Electronic Proposal
Submission System
European CommissionResearch DG
Hubert van DELFTHubert-Yves.van-
DELFT(at)ec.europa.eu
• Note that the presentation is based on advance information on the EPSS. Actual implementation may differ
• Watch http://www.esp-fp7.org for more information
• 22 January 2006
EPSS for FP7
Agenda Scope of the EPSS, infrastructure needed, process
overview Achievements and lessons learned in FP6 Changes from FP6 Changes needed to comply with the rules of
participation Immediate planning EPSS phase two: further simplification Quick demonstration (if test system is available) Question time
EPSS for FP7 What is the EPSS ?
An electronic system enabling project coordinators to prepare and submit their proposal online through the Internet using a web site accessed seamlessly from Cordis or accessed directly once the participant is registered
Operating 7 days a week, operating 24 hours a day, free of charge to the participants, supporting most IT configs
Avoiding paper based submission costs and issues
What is needed to use it ? An access to the Internet – the faster, the better though
the system works even with dial-up connections A computer – most of the platforms are supported,
even old ones
EPSS for FP7
The FP7 proposal-project time line
EPSS closes
Evaluation finishes
Decision is taken
Projectstarts
EPSS for FP7
EPSS in the process chain
CONTRACTINGPROJECTMANAGEMENTFINANCINGREPORTING
ELECTRONICPROPOSALSUBMISSIONSYSTEM
PROPOSALS
EVALUATIONSUPPORTSYSTEM
RANKING NEGOTIATIONCOM DECISION
e
e
ee
CALLSPUBLICATIONCORDIS
PUBLICATIONOF RESULTSCORDIS
e
e:denotes electronic information transfer
EPSS for FP7
Achievements and lessons learned in FP6Submissions per month and Total for years
2003/2004/2005/2006
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Months
Re
gis
tra
tio
ns
2003
2004
2005
2006
2003 5 477 455 91 30 9 176 981 686 178 3088
2004 297 3441 464 948 982 130 78 13 1027 2110 466 1759 11715
2005 1091 3238 2054 1286 1208 127 373 20 4822 560 1260 299 16338
2006 4248 699 1147 852 727 23 147 5 7848
J an Feb Mar Apr May J une J uly Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
> 38.950 proposals
EPSS for FP7
Achievements and lessons learned in FP6 Confidence has been built into the online version
Online registration percentage
50,89%
63,61%
81,63%91,86%
0,00%10,00%20,00%30,00%40,00%50,00%60,00%70,00%80,00%90,00%
100,00%
2003 2004 2005 2006
Online registrationpercentage
Over 350.000 uniqueusers during FP6
The offline preparationtool was identified veryearly as a trouble maker
EPSS for FP7
Similarities from FP6 to FP7• Registration, navigation, data
entry• One account for each
proposal• Multiple submission possible• Continuous, 24 hours a day,
7 days a week operation• Monitoring of issues at
submission stage by the Commission
• Telephone support operated from Brussels 08:00 to 18:00
• Stays identical
• Stays identical• Stays identical• Stays identical
• Stays identical
• Stays identical
EPSS for FP7
Changes from FP6 to FP7• Paper submission was a
valid submission method• Choice possible of off-line
preparation and online submission
• Break in the submission activity (disclaimer)
• Internet address pointed to the sixth framework program
• Paper forms present in the EC documents
• No paper submission without prior authorisation
• No offline preparation tool to download: everything happens online
• Streamlining of the submission process: no break
• Internet address will be: https://www.epss-fp7.org
• Focus on information collection, see EPSS documentation
EPSS for FP7
Changes needed to comply with the simplification and rules of participation Data entry screens have been changed to reflect the
changes in the rules for participation Participant identification code appears on first form for
later user. The PIC is equivalent to a participant account number
Extension of the participant information: all field must be completed, notably SME information is now imperative
Budgets are no longer a unique screen but are implemented as one screen for each participant: in other words the coordinator has to enter detailed budget information for each participant
• FP7
A3.1A3.1A3.1
A2A2
EPSS for FP7
Administrative forms changes from FP6 to FP7• FP6
A1A2
A2 A3
Part BPDF
Submit
A2A2
A1A2
A2 A3.1
Part BPDF
Submit
A3.2
Proposal coordinator actions
EPSS for FP7
Changes from FP7 phase 1 to FP7 phase 2• One account (user id and
password) for each submission
• Repeated (but simple) information submission in part A during the process cycle
• Limited reported facilities offered to end users
• No intelligence at the submission stage: only simple computation (additions) provided.
• One account by participant, at the legal entity level
• Single information submission, occurring independently of the submission cycle (URF)
• Information consolidation possible (PDM)
• Better eligibility guidance and information, with computation of reimbursement of costs ceilings
EPSS for FP7
Quick demonstration – steps to submission Identify call and funding scheme on Cordis Register on the EPSS – give basic details on project EPSS mails the user id and password to the proposal
co-ordinator – Watch your electronic mail Go straight to the EPSS or go to the EPSS via Cordis Enter user-id and password Set up the consortium – or enter participant detail Enter the relevant information
see next slide Submit the proposal and log-out
EPSS for FP7
Quick demonstration – steps to submission Relevant information to enter in order to submit proposal
The object of the proposal – one entry screen – entered by the coordinator (A1)
The participants – one entry screen by participant – entered by the coordinator or the partner to the proposal (A2)
The budget – one entry screen by participant – entered by the coordinator (A3)
Feedback provided by the system Overall budget computation History of actions performed – audit logs Proposal submission status – ‘NOT SUBMITTED’ at this
stage – part B upload is needed
EPSS for FP7
Quick demonstration – steps to submission Uploading the proposal is not a submission action. A
transfer of the proposal document must be followed by a submission action.
The proposal file must use the Adobe PDF format, with embedded fonts, no password, no print prevention mechanism
The proposal file name must use the letters ‘A-Z’, the numbers ‘0-9’, the ‘-’ sign. All other characters, including the space, the point, the ampersand, etc. are may cause upload problems
At the end of the upload, you will be prompted to perform the submit
Feedback provided by the system History of actions performed – audit logs Proposal submission status “SUBMITTED”– completed
by an email sent to the coordinator of the proposal
EPSS for FP7
Quick demonstration – steps to submission Warnings issued by the system
do not prevent submission are potentially linked to the eligibility issues EPSS system requests information in the form of a text
box Errors issued by the system
prevent submissions are linked to missing documents and information must be corrected by the proposal coordinator
EPSS for FP7
Immediate planning of the EPSS System set-up Opening for testing
(identifying boundaries in terms of load expressed in concurrent users and performing cycle testing)
Opening to the public(actual use)
First closure of the system First eligibility committee First evaluation of proposals
EPSS for FP7
Using the EPSS successfully The submit button disappears at 17:00:00.000, CET In case of doubt, get support early. Phone. Do not wait No special characters in file names. Stick to ‘A-Z’, ‘0-9’, ‘-’ The system allows multiple submissions. Use the facility
but do not abuse. Do not change budgets at the last moment: this may
prevent you from getting the proposal submitted on time Do not upload the proposal at the last moment: this
invalidates the previous submission Monitor CORDIS, you email should the EPSS encounter
technical problems: the two systems are independent
EPSS for FP7 How should I proceed as a coordinator?
Access the Cordis website for a specific call, register on the EPSS Check your electronic mail for the EPSS access details & FAQ Login for accessing the online EPSS Change the passwords for the coordinator and the partners Send the partner’s username and password to the partners Set-up the proposal by indicating the number of participants, their
participant id, name and email addresses, once in the registration process and after in the proposal setup screen
Edit Part A forms (object, participants, budget) Upload the Part B file (detailed proposal text) Upload Part B annexes if needed or required Validate proposal to ensure basic checks are satisfied Submit the proposal – to modify, go back to step 6, 7 or 8 Verify that the system gives a proposal number Logout and check your email for a confirmation mail
More information on the EPSS will be available from the EPSS itself:• Electronic mail: support @ epss – fp7.org
To help the Commission in the initial testing of the EPSS or request a test account, please contact:• hubert – yves . van – delft @ ec.europa.eu