EU Commission Funding

The European Commission offers various funding programs, such as Horizon Europe, ERC (European Research Council) grants, and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. Determine which program best fits your research project. Imperial’s European Commission pages provide an overview of each of these schemes.

Ensure the intended research project meets the scope and call outline for the chosen funding program. Each program has specific requirements, so review the guidelines carefully.  The PI does not need to be employed by the host institution at the time of proposal submission, but this must be confirmed, and commitment sought from the relevant Department prior to submission.

Please also consult the Imperial EU webpage ‘Participating in Horizon Europe’ for Imperial -specific supplemental advice and guidance and to contact the EU Team.  

Prepare and plan the budget on Worktribe following the call guidance ensuring all allowable costs are included in the budget. All grant submissions will require an indicative budget at application and the full set of approvals following the Worktribe authorisation process. This includes those schemes with set budgets (eg MSCA Fellowships)

All proposal budget information should be entered in Euros. Costings are calculated in sterling using the applicable exchange rate at the time of submission. Guidance for this can be found here.  

Research Proposal: Develop a detailed research proposal outlining your project's objectives, methodology, expected outcomes, and alignment with the funding program's goals.  

Supporting Documents: Gather necessary supporting documents, such as letters of support, institutional authorisation, and previous research achievements.  

Comply with Requirements: Imperial’s Golden Rules webpages provide helpful information, advice and guidance when planning and preparing an EU Proposal

Imperial have produced guidance for the preparation of Marie-Slodowska Curie Personal Fellowship applications here

• Online Portal: Register on the European Commission's Funding & Tenders Portal. This portal is the primary platform for submitting applications. Applications for European Commission grants requires a single Principal Investigator (PI) to submit the application on behalf of Imperial -RS/JRO will not be able to submit on the portal. 

• Complete Application: Fill out the application form with accurate and detailed information. Upload all required documents and ensure they are correctly formatted.  

• Helpful guidance on these steps is available here;  How to participate - Funding | EU Funding & Tenders Portal 

In line with the Imperial approval and authorisation process, aim to submit the Worktribe budget for approval no later than 5 working days prior to the funder deadline.  

Ensure you submit your application via the portal before the specified deadline as late submissions are typically not accepted. Deadlines are commonly 4pm (GMT) so please ensure that plenty of time is given to aid a smooth submission path. After submission, monitor the status of your application through the portal. Be prepared to provide additional information if requested.  

Notification of Award:  

Successful applicants receive a grant agreement usually within five months of the application closing deadline. This agreement is a legal commitment outlining the terms and conditions of the funding. For multi-party awards, a Consortium Agreement will be required which the Research Office EU team will negotiate on behalf of Imperial. 

Notification emails are sent to coordinators (or applicants in the case of ERC or Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships) and copied to everyone who has access to the proposal on the EC Portal. Once results are notified, evaluation reports are available on the EC portal. For successful projects a grant preparation phase is opened for the project on the portal – accessed through “My Projects” on the portal.

Further details on managing your EU grant at Imperial can be found on the Post Award Golden Rules webpages.  

The EU Funding and Tenders Portal provides information and Guidance on the Grant management process and monitoring requirements.  

Each proposal must complete an Ethics Self-assessment (proposal Part A Ethics Issue Table). If the proposal affirms the existence of any issues in the table, the applicants must explain in the proposal form and provide any additional supporting documents. Refer to the Commission’s How to complete your ethics self-assessment guide to complete the table. 

Successful European Commission projects are required to undergo an ethical review and a report will be requested for award holders to review and complete. Depending on the project, some grant agreements may not be signed until the ethics report is received and confirmed.  

Information on the EC ethics process can be found on the European Commission's website. 

All H2020 and Horizon Europe funding schemes - except for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) - are subject to a project-level audit at the end of an award if: 

• H2020: total expenditure exceeds €325,000 excluding overheads and partner costs. 

• Horizon Europe: total expenditure exceeds €430,000 including overheads and excluding partner costs.  

These audits are called a Certificate on the Financial Statements (CFS) and must be completed within 60 days of the award end date. Required supporting documents for CFSs include timesheets.   

The European Commission can also conduct financial and scientific audits at any time during project implementation and up to 5 years after a project’s end date. All funding schemes with any level of expenditure are within scope of these audits, including MSCA actions. These audits differ in scope, objectives and complexity to CFSs. They involve comprehensive review of Imperial’s internal controls, processes, policies and systems, extensive documentation, and interviews with key personnel. Multiple EU awards held across Imperial can be sampled during a single audit. 

Research data management, including Open Access provision is mandatory for Horizon Europe grants. A data management plan must be provided when applying for funding and any relevant costs related to compliance can be included in the project budget.   

More information on Open Access and data management at Imperial can be found here.  

All EC awards will have scientific and financial reporting requirements. 

Most projects require continuous reporting against project deliverables and milestones which feeds into periodic reporting. Periodic reports are usually due every 18 months (depending on the length of the project) and at the end of the project – please check individual terms and conditions to ensure compliance.  

Detailed EC guidance on reporting can be found on the EC website. 

Specific guidance on scientific reporting and how to submit this for ERC projects can be found here.  

All categories of staff (including PIs, Co-Is, PhD Students and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellows) charged to EC funded projects (including the UKRI Guarantee Schemes) are required to complete timesheets. 

Where casual workers are being engaged to work on an EC funded project, in the same way as other staff that are charged to the project, they will also be required to complete timesheets (in addition to completing and submitting Pay8B forms). 

ERC PIs must complete a timesheet even if they are not charging time to the ERC project to demonstrate that they have met their contractual obligations. 

The EC accepts that time entered on the timesheet can vary from month to month but it is important to ensure that costs within the financial system are reconciled to reflect actual time worked on the project. 

Information about absences included in timesheets must match records of annual and sick leave taken. Time taken for work-related travel must be supported by appropriate evidence, e.g. conference documentation, project meeting notes etc, as this will be verified against the timesheet to ensure it relates to the project. 

More information and links to Imperial timesheet templates can be found here.