Project Management

The Steering Committee
A Steering Committee consisting of the project co-ordinator and senior, experienced contractors, will be established. It is expected and intended that all multilateral issues can be solved between contractors in mutual agreement guided by the steering committee.

The Work Package Leaders and Contractors
The project is splitted up in work packages. Each has a work package leader. Contractors contribute to at least one work package. The primary responsibility is with each contractor. The next level of decision is within the hands of the work package leader. The matrix of different contractors participating to several work packages, acting in cases as Work Package leader and in other as contractors acts as quality assurance mechanism.

Project Co-ordinator
The project is managed (in liaison with the EC scientific officer) by the Project Co-ordinator, who is responsible to verify that each partner carries out the work according to the specifications and schedule set out in this Annex. In addition to the deliverables mentioned in this Annex, the co-ordinator is in charge of producing the reports mentioned below. The co-ordinator will also verify that the cost statements of the project partners correspond to the work described in the accompanying progress reports.

Further responsibilities of co-ordinator and contractors regarding the implementation of the project are given in Part A of Annex II ("General Conditions") to the contract.

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- Project Progress Meetings
These meetings, which may concern the whole project or particular work packages, will be held at the discretion of the project coordinator; their scheduling and the level of participation will be determined by the needs of the project. They are normally set out at six monthly intervals (typically in connection with the preparation of the periodic progress reports mentioned hereunder) and their main objectives are: (i) to review progress of the partners to date (ii) to check / revise work programme, schedule or deliverables (iii) to plan the tasks for the next period (list of actions, etc.), including whenever possible interaction with other projects in the same area (iv) to review and discuss progress reports or other deliverables of the partners

- Mid-term Assessment
A 'Mid-term Assessment Meeting' with all project partners and the EC scientific officer will be organised approximately at half contract duration. The purpose of this meeting will be to redefine, if necessary, the "Description of Work" for the remaining part of the contract. Prospects for managing future exploitation of results will also be discussed and approved.

- Co-ordinators Meetings / Topical Workshops
In order to exchange relevant scientific and technical information within a broader audience, meetings involving the co-ordinators in a specific key area and/or topical workshops with additional participation of partners of various projects may be held according to the progress of the work. As a consequence, a cluster of projects may be set up with the aim to improve the interaction of research activities in the same area.

The organisation of co-ordinators meetings will be undertaken by the EC, whereas the organisation of topical workshops is the responsibility of the co-ordinator. In agreement with the partners, the workshops could be open to representatives from external organisations.

- FISA Symposium
The FISA symposium will be organised by the EC every two years aiming at presenting plenary overview papers as well as the achievements of all projects in the area of "operational safety of existing installations" to the international community. Participation of the project co-ordinator, or a selected partner, in this symposium is a contractual obligation. The costs of his/her participation will be charged to the project (i.e. they are eligible costs) where the symposium is held within the duration of the contract.

- Other conferences, workshops, meetings, etc.
Participation in other conferences, workshops, meetings, etc, should be strictly limited to that essential for the proper and effective conduct of the project and/or the dissemination of its results. Where participation is essential, the costs that can be charged to the contract will, in general, be limited to those for one participant; where the costs of more than one participant is to be charged to the contract, the prior approval of the Commission is required. Prior approval is also required for participation in any conference, meeting, etc, held outside the territory of the Member State, Associated State or a third State where a contractor is established, unless such a destination is identified in advance in this Annex (see Article 14 (4) of Annex II). Moreover, the Euratom Fifth Framework Programme should be always acknowledged in external presentations and publications.

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The reports identified below should be submitted to the EC Scientific Officer two moths after the period being reported at the latest. For each report the EC will require three copies, except minutes of meetings (only one copy). The reports and deliverables will be kept by the co-ordinator's organisation in a project archive for at least five years after completion of the contract. The co-ordinator will archive and keep a register of all the reports identified below (attributed with a dissemination level: PU, RE or CO) and other supplementary reports/deliverables (e.g. topical reports, databases, CD-ROMs, etc.) produced within the project. The list of these reports/documents will be regularly updated and provided to the EC as an attachment to the periodic progress reports (see below).

- Minutes of meetings
They will summarise the most important aspects of the progress meetings mentioned above (particularly the follow-up actions). Within one month of each meeting the co-ordinator will send one copy of the minutes to the EC Scientific Officer and to all partners.

- Periodic Progress Reports and Cost Statements
At the end of each 12-month period, the co-ordinator will produce a progress report ('Yearly Progress Report'). The yearly progress reports will summarise the work carried out during the last twelve months in reference to the contractual "Description of Work" and highlight the achievements in sufficient detail necessary for the evaluation of the expenditures declared in the cost statement for the same period. They should describe/synthesise progress in the project as a whole (i.e., properly integrating the contribution of all partners) and not comprise just a compilation of unconnected progress reports prepared by individual partners. They will contain at least the following items:

• an update of the work schedule: a Gantt or PERT chart (if possible) indicating actual task completion dates,
• a summary description of the work carried out and the scientific results obtained during the reporting period,
• planned activities for the next reporting period,
• tables or charts summarising resource usage, and
• updated list of documents included in the project archive.

At the middle of each 12-month period a shorter progress report ('Half-yearly Progress Report') will also be produced by the co-ordinator. The half-yearly progress reports will consist of a summary of the main achievements and activities as each partner reports them, together with a technical and managerial summary of the co-ordinator, which should also enable to check the progress made against the objectives, the milestones and the manpower allocation.

Both the yearly and the half-yearly progress reports are due two months after the reporting period. Those progress reports are for internal use only (i.e. restricted to the EC and the partners of the project). With agreement of the partners, however, those reports may be distributed to other projects in the same programme. The co-ordinator will provide three paper copies of the progress reports to the EC and one paper copy to the partners of the project. If the submission time of any of these periodic reports coincides with the mid-term report (see below) only the latter should be submitted to the EC.

- Mid-term Assessment Report
This report will form the basis for the formal, mid-term, review and assessment of progress made and will be used to prepare the 'Mid-term Assessment' meeting mentioned above. It will be submitted to the EC one month before the scheduled date for that meeting and it will be updated and finalised soon after that meeting.

- Final Report and Final Cost Statements
At the end of the contractual period the co-ordinator will produce the final report, which will consist of two versions, i.e. an extended version for internal use within the partnership and a synthesis version for external use.

Both versions will document the contractual work undertaken and its results obtained in such a way that the specific and overall accomplishments of the objectives of the project could be evaluated. They will start with an executive summary (~1 page) and contain the appropriate sections addressing objectives, approach adopted, results and conclusions. They will be written in a format to be defined by the EC at least six months before the end of the project and should be submitted to the EC for review and within two months after conclusion of the contract.

The synthesis versions of all final reports of a cluster of projects in the same area will be collected by the EC and published by the Office for European Publications. Final distribution will be organised by the EC.

The final cost statements for the final period will be submitted not later than two months after the approval of the last project deliverable.

All reports and cost statements will be submitted to the EC scientific officer only by the co-ordinator.

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