Preparing and setting up an EC grant
All European Commission project processes are managed and recorded in the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. This includes:
- finding calls for proposals and partners
- submitting proposals
- preparing a Grant Agreement
- submitting reports
- making amendments
Access the EU Funding and Tenders portal
Preparing a Grant Agreement
Process and timeline
Horizon Europe follows a principle of completing the grant process within 8 months of the call deadline.
Successful applicants usually receive results within 5 months and then have 3 months to sign the Grant Agreement.
The European Commission will email project contacts (included at the submission stage) about the outcome of an application. Contact the EU Team in the Research Operations Office immediately if your application is successful.
The Project Officer at the European Commission will then send an invitation letter through the Portal to start the grant preparation process (also known as ‘Grant Agreement Preparation’ or GAP).
The EU Team will contact principal investigators (PIs) and departmental contacts about the GAP process.
The GAP process has strict deadlines, and your project may be rejected if you miss them. You can check specific deadlines on the Portal.
Internal set-up checks
Internal grant set-up checks need to be completed for your project before the European Commission can create the draft Grant Agreement. The PI and Department may need to enter data on the Portal, depending on Cambridge’s role in the project (coordinator or partner).
The EU Team will give full guidance on all steps and procedures involved in the GAP process.
Submitting the first version
The first version of the Grant Agreement data must be submitted within 2 to 3 weeks.
This includes:
- Annex 1 – Description of Action
- Annex 2 – estimated budget
The Project Officer at the European Commission who is overseeing your GAP will check the first version and tell you which requirements you still need to meet.
Submitting the final version
You’ll then have up to 2 weeks to submit a final version of the Grant Agreement data.
Signing the Declaration of Honour
Cambridge must sign the Declaration of Honour (DoH) as soon as possible, and no later than 6 weeks after the invitation to prepare the Grant Agreement.
Before the legal signatory at Cambridge can sign the DoH, approval is required from the Head of Department or someone with the authority to accept the grant.
When your project has been awarded
Contact the EU Team in the Research Operations Office as soon as you find out your project has been awarded.
Budget allocation
Budget allocation depends on the type of EC funding and the call year. It can be based on actual costs, unit costs or lump sums.
The budget in collaborative grants will be set up according to the terms and deliverables (for non-ERC and non-MSCA grants) in the Grant Agreement. Deliverables are distributed across work packages and each work package has an allocated task. Spending must be charged and claimed against these tasks. If this is not done correctly, the European Commission might reject the costs.
The European Commission will review all cost claims and progress reports according to these terms in actual-cost grants.
MSCA grants are based on unit costs – find out more about MSCA grants.
In lump sum actions, grants are defined in advance and fixed in the Grant Agreement for each work package and beneficiary. The European Commission will make payments when all activities in the respective work packages are completed.
These projects focus on delivering the agreed scientific and technical work, as payment depends on the contractual fulfilment of work packages.
Financial reporting to the European Commission is simplified for lump sum grants. Departments will be asked to provide a breakdown of costs by work package before the grant is set up.
Role of the Research Operations Office
We will:
- be the main contact with European Commission Project Officers
- give detailed information to PIs and Departments about the GAP process
- check the information on the Portal is correct and give support throughout the process
- sign the Declaration of Honour and the Grant Agreement (following relevant Departmental approvals) – this can only be done by designated signatories in the Research Operations Office