NAT at-award process for EU projects

• If a Teams workspace is not already created, set one up.
• Create an ‘Application’ folder within Teams and store all relevant documentation, including the application and budget.

• Request the Principal Investigator (PI) to forward all relevant correspondence from the funders or project officer.

• If you are not already added, ask the PI to add you to the Funding and Tenders Portal.

• Ensure that Tom Clausen (tbcl@sdu.dk) has access. For SDU-coordinated projects, assign the role of “Coordinator Contact”. For SDU partner projects, assign the role of “Participant Contact”.
• Once granted, Tom Clausen will allocate appropriate access to SDU-RIO legal representatives and SDU Forskerservice Økonomi, following SDU procedures.

• Contact Tom Clausen (tbcl@sdu.dk) for assistance with the grant agreement and coordination with legal representatives. Discuss who will do the Grant Agreement (GA). 
• If handling the grant agreement yourself, this is an opportunity to familiarise yourself with the project.
• The project officer will send instructions to the PI regarding grant agreement preparation (see separate menu below on the preparation of the GA).
• If not handling the agreement personally, review the application, deliverables, and timeline.
• The grant agreement phase can be used to negotiate minor changes, such as project start dates and deliverable submission timelines.

• If not already done by Tom, contact Contracts mailbox (contracts@sdu.dk) and provide the following details to expedite proceedings once a lawyer is assigned:
  - PI’s name and contact details
  - Funder and program-information
  - Proposed start date
  - Acadre/Qlikview number
  - Grant agreement or grant agreement declaration
  - Any relevant timelines (e.g., for signing the declaration of honor in EU projects)
  
   

• Email Hanne Dahl Mortensen (hdm@sdu.dk) and Michelle Pedersen (mipe@sdu.dk) to register the project.
• Send them proposal, budget, grant agreement, and start date.
• Michelle will generate a project number once all documents are received.
• Request an economy representative for the project. 
  
   

• If you will be the Project Manager, introduce yourself to the project officer.
• Some project officers prefer formal communication through SYGMA, while others are comfortable with emails. Adapt accordingly.
• Request a meeting early on to create a good relationship with the Project Officer (PO). 
  
   

• Contact all project partners and request details for:
  - Lead contact
  - Administrative/legal representative
  - Finance/invoicing representative
  - Other relevant contacts (e.g., secretary, lead postdoc if the PI is busy)
• Store all partner contact details in a spreadsheet within Teams.
  
   

• Create a project timeline document (e.g., an Excel spreadsheet) that maps deliverables and tasks to actual calendar months.
• Indicate when project funds should be spent to ensure proper budget utilisation and avoid loss of funding, send these to Lisa Eckford-Soper (lisasoper@sdu.dk).

• Create a mailing list for project participants.
• Organise an internal kick-off meeting involving all key SDU personnel, including:
  - PI
  - Economy representative
  - FSØ representative
  - Legal representative from RIO (and Olena Zhylinkova (olen@sdu.dk) if necessary)
  - Additional stakeholders (as required), such as:
  - Ethics representative (Jakob Ousager, (jousager@sdu.dk))
  - HR representative
  - International Staff Office 
  - PhD board representative (Suba Lindholm (suba@sdu.dk))
• Use the internal kick-off template SDU Internal kick-off template
  
   

• Contact Birgitte Svennevig (birs@sdu.dk) to write a press release for announcing the project after the grant agreement is signed.

• If not already in place, collaborate with the PI to identify and contact potential members for an external Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).

• Review the types of data that will be collected in the project.
• Determine if the project involves human subjects and requires GDPR compliance.
• Assess whether ethical approval is needed- it is commonly required by the EU to have approval from the Research and Ethics Committee (REC) at SDU.
• For information on how to register a project that handles personal data, please visit this website. You can find the online registration form here. For convenience, it is recommended to copy and paste information directly from an electronic copy of the form. 

• The Project Handbook is a key deliverable for many EU-funded projects. It should provide clear guidelines on project management and operations. Include:
  -  Project aims, goals, and objectives
  - Management and project structure, detailing:
   - The management team
   - Work package leads
   - The full consortium structure
  - Roles and responsibilities of project participants
  -  Guidelines for professional conduct for all team members
  - Internal communication strategies, specifying preferred channels (e.g., email, Teams, or an internal website)
  - Deliverables and milestones, with internal review processes
  - Secure document storage procedures (see next step)
  - A detailed timeline of project activities
  
   

• Determine data storage requirements, including:
  -Data size and formats
  - Access control (who needs access, internal vs. external users)
  - Secure storage options (do not use Google services for sensitive data)
• Storage solutions:
  - Small datasets → Store in Teams
  - Large datasets → Use UCloud (UCloud instructions)
  
   

• Develop a project visual identity, including:
  -A logo
  - Templates for key project documents, such as:
  - Deliverables
  - PowerPoint presentations
  - Posters and other dissemination materials
• The SCC have previously used AndStill to create a visual identity. 

• Online engagement will be based on the final Communication & Dissemination Plan, but at a minimum, set up:
  - A project website either on SiteCore or externally
  - Social media presence on appropriate platforms such as:
  - LinkedIn
  - Bluesky
  - Mastodon (or similar platforms suited for academic and professional engagement)

• The project kick-off meeting should include representatives from all partners. 

The description of the action (DoA), which is Annex 1 to the Grant Agreement, contains the details of how the action (project) will be carried out.It consists of two parts, which can be generated directly from the submitted proposal:

• Part A of Annex 1 contains the cover page, the project summary, the list of participants and the work plan tables, which provide details on the implementation of the action. Part A is generated by the IT system. It is based on the information that you enter through online forms and information that is imported from your proposal.
• Part B of Annex 1 is the narrative part of the description of the action. Part B needs to be uploaded as a PDF document. To generate Part B of Annex 1, please start from Part B of your proposal (as it was submitted). The structure and the order of chapters and sections should be followed as indicated. All pages must be numbered and include, at the bottom of the page, the proposal number, the acronym and the text "Part B".

As a first step, you must log onto the Funding & Tenders Opportunities Portal (click on ‘Login’, ‘My Project’, and then ‘Actions’) to access SygMa (Grant Preparation and Project Management IT tool) for your project - link

The EU will provide you with a number of documents e.g. 
1. Annex 1 instructions
2. WP_Deliverables_Milestones

Log into SYGMA and follow the instructions provided by the EU (Annex I Instructions) - PART A. 
The list and structure of mandatory work packages, deliverables and milestones required for Part A is provided by the EU in a document e.g. (WP_Deliverables_Milestones). The "Work Packages" and "Deliverables" in SyGMa do not correspond to scientific work packages or deliverables that the project may defined in the Part B of the proposal. Instead, they refer to formal requirements.

You should fill in the Work Packages, Deliverables and Milestones corresponding to your project timeline within SYGMA. The due date of each deliverable is also specified in ‘project months’ e.g. 1-36. 
It is helpful to create a separate document e.g. an excel spreadsheet that corresponds to the timeline in actual months. 

Follow the instructions, you will be asked to delete sections and add others e.g. Ethics statement from the original part B from your proposal.
Start from Part B1 of your proposal and turn on track changes and add a table with the history of changes. It is important to use the version that was submitted for evaluation. Follow the instructions in ‘Annex I Instructions’, under PART-B
Before submitting the final version of the part B (Annex I) in SYGMA, it is highly advisable that you send a draft version in word format with tracked changes to the Project Officer.

Appointment of the organisation representatives: Project coordinator, Legal representative, LEAR, Legal signatory and financial signatory
Please make sure that the LEAR (Legal Entity Appointed Representative) of the institution is valid. This will be Jan Kristensen (jik@sdu.dk)
Instructions on the validation, nomination process and rights management can be found at:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/om_en.pdf

Please make sure that you have a bank account validated by the European Commission prior to the signature of the grant agreement. SDU has two bank accounts one for Euros and one for Danish Krone, the Euro bank account must be used for all EU projects where SDU is the coordinator. 
For further information on the bank account validation visit:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/om_en.pdf  (page 21) direct link on the portal: Bank accounts - IT How To - Funding Tenders Opportunities (europa.eu)

Konto: H2020 638138
4366049444 EUR
IBAN: DK37 3000 4366 0494 44
BIC/SWIFT DABADKKK
Kontohaver: SYDDANSK UNIVERSIT 

The submission of a Declaration of Honour is mandatory, therefore please submit it as soon as possible to avoid last-minute problems. 
Please note that the Declaration of Honour can only be signed if a LEAR with a HE extended mandate has been validated and if a Legal signatory (LSIGN) has been nominated and appointed for the project. This will be Jan Kristensen (jik@sdu.dk).

Fixed the start date. Please make sure you include a small justification for the date chosen in SyGma. Think about recruitment timelines before fixing the start date, remember no money can be spent until after the start date of the project.

Please read carefully the legal obligations imposed by the Grant Agreement at this stage as well as all other relevant legal documents and guidelines necessary to correctly implement the action if the grant agreement preparation is successful:
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/funding-tenders-opportunities/display/OM/Grant+management