FAQ

Applicants are not consulted by phone in order to ensure the principle of equal treatment of applicants. For specific questions concerning the eSINNIS Portal, please contact the IT Helpdesk: IThelp@esf.lt.

Non-IT related questions should be sent to the following email address:  skills@esf.lt

For transparency purposes, relevant answered queries will be added to the FAQ page.

Applicants can search for a partner in the Social Innovation Match (hereinafter ‘SIM‘) database, which is a platform managed by European Competence Centre for Social Innovation and aims to promote the transfer and/or scaling up of social innovations across Europe.

To register in SIM database please follow the link below: Social Innovation Match | European Social Fund Plus (europa.eu)

Applicants can search for inspiring initiatives in the Social Innovation Match (hereinafter ‘SIM‘) database, which is a platform managed by the European Competence Centre for Social Innovation and aims to promote the transfer and/or scaling up of social innovations across Europe. Currently, around 150 social innovation initiatives are already visible.

To register in the SIM database, please follow the link below: Social Innovation Match | European Social Fund Plus (europa.eu)

If your organisation has already been validated by the Central Validation Service (status ‘validated’) and you have a Participant Identification Code (PIC), which can be found in the register of all participants in EU programmes, you do not need to submit the organisation’s registration certificate. You can check whether your organisation has already been registered here.

If the Central Validation Service has not validated your organisation (your organisation has not yet registered to obtain a PIC, or has registered but the status is still ‘declared’, etc.), please provide the documents proving the legal status of your organisation.

The Call Conditions can be found here: Call documents | European social fund agency (esf.lt)

All support for applicants can be found here: Support to applicants | European social fund agency (esf.lt)

Currently it is not possible to add other users to the application you have created. The application can only be accessed with your user credentials.

The Call Conditions don’t limit the number of applications per applicant.

The minimum requirement for the coordinator to be eligible is experience in managing at least one consortium project (funded by EU or national funds). The list of previous projects must include projects managed by the coordinator or the lead project manager withing the last five years. Please note that for the assessment of the operational capacity of the coordinator, only consortia projects that:

1) involved at least two partners and

2) had a total budget of at least EUR 200 000, and  

3) have been implemented within the last five years, will be taken into consideration.

A template for the listing of previous projects by the project coordinator or the lead project manager is provided in Annex 5 of the Call Conditions. The Word document can be downloaded from Social Innovations for the Upskilling of Vulnerable Youth, Especially Young People not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEETs) | European social fund agency (esf.lt). Once filled in, the list must be uploaded to eSINNIS as an individual annex to the Application Form.

All data provided in the application will be processed in accordance with the applicable data protection legislation, including Regulation 2016/679. It will only be processed for the purposes of the assessment of the application, the subsequent management of the grant and, if necessary, the monitoring, evaluation, and communication of the programme. Details are provided in Annex 1 to the Description of the Procedure for Data Submission via the (e) Social Innovation Information System, which can be found here: MT-053 Description of the procedure for data submission(esf.lt) and in Article 14 of the Grant Agreement.

If an incomplete application is submitted by the Call deadline, it will be declared non-admissible and will not be assessed. eSINNIS does not accept any applications submitted without all the required annexes. Applications submitted after the Call deadline will not be accepted.

If the applicant has not submitted an additional (non-mandatory) annex containing information relevant to the application, it cannot be submitted after the call deadline and the application will be assessed on the basis of the information submitted with the application.

Yes, eSINNIS is the same platform that was used for the ALMA call. Please note that even if you have registered by submitting an ALMA application, you will still have to fill in another form with the same email address to add the rights. To get access to eSINNIS, please fill in the registration form here.

There are no specific requirements on who should upload and submit the application. To apply and become an eSINNIS user, a person must fill in the eSINNIS registration form at https://esf.lt/en/. While filling in the registration form for access to eSINNIS, the person must confirm that he/she has read the Description and the notification regarding the processing of personal data (Annex 1 to the Description) available on the eSINNIS login screen and on the website at www.esf.lt/en/, and provide assurance that the organisation has granted him/her the right to apply. Confirmation by the person that he/she has read the Description and the notification regarding the processing of personal data entitles him/her to submit an application. After submitting the application, the person shall be entitled to receive and send notifications relating to his/her application.

An application can only be printed if it is error-free and validated. Make sure that all errors have been removed and try to print again (select the ‘Request printable document’ button).

Only projects that aim to foster the development or scaling up of innovative methods/practices that have proven to be successful in other contexts, in other countries or regions, or within previous experimentations will be funded.

The application must contain the essential elements listed in Section 2.3.1 of the Call Conditions. Furthermore, the following activities may be funded: 

• Activities related to the mapping and outreach of the target group;
• Preparatory activities for the scaling-up of the innovative approach;
• Activities related to upskilling and/or skills development;
• Activities related to individual counselling;
• Activities related to skills validation and activation in the labour market;
• Support to enable participants to participate in project activities;
• Participation in mutual learning events;
• Project impact measurement;
• Dissemination and communication activities.

For more details, please refer to section 2.3 ‘Activities’ of the Call Conditions. Please note that the applicant must justify how the proposed activities will contribute to the objectives and outcomes of the project.

As indicated in Section 3.2 ‘Consortium composition’ of the Call Conditions, in order to be considered eligible, a consortium must include one applicant (coordinator) and at least one co-applicant from a different EU Member State than the coordinator. In addition, each consortium must include at least one public or private legal entity as coordinator, beneficiary or associated partner, which is a potential co-funder for the further implementation of the innovative approach to be scaled up or replicated after the end of the project.

There is no restriction on whether all consortium entities are of one type, e.g., all consortium members can be public legal entities. However, the applicant must explicitly explain how the member entities of the consortium will contribute to the mutual learning, joint work, and implementation of the project, what each member brings to the process and how the mutual learning will be organised (e.g., peer review or any kind of peer support, etc.). The roles of the consortium members reflect their experience and expertise or their need for knowledge and policy examples. In this respect, it is useful to include in the consortium a variety of stakeholders (NGOs, competent public authorities, training providers, funders, social economy entities etc.).

There are no fixed conditions for the submission of supporting documents from associated partners and/or institutions that will support the project.

Section 6 of the Call Conditions provides information on eligibility, eligible participants, and consortium composition.

Applicants must provide information in the Application Form on cooperation with potential co-funder(s) for the further implementation of the innovative approach. No written agreements with potential co-funder(s) are required.

The project consortium, including the associated partners, may only include entities established in EU Member States.

Only entities established in EU Member States can be part of a consortium.

Projects should be transnational involving at least two partners from different EU Member States. Applicants can form national partnerships as long as the abovementioned transnational criteria are followed. The Call Conditions don’t specify how many national partners the beneficiary has to cooperate with.

There are no specific requirements regarding the field of activity of applicants. Youth organisations can apply as long as they meet the eligibility criteria set out in the Call conditions and as long as they involve at least one potential co-funder for the further implementation of innovative projects.

All projects must establish operational partnerships with at least one partner from a different Member State, but this partner does not have to be from the database above. Please note that the partnership project must benefit the target group and therefore it is up to the beneficiary to know which partner would be suitable for their planned activities.

There is no simple answer to this question. It depends on many factors. The applicant has the best knowledge of the country or region and the target group they want to work with and can foresee inviting partners to help implement the project. It is also possible to think of informal as well as formal partners who will help with the project.

To be considered eligible, a consortium must involve at least one public or private legal entity as coordinator, beneficiary, or associated partner, which is a potential co-funder for the further implementation of the innovative approach to be scaled up or replicated after the end of the project. The application must clearly indicate the role of such institution as a potential co-funder.

The aim of this Call is to transfer or develop an innovative approach in a new context or on a larger scale. The development or scaling up of the method should not stop at the end of the project. The potential co-funder should be involved in order to ensure the sustainability of the project results after the end of the project.

Having at least one potential co-funder is sufficient for the further implementation of the innovative approach to be scaled up or replicated. More detailed information on the eligibility requirements for the composition of a consortium can be found in Section 6.2 of the Call Conditions.

To be eligible, a consortium must include an applicant (coordinator) and at least one co-applicant from an EU Member State other than the coordinator. You can develop further or scale up an innovative approach that has worked well in the UK. However, the UK partner is ineligible to participate in the project in any role.

No, only legal entities established and registered in the Member States and fulfilling the conditions set out in Section 6.2 of the Call Conditions are eligible under this Call.

Only legal entities established and registered in the EU Member States and fulfilling the conditions set out in Section 6.2 of the Call Conditions are eligible as applicants or co-applicants and associated partners.

Project outputs are the results of the activities carried out and must therefore show the progress of the project. Project outputs are very individual as they depend on the project objectives, the planned activities and their structuring into work packages, the specific results, the impact that a beneficiary is planning to achieve. When planning your project outputs, please consider the specificities of projects that aim at developing or scaling up of social innovation.

Yes, persons with disabilities are a target group of this Call.

According to the Call Conditions, the target group of the project is vulnerable young people who, for individual or structural reasons, have fewer opportunities. For detailed information on the target group, please refer to Section 2.2 of the Call Conditions.

This depends on the objectives of your project. For example, you are free to choose to focus only on participants who face discrimination, or on youth who are vulnerable for various reasons.

A beneficiary is responsible for the eligibility of the target group. The information on the participant should be checked in reliable national registers or other reliable sources of information. Please note that the beneficiary has no obligation to provide the Granting Authority with the documents proving the status of a participant, but must keep them and make them available upon request of the competent authority.

The beneficiary is responsible for the eligibility of the target group, i.e., they must document or explain why a particular participant is included in the target group of the project, in case the competent authorities have questions about the eligibility of the participant for the project.

The target group of the Call is vulnerable youth, in particular NEETs, who for individual or structural reasons (e.g., poverty, social exclusion, disability, long-term unemployment, insufficient school performance or vocational skills, migration background, etc.) have difficulties accessing work or training. This means, that the target group is broader than NEETs. Thus, if an innovative approach you are going to develop or scale up aims at facilitating the access of vulnerable young people with a migrant or refugee background to the labour market or education, your project will meet the objectives of the Call.

Please note that the beneficiary is responsible for the eligibility of the target group, i.e., they must document or explain why a particular participant is included in the target group of the project, in case the competent authorities have questions about the eligibility of the participant for the project.

If transnational individual mobility for traineeship and/or training abroad is part of an innovative approach to be developed or scaled up during the project, individual mobility may be an eligible activity. Please note, however, that the mobility activities cannot be implemented in the framework of the ALMA programme, as a Call for the implementation of the ALMA programme has already been launched.

In fact, we recommend that you divide the management activities into two work packages according to the reporting periods (first reporting period up to the 12th month, final reporting period - up to the end of the project). This will allow you to declare the first management work package completed in the first periodic report.

In order to declare a work package completed, the beneficiary will need to upload supporting documents proving that all deliverables of a specific work package agreed in the Grant Agreement have been achieved.

Mutual learning events will be organised for beneficiaries (consortia members) to exchange knowledge and experience in the implementation of projects.

The objective of this Call is to foster further development or scaling up of innovative approaches by applying them in different contexts or on a larger scale. Innovative approaches will be implemented by different institutions involved in the projects. Feedback from these institutions and relevant stakeholders is essential to understand the successes and failures of the innovative approach and to provide insights and recommendations for further development of the approach on a larger scale.

For information on the assessment of operational capacity, please refer to Section 7.2 of the Call Conditions. Under this Call, only the operational capacity of the applicant acting as coordinator will be assessed.

As ALMA projects under the Central call are implemented under single beneficiary Grant Agreements, experience in the implementation of these projects is not relevant to prove the necessary project management experience.

Yes, the coordinator (as a legal entity) must have managed (as consortium coordinator) at least one consortium project (funded by EU or national funds). Please note that a project must have a value of at least EUR 200 000 and must have involved at least two partners (coordinator and two project partners) within the last five years.

The content of the declaration is specified in the Call Conditions (see Section 7.2). The coordinator’s declaration (free format) must certify: 

•  a very good command of English (C1 level) of the lead project manager; and 
• the professional competence and appropriate qualifications of the project team to carry out the required tasks, and the proven experience of the project team in working on each of the three key elements for at least one year. The coordinator must certify that the required expertise in working on each of the three elements will be provided either by the coordinator or by one or more co-applicants or experts. 

In the declaration, the applicant confirms that he/she will ensure that his/her staff have the necessary qualifications. It is not necessary to attach a curriculum vitae. However, the description of the experience and expertise of the staff must be provided in Section 2.3 of the Part B of the Application Form. 

Please note that Section 6.1 of the Call Conditions provides a non-exhaustive list of participants. In this respect, a national governmental institution is eligible to participate in a project in any role. Moreover, the national governmental institution participating in the project may also take on a role of a future co-funder in a project. Although the purpose of including a co-funder in the consortium is to ensure the sustainability of the project results, the active participation of the co-funder in the project implementation is essential from the start of the project. The co-funder can provide valuable insights by monitoring the replication or development of the promising approach. Information on the cooperation with potential co-funder(s) for further implementation must be provided in the Application Form. Written agreements with potential co-funder(s) are not required. 

The Call Conditions set eligibility requirements for consortium members, but not for service providers. However, the procurement of the project must be carried out in accordance with public procurement legislation. 

Please note that beneficiaries who are ‘contracting authorities/entities’ within the meaning of the EU Directives on public procurement must comply with the applicable national law on public procurement and respect the principles of transparency, non-discrimination, mutual recognition, proportionality, and equal treatment when procuring products and services.  

Beneficiaries that do not fall within the scope of the EU Directives on public procurement must respect the principles of transparency, non-discrimination, mutual recognition, proportionality, and equal treatment when procuring products and services. 

The aim of the Call is to foster the development or scaling up of innovative methods/practices that have proved successful in other contexts, in other countries or regions, or in previous experiments. This means that a specific innovative approach to be developed must be selected prior to project implementation. In addition, an applicant must provide a link to evidence on previous experimentation with the innovative approach. 

No, there is no requirement to develop or scale up the innovative approach in more than one country. 

Since a work package consists of related activities, applicants must describe in detail the performance of the activities in the activities part. There is no space for general description of work packages. 

Activities related to mapping are presented (but not limited to) in the Call Conditions. E.g. Desk research activities to prepare other activities targeting the final beneficiaries (e.g., research about the target group, their needs, appropriate methodologies, etc.); 

Activities to map the target groups, their needs, and/or the support already available; 

Reaching out to young people, motivating them, and providing them with guidance. 

Please note, that costs may be incurred only by beneficiaries. Associated partners are not eligible to charge costs. However, associated partners may provide co-financing of further implementation of the innovative approach. 

If the coordinator does not have the required experience (for outreach, learning development or validation), this experience can come in from one or several co-applicants, or from one or several experts (currently employed or planned to be  employed by the coordinator or co-applicant). Please note, that the experience available must be described in detail in the Application Form and declared in the Declaration of the coordinator on proven expertise in working on all three key elements (outreach, learning models, and validation).

A grant can be received only by consortium beneficiaries (coordinator and partners). Thus, regranting is not eligible. 

No, only applicants and co-applicants must have a PIC number or submit documents certifying the entity’s legal status and origin. In the Application Form you can put a dash in the PIC box if you are entering data for an associated partner. Any registration documents for associated partners are required as well. 

Only consortium projects (multi-beneficiary projects) meeting requirements listed in Section 7.2 of the Call Conditions may be considered eligible to prove management experience of the coordinator for operational capacity. Even though the project has transnational partners, if it is not a multi-beneficiary project, it is ineligible for operational capacity. 

Projects which ended or started within 5 last years are eligible for operational capacity under this Call. Be aware that projects which started within 5 last years and have not finished yet are eligible for operational capacity as well. 

The applicant should consider these elements while planning the validation process (Section 2.3 of the Call Conditions): 

- Take into account existing validation services and infrastructure in the country and how these can be utilised in the context of the project; 

- Provide a clear mapping of institutional roles and responsibilities of the validation arrangements; 

- Provide a reflection of how the individual can use the outcomes of the validation process for additional purposes, e.g., to gain exemptions or credits, access further education and training. 

Validation of the skills and their activation in the labour market is one or the mandatory elements of the project. The Call Conditions do not specify the scope of arrangements.

Financial incentives to the NEETs are not eligible under the this Call. You can find the eligible cost categories in the Call Conditions (Section 3.3). For more information you can refer to instructions provided in the Detailed Budget Table. 

There is no template for consortium agreement. Please note that a consortium agreement is for internal use of the legal entities involved in the project implementation. You do not have to submit the agreement to the Granting Authority. 

It is not necessary for participants to have a PIC number. If it is not available, documents certifying the entity’s legal status and origin shall be submitted as an annex to the application.

If the lead project manager has managed as a lead manager a consortium project (whether national or EU project) with a value of at least 200 000 EUR with minimum of 2 partners within the past five years, his/her experience is eligible to demonstrate the coordinator’s operational capacity. Experience of coordination of a project funded by EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment may be relevant for operational capacity as well.

As defined in ‘Social experimentation – A practical guide for project promoters’ (2022), ‘transfer’ refers to the implementation of social experimentation in other contexts (either territorial or to a different sector); ‘upscaling’ refers to the implementation on a larger scale, i.e. expanding the scope of small-scale new solutions to an upper level (from local to regional, national, and/or European levels) to reach a higher number of beneficiaries. 

Expertise in working on all three key elements (outreach, learning models, and validation) is required for coordinator’s operational capacity. According to the Call Conditions (see Section 7.2), a coordinator must have proven expertise of at least 1 year in working on each of all the three key elements (outreach, learning models, and validation). If the coordinator does not have the required experience, this experience can come in from one or several co-applicants, or from one or several experts (currently employed or planned to be employed by the coordinator or co-applicant). Thus, if the required expertise is not available, the operational capacity will be assessed as insufficient and the application will be assessed as ineligible. 

Skills relevant for the green transition could be e.g., technical knowledge, abilities that enable the effective use of green technologies and processes in professional settings or transversal knowledge and skills for environmental responsibility (climate change), protection and sustainable development. 

The content of the Declaration is detailed in Section 7.2 of the Call Conditions. The Declaration must be submitted to certify available expertise in working on all three key elements (outreach, learning models, and validation). If the coordinator does not have the required experience, this experience can come in from one or several co-applicants, or from one or several experts (currently employed or planned to be employed by the coordinator or co-applicant). Detailed information on experience of project staff members and their role in the project must be presented in Section 2.3 of the Application Form Part B. 

The content of the declaration is detailed in the Call Conditions (see Section 7.2). The declaration must be submitted to certify available expertise in working on all three key elements (outreach, learning models, and validation). If the coordinator does not have the required experience, this experience can come from one or several co-applicants, or from one or several experts (currently employed or planned to be employed by the coordinator or co-applicant). Detailed information on the experience of the project staff members and their role in the project must be provided in Section 2.3 of the Application Form, Part B. 

In order to be eligible, project costs must be related to the duration of the project implementation period. Thus, costs incurred before the start of the project are not eligible. 

No, you only need to certify the qualification in the ‘Declaration certifying the professional competences and appropriate qualifications of the project team’. 

In order to prove the operational capacity of the coordinator to manage and implement the project, a declaration and description of the general profiles (qualifications and experience) of the staff responsible for the management and implementation of the project must be submitted. Detailed information on the specific qualifications and experience available should be provided in Section 2.3 of the Application Form Part B (see Section 7.2 of the Call Conditions). If it is necessary to change the staff during the implementation of the project, the coordinator will have to ensure and justify to the Granting Authority that the qualifications and experience of the new staff are at least equivalent to those of the staff named in the application. 

To be considered eligible, project grants should range between a minimum of EUR 200 000 and a maximum of EUR 700 000 per project, but this does not preclude the submission/selection of applications requesting other amounts.

The Call’s eligible costs will be reimbursed up to the maximum funding rate fixed in the Grant Agreement i.e. 80 %. A co-financing of at least 20% must thus come from other resources than the EU budget.

Detailed budget calculations should be provided in the Detailed Budget Table (Annex 1 to the Application Form). Indirect costs are automatically defined in the Detailed Draft Budget Table as a flat rate of 7 % of the total eligible direct costs.

Indirect costs are costs that can’t be identified as specific costs directly linked to the performance of the project. Indirect costs are general administrative overhead incurred in connection with the eligible direct costs for the project. They can include maintenance, stationery, photocopying, postage, telephone and fax costs, heating, electricity or other forms of energy, water, office furniture, insurance, and any other expenditure necessary for the successful completion of the project. Personnel costs of other beneficiaries (not the coordinator) related to project management must be covered by indirect costs as well. 

Costs of infrastructure and durable equipment are not eligible under the Call. If the equipment or other assets planned to be purchased in the project are fixed assets according to the applicant's accounting procedures, their expenditure is ineligible.

Please note, that expenditure on consumables and supplies (e.g. raw materials, office supplies) is eligible if it is necessary for the implementation of the project. These costs must be included in the cost category B2. Other goods, works and services.

The grant under this Call shall take the form of a lump sum grant. The payment of a lump sum is linked to the completion of the corresponding work package. This means that any redistribution of expenses between the work packages is not possible.

The grant under this Call shall take the form of a lump sum grant. The maximum grant rate is 80 %. Therefore, the total project budget should include the calculated contribution of the beneficiary. By signing the beneficiary’s declaration supporting the application, the applicant certifies that the beneficiary’s contribution will be financed from own resources and will not be financed by other funds supported by the European Commission.

In the Detailed Budget Table, personnel costs must be coded in person-months. The cost per unit (person-month cost unit) is the average monthly personnel cost of all employees (or employees in the same or similar positions) concerned. The average monthly personnel cost is calculated on the basis of the actual costs incurred for one person during the last 12 months of full-time work.

Personnel costs are eligible if they:

1. Comply with the general eligibility conditions (Section 2).
2. Relate to staff working for the applicant(s) under an employment contract (or an equivalent appointing act); salary costs should not exceed the average rates corresponding to the applicant’s usual remuneration policy and should not differ significantly from the costs of staff performing similar tasks under an employment contract with the applicant.
3. Are paid in accordance with national law, the collective labour agreement, and the employment contract or equivalent appointing act.

In line with the maximum possible duration of the project (24 months), two prefinancing payments (plus an additional prefinancing, if applicable) and the final payment are foreseen:

- The first prefinancing payment of 50 % of the grant after signature of the Grant Agreement;

- The second prefinancing payment of 30 % of the grant after approval of the first periodic report.

Where the expenditure of the previous prefinancing is less than 70 %, the amount of the next prefinancing payment will be reduced by the difference between the 70 % ceiling and the amount used.

• The final payment (payment of the balance).

There will be no interim payments. The specific frequency, amount, and requirements of prefinancing will be defined in the Grant Agreement. For more details, refer to Point 4 of the Data Sheet and Articles 21 and 22 of the Grant Agreement.

A lump sum will be determined during the assessment of the application on the basis of the submitted Detailed Budget Table linked to the work packages.

Projects submitted under this Call should target vulnerable young people who for individual or structural reasons (e.g., disability, long-term unemployment, poor school performance or vocational skills, migration background, etc.), face difficulties in accessing work or training.

The Granting Authority will not check whether the young people receive any benefits in their home country, but please be informed that the beneficiary must ensure that the project does not receive double funding from the EU budget. Each action can only receive one grant from the EU budget, and under no circumstances can the same costs be financed twice by the Union budget. For more information, please refer to Section 3.3. of the Call Conditions.

Each applicant should plan the budget accordingly to planned activities, thus the budget should correlate with those activities. There are no criteria set for how much grant each partner may or may not receive. The Budget Table, that is provided by the applicant should be clearly planned and balanced accordingly with responsibilities in consortium.

Indirect costs are automatically calculated in the Detailed Budget Table by applying a flat rate of 7 % to the eligible direct costs.

According to the rule prohibiting double funding from the EU budget, a project can only receive ONE grant from the EU budget and under no circumstances can the same costs be funded twice by the EU budget.

The costs of external evaluation are eligible costs if they are necessary to achieve the objectives of the project and the applicant can demonstrate this.

A lump sum will be paid when the results of this work package have been fully achieved (all planned deliverables have been achieved). Therefore, we recommend beneficiaries to break down the work packages for management and dissemination activities by year.

No. Beneficiaries will need to provide supporting documents proving the achievement of the deliverables which specified in the Grant Agreement. Please note, that beneficiary is responsible for financial record keeping in line with national and EU legislation.

The implementation of a project may require the purchase of services to carry out specialised tasks that beneficiaries cannot carry out themselves (i.e., translations, document production, expert analysis, research, etc.). Services cannot be purchased for the management of the project and the implementation of the entire work package.

The first prefinancing payment will be made within 30 days from the date of accession of all beneficiaries to the Grant Agreement or from the date of submission of a financial guarantee, whichever is the latest.

The amounts of the prefinancing payments per beneficiary will be indicated in the data sheet of the Grant Agreement. In order to receive the next prefinancing payment, you must have spent at least 70 % of the previous prefinancing. Expenditure will be determined on the basis of work package completion. Thus, if you have spent less than 70 % of the previous prefinancing, the amount of the next prefinancing will be reduced by the difference between the 70 % threshold and the amount spent of the previous prefinancing.

The quality of the deliverables will be assessed on the basis of the information provided in the Grant Agreement. If the quality is judged to be insufficient, all costs of the work package to which the deliverable relates will not be eligible. Therefore, we recommend that the activities to be carried out and the results to be achieved are planned very carefully, designed to be achievable and described very clearly in the application.

Before the final payment, the final grant amount (accepted EU contribution) will be calculated on the basis of the completed work packages declared in the periodic reports and then the final payment will be made. There will be no other checkpoints, unless there is a need to verify the proper implementation of the project and compliance with the obligations under the Grant Agreement.

To understand the reasons for splitting work packages according to reporting periods, it is important to understand the form of project funding. Section 12.1 of the Call Conditions states that: 

In line with the maximum possible duration of the project (24 months), two prefinancing payments (plus an additional prefinancing, if applicable) and the final payment are foreseen: 

• The first (initial) prefinancing payment of 50 % of the grant after signature of the Grant Agreement; 
• The second prefinancing payment of 30 % of the grant after approval of the first periodic report. 

Where the expenditure of the previous prefinancing is less than 70 %, the amount of the next prefinancing payment will be reduced by the difference between the 70 % ceiling and the amount used. 

At the beginning of your project you will receive a prefinancing payment to ensure that you have the cash flow to carry out your project activities. The first reporting period is up to the 12th month of the project (the periodic report must be submitted by the 13th month). In the periodic report, you must declare fully completed work packages by the 12th month of the project. If a work package is not fully completed (not all deliverables are achieved and submitted, even if one deliverable is not achieved), you will not be able to declare a completed work package. The importance of the completeness of work packages was presented in the info session for applicants on 19 December: 

If a work package has a duration of e.g., 15 months, you will not be able to declare the completed work package in the first periodic report. If all work packages have a duration of e.g., 15 months, no completed work packages will be declared in the periodic report (unless all deliverables are achieved by the end of the reporting period). Moreover, you will be able to declare 0 % of the 1st prefinancing payment used if no work packages are completed. Finally, the second prefinancing payment will be reduced by the difference between the 70 % ceiling and the amount used. 

When planning your work packages, please bear in mind that a certain number of them must be completed by the 12th month of the project in order to be able to declare their completeness and the percentage (not less than 70 %) of the 1st prefinancing used. However, do not split the work packages into very small ones, but group them according to reporting periods. 

There are no requirements to split the grant between the coordinator and co-applicants in specific percentage. All costs must be reasonable, crucial to achieve project objectives and in line with the scope of the activities to be implemented by each participant concerned. 

Personnel costs related to management and coordination by other project co-applicants (administrative staff, financial officer) are not eligible as direct costs. They can be charged only as indirect costs. However, if meetings of the management staff on project management and coordination are planned and travel costs for other beneficiaries will be incurred, they are eligible as direct costs and can be included in the work package for management and coordination. If representatives of other beneficiaries will participate in mutual learning events organised by the ECCSI, their travel costs are eligible as direct costs as well. 

According to the instructions provided in the sheet ‘Instructions’ of the Detailed Budget Table, the breakdown of the costs must be specified in the sheet ’Comments’ if any costs are included under the category 'B.2 Other goods, works and services'. More detailed information on the services procured (type, scope and price of services) is necessary for experts to assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of the costs planned. Please note that the information indicated in the application and in the Detailed Budget Table must be consistent. 

Yes, you should include participation of your organisation representatives in mutual learning events in the application form and costs related to the participation in the Detailed Budget Table. This topic was explained in detail during QA session on 13.02. We recommend watching the recording (from 1:04) https://www.esf.lt/data/public/uploads/2024/02/online-qa-session-of-the-call-20240213_100032-meeting-recording.mp4. 

The experts must have no oral or written communication with the applicant or the partners. If any problems arise during the assessment, the experts should contact ESFA. ESFA will decide whether the beneficiary needs to provide additional information or clarification, or whether the application should be assessed as submitted.

The Section 'Financial and operational capacity and exclusion' of the Call Conditions specifies that under this Call, only the financial capacity and operational capacity of the applicant acting as coordinator will be assessed prior to the signature of the Grant Agreement, unless otherwise decided during the assessment of applications. For more details, please refer to Section 7 of the Call Conditions.

The project start and end dates will be specified in the Grant Agreement. Costs incurred before the project start date and after the project end date are not eligible.

There is no limit to the number of applications that a consortium can submit. However, different innovative approaches must be developed or scaled up.

Applications will be assessed (assessment against admissibility, eligibility, award criteria) and applicants will be informed of the assessment results by the end of June. After the assessment of the applications, the financial capacity of the coordinators of the pre-selected applications will be assessed. It will also be checked that applicants and co-applicants are not excluded from participating in the Call. The final funding decision will be taken after the above-mentioned checks and is expected by the end of August.

Yes. Instructions on how to upload a case study on the SIM database and other relevant information can be found in the SIM DATABASE FACT SHEET.

We expect to sign Grant Agreements with beneficiaries from July to the end of September.

The project team proposed in the application does not necessarily have to be employed. Please note that in the case of project funding, the coordinator must ensure that the staff employed in the project have the necessary competences and experience as specified in the Call Conditions.

The TOC part must give an overview of the project. It is like a summary of the project on one page. Detailed information on activities, outputs/deliverables, short-term and long-term outcomes must be specified in other sections of the Application Form. 

Please note that outputs and outcomes in the TOC part must not be grouped by work packages. Thus, work packages are filled in automatically, while outputs and outcomes must be specified in summary form for the whole project. 

In the field ‘Presentation of the participant’ an applicant must present each participating institution and its experience in the field relevant for the project. Then, project team members must be presented - name, surname, function in the project (in accordance with employee types specified in the Detailed Budget Table), role and tasks in the project and experience available.  

To conclude, each participating organisation must be presented once. Following the description of the institution all project staff members from that institution must be presented separately by clicking “Add member”.