SCHOLARSHIPS AND INTER-INSTITUTIONAL COOPERATION IN HIGHER
EDUCATION
FINANCED BY THE EEA FINANCIAL MECHANISM 2009-2014, Bilateral Funds
REGULATION FOR APPLYING, SELECTION AND APPEALS, 2016
1. LEGAL BASIS

Regulation on the implementation of the EEA Financial Mechanism
(EEA) 2009-2014

Memorandum of Understanding between Norway, Iceland,
Liechtenstein and the Romanian Government concerning the EEA
Financial Mechanism 2009-2014

Government Ordinance no 88/2012 concerning the institutional
framework for the coordination, implementation and management of
financial support granted to Romania through the EEA and Norway
Financial Mechanism 2009-2014

Government Ordinance no. 23/2013 concerning the financial
management of the EEA and Norway grants

Programme Agreement signed between the FMO and the National
Focal Point

Programme Implementation Agreement signed between the National
Focal Point and the Programme Operator

Guideline for strengthened bilateral relations -EEA and Norway
grants 2009-2104
2. GLOSSARY

Donor States (DS): Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein
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
Beneficiary State (BS): Romania

Programme Operator (PO): National Agency for Community
Programmes in the Field of Education and Vocational Training
(ANPCDEFP)

National Focal Point (NFP): Ministry of European Funds (MEF)
3. TYPES OF PROJECTS THAT WILL BE FUNDED BY THE ROMANIAN EEA
FINANCIAL MECHANISM SCHOLARSHIPS PROGRAMME, UNDER THE
BILATERAL FUND: networking and exchange of experience projects
3.1
STUDY VISITS
Programme
SCHOLARSHIPS AND INTER-INSTITUTIONAL COOPERATION
IN HIGHER EDUCATION, BILATERAL FUND
Project type
Study visits
Description
The main objective of the study visits action is to support
higher education institutions (HEIs) from RO and DS to
strengthen the bilateral cooperation between them, for the
following purposes:
-exchange, sharing and transfer of knowledge, technology,
experience and best practices between the universities
concerned
Study visits grants can be used to visit either an university
which is already a partner of the sending HEI, in order to
enhance the existing cooperation, or another university, in
order to explore new possibilities of bilateral cooperation, of
mutual interest.
Contact between host and sending institutions should be
made before applying and it will be proven by attaching the
official letters of intent from both universities, showing the
support for study visit that aims to strengthen the bilateral
relations/cooperation between them; also, the (draft)
agenda for the visit should be attached to the application.
The Romanian HEI, who should be the applicant, can be
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Who can
benefit
either the sending or the hosting institution for the study
visit.
-Employees of a higher education institution (teaching or
non-teaching staff).
Who can apply
- Accredited higher education institutions (universities) from
Romania and Donor States , with an ECHE approved by the
European Commission.
Application
procedure
The university applies to the PO (ANPCDEFP), following the
procedures described in the 2016 Call for Proposals
(available on www.see-burse.ro).
Deadline for
application
Rolling deadline until 31.10.2016, 22h (at least 8 weeks
before the starting date of the visit), starting with 15th of
April.
Applications that address issues related to improvement of
Roma population conditions will have to be submitted at any
time from 15th of April until 1st of June, 22h and they will
compete for a total budget put aside of 200 000 Euro.
Provided that they will prove a minimum quality level, they
will be financed under the principle “first come, first served”.
After 1st of June, any funds remained not distributed from
this particular fund will be allocated to any type of project to
be recived.
Duration
Minimum
duration :
2 working days
Maximum
duration:
5 working days
If needed, subsistence for 2 additional extra days could be
granted (1 day before and the other after the visit take
place) if this is requested in the application form.
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Funding and
payments:
- Transport and insurance : 500 Euro, lump sum
- Subsistence (accommodation, meals, local transport etc) :
250 Euro/day, lump sum for visits to institutions in DS
150 Euro/day lump sum, for visits to institutions in Romania
Co-funding is NOT necessary.
After the contract is signed by both parties, ANPCDEFP will
transfer 80% of the grant to the beneficiary. The balance (if
the case) will be paid only based on the approval of the final
report.
The minimum amount of the grant per project will be of 800
Euro and the maximum will be of 4500 Euro (in exceptional
cases of 2 persons /project).
EVALUATION AND SELECTION PROCEDURES
Specific
- Only legal entities can apply.
eligibility
- Applying organisations must be accredited Romanian or
rules :
Donor States HEIs with ECHE; the applicant could be either
sending or host institution.
- The project partner should be one university from one DS or
from Romania.
- A grant is usually awarded to the applying university for a
single person undertaking the visit, but, in exceptional cases,
two employees of the university can receive a grant to
undertake the visit together (if the need is well described
and documented in the application). Only one visit is funded
for each potential project and no more than two projects
could be financed for the same Romanian or Donor States
HEI.
Minimum
number of
countries :
Not the case
Minimum
number of
partners :
Not the case
Grant
1. Organisation
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awarding
criteria :
- there is attached the letter of intent from partner university
- there is an agenda and a working programme for the visit
- the programme is clear and reasonable; its duration is
realistic and appropriate
- the role of each participant (visiting or hosting) is well
described
2. Relevance and sustainability
-the letter of intent show a clear commitment to strengthen
the bilateral relations between the two universities
-the working programme contains activities that could
presumably lead to enhance the bilateral cooperation
through joint results, mutual understanding and transfer of
experience and good practice
-there are described actions/activity that will be ran after the
end of the visit, in order to deepen the bilateral cooperation
CONTRACTUAL PROCEDURES
Probable date of notification of the selection results:
20 working days
from the receipt
of the
application
Contracting
The Beneficiary will receive the electronic version of the
contract and will send to ANPCDEFP two original copies of
the contract, stamped and signed both by the legal
representative of the institution and by the participant,
within maximum 10 working days after the notification of
the selection results.
Reporting
The beneficiary will submit a final report within maximum 15
working days after the end of the visit, using the relevant
form on the website www.see-burse.ro
The report will be accompanied by the following documents:
participation certificate issued by the host institution and
travel documents (tickets, boarding passes etc).
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3.2 Small size bilateral cooperation projects
Programme
SCHOLARSHIPS AND INTER-INSTITUTIONAL
COOPERATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION, BILATERAL FUND
Project type
Small size bilateral cooperation projects
Description
Small size bilateral cooperation projects are meant to
support the strengthening of bilateral relations between
universities from Romanina and those from DS, through
cooperation, achieving joint results and increasing mutual
knowledge and understanting; bilateral cooperation shall
lead to results for both cooperating partners, in particular
if there is a focus on joint implementation and results
through shared responsibilities between equal partners.
Thus, small size bilateral cooperation projects could
include activities such as:
-developing Intensive Programmes
-organising joint conferences, seminars, workshops on
topics of common interest (such as academic/scientific
topics, research, inclusion issues –like gender, minorities,
other disadvantaged groups), where , besides participants
from both universities there could be invited international
top experts or lecturers, with expertise in the field
concerned
- developing joint analysis, studies, reports, publications,
on topics of common interest in academic or research field
NB: the list above is not exhaustive. Other activities may
be agreed, provided that they lead to strengthen the
bilateral cooperation.
Who can
benefit
Accredited HEIs from Romania with an ECHE approved by
the European Commission and accredited HEIs from DS
Who can apply
Accredited Romanian universities with an ECHE approved
by the European Commission.
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The Romanian institution applies to ANPCDEFP, on behalf
of a bilateral consortium containing a university from a
DS, besides the applicant.
The applicant could be either a Romanian university that
benefitted already from a cooperation project financed
under the Scholarships and inter-institutional cooperation
programme RO-15 and intends to obtain, through this new
application, extra funding to enlarge the results achieved
under the framework of the former project; or,
alternatively, the applicant could be any Romanian HEI
that has a partner from DS within mobility projects or
other forms of academic or research cooperation so far
and aims to strengthen this cooperation though additional
activities.
At the moment of submitting the application, the applicant
should send also a letter of intent from the partner in DS,
showing the commitment to involve in the activities
described in the application.
Application
procedure
The HEIs send their application to ANPCDEFP, observing
the rules set up in the 2016 Call for Proposals (published
on www.see-burse.ro)
Deadline for
application
Rolling deadline until 31.10.2016 (at least 8 weeks before
the starting date of the project), starting with 15th of
April.
NB: Applications that address issues related to
improvement of Roma population conditions will have to
be submitted at any time from 15th of April until 1st of
June and they will compete for a total budget put aside of
200 000 Euro. Provided that they will prove a minimum
quality level, they will be financed under the principle
“first come, first served”. After 1st of June, any funds
remained not distributed from this particular fund will be
allocated to any type of projects.
Duration
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Duration :
No limits are imposed, but the following should be taken
into consideration:
-the last day of eligibility of costs is 31.01.2017
-for Intensive programmes, the minimum duration is of 5
working days and the maximum is of 20 working days
Funding and
payments:
One project could get a minimum of 2000 Euro and a
maximum of 50 000 Euro.
Eligible costs :
-
travel, insurance for transnational mobilitieslumpsums, 500 Euro.
-
Subsistence for transnational mobilities of staff–
scale of unit costs (based on the number of days),
according to the table « Subsistence and staff
rates », page 14 ; the subsistence rates for students
are 30% of the rates mentioned in the table. In both
cases, additional subsistence could be granted for 2
extra days (one before the start of the activity and
the other after its end), if requested in the
application ;
-
Travel for national mobilities : real costs up to 0.15
Euro/km multiplied by the number of km (roudtrip)
between the city of origin and the city where the
activity takes place ; Subsistence for national
mobilities for staff (mobility between 2 different
cities) : scales of unit costs (based on the number of
days) according to the table « Subsistence and staff
rates », page 14; the subsistence rates for students
are 30% of the rates mentioned in the table;
-
Fees for external experts invited: lumpsum, 230
Euro/working day
-
Organisation of seminars, workshops, conferences
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(renting rooms, renting equipment, sub-contracting
various services, like catering) – real costs ;
-
Staff costs (maximum 20 % of the total eligible
costs of the project) : for the staff working in the
project (actual salaries plus social security charges
and other stautory costs included in the
remuneration) – scales of unit costs (based on
number of days and cost per day), according to the
table « Subsistence and staff rates », page14 ;
please, note that according to the Regulation of the
EEA financial mechanism, the costs of the staff
assigned to the project are eligible provided that
they correspond to the usual policy on remuneration
of the promoter and of the partners ; in exceptional
cases, duly justified by the applicant, the percentage
of 20% could be increased ;
-
Publications – real costs
-
Preparation and production of project
materials/products-real costs
Co-funding : the PO will cover 100% of the eligible costs.
Payments :
There will be an advance payment of 80% of the total
contracted grant, upon the signature of the contract by
the PO. The balance will be calculated and transferred
after the approval of the final report.
EVALUATION AND SELECTION PROCEDURES
Specific
- The applicant will be an accredited Romanian HEI, on
eligibility
behalf of the partnership
rules :
- The partner should be an university from a DS
Required
number of
partners:
One HEI from RO and one HEI from DS
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Grant
awarding
criteria :
1. Relevance
The activities and expected results are clearly relevant to
the objective of strengthening the bilateral relations
between Romania and DS, in general and to enhance
bilateral cooperation between the two unievrsities, in
particular.
Objectives are clear and realistic and refer to an
adequate topic/target group.
2. Quality of the work programme
Organisation of project work is clear and appropriate for
fulfilling objectives. The project planning and the
distribution of tasks/activities between partners is as
such as to guarantee results achieved in due time and
within budget. The implementation calendar is realistic.
3. Added value for bilateral relations in both countries
Larger and further benefits resulted from the bilateral
cooperation between the two unievrsities are clearly
envisaged and demonstrated.
4. Cost effectiveness
The proposed project is cost effective in terms of budget
needed to implement planned activities.
The PO reserves its right to adjust the costs that are
assessed as reckless or that are not directly linked to the
project.
5. Impact and sustainability
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Foreseeable impact on approaches, target groups,
systems and bilateral relations is clearly defined and
measures to ensure the impact are in place.
Also, there is a procedure, methods and instruments to
evaluate the progress of the project during
implementation.
NB: Applications that address issues related to
improvement of Roma population conditions will have to
be submitted at any time until 1st of June and they will
compete for a total budget put aside of 200 000 Euro.
Provided that they will prove a minimum quality level,
they will be financed under the principle “first come, first
served”. After 1st of June, any funds remained not
distributed from this particular fund will be allocated to
projects not dealing with this issue.
CONTRACTUAL PROCEDURES
Probable date of notification of the selection results:
Contracting
Reporting
20 working days
from the receipt
of the
application
The Beneficiary will receive the electronic version of the
contract and will send to ANPCDEFP two original copies
of the contract, stamped and signed both by the legal
representative of the institution and by the participant,
within maximum 10 working days after the notification
of the selection results.
The final report shall be submitted within 20 working
days of the completion of eligibility period. The final
report will include documentation on activities and
payments and it has to prove that the project has
achieved all the objectives and outcomes assumed in the
application.
4. SELECTION PROCEDURES
4.1 SELECTION OF PROJECTS
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PO has the entire responsibility for organising the selection process and taking
the granting/funding decision.
The selection process has two components:
a. Administrative and eligibility check
b. Qualitative assessment (content)
a. The administrative and eligibility check is performed by the PO’s
experts, members of the programme implementation team, using
specific check-lists.
b. The qualitative assessment (content) will be performed by one external
expert.
After finalising the stages a. and b., the projects proposed for funding
(including proposed budgets) or rejected will be submitted to the PO director
for the final decision.
a. Administrative and eligibility check.
The following will be checked:
-
Applications have been submitted within the deadline (as announced in
the 2016 Call for Proposals).
-
Applications have been submitted using the correct application form and
all the compulsory items are filled in.
-
Applications are signed and stamped by the legal representative of the
institution.
-
All the supplementary documents stipulated in the 2016 Call for
Proposals are attached.
Experts will also check if the applicant and/or the partners are eligible for
the measure they have applied for, under the terms of the 2016 Call for
Proposals.
In the case where minor errors or lacks are detected, the applicants will be
asked to correct/make the additions in terms of up to 5 working days from the
receipt of the notification. No modification (completion) which could affect
qualitative assessment will be accepted.
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The rejection of an application for administrative and eligibility check will be
notified to the applicant within 10 working days after the submission.
Applicants rejected as a result of the administrative and eligibility check can
appeal the decision, with arguments, in up to 5 working days from the
publication of results; the appeal will be send electronically to
[email protected] using the specific form.
The appeal will be analysed in two stages: PO is the first instance analysing
the appeal and if the appeal is rejected, NFP is the second instance where the
appeal is sent. If the NFP also rejects the appeal, the decision to reject the
application is deemed final. If the appeal is accepted by one of the two
instances then the application is deemed approved and passed on to
qualitative assessment. The applicant filing the appeal will be notified by email
in maximum 15 working days from the receipt of the appeal.
b. Qualitative assessment (content)
All the applications declared approved following the administrative and
eligibility check, will undergo a qualitative assessment, according to the
criteria described under paragraph 3.
Every application will be assessed by an independent external expert, using
specific assessment forms. The minimum score for receiving the grant is of 60
points.
Rejected applicants can appeal, with arguments, in maximum 5 working days
from the publication of results; the appeal will be send electronically to
[email protected] using the specific form.
The appeal will be analysed in two stages: PO is the first instance analysing
the appeal and, if the appeal is rejected, NFP is the second instance where the
appeal is sent. During the analysis of the appeal, there will be reviewed the
conformity and regularity of the qualitative assessment process (conformity
to internal assessment procedures) but the PO and the NFP will not redo the
qualitative assessment and will not give a different score to the application. If
the NFP also rejects the appeal, the decision to reject the application is
deemed final. The applicant filing the appeal will be notified by email in
maximum 15 working days from the receipt of the appeal.
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Subsistence and staff rates
Donor States
(DS)
Staff costs (per day)
Director
/Project
manager
Researcher
Teacher
Trainer
Technic
al
Administ
rative
150
150
115
80
60
250
300
230
160
120
300
230
160
120
300
230
160
120
Country
Cod
e
Subsistence
(EUR/day)
Romania
RO
Iceland
IS
Liechtens
tein
LI
250
Norway
NO
250
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