IF: What should a postdoctoral fellow with an Individual Fellowship need to do if they want to terminate their working contract with the host institution a month earlier than the project’s end date?

Please make sure the host institution:

1. Requests the (early) termination of the grant agreement, based on its art.50 (on page 330).
2. This is done via “formal notification” – the host institution will need to pick the notification on grant termination.
3. Art. 50 requires the reasons – this would be an early termination of the fellowship (upon fellow’s request – please be specific – has the fellow resigned?).
4. Art. 50 requires the date the termination will take effect on – this will be the last day of the fellowship, i.e. the last day the fellow legally worked (last day of their employment contract).

Only once the termination is acknowledged by the Research Executive Agency, the project data in the system will be rectified and the new dates for final reporting etc., will appear.

IF: What is the Beneficiary Termination Report under the Individual Fellowships in H2020? Is it completed when the fellow is transferred to a new host institution? Who needs to sign it?

The H2020 Annotated Model Grant Agreement, on p.504, details that both supervisor and fellow must give their version of events when asking for the amendment.

The Beneficiary Termination Report is submitted by the beneficiary whenever the institution terminates the grant agreement earlier than initially foreseen in the Grant agreement. It creates the situation when the institution needs somehow to report to the Research Executive Agency before the usual periodic reporting is required for the project. It can happen when the former Individual Fellowship host institution (X) terminates the grant agreement and the grant agreement is transferred to a new Individual Fellowship host institution (Y).

The institution X first and foremost needs to submit the financial statement (form C) for the period they were active on the project. The Beneficiary Termination Report is a supporting document (technical report) to that financial statement. Just like the usual Periodic Report is a supporting document to the periodic Financial Statement. In that sense it is the institution X that is responsible for its preparation, delivery and signature, not the hosted researcher.

Everything else works exactly the same as for any other periodic report, except that once the Report is approved by the Research Executive Agency, the institution X is obliged to transfer the remainder of the funds to the institution Y.

More information can be found at the “Report About Beneficiary Termination” section here.

ITN/ COFUND: What is the appeal procedure in case a researcher wishes to make an appeal against the decision to be excluded from the selection process for a doctoral position?

In a COFUND programme, there should be a clear appeal procedure explained on the programme website, together with the call for candidates.

In case of an ITN project, it depends on the procedures that have been put in place for that in this concrete ITN. The doctoral candidate can contact the selection committee and ask about the existing appeal procedure.

All actions: Is it possible to request part-time working less than 50% FTE for personal/ family reasons in H2020?

The requirement to dedicate at least 50% of the working time to the action for both professional and personal reasons was outlined in the MSCA H2020 Work Programme 2018-2020 on p.95 “In cases of part-time work, all researchers must dedicate at least 50% of their working time to the MSCA action, whether they are working part-time for family or other reasons”. When it comes to parental leave, it falls under personal or family reasons. However, the fellow would still have to dedicate at least 50% of the working time to the project.

RISE: Is it possible to use the Research, training and networking unit costs to pay the seconded researcher in RISE?

Yes, it is possible.

In the Annotated Model Grant Agreement, p. 509 (Budget flexibility box) it is written that:

“Research, training and networking unit costs should be used for the research, training and networking activities foreseen in Annex 1, but unused amounts may be used for other action-related purposes (e.g. to cover travel and subsistence costs of a staff member, to organise additional training activities or horizontal networking events).

Unit costs for management and indirect costs should be used for the management of the action, but unused amounts may also be used for other action-related purposes (e.g. to cover travel and subsistence costs a staff member, to organise additional training activities or horizontal networking events).”

IF/ ITN: Will all IF/ITN proposals from Horizon 2020 that are still on the reserve list not be funded?

 They cannot be funded as there is no more budget left from Horizon 2020.

ITN: Is the 40% rule also respected in case of a later transfer - if a beneficiary wants to leave the consortium and another beneficiary would take over the PMs of an ESR?

Yes, the 40% rule is valid during the lifetime of the project. The coordinator of the project should contact the project officer if any unexpected circumstances happen.

ITN: Two ESRs from the same ITN project are married to each other. Are both of them eligible to receive family allowance?

Both are eligible for the family allowance. The family allowance depends on the status of each person (both are married, does not matter to whom), it does not depend on the household.

ITN: A coordinator of an ITN project received an email on Dissemination and Exploitation of their results stating that they need to make sure that the project website is sustainable for the next years, as a minimum in a static form, but preferably with new added content. What does “next years” mean?

The website of the project should be kept for several years after the project end. It is advised to keep the website (in some form) for five years after the project ends, in line with the Grant Agreement article 18.1 on p. 173.

ITN: Is there a minimum/ maximum price for accommodation during secondments?

There are no minimum or maximum prices for travel in MSCA projects. However, internal rules of the participating organisations and national regulations have to be respected.