If you already have a proposal prepared and are looking for an expert opinion on how to tune it and improve it, we can bring many years’ experience to bear. Depending on your needs, we can help you to repair or rephrase weaker elements of the project. Alternatively, we can simply point out the strengths and weaknesses in the proposal, the consortium, the budget, the workplan, etc.
We have help clients to preare proposals for most major EU Programmes in the last decade, including FP7, FP6, eContentPlus, ERA-NET, IST, ACTS, Telematics, ESPRIT, ISIS, CIP, and eTen. Our success rate has been 50%+ up to 2009, In 2010 it's close to 100%. In 2011 we’ve about two out of every three successful. At any given time we usually have two to five proposals under development.
Usually, we will review and rework the scientific material in any proposal for style and coherence, but leave it to the client to judge the quality of the research. We typically co-author the implementation and impact sections, in collaboration with the client. We’ve done this very often, and we know what the evaluator is looking for and how to ensure that your message gets across.
Our experience in proposing and running successful projects means that we understand the rules, the regulations and the exceptions which govern the building of an acceptable project budget, maximizing the effectiveness of the project budget to reach your objectives, while ensuring that both the consortium and the EU get value for money. We can help to establish what funding model best suits a particular organisation, how to handle overheads, capital equipment, labour costs, travel and subsistence, sub-contractors, etc. Given the headline figures, we usually develop the detailed budget and submit it to the client for approval.
The cost of our support is supported by grants available from Enterprise Ireland – see here for details.
Being selected for funding is the start of a new process. Negotiation usually takes 2-3 months and involves a good deal of bureaucracy, legal and financial validation, budget scrutiny and the preparation of the Description of Work, a substantial contractual document (based on the proposal) which defines what the project will do, when it will do it, and what it will deliver. We work closely, on a day to day basis, with the coordinator as we prepare the DoW, the GPF files, the LFV, the GA, the A2.5 Forms, the Forms A, the NEF sessions, and more. There’s a good deal of process to go through, and our experience makes a big difference.
This expertise has led to our being asked to assist with the management of five new projects in 2010 alone.
Having finally signed the contract and started the project, we agree the administrative processes and tools for the project with the client. We then present these at the kick-off meeting, and provide templates and guidance for reports, budget management, deliverables and other documentation. We set up shared document management spaces (using dropbox or a web server), email lists and project calendar.
Throughout the project we provide EU expertise, administrative and reporting support, quality assurance, technical writing, expertise in dissemination, promotion, technology transfer, business planning and exploitation, budget management, meetings preparation and facilitation. Depending on the project’s needs, we write deliverables and annual/final reports, prepare the team for reviews, and represent the project to reviewers. As project partners we are funded by the Commission, so that the coordinator (our original client) benefits without cost.
We have supported many EU projects in the past and we currently work with the coordinators of projects in Health, ICT, Culture and Social Science. Our track record includes representing projects at annual, final and crisis ('red flag') reviews, acting as the main point of contact for the European Commission officers dealing with a project, and leading groups of partners in individual work-packages within major projects. Our Director spent years working in Brussels for the Commission, so we understand what is required to manage an EU-funded project, and why.
Pintail Ltd.
Registered No. 349091 VAT No. IE6369091R
Email: info@pintail.eu
Phone: +353 1 2899529