On receipt, all proposals will be subject to a validation process, to ensure they conform to the requirements of the Call, of the submission procedure and of the rules for participation.

Only proposals that conform to these requirements will be subject to evaluation.

III.3.3. Evaluation

Proposals will be evaluated according to criteria grouped into five categories, as laid down in the Work Programme applicable to the relevant call. The content and the respective weighting of the criteria are described in the Evaluation Manual. Programme specific information on evaluation may also be explained, if appropriate, in Part 2 of this Guide. Ethical aspects and safety aspects have to be taken into account in the process.

The experts examine proposals individually, then meet as a panel to agree a ranking. At this stage, they may recommend that certain proposals should be combined into larger projects or linked together as clusters (see section I.3.3).

Following the evaluation, and according to the interest of Community, the Commission will establish a list of proposals in order of priority. This list will take into account the budget available (which has been set out in the call for proposals) plus, if necessary, a percentage of the call budget to allow for withdrawal of proposals and/or savings to be made during contract finalisation. Late or ineligible proposals, those of inadequate quality or for which there is not adequate budget will be subject to a “non-retained” decision by the Commission. This information, with the main reason for non-retention, will be communicated to the proposers concerned.

III.4. Proposal selection

The co-ordinators of proposals, which have been retained, will be notified in writing. This notification however does not ultimately commit the Commission to fund the project concerned.

A brief report on the evaluation prepared by the Commission will be sent to the proposers via the proposal co-ordinator. Further administrative and financial information will be required to assess the viability of the proposed project.

Hence, participants will have to demonstrate that they have all the necessary resources[xvii] needed for carrying out the project. The Commission will check these, and may seek to safeguard its interest by asking for a bank guarantee or by other measures.

The Commission may also propose modifications to the original proposal based on the result of the evaluation, or in terms of grouping or combination with others.

On successful conclusion of these negotiations, the Commission will then offer contracts for the commencement of work, based on a timetable determined by the needs of the Specific Programme concerned.

Any proposal, which is finally not taken up, due to a lack of available funding for example, will be subject to a “non-retained” decision by the Commission. This information, with the main reason for non-retention, will be communicated to the proposers concerned.

III.5. The contract

Contracts are issued to proposals successful in the procedure of selection.

III.5.1. The various types of contracts

Research contracts from the Commission fall into five main groups. They each have their own detailed conditions, appropriate to the types of action and the activities to which they refer. (see boxes 6, 7 and 8).

III.5.2. The subject of the contract

The main obligation of the participants is to carry out the project to completion in a pre-arranged period, and to make use of or disseminate its results.

In return, the Commission undertakes to contribute financially to the realisation of the project, normally by reimbursing a certain percentage of the project costs[xviii].