BESTPRAC is a COST network that gathers people working at universities and research-driven institutions who are carrying out different tasks to support EU-funded research projects.
Since 2014, the network serves as a platform for exchanging experiences, sharing and developing best practices, encouraging knowledge sharing and increasing efficiency in research administration.
Twice a year, the network organises joint meetings of its members. The 11th BESTPRAC Working Group meeting was held from March 11-12 at the Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia and gathered over 100 people from different European countries.
As part of the meeting, two plenary sessions were held for all participants. The first one was held by Peter Härtwich from DG Research & Innovation on the EU Funding&Tenders portal. The portal was recently launched by the European Commission and it contains many novelties in comparison to the Research Participant portal previously used for applying for and implementation of Horizon 2020 projects. In the other plenary session, “The Art of Writing”, Ellen Schenk from Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam presented the most important aspects of writing a successful funding proposal with useful tips on how to make a funding proposal stand out.
The Administration group discussed the next multiannual financial framework 2021-2027 and presented facts about Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ programmes known at this point. A discussion on how to better engage with the government, business & civil sector was also held as well as two sessions designed to develop soft skills needed in research administration.
Viktorija Vaitkeviciene from Marine Research Institute of Klaipeda University has attended the meetings of Administration Group.
The focus of the Finance group during this meeting was on updating the Financial guide for Horizon 2020 and the development of a Coordinator`s Survival Kit – both documents which will be made available on the BESTPRAC website and will be highly useful to anyone preparing or managing H2020 projects.
The Legal group discussed different experiences in implementing GDPR, followed by sessions about technology transfer (spin-offs), synergies between Horizon 2020 and other European funded projects and support in writing project proposals in H2020 (Impact section).
You can find more information about BESTPRAC at www.bestprac.eu.
