EU projects

EU projects are subject to audits at certain thresholds.

Please click Audit for more information.

As per the Grants (pre-award) section, at the pre-award stage the EU JRO Grants team work with PIs and department administrators to prepare grant applications for submission to the European Commission and/or Coordinator for the project, often against very tight deadlines. The EU JRO team will use a Grant application checklist to ensure all the necessary considerations have been made prior to final submission. The H2020 Common Errors Pre-Award are often spotted on applications and are here to help minimise the errors at application stage.

Some CEC submissions are in two stages; please click on the Two Stage Application Process (pdf) which explains the process.

For information on H2020 pre-award Golden Rules, please check Golden Rules for main funders (pre-award). 

For information on H2020 post-award Golden Rules, please check Golden Rules for main funders (post-award). 

Please contact the EU JRO Team for costing templates.

The college’s stance is that Imperial should only act as Coordinator in exceptional circumstances and where there are strategic research benefits for both the Faculty and the College as a whole. The reason for this is that there are considerable financial & reputational risks and administrative costs to the College associated with coordinating a multi-party project when compared to participating as a partner.  Therefore, please read these considerations before making your decision about taking on the role of coordinator:

Coordinating on H2020 - Project Management Considerations (pdf)

Coordinator Proposal Submission - H2020 notes for Imperial researchers (pdf)‌ 

Departmental approval is also imperative to ensure the project is in line with the college/faculty/dept strategic aims. Therefore, please discuss this with your departmental manager and head of department as early as possible.  InfoEd approval will also be required within 5 days of the deadline to confirm the department are happy with the costs being submitted.

It is highly recommended that preparation and contact is made with the appropriate project management team at least 10 weeks prior to the deadline for a truly solid bid (preferably 6 months for really large projects).

The RPM are the College’s preferred option when leading on H2020 projects. To find out more information about the RPM, please click on the following link:

Research Project Management (RPM)

Please follow the PMO guidelines, along with the processes for administering PMO subprojects both at pre- and post-award:

PMO Pre and Post Award Process for adding subproject (pdf)

Summary for administering PMO subprojects (pdf)

Please consult the Research Office section on staff recruitment and students for information relating to PhD students on European Commission research projects.

In all instances, please follow the college's Timesheet Guidance on the Research Office webpage.

All H2020 timesheets to be sent to eujrotsheets@imperial.ac.uk, containing the following in the title: Acronym, P-number, Period, Name of Person.  

Please ensure signed hardcopies are retained by your section admin to ensure integrity in keeping with the CEC audit requirements. Failure to do so will result in costs being rejected by the CEC up to 7 years after the end date of the project.

Each month all Section and Dept Admin will receive a Timesheet Due Report (pdf) - 130KB of all funders who require timesheets completed.  These should be collated and sent to the JRO on a monthly basis (or at least a quarterly basis as minimum). 

Please use the Timesheets Checklist (pdf) to minimise errors.

Please also view the list of Timesheet Common Errors (pdf) received in the JRO.  Incorrect timesheets will be returned to the department to correct and resubmit.  Please be aware of funder reporting deadlines so a speedy return will be very much appreciated.

PLEASE NOTE: If an academic/researcher/technician/clinician etc is working on a CEC project as well as another funder who requires timesheets, please could you ensure their time on the NIH and/or Research Council or Innovate UK award is recorded on separate rows on the timesheet, named under the “Funding Source” and sent to the EU JRO Timesheets mailbox (eujrotsheets@imperial.ac.uk).