FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Yes, these costs are eligible if they are incurred during the lifetime of the project and provided that they are in line with the requirements for direct costs as listed in Article II.14 of the General Conditions of the ERC Grant Agreement Single and Multi-Beneficiary.

If the Grant Agreement contains a Special Clause 39 ERC, then the initial host institution is responsible for providing open access to those publications that have been published while it was the beneficiary. For any publication after the transfer of host institution, the new host institution is responsible as far as the deposit in a repository and the provision of open access is concerned, irrespective whether the publication is based on work carried out at the old or the new host institution.

One of the specificities of the ERC Grant Agreement is the split of the reporting into two distinct sets of reporting periods, in order to diminish the administrative burden on the researchers:

-Scientific reports, usually after half of the project (30 months) and at the end of the project in Starting and Advanced Grants and two intermediate reports (usually every 24 months) and one at the end of the project in Synergy Grants. Scientific reports are submitted by the Principal Investigator on behalf of the Host Institution/beneficiary;

- Financial reports, usually every 18 months and at the end of the project. Financial reports are submitted by the Host Institution with a contribution from the Principal Investigator, as per General Conditions to the ERC Grant Agreement, Article II.3.1.b for Single or Article II.3.bis.1.b for Multi-beneficiary Grant Agreements.

Two different departments/units in the ERCEA follow the (two) separate reporting streams to independently ensure appropriate work progress, follow-up and monitoring of the project. The templates are sent via advance notice letter 15 days before the end of the reporting period (in order to ensure that the beneficiary uses the latest version available).

If the scientific report has been approved without conditions, the payment will be performed at the end of the next financial reporting period without the need of any additional scientific requirements (if no new scientific issues arise meanwhile). If the scientific report has been approved conditionally, at the end of the next financial reporting period, the payment will be subject to verification that the suggested scientific recommendations have been properly fulfilled in the meantime. If the scientific report has been rejected and a revised version of the report was requested, the payment at the forthcoming financial reporting period will be suspended, until a satisfactory revised scientific report is submitted and approved by the scientific department. If the scientific report has been rejected, the ERCEA may start the procedure for termination of the Grant Agreement.

Final reports submitted within the framework of the termination will be due 45 days after the decision on termination became definitive.

In the evaluation of scientific reports, the ERCEA Scientific Department may require sometimes additional experts review. In these cases the time to evaluate the reports and disburse payments can be suspended till the review is satisfactory.

Indeed, although most of the rules applicable to other researchers funded under Horizon 2020 also apply in the same way to researchers funded by the ERC, there are a number of differences. In particular, in the case of the ERC the open access obligations described in Article 29.2 of the Model Grant Agreement apply not only to articles in scientific journals, but also to long-text publications such as monographs, edited volumes, or book chapters.

An overview of the open access related rules for ERC funded researchers can be found on the ERC website. Note that Article 29.2 of the ERC Model Grant Agreement is slightly different from the corresponding article in the general Horizon 2020 Model Grant Agreement. Details on the application of the article to ERC grants can be found in the ERC specific part of the Annotated Model Grant Agreement.

Similar to the general H2020 grants, given the COVID-19 situation, maximum flexibility will be given on scheduled due dates for deliverables, milestones, scientific and financial reporting as well as to the implementation of the action whose performance was impacted by the confinement measures (see FAQs on delays in submitting reports or deliverables, on interim payments, on reorientation of the action).

As regards the time-commitments obligation for PIs, the normal rules of the grant apply. We remind our beneficiaries that the PI’s time-commitments obligations must be fulfilled for the overall action duration (NOT annually or per reporting period). Therefore, if due to COVID-19 the PI cannot fulfil the time-commitment obligations under the project in a reporting period, she or he may compensate for it in the next reporting periods once the confinement measures are lifted, and fulfil the time-commitments by the end of the action. If needed, beneficiaries may suspend the action implementation during the period where no work can be carried out (in line with Article 49 H2020 MGA). In addition, if the PI cannot fulfil the time-commitment obligations for the whole action, the beneficiary may request a suitable extension of the action that will be treated favourably and swiftly (see FAQ on extension of action duration). This extension will not count against another potential extension under H2020 ERC grants, which will follow the normal rules and procedures.

Before engaging in communication activities expected to have a major media impact, European Research Council (ERC) grantees (beneficiaries/participants) must inform the ERC Executive Agency via their project officers or via the mailbox ERC-PRESS@ec.europa.eu.

The European Research Council (ERC) logo and European emblem can be downloaded from the ERC website "logos and banners" page. The ERC logo can be used by beneficiaries of ERC funding support for the sole purpose of acknowledging that suppport. No explicit permission is necessary to use the ERC logo in this case.

For actual cost-based H2020 actions & MSCA actions

• Given this unprecedented pandemic situation, maximum flexibility will be given in relation to the action implementation.
• Whenever possible, beneficiaries are encouraged to telework or to use other forms of remote working. Teleworking during the confinement and the subsequent transitional period will be accepted even if it is not the beneficiary’s usual practice to telework. Costs of hours worked for the Horizon 2020 action via teleworking during those periods are eligible under the same conditions than hours worked on-site. For actual cost-based grants, the beneficiary is also entitled to the 25 % indirect costs flat rate on the costs of those teleworked hours. Private costs incurred by the employee for its teleworking activities (e.g. electricity at home, internet connection fee, printer consumables, etc.) are not eligible as direct costs for the Horizon 2020 actions. The potential reimbursement of those costs by the beneficiary to the employee is covered by the 25 % flat rate for indirect costs.

Beneficiaries are also highly encouraged to shift their tasks whenever possible. For instance, tasks where physical presence is needed on the ground (e.g. experiments/lab work, etc.) may be postponed after the confinement measures are over and meanwhile remote work could be done instead (desk work, drafting of reports, etc.) Costs will still be eligible for the work carried out under the action even if such shifting entails deviations from the initial timing set out in Annex 1.

Additional possibility for H2020 MSCA actions:

• Beneficiaries are reminded that periods in which a researcher was absent for 30 consecutive days or less (for reasons other than normal annual leave) can STILL be charged to the action and the costs will be eligible.
• Moreover, the budget is flexible on the use of the amounts received. Research, training and networking unit costs should be used primarily for the research, training and networking activities planned in Annex 1. Yet, beneficiaries may allocate some of these amounts to help maintaining the salary of the researchers that are prevented from implementing the action due to the COVID-19 situation. There is no time limit for the use of these funds.
• Beneficiaries have the same flexibility on deciding how to spend the institutional unit costs in order to complete their research. The only condition is that the Research, Training and Networking costs must be spent in support of the implementation of the project, as outlined in the Annex 1 to the grant agreement. There is no time limit for the use of these funds.

MSCA COFUND: Institutions have flexibility to decide how to spend the management unit cost. The latter should be used primarily for the management of the action. Yet, beneficiaries (or other host institutions with whom they have shared the management unit cost) may allocate some of these amounts to help maintaining the salary of the researchers that are prevented from implementing the action due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. There is also no time limit for the use of these funds.

Additional clarifications for ERC actions:

• Telework arrangements are particularly recommended for Principal Investigators that are currently blocked from returning to the EU or Associated Countries. In such a case, specific arrangements need also to be anticipated and taken also for the team’s work supervision, and ERCEA must be notified accordingly.
• The time teleworked by these PIs during the time they are prevented from returning to the EU or the Associated Countries may count as time spent on the ERC project and in the EU or the Associated Countries for the purpose of the Principle Investigator’s time commitments. However, time records for the PIs should be kept even if no personnel costs are charged for him/her to the project.

No, time sheets are not needed for the contractual obligations of an ERC 2022 Proof of Concept (ERC-2022-PoC1 and ERC-2022-PoC2) project. For more information, please refer to the Multi & Mono Model Grant Agreement for Lump Sum Grants.