ITN: Is it allowed to hire a consultancy firm for (parts of) the coordination activities in an ITN? This firm is not mentioned in the proposal and is not included as partner in the consortium either.

Based on the art. 41.2 of the Grant Agreement the Coordinator can delegate an ‘authorisation to administer’ to a third party if the coordinator is an academic institution (secondary or higher education establishment or public body)  and 
(v) ensures that all payments are made to the other beneficiaries without unjustified delay (see Article 21); 
(vi) informs the Agency of the amounts paid to each beneficiary, when required under the Agreement (see Articles 44 and 50) or requested by the Agency. 

For additional information, the Coordinator should inform and discuss directly with the Project Officer. It should be taken note that core activities of the coordination tasks can NOT be given to a third party.