WHO CAN BE A BENEFICIARY OF THIS SERVICE?
For collaborative proposals submitted to any call of Horizon 2020, the following can be beneficiaries of this service:
The principal investigators of proposals for which they will be the project coordinator and who are currently staff members at one of RUVID’s partner universities or one of the joint CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) centres in the Valencia Region, provided that the applicant entity is also one of RUVID’s partner universities or a joint CSIC centre in the Valencia Region.
For individual proposals to the ERC program, the following can be beneficiaries of this service:
The principal investigators of proposals whose applicant entity is one of RUVID’s partner universities or a joint CSIC centre in the Valencia Region.
For individual proposals to MSCA programmes, the following can be beneficiaries of this service:
The supervisors of proposals, provided they are currently staff members at one of RUVID’s partner universities or a joint CSIC centre in the Valencia Region and the applicant entity is one of said partner universities or joint CSIC centre.
When can you request the service?
Project proposals with advanced maturity level: The mentoring service must be requested a minimum of three months before the call deadline.
Project proposals with initial maturity level: The mentoring service must be requested a minimum of five months before the call deadline.
What does the mentoring service involve for the applicant researcher?
The mentor will provide advice and practical recommendations to the applicant researcher based on his/her experience. The mentor will not issue pre-assessment reports nor oversee the search for partners, though they might voluntarily make recommendations in this regard. The mentor will not assist with administrative issues.
The mission of the mentor is to address the questions of the applicant researcher, preferably via email. The maximum response time for each query will be between 3 and 5 working days, depending on the degree of complexity of the query.
Commitments of the parties:
Neither the mentor nor RUVID are liable for any claims by third parties (other partners in the proposal) that may arise in relation to this service. Nor will they be held responsible, under any circumstances, for the success or failure of the assigned proposal.
The applicant researcher may refuse the assigned mentor, though only once. If he/she refuses before the contract is signed, RUVID can, exceptionally, assign another mentor. If he/she refuses after the contract is signed, he/she will not be able to request this service in the future. In the event that the applicant researcher refuses, he/she will cover 100% of the service cost.
The mentor is not required to travel in order to provide this service. If the applicant researcher considers it necessary, he/she may request a meeting with the mentor. The mentor is not obliged under any circumstances to accept the request for a personal interview. If a meeting is agreed, the applicant researcher will cover all transport expenses related to the personal interview, to be held at the mentor’s place of work. The parties can schedule at least two meetings via Skype or similar platform.
The mentoring service ends when the applicant researcher submits the proposal to the European Commission under the call indicated in the mentoring service application form.
The applicant researcher undertakes to provide RUVID with a copy of the submitted proposal, together with the registration confirmation from the Participant Portal. The applicant researcher further agrees to send to RUVID the evaluation report sent from the European Commission. In the event the applicant researcher does not ultimately submit the proposal to the European Commission, he/she will cover 100% of the service cost.
The mentoring process will be monitored by RUVID throughout the duration of the service. In the event of a conflict between the applicant researcher and the mentor, RUVID may act as a mediator to ensure the service is delivered adequately.
Both the mentor and RUVID, as the provider of this service, will agree to and sign a confidentiality agreement in relation to the proposal being mentored.
Before accepting the assignment, the mentor will inform RUVID of any known conflicts of interest associated with the assigned proposal.
There is a conflict of interest when:
The mentor is involved in the preparation of the proposal;
The mentor would be a direct or indirect beneficiary of the proposal if successful;
The mentor, their relatives, colleagues and/or acquaintances are submitting a proposal to the same call to which the applicant researcher will present the assigned proposal.
About the mentor:
All mentors selected to provide this service have been the coordinator of an FP7 or Horizon 2020 project. In the case of individual proposals submitted to H2020 Excellent Science funding calls (ERC, MSCA), the mentors will be previous or current beneficiaries of the call in question.
All of the mentors registered in our database will receive training from RUVID regarding the characteristics and procedures of the mentoring service.
Mentors undertake to provide the agreed mentoring service personally and may not delegate their duties in this respect. The mentors registered in the RUVID database further undertake to accept at least one assignment per year, if so requested by RUVID, unless there is a justified reason or conflict of interest.