Administratin Department Page 1/6 Publicatin Date: 17/12/2015 REIMBURSEMENT GUIDELINES FOR FUSION FOR ENERGY (F4E) GRANTS These guidelines cncern the implementatin f the articles in relatin t the upper funding limits, respectively Article II.14 f the Mdel Grant Agreement fr single beneficiaries and article II.15 f the Mdel Grant Agreement fr multiple beneficiaries. 1.) General rule fr determining the apprpriate rate f reimbursement The Grant funding instrument is applicable t thse cases in which there is a cmmn and shared interest by a beneficiary and F4E fr the successful cmpletin f an actin. In a grant actin, wnership f the resulting intellectual prperty remains with the beneficiary and as a cnsequence the respnsibility ver the final results remains shared. The cntributin prvided by F4E in funding the actin fr achieving the final result gives F4E the unlimited right t use these results. Full cst reimbursement (maximum 100%) by F4E may nly apply t thse csts which are incurred by the beneficiary/ies because f F4E s invlvement. All the csts which the beneficiary wuld have incurred anyway fr the successful perfrmance f the actin may be reimbursed by F4E at either a maximum f 40% r a maximum f 70% depending n the nature f the activities. 2.) Definitins f cst types and their maximum funding rate f eligible cst a. Research and Develpment activities (R&D) 40% r 70% R&D activities are thse directly aimed at creating new knwledge, new technlgy, and prducts, including scientific crdinatin. These activities are assciated with the planned research r critical investigatin aimed at the acquisitin f new knwledge and skills fr develping new cmpnents, prcesses r services r fr bringing abut a significant imprvement in existing cmpnents, prcesses r services. As a general rule, all R&D csts are reimbursed at maximum 40% by F4E up t the verall ceiling indicated in the call fr prpsals. In specific cases, hwever, where the applicant wuld have t purchase durable equipment and assets r ancillary services (durable prttypes, engineering, design, etc.) fr the successful perfrmance f the R&D actin, F4E may increase its reimbursement rate frm this general maximum 40% level t maximum 70% while remaining within the verall ceiling indicated in the call fr prpsals. In this case, applicants will include in their prpsals a detailed list f the csts which they request t be reimbursed at maximum 70%, justifying the reasn why these expenses (purchases) are necessary fr achieving the actin s success. F4E will then analyse the requests and infrm applicants f which csts are nt accepted as eligible fr the maximum 70% funding rate and thus request a revised prpsal frm the applicant. Only thse csts which have been apprved by F4E as eligible fr this higher funding rate will be reimbursed at maximum 70%. b. Demnstratin activities 40% r 70% Demnstratin activities are designed t prve the viability f new technlgies that ffer a ptential ecnmic advantage, but which cannt be cmmercialised directly (e.g. testing f prducts such as mckups and prttypes). These activities are assciated with the acquiring, cmbining, shaping and using f existing scientific and technlgical and ther relevant knwledge and skills. The activities may cmprise prducing drafts, prttypes, pilt prjects, mck-ups, designs and drawings. Page 1/6
As a general rule, all Demnstratin csts are reimbursed at maximum 40% by F4E up t the verall ceiling indicated in the call fr prpsals. In the specific cases, hwever, where the applicant wuld have t purchase durable equipment and assets r ancillary services (durable prttypes, engineering, design, etc.) fr the successful perfrmance f the Demnstratin actin, F4E may increase its reimbursement rate frm this general maximum 40% level t maximum 70% while remaining within the verall ceiling indicated in the call fr prpsals. In this case, applicants will include in their prpsals a detailed list f the csts which they request t be reimbursed at maximum 70%, justifying the reasn why these expenses (purchases) are necessary fr achieving the actin s success. F4E will then analyse the requests and infrm applicants f which csts are nt accepted as eligible fr the maximum 70% funding rate and thus request a revised prpsal frm the applicant. Only thse csts which are apprved by F4E as eligible fr the higher funding rate will be reimbursed at maximum 70%. c. Management activities 100% Management activities include the legal, financial, planning, cntractual (including subcntractr) and administrative management necessary t implement the actin including btaining certificates n the financial statements and n the methdlgy and csts relating t financial and technical audits. In case f multiple beneficiaries the csts related t the management f the cnsrtium agreement can als be claimed. The management csts may als include csts necessary t rganise a call-fr-prpsal/call-fr tender t chse a subcntractr. The csts related t the crdinatin f the cnsrtium cncern the administrative crdinatin and thus can never include csts fr the crdinatin related t the implementatin f the R&D and demnstratin activities. Such csts related t "scientific crdinatin", may nly be reimbursed at maximum 40%. Mst f the prject meetings are scientific meetings and have t be charged as a scientific (RTD) activity. In case f single beneficiaries, management csts are generally suppsed t be lwer as there is nly ne beneficiary. Hwever in case the actin invlves crdinatin with third parties r subcntractrs, these csts culd be higher. As a general rule, management csts als include identificatin f intellectual prperty in a way which is specific t F4E needs (e.g. assistance fr the preparatin f the backgrund declaratin, assistance fr the preparatin f a freedm t perate reprt, identificatin f IP assets frm third parties needed t implement the actin, etc.). There is n limit f csts r percentage f funding which can be used fr management activities. Hwever, like all csts, in rder t be eligible, they must cmply with the cnditins regarding eligible csts, set ut in Article II.12/13 f Grant Agreement fr single and multiple beneficiaries (actual, ecnmy, efficiency, etc.). Ntwithstanding the abve, if a single beneficiary estimates mre than 5 % r a cnsrtium estimates mre than 10 % f the financial cntributin (fr R&D, demnstratin & ther specific activities) as management csts, the higher amunt shuld be explained and further justified in detail in the prpsal. Csts will be in all cases reimbursed accrding t the purpse f the activity, and nt t the nature f it. In particular, regarding travels, rates will depend n the main purpse f the travel: i.e., meetings, travel and subsistence csts cncerning the implementatin f R&D and Demnstratin activities are reimbursed maximum 40%; travel and subsistence csts regarding e.g. the administrative management f the cnsrtium fall under management activities and are reimbursed maximum 100%). Example: In a grant actin with five sub-tasks invlving fur beneficiaries, Beneficiary "A" is the crdinatr f all tasks in the Actin; in this respect it is in charge f: Page 2/6
a) the verall technical and scientific crdinatin f the cnsrtium; b) administrative c-rdinatin f the cnsrtium; c) cmpilatin f the certificates n the financial statements and the prvisin f its wn financial certificate; d) implementatin f sub-tasks ne and tw; Fr the abve scenari, the fllwing reimbursement rates apply: a) Fr its technical and scientific crdinatin f the prject: maximum 40% (e.g. drafting f technical minutes, rganisatin f technical prgress meetings, etc.); b) Fr the administrative c-rdinatin f the cnsrtium: maximum 100%; c) Fr its management csts related t the certificate n financial statements: maximum 100%; d) Fr its R&D wrk: maximum 40% r maximum 70% accrding t Article II.14 f the Mdel Grant Agreement fr single beneficiaries and article II.15 f the Mdel Grant Agreement fr multiple beneficiaries d. Other specific activities Other specific activities are thse that are nt cvered by R&D, Demnstratin r Management activities. The tw main requirements fr csts t fall under this categry are: ther : activities nt part f R&D, Demnstratin r Management specific : specifically required (and identified) by F4E Thse ther specific activities shall be identified upfrnt in the call fr prpsals / letter t unique beneficiary. They shuld be explicitly included in Annex A (Technical Specificatins) and/r Annex B (Quality Assurance Management Specificatins) t the Grant Agreement. These activities may cncern, fr example: Activities linked t IPR, Explitatin and Disseminatin. Specific disseminatin actins requested by F4E: fr example the establishment f a website; the presentatin f the prject during cnferences r wrkshps; the drafting f a scientific publicatin including, if applicable, the payment f a fee fr its publicatin; the establishment and maintenance f an nline material database; the preparatin, publicatin and disseminatin f design and/r test standards fr use by the ITER cmmunity; the preparatin, publicatin and disseminatin f design manuals, etc. - Prmtin f the explitatin f the actin s generated IPR 1 when requested explicitly by F4E (fr example feasibility studies fr the creatin f spin-ffs r "take up" activities regarding the assessment, trial and validatin f prmising, but nt yet established technlgies and slutins). Activities linked t Quality Assurance (QA). QA csts nt cncerning the establishment f a general purpse QA system by the beneficiary/ies, but nly cncerning implementatin f additinal (in many cases special) QA related t the actin cvered by the Grant Agreement. Activities linked t Training. 1 Remark: Actual cmmercial explitatin and any cncrete preparatin theref (as ppsed t the abvementined feasibility studies r "take up" activities), as well as related activities (e.g. marketing) cannt receive funding. Page 3/6
As fr instance the rganizatin f training curses upn specific and explicit request by F4E, fr persnnel frm fusin-related entities (including F4E, ITER IO, ther DA, etc.). This may als include the rganizatin f wrkshps and cnferences with purely training purpses. Activities linked t Travel. In rder fr travel activities t be eligible under the ther specific activities csts categry, they need t be clearly specified in F4E call fr prpsals dcumentatin; e.g. travel t a supplier indicated by F4E t supervise the manufacturing f a cmpnent. Travels t attend prgress meetings are nt eligible; they need t be claimed under the relevant categry f csts depending n the nature f the scientific and technical wrk (R&D r Demnstratin activities). Mnitring activities explicitly requested by F4E (e.g. the mnitring f a separate prcurement cntract); Lgistics and transprtatin csts explicitly requested by F4E (e.g. shipment f a sample r prttype t a labratry r test facility specified by F4E); Manufacturing r purchase f nn-durable equipment and assets explicitly requested by F4E and where the beneficiary has neither previus nr subsequent interest and benefit frm the purchase r manufacture. This applies t equipment, nn-durable prttypes r samples where: - the ultimate bjective frm the grant is the test prgramme and its results, r the prttypes and samples are required by F4E t validate design decisins and specificatins with respect t F4E s eventual manufacturing and installatin in ITER; - there is n remaining r residual accunting value f the item at end f grant (i.e., its accunting value is fully cnsumed and/r amrtised within the life f the grant); - with respect t prttypes and samples, the manufactured r purchased item cannt be used t qualify either the item r a particular supplier fr subsequent series manufacturing phase. Such prttyping shall be dne by F4E; and - with respect t equipment, and based n the abve-mentined requirements, it is nt expected that the item will be used by the beneficiary fr ther applicatins, bjectives r facilities utside the scpe f F4E s grant. If, hwever, the item were t be used fr ther applicatins, bjectives r facilities utside the scpe f F4E s grant, the beneficiary shall nly claim the recrded and prprtinal usage cst incurred/used fr the sle purpse f achieving the bjectives f the grant. Thse csts shuld f curse cmply with all the ther requirements fr eligibility accrding t Article II.12 / 13 f the Grant Agreements fr single and multiple beneficiaries (actual, ecnmic, fr the sle purpse f achieving the bjectives f the actin, etc..) 3.) Applicability f Guidelines Please refer t the versin number and F4E publicatin date prvided in the header f this dcument. These guidelines: - Shall apply t calls r requests fr prpsals that are initiated after the F4E publicatin date f the present Guidelines; and - With regard t signed n-ging grant agreements and FPAs, may be applied - nly after a frmal written agreement has been cncluded between the beneficiary(ies) and F4E; and - nly t thse eligible csts that are incurred by the beneficiary(ies) after the entry int frce f such frmal written agreement (e.g., grant amendment). Page 4/6
Annex: Overview Table Research + Demnstratin Scientific and technical prject management/crdinatin System crdinatin and engineering Lgistic, handling and transprtatin Scientific crdinatin and mnitring f subtasks and wrk-packages (including the activities as the crdinatr); Supervisin f prject prgress milestnes and prject glbal critical path; Scientific review f the wrk perfrmed by the partners including scientific deliverables and the crdinatin f internal prgress reprts; Mnitring f prgress within wrk packages, deliverables and milestnes and the wrk plan, including the verificatin f quality requirements and cnsistency cntrl; Research risk management; Preparatin f the scientific part f the reprts and deliverables t be submitted t F4E; Cnflict reslving relating t technical and rganisatinal issues; Preparatin f scientific meetings (drawing up the agenda, the minutes, travel arrangements); Activities related t the participatin in scientific decisin making bdies such executive cmmittees, scientific advisry bards and steering cmmittees Research, develpment and demnstratin design activities Design and develpment. Fundamental and applied analysis tasks Prcess research and engineering Prductin research and engineering Instrumentatin research and engineering Manufacturing, integratin and assembly Cmpnent manufacturing Cmpnent integratin Assembly Testing and verificatin Research and develpment testing and evaluatin. Demnstratin and qualificatin testing and evaluatin. Acceptance testing and evaluatin. Operatinal testing and evaluatin. Testing and verificatin mck-ups and prttypes. Testing and evaluatin supprt. Test facilities. Operatinal activities Assembly, installatin and verificatin n site. Technical supprt. Site cnstructin Site cnversin Actin-specific instrumentatin and equipment Test and measurement equipment Supprt and handling equipment Tling Page 5/6
Facilities and site management Cnstructin, cnversin, expansin Equipment acquisitin and mdernizatin Maintenance Initial spares and repair parts Data management Basic/standard quality assurance Cmpliance t generic quality standards (e.g. ISO) Cmpliance t applicable natinal safety/health standards Other specific activities Specific quality assurance. Special quality Special safety prvisins Special reliability prvisins Data disseminatin upn F4E request Mnitring f a separate prcurement cntract Special lgistic, handling and transprtatin needs Training upn F4E request Management activities Prject management Legal/administrative Cntractual management IPR management Prject cntrl Planning (e.g. Purchase f Primavera licences) Financial (e.g. Audit certificates) Organising a call r a tender t chse a new beneficiary r subcntractr. Page 6/6