assessment of the prepared financial reports. Format, content, overall principles, possible bottlenecks
• Uploading of reports to the Participants portal – hints and tricks to control your partners’s spending.

Workshop: Financial Management and Reporting

Participants prepare a full financial report for a virtual research project, a role-play exercise, based on "dummy" invoices, salary slips and time-sheets!