Funding & Tenders portal – frequently asked questions

Here are the most common questions about using the new project application portal. We will expand the question and answer database as you contact us with inquiries during your application process and will soon be permanently available in the FAQ section for 2021, along with a general FAQ for this year’s competition.

1. By filling out the budget table in the form of Part A of my proposal, can I use the points as a decimal separator in the numbers?

Dots should be used as markers of thousands, and commas for decimal separators. The SEP application system applies this policy regardless of your specific local computer settings.

Some Internet browsers may in some cases automatically translate numbers into a comma format as a decimal separator, but this will not happen in all cases, so be careful to avoid using periods for decimal numbers.

However, most CALLS now use the Part A web form (ie it looks like a web form in its entirety). In these cases, the number will be formatted correctly as you type it.

2. Why is pre-print preview disabled for the administrative form in my proposal?

You can use the Print preview button in the fifth step (Edit proposal) to download the pdf version of the administrative form of your proposal.

However, this button becomes disabled as soon as the call is closed. If you want to have a pdf version of the administrative proposal form after the call is completed, use the download button in step six.

3. Which web browsers should I use to prepare a proposal?

The preparation and submission service on the Funding & Tenders portal supports most standard browsers, but only covers certain versions of them. You can read about the recommended technical configuration on the how-to page.

4. What is the (eReceipt) of my proposal?

The e-receipt in the context of the grant proposal is a digital confirmation from the European Commission that the proposal has been submitted and recorded as such. After the submission of the proposal, a signed copy of the submitted proposal will soon be available to the stakeholder. This signed version contains:

European Commission certificate (EC_Digit).
a copy of Part A as delivered, mentioning the name of the person who submitted it, as well as the date and time of submission.
a copy of the pdf attachments included in the submitted proposal, mentioning the name of the person who submitted them, as well as the date and time of submission.
digitally sealed acknowledgment of receipt of the proposal by the Commission.

To access the e-receipt for your proposal:

Log in to the Funding & Tenders portal and access My Proposals. Click the Actions menu button on the right side next to the submitted proposal and select View submitted.

The e-receipt can be downloaded by clicking the download button on the Step 6 – Submit screen in the Submission Wizard. Please note that this signed copy is available shortly after submission, but not immediately. Depending on server traffic, it may take up to 72 hours for it to become available.

5. The technical solution on the submission portal allows only one attachment. However, the applicant should provide a number of supporting

documents for this call. How will he do it?

When there are supporting documents, you will see a button to upload the attachment type in the Annex in Part B.

Often, various accompanying documents have to be added under “annexes”. When only one type of attachment is allowed, all those supporting documents, if there are more than one, should be loaded into your proposal scanned as one PDF document. After preparing the PDF, go to the Submission system and upload this file via the Upload button.

For further support on using the application system, see the link.

6. What happens during the preparation and submission of a proposal if the number of pages of the contribution exceeds the limit?

In some annexes and for Part B, a limit may be set on the number of pages a document may have. Your document cannot exceed the number of pages, otherwise those pages will be blank and will display a watermark. They will not be taken into account when evaluating your proposal.

Please respect the restrictions listed in the applicant guide for your call before converting the document to PDF and uploading it via the Submission Wizard.

7. In my proposal, why are the pages in the annex blank?

For some of the attachments and for Part B that need to be loaded in step 5, there are special requirements in terms of size, format, maximum number of pages, etc.

To find out the requirements for each attachment, you can click on the questionnaire displayed next to it, on the right.

If there is a page limit, make sure you stick to it before converting the document to PDF and uploading it to the system. Where such a restriction applies, not all pages that cross it will be readable at all, so evaluators will not consider them.

8. The proposal submission system indicates that contact persons are missing, but the proposal form cannot be edited. What’s wrong?

Contact persons must be added in the fourth step of the application system, ie outside the proposal forms. After the contacts are added in the fourth step, they receive an invitation to the proposal, and their details (name, email) are also displayed in the proposal form (part A).

9. The organization information displayed in the proposal submission service when using my organization’s Stakeholder Identification Code (PIC)

is incorrect. What should I do?

The organization’s data presented in the proposal submission service is transferred from the stakeholder register.

If they appear incorrect, contact your organization’s designated legal entity (LEAR) or, if your stakeholder identification code (PIC) appears as “declared” (yet unverified), contact the person who registered your organization (“self-registered”). . If you don’t know who the LEAR or self-registrant is, look for your organization in the stakeholder registry, then use the green “CO” button to contact that person.

10. Can I change the order of stakeholders in the proposal?

The coordinator can change the order of the stakeholders using the Drag and drop function in step 4 – Parties on the proposal submission service screen.

11. If I initially selected the wrong (double) PIC for stakeholder organization in the proposal, can I replace it later?

To replace the PIC in the proposal, submit a new PIC by clicking the Change Organization button in the fourth step of the Parties submission service. This can be at any time before submission.

See the link for more details on how to do this.

No changes are possible after the application deadline, so you cannot change the PIC.

12. What is the seal of excellence?

The Seal of Excellence (SoE) is an EU certificate stating that, although it did not receive funding, the proposal was successful in a very competitive evaluation process and is recommended for funding from other sources.

Together with the evaluation result letter, a seal of excellence should be drawn up for rejected low-funding proposals and proposals from the reserve list that will not be funded.

A list of these proposals can be found on the Horizon 2020 page.

13. How can I access the draft or submitted proposals?

You must log in to the Funding & Tenders portal and go to My Proposals where you can find a list of your drafts and submitted proposals. In the Actions column, click the Edit draft or View submitted button and you will enter the electronic submission service where you can continue to finalize your proposal or review the submitted proposal. Editing submitted submissions is possible until the application deadline, but don’t forget to resubmit it so that the new version can be considered.

14. How can I access the proposal preparation and submission service?

Access to the system for the preparation and submission of proposals goes through the page with a description of the topic of the call to which you want to apply. You must first find the topic by searching for the topic, then select the type of action and click the (Start Submission) button in the (Submision Service) section.

15. Do I have to register my organization before making a proposal?

Your organization must be registered and have a Stakeholder Identification Code (PIC) in order to make a proposal. First, make sure your organization is already registered. The PIC must be used in the submission system, even to start drafting a proposal. All stakeholders should have their PIC. If your organization does not yet have a PIC, you can register it and get a PIC number in the Stakeholder Register immediately.

16. Which parts of the proposal can be edited by each consortium partner, and which parts can only be edited by the coordinator?

By default, the creator of the proposal becomes the coordinator who determines the access rights of other stakeholders of the proposal.

The contacts of the coordinating organization with full access rights can edit all parts of the proposal, upload technical attachments and submit the proposal. Contacts of joint stock organizations can edit their parts of the administrative form and read other parts.

The following list highlights the differences between the roles of coordinator and partner:

Select a call