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Introduction

The STEP Seal (so called “Sovereignty Seal”) is the EU quality label awarded to the high-quality projects contributing to the STEP objectives. All projects contributing to these objectives will be awarded a STEP Seal.

The "Seal of Excellence" (SoE) is a quality label, awarded to project proposals submitted for Research and Innovation EU funding. It is given to the rejected low-funding proposals and proposals from the reserve list which will not be funded under the available Call budget. However, the projects receiving high scores under the Horizon Europe selection process will be awarded a Seal of Excellence by the European Commission, provided that the projects have been assessed and comply with the minimum quality requirements.

When an Organization or Consortium (a project) are applying for Grants via the Submission tool (SEP) the Call Coordinator indicates via CPS (Call configuration system) whether or not a Consortium fulfills the requirements needed to be awarded a Seal of Excellence or a STEP Seal. By receiving a STEP Seal or a Seal of Excellence, the project(s) gain more visibility and it helps to attract alternative or additional public and private investments. 


Who can access the process

Once the EU decision to award one of the Seals has been taken, the project Coordinator is then informed via an e-mail and a Portal Notification (PNS) message that they have been awarded a STEP Seal or a Seal of Excellence. However, the publication of the awarded Seal on the STEP Portal will only be done, with the approval of the project Coordinator.

(lightbulb) To know how to manage your notifications, please click here.

STEP Seal - Process steps

Step 1: Access the STEP award Publication process

To access the STEP award Publication process the Coordinator has to log in to the Funding and Tenders Portal > click on Proposals > Action > Follow-up within 30 days from the receipt of the email/notification. 

The process will be first displayed in the Grant Management Services (GMS) with the old interface. However, once the Coordinator clicks on the button Open, the task details will be directly displayed in the new interface of the Grant Management Services application:

(lightbulb) For more information about GMS, see Grant Management Services tool.


Step 2: STEP award Publication acknowledgement

(lightbulb) Only the COORDINATOR can edit this process and submit the decision to the EU. All other users with access to this project may only view this task and the associated documents within.

You can follow the metroline of the STEP award Publication process under the General Information. 

*Legend of the colours:

    • green: indicates that the task is completed
    • brown/orange: indicates the current (ongoing) task 
    • grey: indicates that the task has not yet been reached.

You can hide/show the information about the steps in the metroline by clicking on the lateral arrows.

In the Overview folder the STEP award Publication Coordinator indicates weather or not the seal can be published and 'Submits' the task to the EU. 

Note: A second consent for the choice made and confirmation that the task is ready to be submitted to the EU is displayed at the bottom of the message. This action is mandatory in order to enable the "Submit" button. 


Several scenarios apply here:

  • The Coordinator agrees with the publication of the STEP Seal and selects 'yes' from the listed options:

In this case the following information will be published in the STEP Portal (with open public access), under "For investors" section: 

    • Project number
    • Project acronym
    • Project title
    • Project abstract
    • Programme name
    • Topic to which you submitted your application
    • Legal name and address of the applicant(s)
    • Overall budget of the project
    • EU contribution (if any)
  • The Coordinator disagrees with the publication of the STEP Seal and selects 'no' from the listed options:

warning Please note that, for successful proposals, the project information (listed below the publication agreement described above, on this page) will still be published in the STEP Portal. This is due to the part of the information that must be published under the transparency rules of the EU Financial Regulation.

  • The Coordinator doesn't take any action within the 30 days following the receipt of the notification. In this case the SEAL is still issued and made available to the Consortium, but not published in the STEP Portal.
  • The Coordinator doesn't take any action within 30 days following the receipt of the notification (for particular reasons, for e.g. national holidays/technical issues), but he/she still wishes to have the Seal published in the STEP Portal. In this case a special request (DRM) can be created and the Seal is published afterwards.


Step 3: STEP award Publication document

Once the Coordinator has submitted the decision to the EU the Seal is issued and made available for download under the Documents folder.

Note: In the old interface of the Grant Management Services (GMS) the Seal document is available under the Process documents section under the Proposal Management & Grant Preparation process and in the Document Library tab.

A step by step review with the history of the actions taken in the STEP award Publication process is available for consultation under the History folder:


Seal of Excellence - Process steps

Step 1: Access the SoE award Publication process

To access the SoE award Publication process the Coordinator has to log in to the Funding and Tenders Portal > click on Proposals > Action > Follow-up within 30 days from the receipt of the email/notification. 

The process will be first displayed in the Grant Management Services (GMS) with the old interface. However, once the Coordinator clicks on the button Open, the task details will be directly displayed in the new interface of the Grant Management Services application:

(lightbulb) For more information about GMS, see Grant Management Services tool.

Step 2: Seal of Excellence award Publication acknowledgement

(lightbulb) Only the COORDINATOR can edit this process and submit the decision to the EU. All other users with access to this project may only view this task and the associated documents within.

You can follow the metroline of the SoE award Publication process under the Overview > General Information. 

*Legend of the colours:

    • green: indicates that the task is completed
    • brown/orange: indicates the current (ongoing) task 
    • grey: indicates that the task has not yet been reached.

You can hide/show the information about the steps in the metroline by clicking on the lateral arrows.

In the Overview folder the Seal of Excellence award Publication Coordinator indicates weather or not the seal can be generated and if the Consortium agrees that their proposal (including the proposal data and documentation) can be shared with other EU and national funding bodies to find funding under other schemes. Then (s)he 'Submits' the task to the EU.

Note: A second consent for the choice made and the confirmation that the task is ready to be submitted to the EU is displayed at the bottom of the message. This action is mandatory in order to enable the "Submit" button. 


Several scenarios apply here:

  • The Coordinator agrees with the publication of the Seal of Excellence and selects 'yes' from the listed options:

  • The Coordinator disagrees with the publication of the Seal of Excellence and selects 'no' from the listed options:

  • The Coordinator doesn't take any action within the 30 days following the receipt of the notification. In this case the Seal of Excellence is still generated by the system and made available to the Consortium (in the Funding and Tenders Portal), but not published and therefore no information is shared with other EU and national funding bodies.

  • The Coordinator doesn't take any action within 30 days following the receipt of the notification (for particular reasons, for e.g. national holidays/technical issues), but he/she still wishes to have the Seal of Excellence issued and published (so that their proposal could be visible to other funding openings). In this case a special request (DRM) can be created and the Seal of Excellence is published afterwards.

warning More information about the Seal of Excellence and the applicable funding opportunities are available here.

Step 3: Seal of Excellence award Publication document

Once the Coordinator has submitted the decision to the EU the Seal of Excellence is issued and made available for download under the Documents folder.

 

Note: In the old interface of the Grant Management Services (GMS) the Seal of Excellence document is available under the Process documents section under the Proposal Management & Grant Preparation process and in the Document Library tab. 

A step by step review with the history of the actions taken in the Seal of Excellence award Publication process is available for consultation under the History folder: