General guidelines for research plan

In order to streamline the review, the research plan and the review form have the same structure. That is why it is important that the research plan follows the guidelines and structure provided. Be as concise as you can.

The research plan is submitted as a PDF appendix on the tab ‘Research plan’ in the online services. Read the call text carefully and familiarise yourself with the review guidelines and review form before you start writing the plan.

The plan may be no longer than 12 pages, 15 pages for consortium projects.

The paper size is A4.

The font is Calibri 12 pt.

The line spacing is 1.

The margins are 20 mm.

The text is left-aligned.

Do not use paragraph indents.

The font size in tables and images must be at least 10 pt.

Use a single-column layout when writing the text.

The list of references is included in the length of the research plan. The font size in the list is 10 pt.

All references must be added directly into the text, for example as follows: (author(s), year) or [number]. You must not use footnotes.

The maximum size of the PDF appendix is 50 MB.

Write the research plan on our template. Delete all guidelines from the template. You must not edit or delete the headings in the template. You may add lower-level subheadings, if necessary. The application cannot be submitted if the system detects an error in the headings, the page configuration or the structure. The research plan will be machine-checked as regards the above sections. Write the plan in English; the applications are reviewed by international experts.

See the How-to guides for the online services on our website for the technical instructions.

Please, delete these instructions (in grey) when preparing your research plan.

Title of the Research Plan

Applicant (and abbreviation of consortium)

Aim and objectives

Significance of research project in relation to current knowledge, research based starting points:

How the project and the methods used are linked to previous international and/or national research (state of the art)

Research premise, aims and objectives

Please, delete these instructions (in grey) when preparing your research plan.

Research questions and/or hypotheses:

Expected research results and their anticipated scientific impact, potential for scientific breakthroughs and for promoting scientific renewal:

Research impact within the scientific community

Project’s novelty or added value for science

Please, delete these instructions (in grey) when preparing your research plan.

Special objective of call:

Justifications for how the project will address the call objectives and questions

Please, delete these instructions (in grey) when preparing your research plan.

Implementation

Work plan and schedule:

Detailed description of the research to be performed, starting from objectives, scientific references and preliminary data (if available)

Description of research tasks, their implementation and interconnections

If necessary, description of the responsibilities and management related to these tasks

Schedule for project implementation, incl. research tasks and work packages, distribution of personnel resources, and project milestones and deliverables

Please, delete these instructions (in grey) when preparing your research plan.

Research data and material, methods, and research environment:

Research data to be used, justifications and information on data collection or acquisition, data analyses and use of data, taking into account issues such as intellectual property rights

Research methods and how they will contribute to answering the research questions or confirming the hypotheses, or how they will support the chosen approach

Description of local, national and/or international research environment including research infrastructures. Enter the infrastructures to be used also on the tab ‘Affiliations’ in the online services.

Please, delete these instructions (in grey) when preparing your research plan.

Risk assessment and alternative implementation strategies:

Critical points for success, probability of risks, means by which risks can be managed, and alternative implementation strategies

Please, delete these instructions (in grey) when preparing your research plan.

Added value of consortium (if the application is a consortium application):

Description of the value that working as a consortium will add compared to traditional forms of research collaboration.

Read more in the consortium application guidelines

Please, delete these instructions (in grey) when preparing your research plan.

Research team and collaborators

Project personnel and their project-relevant key merits:

Tasks, roles and key merits of the project PI and the project’s researchers

Names and/or level of education of the project’s researchers (if known)

Project’s links to previous research by the PI or the research team, or to some other research

How researcher training will be organised and research careers promoted

Please, delete these instructions (in grey) when preparing your research plan.

Collaborators and their project-relevant key merits:

National and international collaborators of key significance to project implementation as well as their merits

Justifications for the collaborators, description of what is achieved through the collaboration

Please, delete these instructions (in grey) when preparing your research plan.

Responsible science

Research ethics, equality and non-discrimination, open science, and sustainable development:

Information on ethical issues (e.g. ethical governance procedures, informed consent, anonymity of subjects and withdrawal from research) that concern the chosen topic, methods and data

Information on research permits granted or pending

Read more in the ethical guidelines.

Information on how the project will promote equality and non-discrimination within itself or in society at large

Read more in the equality and non-discrimination guidelines.

Publication plan that supports open access (Academy-funded projects are required to commit to open access publishing)

Read more in the open science guidelines.

Brief plan for data management: how the data will be stored during the project, how any legal and ethical issues related to data distribution will be resolved, and where the data will be made available after the end of the project. Funding recipients must submit a full data management plan. The payment of the funding is conditional on the submission of the plan.

Read the guidelines on the data management plan.

Brief description of how the project can advance one or several goals included in the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development.

Read more in the sustainable development guidelines.

Read more about Agenda 2030.

Please, delete these instructions (in grey) when preparing your research plan.

Societal effects and impact

Effects and impact beyond academia:

Brief description of the appeal, utilisation potential and application areas of the research results beyond the scientific community

For instance, provide a self-assessment of the expected societal impact of the research in the long or short term. Impact beyond academia may come in many different forms depending on the research field and the project. For example, science is a source of wealth and prosperity, but it also improves our understanding of the world and enhances the level of civilisation, supports the development of good practices and informs decision-making.

Read more about the broader impact of research.

Please, delete these instructions (in grey) when preparing your research plan.

References

The list of references is included in the length of the research plan. The font size in the list is 10 pt. All references must be added directly into the text, for example as follows: (author(s), year) or [number]. You must not use footnotes.

Please, delete these instructions (in grey) when preparing your research plan.