Introduction

After the submission of your proposal, the European Commission will evaluate your proposal. You will be notified of each step of the proposal management and grant preparation process, starting with the notification of the evaluation results (the evaluation can take up to five months). 

These notifications will be available in Your Notifications in your area in the Funding & Tenders Portal, explaining how to access the Grant Management Services tool. 

Overview of the Grant Agreement Preparation process and its tasks

Process Timeline
Description
Available tasks
Viewable by
Actor
Notification
Your proposal has been submitted.NoneNot applicableNot applicableYes

You have been informed about the final evaluation results.NoneNot applicableNot applicableYes

Proposals which have been positively evaluated will be invited to continue the Grant Preparation.
  1. Edit Grant Agreement data
  2. Sign Declaration of Honour




Yes

Grant Agreement is ready to be signed by the Coordinator
  1. Sign Declaration of Honour (if not done yet)
  2. Sign Grant Agreement by the Coordinator


Yes

The Grant Agreement is signed by the Coordinator and the European Commission.Sign Accession Forms by all beneficiaries (except the Coordinator)

Yes

The prefinancing payment has been made.NoneNot applicableNot applicableYes


Grant Agreement Data Preparation and Submission

The Coordinator clicks on Grant Agreement Data preparation to edit and complete the necessary forms. 

(warning) New since GMS 2.3 (03.05.2019): Please note that if there are Linked Third Parties in the Consortium, then you will need to download the template for the Declaration of Honour (DoH), ask to be filled in by each Linked Third Party and submit each DoH via formal notification to the EU. This action needs to be done by the responsible Beneficiary.

Once the Coordinator has clicked the Grant Agreement Data preparation task, he can complete the necessary forms in the Grant Management Services tool, which opens with the Project Summary screen. 

Once the grant has been signed, the "entry into force date of the grant" will also be displayed. 

Icons usedDescription

No missing information

Missing information, which is blocking: you won't be able to submit to the European Commission if the missing information isn't completed
Only for information
Warning: not blocking at this point, but might become blocking later


Clicking on Validate will give you an overview of all information which is missing or incomplete. 

The following annexes need to be uploaded under Documents:

  1. Annex 1 - Description Of Action (part B) (mandatory)
  2. Annex 2a - Additional information on the estimated budget of the action (mandatory)

(warning) Please note that when you would like to replace the part B, you first have to delete the previous one by clicking the red cross (delete). Only then you'll have the new upload button available. 

Beneficiaries screens

The Coordinator and the Beneficiaries are automatically listed after receiving the invitation letter. 

(lightbulb) Please check all missing information () and warnings ().

(lightbulb) Please note that you can change the order of the beneficiaries by dragging and dropping

Partner Summary

The Coordinator/beneficiary Partner Summary is automatically listed after receiving the invitation letter. 

(lightbulb) Please add the department (mandatory for all beneficiaries, except for Third Parties)

Financial Information 

The Coordinator/beneficiary Financial Information is automatically listed after receiving the invitation letter. 

(lightbulb) Please check all information and update if necessary. 

Before "only beneficiaries or third parties established in an OCEF country" (OCEF=Other Countries which get Exceptional Funding) were entitled to participate as 'not receiving EU funding'. Now, also "International Organisations (IOs) of non-EU interest" are entitled to participate as 'not receiving EU funding'.

For CSA/RIA/IA: a distinction is being made between Partners (Beneficiaries and Linked Third Parties) eligible for funding but requesting zero funding and those that are not eligible for funding. 

Project Representatives

The possible Coordinator/beneficiary Project Representatives are automatically listed after receiving the invitation letter.  

(lightbulb) Please check all information and update, if necessary, in the roles management section of the Funding & Tenders Portal. 

(lightbulb) If no Project Representatives are listed, please complete in the roles management section of the Funding & Tenders Portal. 

(warning) Both Coordinators and beneficiaries should, as soon as they have been invited, nominate in the Funding & Tenders Portal, their Legal Entity Appointed Representative (LEAR) and Project Legal Signatory (PLSIGN). Once this has been done, the PLSIGN who will appear in the Grant Agreement has to be selected in Sygma. Please note that all other PLSIGNs can sign the Grant Agreement.  

Bank account

The Coordinator Bank Account is not automatically listed after the submission of your proposal. 

(lightbulb) Please select your bank account in the Grant Management Services tool. For more information about how to register a bank account in the Participant Register, please click here

(lightbulb) Enter the last four digits of the IBAN in the pop-up window that appears to select the existing bank account.   

(lightbulb) Click on the "Save" button.

Linked Third Parties

The Coordinator/beneficiary Linked Third Parties are not automatically listed after receiving the invitation letter. 

(lightbulb) Please add Third Parties. When the session is submitted to the EU, a validation request will be sent out automatically. 

Linked Third Parties - Financial information

The Coordinator/beneficiary Linked Third Parties Financial Information is not automatically listed after receiving the invitation letter. 

       (lightbulb) Please enter all necessary information. 

Before "only beneficiaries or third parties established in an OCEF country" (OCEF=Other Countries which get Exceptional Funding) were entitled to participate as 'not receiving EU funding'. Now, also "International Organisations (IOs) of non-EU interest" are entitled to participate as 'not receiving EU funding'.

For CSA/RIA/IA: a distinction is being made between Partners (Beneficiaries and Linked Third Parties) eligible for funding but requesting zero funding and those that are not eligible for funding. 

Specific Legal Data 

The Coordinator/beneficiary international organisation Specific Legal Data will be available and are read-only.

(lightbulb)Any missing fields will be completed by the EU officer. 

Linked International Partner

The Linked International Partners of Coordinator/beneficiary are not automatically imported from the Proposal Submission tool (SEP).

     (lightbulb) Please enter all necessary information:

Add a new International Partner (International Partners may only come from countries not eligible for funding). An International Partner of a Beneficiary cannot appear as a Beneficiary in the same project, neither as a Linked Third Party for the same Beneficiary.

The International Partners are linked to Article 14a of the Model Grant Agreement, for which there is also a corresponding GA Option. If an International Partner is added, the GA Option "Art. 14a - International Partners" is automatically checked.

New since Sygma 10.0 (16.08.2018): The option in Article 14a is also available to International Organisations (IOs) other than International European Interest Organisations.

Please note that "Joint Several Liability" can be edited only by EU Officers. You are also able to replace or delete an international partner.

Linked International Partner- Partner summary

Add all needed information in the Partner summary screen: edit Short name, add Partner Costs (including non-EU funded) and, if necessary, add department. 

General Information 

The Project General Information is automatically listed after receiving the invitation letter.  

(lightbulb) The start date needs to be completed. In case it's a specific date, a justification needs to be completed.

Reporting Periods

The Project Reporting Periods will be available. 

 For ISFP, AMIF, JUST-DRUGS: The default reporting option is fixed to one reporting period and no interim payments regardless project duration. 

GA Information

The Project GA Information will be available and is read-only.

(lightbulb)Any missing fields will be completed by the EU officer. 

GA Options

The Project GA Options will be available and are read-only.

(lightbulb)Any missing fields will be completed by the EU officer. 

Financial Information 

The Project Financial Information is automatically listed after receiving the invitation letter. 

(lightbulb) Check whether the budget table is correct and whether all cost categories are present. 

LF Overview

The Project LF Overview will be available and is read-only () for everybody.

Work Packages

The Project Work Packages are not automatically listed after receiving the invitation letter. 

(lightbulb) Complete all necessary work packages.

(lightbulb) Please note that you can change the order of the work packages by dragging and dropping

(warning) New since Sygma 12.0 (03.05.2019): For IA/RIA/S2R-LS types of action: For the lump-sum pilot actions, it is not anymore possible to indicate a lump-sum share for ‘Ethics requirements’ work package, even if you have planned activities for this work package.

Deliverables

The Project Deliverables are not automatically listed after receiving the invitation letter. 

(lightbulb) Complete all necessary deliverables.

(lightbulb) Please note that you can change the order of the deliverables by dragging and dropping

New since SyGMa 10.1 (21.09.2018):

Milestones

The Project Milestones are not automatically listed after receiving the invitation letter. 

(lightbulb) Complete all necessary milestones.

Reviews

The Project Reviews will be available and are read-only.

(lightbulb)Any missing fields will be completed by the EU officer. 

Critical Risks

The Project Critical Risks are not automatically listed after receiving the invitation letter. 

(lightbulb) Complete all necessary critical risks.

Ethics Info

The Project Ethics will be available and are read-only.

(lightbulb)Any missing fields will be completed by the EU officer. 

Before a final Opinion is encoded by Ethics experts in the Ethics evaluation process, at times, additional information may be requested from the applicant.  


Once all forms have been completed, the Coordinator clicks the Submit to EU button.

Summary of editable screens

Please click here for more information. 

Grant Agreement Preparation termination

Please click here for more information. 



(star) 1. Proposal Management and Grant Preparation