IF: What documents are required from MSCA Individual Fellowships beneficiaries for final reporting on their Horizon 2020 projects?

In general, the Final Technical Report is a publishable summary of the entire project:

        - overview of the results and their exploitation and dissemination,

        -  conclusions on the project,

        - its socio-economic impact of the project,

        - an up-to-date link to the project website,

        - project logos, diagrams, photographs and videos illustrating its work (if available).

Like the summaries for the periodic reports, the final summary must be written in an understandable style for a non-specialist audience.

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.

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.

IF: A researcher who has an Individual Fellowship which is ending in 4 months has found an attractive job offer and is thinking of terminating the fellowship in order not to lose the new job. Is this legally acceptable by the EC?

Yes, it is possible to terminate the fellowship earlier than planned, especially if the fellow has found an attractive job offer. The host institution needs to put in place an amendment to terminate the grant. The amounts corresponding to unspent months will have to be returned to the EC, but the funding corresponding to the project months already implemented does not have to be returned.

IF: A fellow recruited by an institution in country A would like to work part-time: 6 months in country A and 6 months in Country B - 50% of their time while in country A and 50% of their time while in country B. Is that possible?

REA does not implement 6 months in country A and 6 months in country B as part-time work. In the MSCA IF, part time for personal or professional reasons allows researchers to reduce their full-time daily activities. The researcher currently working for the MSCA project in country A should suspend the action to go to country B for a period of 6 months.

In any case, the beneficiary should contact the REA Project Officer in charge to discuss more in details the part-time project implementation.

IF: Could RTN costs be used for a top up to the salary of the researcher? If yes, which is the best way to do it - as a monthly top up or at the end of the project?

Yes, it is possible to use RTN costs for a top-up. The method is up to the host organisation and should depend on the circumstances and their normal practices. For one, it could be difficult to know beforehand how much of the funds will be unused, so it could be difficult to determine how big the monthly top-up should be. On the other hand, a large one-off payment could influence the researcher’s taxation regime.

IF: When terminating the fellowship, you need to specify two dates – one for the last working day of the fellow and another which is the official termination date, which can be different. Would it be possible for the ‘last working day of the fellow’ to be in the past?

The ‘last working day of the fellow’ is the official day when the contract of the fellow ends, as this would indicate the latest eligible date of the unit costs. The ‘official termination date’ can be later, as there needs to be time to deliver reports, etc.

ITN/ IF: A recruited ESR will move from a third country to the beneficiary in Europe. Can this travel cost be paid with the Research, Training and Networking unit costs?

The general principle is that the mobility allowance is spent on costs related to the ESR’s mobility (e.g. relating to travel and accommodation). This allowance covers private costs of the researchers.

The Research, Training and Networking costs are spent on travels in connection with the project (professional costs).

Additionally, the EC has suggested that possible visa costs can be taken from the RTN costs as well.

You can find some guidance in the AMGA, p. 455 and 461.

IF: A fellow received a permanent position elsewhere and will not do the fellowship after all. What does the host organisation have to do?

The host institution should go for termination of the action. Termination of the action is described in article 50 of the MGA.

 

IF: Can professional fees (e.g. registering with a professional society) be claimed from the RTN budget?

The fellow can indeed claim such costs under the RTN budget.

Fellows should discuss such matters with their supervisors and with the host representatives as to ensure an eventual extra cost would not jeopardize the already planned activities (trainings, career development, networking events, etc.).

IF: A fellow completing a Global Fellowship needs to renew their visa for the US. The embassy requires an original statement by the entity that offers the fellowship that they have no objections. Do EC/ REA usually provide such statements?

The EC cannot do that, because it never had any contract with the researcher, only with the institution that hired the researcher. And this recruitment is based on the grant agreement – once it ends, there is no more legal connection between the EC and the institution.

IF: Into which category do patent costs fall in?

Patent filing fees should be covered by institutional unit cost B1 (Research, Training and Networking Costs) as those costs are related to project implementation/ results.

In some cases, as patents are final results (mainly at the end of the project or even when the project is finished) many institutions use B2 (Management and Indirect Costs) because the B1 category was totally spent during the project implementation.

IF: In the Guide for Applicants it is described that "unused amounts may be used for other action-related purposes (e.g. to increase the salary of a researcher [...])". Can this be agreed a priori with the host institution and become immediately part of the salary, or is this something that can happen only at the end of the period, provided that the money has not been previously spent?

There is not prescription concerning the period or the modalities of use of the institutional costs unused amounts.

The researcher salary can be increased using this cost category provided these costs are not needed for the research and training activities. The researcher must also agree on the payment modalities.

IF / PF: Is part-time work possible in Individual Fellowships?

As mentioned in the Work Programme “Researchers may, in agreement with the supervisor and beneficiary and with prior approval by the Research Executive Agency (REA), implement their project on a part-time basis. Such a request may be introduced during the action implementation.”

Part-time cannot be proposed at the proposal submission stage. The proposed project shall be described on a full-time basis. It can only be requested after the signature of the GA with and amendment request.

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.
The practical consequence of a part-time implementation (when agreed by REA via an amendment to the GA) is that the end date of the project is postponed and recalculated on the basis of the FTE requested.
All allowances will apply proportionally without the possibility that the total amounts will exceed those that apply for full-time equivalent periods.

Example: if part time 50% is requested at the beginning of a standard IF fellowship of 24 months, the actual duration of the fellowship will be 48 months and the end date postponed accordingly. The total allowances foreseen in the budget are spread on 48 months rather than 24.

As regards the commitment of the researcher to the action, “full” commitment is required considering the time devoted to the project implementation, e.g. if the researcher work on the project on a 0.5 FTE basis, then full commitment is required during the time spent on the project. Currently, providing timesheets to REA is not mandatory. However, Keeping timesheets is a good practice, especially in view of potential future audits.

IF: Are the MSC Individual Fellowships portable?

If a fellow would like to change host organisation during the project s/he should contact the Project Officer in charge of the fellowship to provide guidance.
Generally, the MSC Individual Fellowships are not "portable" in the sense allowed under other schemes such as the ERC grants. However, it is possible to transfer the training activities to a new beneficiary, when there are serious reasons affecting the capacity of the host institution to implement the action (e.g. an internal reorganisation affecting the implementation of the action; dismantling of the research team involved in the action; departure of the supervisor from the beneficiary’s premises; serious conflict between the researcher and the supervisor).
Personal circumstances of the researcher (e.g. other professional opportunities, personal or family commitments) are NOT considered valid grounds for transferring the GA to a new beneficiary.

For more information see pages 470-471 of the Annotated Model Grant Agreement for H2020 IF projects: 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/grants_manual/amga/h2020-amga_en.pdf

IF: Is it true that the Financial Statement is prefilled?

Yes, the units and costs per unit reported in the financial statement are calculated by the system and are not editable. The Financial Statement is generated automatically and only constitutes the request for payment of the balance. This means that if the research and training activities took place according to the Annex I (and any deviation was justified), the costs incurred are considered eligible.

All Actions: How do I deal with exchange rates when the living allowance (IF, ITN) or top-up allowance (RISE) is paid in local currency but reported in Euros?

Beneficiaries can use conservative exchange rates during the reporting period and pay the balance at the end (see annotated GA 6.1.A section 1.3).

IF: Can one claim the unit costs for the entire month or only for part of this month on an "actual days basis"?

Pages 451 in AMGA:
For partial months of recruitment, a pro-rata unit cost of 1/30 will be reimbursed for each day (for ease of implementation, each month is considered to have 30 days).
Example: If the researcher spent 20 months and 15 days on the project, the calculation for the 15 days is: 15/30 = 0.5. In this case, insert 20.5 as number of person-months.

IF: How can the financial contribution to partner organisations in the context of IFs be handled?

This greatly depends on the project, the participating organisations and their internal rules and practices. It is recommended that beneficiary and partner organization sign a partnership agreement regulating these issues.
In case of secondments, money transfer concerns the cost category research and training, usually based on real costs incurred by the organization which hosts secondments (invoicing is good practice), the researcher usually is still employed by the beneficiary, who pays the living allowances.
In case of Global Fellowships partnership agreements are necessary. The researcher usually is still being paid by the sending institution (beneficiary, according to the GA should employ the researcher for the whole duration of the project), but there are some cases, where the TC institution pays the researcher – in such cases allowances are transferred to TC. Cost category: Research & Training usually is transferred in total for the period of stay in TC (done according to the partnership agreement), transfer of management and indirect costs depends on the partnership agreement.