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PARTICIPATION PROTOCOL

Formulario de inclusión en base de datos (32KB)
Formulario de solicitud de proyecto (118KB)

*_ This document establishes the operational rules that will govern the participation of organisations, companies and research groups, and the approval of projects to be carried out on the On-the-Move Services Platform - Cartuja 93, also known as the Minerva Project.

Characteristics of the beneficiary organisations and projects

Beneficiary Organisations

*_ Two types of organisations can access the Minerva On-the-Move Services Platform to conduct their own projects:
** "Companies", preferably SMEs whose registered office is in Andalusia, because of the regional nature of this project.
** "Research groups" recognised by the Andalusian Research Plan (PAI), through its legal representatives.
*_ ALTERNATIVE: The participation of companies and/or research groups from outside of Andalusia will depend on approval by the Technical Committee, as long as said participation is considered beneficial to achieving the project’s objectives.

Participation modes

*_ All projects can be carried out in one of the following modes:
** Individual projects: projects in which a single organisation participates, be it a company or research group.
** Cooperation projects: projects in which two or more organisations participate.

Type of projects

*_ The type of projects that may be approved for execution on the Minerva Platform can be classified according to several parameters:
** Classification by scientific/technical level:
***a Planned Research Projects: The type of projects that may be approved for execution on the Minerva Platform can be classified according to several parameters.
***a Development Projects: Projects whose aim is to apply the results of prior research or existing knowledge; this usually includes simulations or prototypes.
***a Technological Innovation Projects: Projects that apply technological knowledge in the development of new processes, products or services or to improve existing ones.
** Classification by resources requested, according to the Service Platform on which the project will be carried out:
***a Access Network Technology Projects: Projects that need information and/or controlled access to communications network access infrastructures (UMTS and HSDPA) in order to be carried out.
***a RED BOX Projects: Projects that need access exclusively to the Red Box service platform in order to be carried out.
***a IMS Projects: Projects that need access exclusively to the IMS service platform in order to be carried out.
***a DVB-H Projects: Projects that need access exclusively to the DVB-H service platform in order to be carried out.
***a Combined Projects: Projects that need access to several service platforms in order to be carried out.
** Classification by main application sector of the project results:
*_ Projects conducted on the Minerva Platform will also be classified by the main sector where the project results can be applied. Those projects whose main application is in one of the sectors designated as strategic or priority by the Regional Government of Andalusia will be looked upon favourably. For these purposes, the following sectors have been defined as strategic:
** Aeronautical.
** Information and Communication Technologies.
** Metal and mechanical.
** Agro-industrial.
** Biotechnology.
** Emerging sectors.
** Energy and enviromental sector.
** Cultural industries.

*_ Projects with the following characteristics will not be given priority for being conducted on the MINERVA Platform:
** Projects whose aim is basic research, understood as research that is undertaken without having in mind any specific application or use. Therefore, a requirement for projects to be suitable for Minerva is that they must have a specific and practical objective, with possible business applications in Andalusia.
** Projects that do not involve R&D+i activities and/or whose aim is to perform common and usual industrial or commercial activities.

Procedure for the call for projects and their presentation, approval and tracking

Call for projects

*_ The Call for Projects procedure will be closed, i.e., the presentation of applications will be limited to the period between the opening date and closing date of the call for projects.
*_ The dates of the calls for projects are planned together with the activities to publicise the project and training on the platforms.

Presentation of Applications

*_ Applications to conduct projects on the Minerva Platform will consist of two parts, which are included in the following sections of this document.
** Minerva Project Participant Form: which will contain basic information about the applicant for inclusion in a database (Minerva Project Meeting).
** Project Application: which will contain a brief summary of the project objective, description of the tasks to be performed to achieve it and staff associated with each of them, resources necessary, budget and schedule diagram.
** Other documentation considered necesary.
*_ In any case, the deadline for the presentation of the project proposals is 31 December 2009, as the duration of the proposed projects may not extend beyond the Minerva Project"s three-year period..
*_ Those interested must present their application via e-mail (contacto@proyectominerva.org), or at the Minerva Project Information Point located at the ETSI (www.proyectominerva.org). This information point will be staffed by personnel specific to the Project..

Acceptance and Rectification of Applications

* If the documentation presented is incomplete or contains mistakes, the person responsible for it will be given 10 working days to rectify it. If this rectification does not take place, the incomplete application will be considered not to have been submitted.
* Onlythose applications that meet all of the conditions established will be evaluated.

Evaluation Bodies

*_ The bodies involved in the evaluation of the projects are:
** Technical Committee: which will assess the purely technical aspects of the project, according to the criteria stated in the following point, and will issue a report evaluating the application. This will include the classification of each project as suitable or unsuitable and the proposed decision in the case of the former. This report will be sent to the Executive Committee.
** Executive Committee: this will be the body that makes the final decision, based on the report submitted by the Technical Committee and other aspects that are not strictly technical in nature. This committee may change the classification of a project, the resources assigned by the Technical Committee or anything else it sees fit to change.

Evaluation of Applications

*_ The aspects to be taken into consideration in the evaluation of applications will be:
** Scientific and Technological Potencial: In this aspect, the degree of scientific and technological competitiveness and innovation of the project will be assessed.
*** Research / development / work are proposed.
*** Level of scientific and technological development and degree of innovation and progress with respect to the current of knowledge (start of the art).
*** Experience and training of the project team.
** Potential of the Comercial Explotation Plan: In this aspect, the market potential of the expected results will be assessed:
*** Estimated demand.
*** Profitability and associated risks.
*** Exploitation plan for the projects results.
*** Industrial property strategy.
** Potential impact in the region: The impact of the project for Andalusia in economic and social terms will be analysed:
*** Generation of a critical mass of knowledge in areas and disciplines that are strategic for the region.
*** Generation of wealth (attracting investment, increased production, development of ancillary industry, etc).
*** Generation of employment.
** Formulation and planning of the project and the application: The methodology and work plan presented to achieve the objectives will be analysed, as will the available/requested resources:
*** Statement of the projects objectives, results and activities. Methodology and work plan.
*** Compatibility of the available resources and those necessary to undertake the tasks involved in the project.
*** Appropiateness of the resources requested.
*_ Proposals that involve collaboration (two or more organisations that carry out the project), and especially university-business collaboration, will be looked upon favourably.
*_ Projects will be evaluated competitively. In other words, they will not be evaluated individually, but with all applications in the call for projects being taken into consideration, in order to distribute the resources available in each call as efficiently as possible.
*_ For this reason, the suitability of the resources requested to the objective, planning and expected result of the project will be taken into account and will be an important consideration in the evaluation, in accordance with the resources available at any given moment.

Decision procedure

*i Once a provisional decision has been reached on the suitability of the project and the resources assigned, if the project is approved, the applicant organisation will be notified of this provisional decision and will have 10 calendar days to present any statements it feels are appropriate..
*i After the statements (if any) have been analysed, the final decision will be formulated. This proposed final decision will contain the following information:
** Identity of the beneficiary.
** Identification of the project to be conduced on the Minerva Platform.
** Resources granted to conduct the project.
** Deadlines for project tracking reports, which will depend on the duration of the project, among other factors.

Projects Monitoring and Tracking

*_ Beneficiaries will present periodic tracking reports, in accordance with the stipulations of the final decision, and a final report, to include data about the execution and the results of the project obtained as of the date of the report. Through these tracking reports, the Technical Committee will be able to monitor the project to ensure that it is being carried out in an optimum way and to verify that the conditions established in the decision are being met, especially with regard to the resources assigned and the resources that are actually being used.

Non-compliance and Penalties

*i Based on the reports issued by the Technical Committee on the tracking of the projects, the Executive Committee can suspend part or all of the work in the project when it deems that the organisation is not acting in a satisfactory manner, decreasing the amount of resources granted initially or even withdrawing all of the resources granted to the organisation.
*i Any tasks that have been suspended and any resources withdrawn from the organisation may be restored once both parties (Executive Committee and organisation) reach an agreement on the situation.

Additional considerations

Intelectual Property

*_ The European Union Directives in the field of Intellectual Property for research and development projects will be adopted.
** Knowledge deriving from research and development work will be the property of the organisation that conducts said R&D, unless a contract exists that expressly indicates otherwise.
** When several organisations have jointly conducted a research and development project from which knowledge has been derived, and when the part corresponding to each one cannot be determinated, these organisations will be joint owners of this knowledge.
** When a person who works for the organisation that conducts the research project can assert rights over the knowledge, the organisation will take the necessary steps and will reach the appropiate agreements to ensure that these rights are exercised in a manner compatible with the contractual obligations of the parties.
** When the organisation assigns the ownership rights over the knowledge to third parties, it will take the necessary steps or sign the appropiate agreements to ensure that the contractual obligations between the parties are applicable to the assignee.

Confidentiality Agreement

*_ The bodies involved in the evaluation of projects, i.e., the Technical Commitee and the Executive Committee, agree to maintain the confidentiality of any document, information, pre-existing technical knowledge or any other material that may have been revealed to them relation to the evaluation and execution of the project.
*_ Any publications about the projects of the projects must have the approval of the organisation that is conducting it.