THE APPLICANT'S GUIDE

FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EXISTENT RESEARCH- DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE CREATION OF NEW INFRASTRUCTURES

FINANCING:

A.     SECTORAL OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME "Increase of Economic Competitiveness"

Priority Axis 2 - "Research, Technological Development and Innovation for Competitiveness"

Key Area of Intervention 2.2 - Investments in the RD&I infrastructure

Operation 2.2.1: The development of the existent RD infrastructure and the creation of new RD infrastructures (laboratories, centres of excellence)

B.     NATIONAL PLAN FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION

"CAPACITIES" Programme

The first module - The development of the public RD infrastructure (large investment projects)

Call 2007-

Decision no. 9439/10.12.2007 of the President of the National Authority for Scientific Research

Introduction

This guide comprises the regulations, procedures and criteria to be followed at the call for proposals in 2007 in order to have access to the non reimbursable public funds allocated to "the development of the existent research - development infrastructure and the creation of new infrastructures" through the following programmes:

A.     Sectoral Operational Programme "Increase of the Economic Competitiveness" (SOP IEC), approved by the European Commission in the Decision no. 3472/12.07.2007

Priority Axis 2 - "Research, Technological Development and Innovation for Competitiveness (SOP IEC- RD)

Key area of intervention 2.2 "Investments in the RD&I infrastructure"

Operation 2.2.1 "The development of the existent RD infrastructure and the creation of new RD infrastructures (laboratories, centres of excellence)"

B.      National Plan for RD&I II (NP II) approved through Governmental Decision 475/2007

'CAPACITIES' programme

First module - Development of the RD public capacities (large investment projects)

The guide is divided in five sections, out of which the first, second and fifth sections are general for the projects related to SOP IEC, respectively NP II. The third and the fourth sections apply only to the projects that are to be selected and financed for SOP IEC.

1. First section - General information about SOP IEC (chapter 1) and NP II (chapter 2);
2. Second section - Rules regarding the call for proposals in 2007

Filling in and submitting the application form (chapter 3);

Appraisal and selection of the projects (chapter 4);

3. Third section - Contracting and financing the projects for SOP IEC.

Contracting (chapter 5)

Financing the projects (chapter 6)

Programming and publicity

4. Fourth section - Monitoring and financial control
5. Fifth section - Annexes to the Applicant's Guide

Furthermore, besides this guide, there will be also published another document necessary for the call for proposals in 2007, which is the application form for the non-reimbursable financial assistance granted by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the state budget, with its annexes:

o        The checklist for receivability check (Annex 1)

o        The checklist for the administrative eligibility (Annex 2)

o        The checklist for technical evaluation (Annex 3)

The applicant's guide addresses to the certified public high-education institutions and their components (including academic and clinical hospitals which carry out RD activity), and to public institutes, certified as research organizations.

In the RD infrastructure project proposals there will not be mentioned the option for SOP IEC or NP II, as they will be submitted in a single call.

STRATEGIC DOCUMENTS

The Sectoral Operational Programme Increase of the Economic Competitiveness (SOP IEC), approved by the European Commission in the Decision no. 3472/12.07.2007, represents a strategic document defining the context, the objectives, the strategy, the priority axis fund allocation, the involved bodies and the aspects related to the implementation of the Operational Programme. - published at www.mct.ro (web page dedicated to the structural funds)

The Framework Document for Implementing (FID) the SOP IEC represents another strategic document including all the relevant details for the key areas of intervention and the SOP-IEP specific operations, as well as the funds allocated to the projects, categories of projects, activities, expenditure and eligible beneficiaries, the eligibility criteria for the application forms, etc. - published as draft at www.mct.ro (web page dedicated to the structural funds).

The SOP IEC Environment Strategic Evaluation - published at www.minind.ro/fond.html

The National Plan for Research, Development and Innovation II (NP II) approved in the Governmental Decision no. 475/2007 represents the main instrument by means of which the National Authority for Scientific Research (NASR) implements the National Strategy for Research, Development and Innovation (RD&II). It is a framework programme that includes six programmes defining the general specific objectives, the course of action and the specific indicators, as well as principles of appraisal, monitoring, financial control and contracting the projects carried out within the programmes. - published at www.mct.ro (web page dedicated to the NP II).

LEGISLATION

a) regarding RD activity

- The Government Ordinance no. 57/2002 regarding the scientific research and the technological development approved by the Law 324/2003 with the subsequent completions and modifications

- The Government Ordinance no. 217/2007 regarding the approval of the National Strategy of the research, development and innovation activity for the period 2007-2013

- The Commission Decision no. 3472/2007 for the approval of the SOP IEC

- The Government Decision no. 475/2007 for the approval of The National Plan for Research, Development and Innovation II (NP II) for the period 2007-2013

- The Government Decision no. 1265/2004 for the approval of the methodological norms regarding contracting, financing, monitoring and evaluation of programmes, RD&I projects and actions included in the National Plan for Research, Development and Innovation

- The Government Decision no. 551/2007 for the approval of the criteria and standards, as well as the method of evaluating and certifying the research - development activities carried out by entities having RD as object of their activity

b) regarding eligibility rules

The Government Decision no. 759/11 July 2007 (OJ 517/1 August 2007) regarding the eligibility rules of the expenditure made within the operations financed through operational programmes

The Order no.2508/31/12.2008 of the Ministry of Economy and Finance for the approval of the Lists of Eligible Expenditure for the projects financed within the operations 2.2.1 - "The Development of the Existent RD Infrastructure and the Creation of New Infrastructures (laboratories, development centres)" and 2.3.1 - "Support for the Innovative Spins-off and Start-ups" in the Priority Axis 2 of SOP IEC

The Government Ordinance no. 29/2007, regarding the allocation of the structural instruments, pre-financing and co-financing from the state budget and the National Fund for Development to the budget of the institutions involved in the administration of the structural instruments and their usage for the convergence objective, approved with further modifications and completions by the Law no. 249/2007

The Order no. 911/2007 for the approval of the methodological norms for implementing provisions of the Governmental Ordinance no. 29/2007.

c) regarding public procurement

The Government Urgent Ordinance no. 34/2006 regarding the assignment of public procurement contracts, of public work concession contracts and of service concession contracts, approved through the Law no with further modifications and completions

The Government Decision no. 925/2006 regarding the applications norms of the provisions related to the assignment of the public procurement contracts, with further modifications and completions

The Government Decision no. 1660/2006 for the approval of the application norms of the provisions related to the assignment of the public procurement contracts by electronic means from the Governmental Urgent Ordinance no.

The Order no. 183/2006 issued by the President of the National Authority for the Regulations and Monitoring of the Public Procurement regarding the application of the provisions related to the media publicity contract

The Order no. 155/206 issued by the President of the National Authority for the Regulations and Monitoring of the Public Procurement for the approval of the guide for the assignment of the public procurement contracts, with further modifications and completions

The Order no. 175/2007 of the Ministry of Economy and Finance regarding the approval of the operational manual of observation and checking the public procurement contract assignment

d) regarding national regulations for construction activity

- The Government Decision no. 1179/2002 regarding the approval of the General Financial Statement Structure and of the methodology to elaborate the general financial statement for investment objectives and works, or any other regulations replacing it

- The Law no. 50/1991 regarding the construction execution authorization and some measures for the house execution, republished

- The Order no. 1430/2005 for the approval of the application of methodological norms in Law no. 50/1991

- The Government Decision no. 1072/2003 regarding the approval of the State Inspectorate in Constructions of the economic-technical documentations for the investment objectives financed from public funds

- The Order no. 74/2007 of the State Inspectorate in Constructions for the approval of the methodology to issue the notification note by the State Inspectorate in Constructions for the economic-technical documentations related to the investment objectives financed from public funds

- The Government Decision no. 1865/2006 for modifying the value limits regarding the approval competences of the economic-technical documentations for the new investment objectives

- The General Order no. 486/2007 of the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Accommodation Units and the State General Inspector of the State Inspectorate in Constructions no. 500/2007 for the approval of the procedure regarding the agreement issuance by the State Inspectorate in Constructions for interventions in time upon the existent constructions

f) regarding environment protection

- The National Strategy for the environment protection

- The Government Urgent Ordinance no.195/2005 regarding the environment protection, with further modifications and completions

- The Government Urgent Ordinance no.152/2005 regarding the prevention, the decrease and the pollution integrated control, with further modifications and completions

- The Government Decision no.1213/2006 regarding the determination of the frame procedure to evaluate the impact upon the environment for certain private and public projects

- The Order no. 462/1993 for the approval of the technical conditions regarding the atmospheric protection and the methodological norms of establishing the emissions of atmospheric pollutants, with further modifications and completions

- The Order no. 860/2002 of the Ministry of the Environment and Water Administration (OMEWA) for the approval of the evaluation procedure of the impact upon the environment and the issuance of the environment agreement with further modifications and completions

g) regarding equal opportunities

- The Government Urgent Ordinance no. 137/2000 regarding the prevention and penalization of all discrimination forms

- The Law no. 202/2002 republished regarding the equal opportunity for men and women, with further modifications and completions

- The Order no. 649/2001 regarding the approval of the norms to adjust civil buildings and the afferent urban spacing to the requirements of the disabled, reference PN 051/2000

h) regarding other national regulations

- The Government Decision no. 12/2007 regarding the modification and the completion of the Government Decision no. 79/2003 regarding the community funds recovery and control, as well as the financial infringements and irregularities

i) regarding EU regulations

- The Council Regulations (CE) no.1083/2006 regarding the general dispositions related to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Community Fund (CF)

- The European Commission Regulation no.1828/2006 regarding the establishment of the implementation rules of the Council Regulation no.1083/2006 regarding the general provisions related to EFRD, ESF, and CF, and the Regulation (CE) no. 1080/2006 of the European Parliament and Council regarding ERDF

- The Regulation (CE) no.1080/2006 of the Parliament and Council regarding ERDF

CONTENT

Page

Section I - GENERAL INFORMATION

1. The Sectoral Operational Programme "Increase of the Economic Competitiveness" - general presentation, objectives, priority axis

1.1. General presentation

The sectoral operational programme "Increase of the Economic Competitiveness (SOP IEC) is one of the seventh sectoral operational programmes (the SOPs) - instruments for achieving the priorities indicated in the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) and in the National Development Plan (NDP) 2007-2013. These strategic documents at the national level aim to strengthen and apply Romanian economic and social cohesion and regional development policies in compliance with the European policies and the Lisbon strategy, mainly orientated towards economic growth and the creation of new jobs.

The SOP IEC answers on one hand to the first priority of the NDP 2007 - 2013 "Increase of economic competitiveness and development of the knowledge-based economy" and on the other hand to the second priority of NSRF, that is "Increase of economic competitiveness on long term", contributing at the same time to the implementation of all the other NSRF priorities.

In order to define the operational aspects related to the SOP IEC implementation, the elaboration of the Implementation Framework Document took into consideration both the relevant European policies and the strategies of the Romanian Government, which foster the development of the economic competitiveness and will influence the social cohesion and economic policies:

Strategy for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) (2004-2008)

National Strategy for Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I)

National Strategy for the Development of Communications and Information Technology (CIT)

Objectives

The general objective of SOP IEC is to develop Romanian enterprises' productivity and to reduce the gaps considering the average productivity at the EU level. The measures that are to be taken will generate an average productivity annual growth of about 5.5% until 2015 and will allow Romania to reach a level of about 55% of the EU average.

The priority axis of SOP IEC

Considering the possibilities identified for the improvement of Romanian enterprises' competitiveness to face the new challenges and the opportunities to operate on the European Sole Market, as well as Romania's eligibility for the ERDF funding, there were identified the following priority axis of SOP IEC:

Priority Axis 1: A innovative and eco-efficient production system

Priority Axis 2: Competitiveness through research, technological development and innovation

Priority Axis 3: Communications and information technology (CIT) for public and private sectors

Priority Axis 4: Increase of energetic efficiency and secure supply in preventing weather changes

Priority Axis 5: Technical assistance

The structures within the SOP IEC implementation system

The Management Authority (MA) for the Sectoral Operational Program "Increase of Economic Competitiveness" (GD no. 497/2004, GD no. 738/2004, GD no. 386/2007, with further completions and modifications) operates within the Ministry of Economy and Finance and it is responsible for SOP IEC management, administration and implementation according to the principle of a rigorous financial management principle, as it is mentioned in the Article 60 of the Council Regulation (EC) no. 1083/2006 from 11 July 2006 with further completions and modifications.

Intermediate Bodies (IB)

Intermediate bodies for SOP IEC per each priority axis were appointed for a better implementation of the programmes.

For the Priority Axis 2 "Competitiveness through research, technological development and innovation" the National Authority for Scientific Research (within the Ministry of Education, Research and Young People) was appointed IB.

The responsibilities of the IB are established in the delegation agreement between the Management Authority and the related Intermediate Body.

The Payment unit means the structure within the Ministry of Economy and Finance responsible for the transfer of pre-financing and co-financing allocated sums from the state budget as well as of the non - reimbursable financial assistance to beneficiaries for the Sectoral Operational Programme "Increase of the Economic Competitiveness".

Payment and Certification Authority means the organizational structure within the Ministry of Economy and Finance responsible for the certification of the sums in the list of eligible expenditure sent to the European Commission, for the reception of the funds transferred to Romania from ERDF, ESF and CF and for their transfer to beneficiaries, together with the co-financing and pre-financing sums related to these from funds allocated from the state budget.

The Audit Authority appoints the public authority, at national level, responsible for the verification of the management operations and the control system for each operational programme functionally independent from the Management Authority and the Payment and Certification Authority.

In Romania, for all the operational programmes, the Audit Authority operates together with the Court of Accounts.

Monitoring Committee means the decisional body without legal personality that monitors the efficiency and quality of the non - reimbursable financial assistance implementation through the Sectoral Operational Programme "Increase of the Economic Competitiveness", its utilization and impact, in compliance with the related community and national provisions.

The Priority Axis 2- Research, Technological Development and Innovation for Competitiveness

1.2.1. General presentation

The low level of funding (both public and private) for research, technological development and innovation (RD&I) had as direct results the obsolete RD&I infrastructure, the decreasing number and increasing average age of researchers, and the low performance of RD&I activities. The lack of funding also hindered enterprises' access to RD&I activities and technological transfer.

These weaknesses together with the low participation of the private sector in funding RD&I activities resulted in a large technology deficit of Romanian undertakings and in a low innovation score in enterprises.

In order to address these weaknesses this priority axis focuses on the following objectives:

the increase of research capacity by investing in the development of RD infrastructure and attracting young researchers and high-level experts both in RD institutions (universities and research institutes) and in undertakings with research departments;

the strengthening of knowledge supply from universities and research institutes;

the stimulation of the technological transfer based on the cooperation between RD institutions and enterprises;

the stimulation of innovation demand of enterprises;

the creation and reinforcement of high-tech enterprises and the development of poles of excellence.

1.2.2. Objectives

The specific objective of the Priority Axis 2 is the increase of the RD capacity and the stimulation of the cooperation between the RD&I institutions and enterprises as well as the increase of the access of enterprises to RD&I.

The key elements of this specific objective comprise:

financing of the RD projects which will generate results applicable directly into economy

development and modernization of the RD&I infrastructure capacity

increase of quality and diversification of the innovative services, as well as the stimulation of the innovation request of the productive sector

The achievement of this objective will contribute to the increasing of the RD total expenditure value (GERD) up to 2% of the GDP in 2015.

1.2.3. Structure (key areas of intervention)

The Priority Axis 2 consists of three key areas of intervention (KAI), each one consisting of a number of operations:

Operation 2.2.1 - The development of the existent RD infrastructure and the creation of new RD infrastructures

General Presentation

This operation will support the development of R&D infrastructure in public universities and RD institutes by modernization of the existing laboratories, by the creation of new infrastructures (laboratories, research centers/institutes) and by supporting the construction of pan-European research infrastructures in Romania (EU priority jointly financed by FP7, ERDF-under this operation and other funds). The operation will focus on the following five thematic areas:

Health

Agriculture, food security and safety

Energy

Environment

Innovative materials, products and processes

For the above mentioned areas, as well as for the other priority areas identified in the National Strategy, funds within the National Plan for Research, Development and Innovation 2007-2013 - NP II shall be available.

National Plan for Research, Development and Innovation - NP II

General presentation

The National Plan for Research, Development and Innovation - NP II is the main instrument by which the National Authority for Scientific Research (NASR) is implementing the National Strategy for RD&I.

In order to conceive the NP II, there has been taken into consideration the role of the National Research, Development and Innovation System, namely to develop science and technology in order to increase the economic competitiveness, to improve social quality and to enhance the knowledge with potential to be valorized and to sustain further expansion of the horizon of action.

NP II aims at achieving the three strategic objectives of the National RD&I System, namely:

1. Creating knowledge, in the sense of achieving leading edge scientific and technological results, competitive at global level, in order to increase the international visibility of the Romanian research and to subsequently transfer the results in the socio-economic practice.

2. Increasing the competitiveness of the Romanian economy by innovation, with impact at the level of companies and by transferring knowledge in the economic practice.

3. Increasing the social quality, namely finding technical and scientific methods which support the social development and improve its human dimension.

The National Plan II consists of the following programmes:

a)      Human resources - to increase the number of researchers, their professional performances and the research career attractiveness

b)      Capacities - to give researchers the possibility to work with performant equipment, to benefit from adequate management and to maintain a permanent relationship with the social economic needs

c)      Ideas to develop knowledge, taking into consideration the importance of the fundamental research, which ensures a solid base for the applicative research and technological development both through ideas and the capacity of training the high qualified personnel

d)      Partnerships in priority S&T domains to create the proper conditions for a better cooperation between different RD&I entities, undertakings and/or units of the public administration aiming to provide solutions in the following areas:

1. Communication and information technology

2. Energy

3. Environment

4. Health

5. Agriculture, food safety and security

6. Biotechnologies

7. Innovative materials, processes and products

8. Space and security;

9. Socio-economic and humanistic systems

e) Innovation - to develop the innovation infrastructure and to sustain the competitive and/or pre-competitive research projects initiated by undertakings in cooperation with RD&I entities

f) Sustaining institutional performance - to allow non-profit or public competitive research entities to implement by means of mechanism based on calls their own development strategies in compliance with the RD&I National Strategy.

The management of the programmes in the National Plan II is carried out in decentralized system. The "Sustaining institutional performance" programme and the "Capacities" programme are managed directly by the N.A.S.R.

2.2 'Capacities' Programme

2.2.1. The objectives of the 'Capacities' Programme

The general objective of the programme is to develop the research infrastructure so that researchers could work with competitive equipment and machines in quality conditions and to sustain the Romanian participation in international RD&I programmes.

Derived objectives

Increasing the degree of utilization of the research infrastructure

Development of the research infrastructure

Development of the information and scientific documentation infrastructure

Development of the potentials RD&I resources at regional level

Encouraging the science-society dialogue

Participation of RDI entities to domestic and foreign scientific organizations

Participation of RDI entities to international research programmes

The programme fosters the projects addressing to the priority thematic areas mentioned in the National Strategy for Research, Development and Innovation 2007-2013, which are:

1. Communication and information technology

2. Energy

3. Environment

4. Health

5. Agriculture, food safety and security

6. Biotechnologies

7. Innovative materials, processes and products

8. Space and security;

9. Socio-economic and humanistic systems

10. Exploratory and frontier research (in biology, genetics and medicine; chemistry, environment and the science of materials; mathematics; physics and technological physics; geology and the physics of atmosphere).

NOTE

The first five priority thematic areas are common for the 'Capacities' Programme and the SOP IEC - Operation 2.2.1 (Development of the DR existent infrastructure and the creation of new infrastructures).

2.2.2. The structure of the 'Capacities' programme

The 'Capacities' programme includes four modules, from I to IV.

Module I - for the development of the research material background in the RD institutes and universities, including the regional level, as well as the development RD infrastructures of the national interest. This module is applicable through investment projects for the development of the RD public infrastructure.

Module II - for the development of the RD&I system quality, of its role in the economic environment and its perception in society. It is implemented through support projects in order to strengthen the efficiency of the RD&I system, foster the RD&I activity and enhance the society-science relationships.

Module III - for financial support for the international RD&I projects with Romanian participation.

It is implemented through projects that finance the participation of the Romania RD&I units in winning eligible international projects.

Module IV - for strengthening Romania's participation to international S&T organizations. It is implemented through support projects that promote international cooperation and foster the participation of specific target groups to events where Romania is represented.

The Module I of the 'Capacities' Programme - The development of the public infrastructure RD - investment projects

Derived objectives

The development of the research infrastructure: modernization, consolidation, expansion of the existent RD infrastructure in RD public institutes and higher education institutions (laboratories, installations, high performance equipment, large data bases etc.)

The improvement of the research capacity and the capacity to use and provide specialized technological and scientific services for high technology domains in RD public institutes and higher education institutions

The development of the utilization level of the research public infrastructure: expansion of multiple users' research structures, of research communication and electronic informational services and systems (including specialized high speed communication network for education and research, specialized doorways etc.)

This module within the "Capacities" Programme comprises two RD public investment project categories, as follows:

Small projects, with value under 2,000,000 RON

Major projects, with value above 2,000,000 RON

Large projects between 2 million RON and 60 million RON only are subject to the call in 2007.

Section II - RULES REGARDING THE CALL FOR PROPOSALS IN 2007

Who can apply for funding

3.1.1. Categories of applicants

Applicants must be public RD organizations with legal personality, as follows:

certified public higher education institutions or their components, including clinic[1] and university hospitals (in compliance with Law no. 95/2006 regarding the reform in health and hospitals Law no. 270/2003, with further completions and modifications), with research activity in their statute

public RD institutes:

o        RD national institutes

o        research stations or centres, institutes of the Romanian Academy and RD branch academies

o        RD stations, centres or institutes organized as public institutions

o        international RD centres established based of some international agreements

Applicants must apply the definition of research organizations, in compliance with the Community Framework for RD&I State Aid (C323/2006).

3.1.2. Eligibility criteria for applicants

Applicants are considered eligible if they meet the criteria below. This can be justified by means of specific documents submitted on the specified date in the application form. All support documents are listed in the annex 2 of the Applicant's Guide.

a) The applicant is a certified entity and carries out RD activities in Romania.

b) The type of the entity is in compliance with section 3.1.1.

For criteria a) and b) support documents are mandatory.

c) The RD activity shall be included in the activity object (NACE Code 73), in compliance with to the law. The support document is the Statute.

High-education institutions or research organizations must be in compliance with the definition of the "research organization", as mentioned in the Community Framework for RD&I State Aid (2006/C 323), as follows:

a public entity whose main aim is to manage RD activities and propagate its results by means of publications, education activities or technological transfer;

the exceeding revenue is re-invested in these kinds of activities or in education;

enterprises that might exercise influence upon this entity, as shareholders or members, for example, should not have preferential access to the research capacities or to the research results obtained from the respective institution.

The applicant shall submit an eligibility statement regarding the conformity with the definition related to the "research organization", in compliance with the Community Framework for RD&I State Aid (Annex 4).

d) If the project includes investment in real estates, the applicant shall prove the property ownership or the contract for renting the land and, depending on the case, the property, the franchise or the renting of the building where the investment is to be made.

The franchise must cover a period of 49 years and be valid at least 30 years from the date of submitting the application form.

In the case of franchise, a legal document is mandatory in order to prove the right to invest on the respective land or rented building for a period of minimum 10 years from the date of submitting the application form.

In the case of a renting contract for a building, this must be registered at the Land Registry for a period of at least 10 years from the date of submitting the application form and the right to invest on the rented building must be mentioned in the provisions of the respective contract.

If the project proposal involves only the procurement of equipment, without works on the existent buildings or constructions of new buildings, only a document for the building (title of property or renting contract) is sufficient.

e) The building and/or the land subject to the investment shall meet cumulatively the following criteria at the date of submitting the application form:

- They are free of any charges and servitudes

- They are not subject to any pending resolution litigation to be solved in courts of law regarding the legal status

- They are not subject to the any claims in compliance with special laws in the area

The applicant shall fill in and sign a statement on his own responsibility that the land/building is not subject to any litigation (Annex 5). Also, a land registry book is mandatory, mentioning that the land is free of any charges and servitudes.

f) The information about the applicant shall be registered and updated in the PCR (Potential Contractors Register), as follows:

- Statute and documents of establishing the institution/Statement from the Trade Register with information about shareholders, social capital/Registration Certificate at the Trade Register;

- The official balances of the last two years, including the Loss ad Profit Account

g) The applicant's statement regarding the avoidance of double financing from public funds

h) The registration number of the entity Self-Evaluation Report regarding the institution performance (in compliance with the provisions of the GD no. 551/2007, according to Art. 33 of the GO 57/2002 approved by the Law no. 324/2003 with further completions and modifications) is required.

3.2. Categories of projects

3.2.1. Categories of projects

The following categories of projects are financed in this operation:

- Projects of modernization of an existent infrastructure through the procurement of new instruments/equipment and modernization works of the research locations

Projects for construction/expansion of buildings to create new research centres, institutes and laboratories within the existent research public organizations which wish to expand their field of activity or open new research directions.

The value of the non - reimbursable public assistance is between 2,000,000 RON and 60,000,000 RON.

The total value of the project (non eligible and eligible costs) cannot exceed, in any of the cases, the equivalent of 50 million EUR.

The applicant must explain how the infrastructure serves for the development of new activities and/or research directions, as well as its contribution to create added value from scientific and economic point of view. In this regard, it is important to mention what kind of improved/new research services might be provided to enterprises and the number of the potential users of the services.

The applicant must also present the innovation and uniqueness level of the infrastructure or of the equipment proposed to be procured through the project, comparing the national context with the international one.

The model of filling in the application form is detailed in chapter 4 of the Applicant's Guide - "Filling in and submitting the application form'.

Supplementary guidance regarding the way of presenting and correlating the information requested in the application form is detailed in chapter 5- "The appraisal and selection of the projects".

The selection will be concentrated on a reduced number of beneficiaries that will address within each thematic priority those fields which apply one or more of the following horizontal criteria:

are related to industrial fields with comparative economic advantages

respond to regional priorities identified in the Regional Innovation Strategies, or to national strategic priorities in other socio-economic sectors

are addressed to some identified relevant structural insufficiencies in the RD system

The number of projects that can be submitted by an applicant

An applicant institution can submit one project in the call of 2007, regardless the fact that previously the proposal participated or not to the IMPACT programme; the respective project must derive from its own strategy of institutional development, attached to the application form.

This element must be mentioned in the statement of certifying the application, where the applicant certifies that his submitted project proposal is in compliance with the priorities of his own strategy of institutional development

The development of the research infrastructure can be accomplished together with institutional development actions. By request, the administrative capacity intensification of the selected beneficiaries for investment projects as part of some extended plans of institutional modernization will be supported. The applicants benefiting from support for institutional development actions within this operation shall not be eligible any longer for projects within operation 2.2.4. of the SOP IEC.

The duration of projects

- max. 24 months - for the modernization projects (without building construction or expansion)

- max. 36 months - for projects of construction/expansion of buildings

Eligibility criteria for projects

Conformity of the proposal's scope and objective with the specific objective of the call, in compliance with the call for proposals

The project is located in Romania.

The dimension of the requested grant is within the limits specified in the call for proposals (see section 3.2.1 in the Applicant's Guide).

The project proposal contains at least one eligible activity of those defined at section 3.3 in the Applicant's Guide.

The project proposal shall frame in one of the ten eligible priority thematic areas: Health; Agriculture, food safety and security; Energy; Environment; Innovative materials, processes and products; Communication and information technology; Biotechnologies; Space and security; Socio-economic and humanistic systems; Exploratory and frontier research.

Feasibility study for the project, financed or not from the IMPACT programme

City Planning Certificate (including the technical files for obtaining the notifications and agreements, if necessary)

The statement of certifying the application, where it is certified that the information in the application form entitled ......, having as acronym . as well as the information in the support documents is accurate and that the grant is necessary for the project to be carried on (the model of this statement is in the annex of the application form)

The decision of the General Assembly of the Administrators(GAA)/the Administration Council (AC)/the Senate of approving the investment, and if necessary, the applicant's financing contribution

The Institutional Development Strategy

3.3. Eligible activities

The flowing types of activities are to be financed within this operation:

Activities regarding modernization/expansion/construction of buildings:

Carry out the execution project and obtain the construction authorization

Modernization of RD estates/buildings

Expansion/construction of new buildings (institutes/centres/RD laboratories);

Commissioning the buildings

Procurement of tangible assets (buildings, machines, instruments, equipment) and intangible assets for RD, as well as installing/functioning of the equipment

Activities for the support of the administrative capacity:

consultancy for improving the institutional management

consultancy for applying the research results

consultancy for benefiting from financial instruments

activities to advertise the institution

access to data bases and publications

procurement of IT intangible/tangible assets to improve the management of the institution (IT equipment, administration programmes, other equipment for the information management)

Project management (including communication and publicity activities regarding the project)

A project includes the procurement of RD equipment with or without one or more activities regarding construction works. It is not compulsory or forbidden for a project to include all the activities listed above. However, the projects containing only activities of construction and/or modernization of buildings shall not be financed. It is intended to equip laboratories with machines, instruments and equipment necessary for the research to be developed in a proper environment.

The applicant must prove the necessity of the activities proposed to be financed for achieving the purpose of the project (why they are necessary for the development of the RD&I activities: to expand the existent activities, to approach new themes in the priority thematic areas, to contribute to the development of the competitiveness of the Romanian economy etc.).

3.4. Types of expenditure

3.4.1. Eligible expenditure

The following types of expenditure are eligible:

Direct eligible expenditure

Expenditure for purchasing land (maximum 10% of the eligible value of the project)[2]

• Expenditure for construction/expansion/modernization of buildings
• Expenditure for the terrain urbanism (there are included the expenditure made at the beginning of the works for preparing the site, consisting in demolishing, disassembly, disuse, deforestation, evacuation of the resulted materials, deviations of the utility networks from the site, systematizations in vertical line, drainage, exclusively those related to the achievement of the works for the basic investment)
• Expenditure for the terrain urbanism for the environment protection (There are included the expenditure made for works and environment protection actions, including the rehabilitation of the natural ambit after the finalization of the works, as for example: tree plantation, rehabilitation of the green places) 
• Expenditure for ensuring the utilities necessary for the objective (There are included the expenditure related to ensuring the necessary utilities for the operation of the investment objective, as: water supply, sewerage, natural gas supply, thermal agent, electric energy, communication networks - telephony, radio-TV, internet -, access roads , as well as the expenditure related to connecting to the utility networks)
• Expenditure for design:

- land studies (geotechnical, geological, hydrological, hydro geotechnical, photogrammetric, topographic and stability of the land),

- procurement of notifications, agreements and authorizations (procurement/extension of the validity of the urbanism certificate, procurement/extension of the validity of the construction authorization, procurement of the notifications and agreements for coupling and connecting to the public networks of water, sewerage, gas, thermal energy, electric energy, telephony, etc.;

- procurement of the certificate of street nomenclature and address; preparing the documentation, procurement of the provisional Cadastral number and the land registration in the landed Book; procurement of the environment agreement; procurement of the Fire Extinction and Prevention (FEP) notification; other notifications, agreements and authorizations),

- designing and engineering (feasibility study[4], technical project, execution details, the designing technical verification, elaboration of the necessary documentations for the procurement of the agreements, notifications and the authorizations related to the investment objective),

expenditure made for technical expertise for works of modernization and consolidation of the existent constructions, or for the continuation of the construction works started but not finished,

- expenditure related to expertise, research and energetic audit for the works of improvement the energetic performance of buildings as result of the modernization works.

o        Expenditure related to the organization of the public acquisition procedures

o        Expenditure related to consultancy (the payment of the consultancy services when elaborating the market studies, the evaluation etc; the payment of the consultancy services in the domain of the investment execution management or for the execution contract administration, as well as for the work reception; consultancy for studies and analyses necessary during the implementation period of the project; technical, financial, juridical consultancy)

o        Expenditure for technical assistance (technical assistance from the designer, if this does not enter the designing costs; the payment of the site chiefs, authorized according to the legal stipulations; services for installing and starting the equipment, if they are not included in the acquisition costs; technical assistance services for accounting and necessary studies/analyses during the implementation period of the project, external financial audit services and certification)

• Expenditure for constructions and installations

- Building execution

- Consolidations, modernizations, reparations of buildings

- Special constructions

- Installations related to the constructions, as: electrical and sanitary installations, interior installations of natural gas supply, climate units, ventilation and heating installations, FEP, electronic communication networks

o        Expenditure for the installation of the technological equipment

• Expenditure for the procurement of installations and equipment (including the cost of equipment and the functional and technological equipment with installation and tools without installation and the technological transport equipment.
• Expenditure for the building site organization (pre-construction activities):

Construction works and installations related to the site organization (There are included the expenditure related to the natural land levelling works, local decommissioning of the communication ways or constructions, connecting to utilities, accomplishing new access ways, constructions or developing the existent constructions, the site annulment expenditure)

Adjacent expenditure to the building site organization (There are included the expenditure for: the procurement of the execution authorization of the building site organization works, site taxes, signpost hire, the temporary interruption of the networks of transport, or water supply, sewage, thermal agent, electric energy, naturals gas, road circulation, the assistance contracts concluded with the road police, temporary contracts with the utility providers, the salubrity units; ecological deposit taxes; local taxes; rents for temporary seizure of the public domain, the cost of the non locale workers' transportation and/or their accommodation, the site guard, providing the authorized firemen)

• Expenditure related to the payment of the legal quotas (There are included, depending on the situation: the quota related to the quality control of the construction works, the state control quota in the terrain urbanization, urbanism, the quota for the authorization of the works in constructions,  the Constructors' Social House quota)
• Various and unforeseen expenditure for the infrastructure projects: expenditure resulted from the modifications of technical solutions, expenditure resulted from the supplementary costs of works, tools, or outfits necessary during the project implementation, conservation expenditure, if the execution is  interrupted because of some reasons regardless of the contracted authority.
• There are considered eligible expenditure if there are provided details based on justifying documents in the limit of 10% of the cumulated value of the categories: expenditure for the terrain urbanization; expenditure for the terrain urbanization for the environment protection; expenditure for providing the utilities necessary for the objective; expenditure for designing (excepting the expenditure for the expertise, research and energetic audit); expenditure related to the organization of the public acquisition procedures; consultancy expenditure (excepting the consultancy for studies and analyses necessary during the project implementation and the juridical financial and technical consultancy); expenditure for technical assistance (excepting the services for installation and starting of the equipment, the technical assistance services for accounting and necessary studies/analyses during the implementation of the project and the external financial audit services and certification); expenditure for constructions and installations; expenditure for installation the technological tools; expenditure for the tool and installation acquisition; outfits expenditure, which may enter the category of the fixed assets or the inventory objects.
• Expenditure for commissioning (training of the technical operating staff; techological trials and tests)

• Expenditure for endowments and fixed immaterial assets

• Expenditure for endowments which may enter the category of the material (tangible) fixed assets or the inventory objects (equipment and independent mobile tools; mobile equipment accommodated for research; IT and communication equipment and instruments; installations, equipment, instruments for research and their components; laboratory furnishings; FEP outfits; administrative outfits, work protection outfits; tools; spare parts).
• Expenditure related to the immaterial (intangible) assets purchase (informatics applications, licenses, and rights of utilization)

• Expenditure for the spacing and building purchase[5]
• Expenditure for tool and equipment hire, other then DR expenditure
• Expenditure related to the insurance bonus of the buildings and spacing, installations, equipment, tools (provided that they are the property of the Management Authority and/or the Intermediary Organisms and if they are necessary for their operation)

Expenditure for project management

• Expenditure related to information and publicity - for the project (panels; printing, producing, multiplying and distributing the promotion informative and publicity materials; translations)
• Expenditure related to the project management (personnel,  traveling and wage expenditure-, goods transportation, fixtures and fittings)

Expenditure related to the administration capacity consolidation (cannot exceed 300.000 lei) - these expenditure are not related to the infrastructure investment, only they are granted per institution (a single allocation for the period 2008-2013), for the administration capacity consolidation

• Expenditure related to the service acquisition for the administration capacity consolidation (consultancy services for institutional management; consultancy services for valorisation of the research results and the access to financial instruments)
• Expenditure for the intangible assets acquisition (informatics applications and licenses for the institution administration)
• Expenditure for endowment, which may enter the category of the fixed assets or the inventory objects (IT equipment and other equipment for the information administration; furnishings)
• Information and publicity expenditure - for institutional promotion (acquisition of media publicity space; panels; producing and releasing TV and radio publicity spots; web page; printing; producing, multiplying and distributing the promotional informative and publicity material; translations and interpretation)
• Expenditure related to the consumable materials for the administrative capacity consolidation (fixtures and fittings and other consumables)
• Expenditure for the acquisition of publications, subscriptions and contributions (data base access taxes, research infrastructures access taxes, trial, testing; subscriptions to scientific publications, acquisition of scientific publications in electronic and/or printed format; subscription to specialized libraries)

Indirect eligible expenditure

• General administration expenditure

Communication services (electronic communication, mail and express services)

Space, equipment, tools and installation reparation and maintaining

Payment of the utilities - electric energy, water, sewage, salubrity units, thermal energy, natural gas

Space renting (for the rent of the space to the project beneficiary)

Wage expenditure for the administrative personnel.

Besides the eligible costs mentioned above, the project may require a lot of other costs, which are not eligible, but they are necessary for the good implementation of the project. These costs are covered by the beneficiary or by his coordinating public authority, without being taken into consideration when determining the public contribution.

3.4.2. Specific and general criteria for the eligibility of expenditure

General criteria for the eligibility of expenditure

All expenditure must apply the following general criteria for eligibility simultaneously, in compliance with Art. 2 of the GD no. 759/2007:

a)      to be paid effectively by the beneficiary between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2015 (if the Management Authority does not decide differently through the financing contract)

b)      invoices or other accounting documents with demonstrative value equivalent to invoices to be attached, so that the expenditure could be audited and identified, in compliance with the provisions of the national legislation

c)      to be in compliance with the provisions of the financing contract concluded by the management authority or the intermediate body, for and on its behalf, for the approval of the project, by applying the provisions of Art. 54(5) and Art. 60 of the Council Regulation no. 1.083/2006

d)      to be in compliance with the provisions of the community and national legislation

Specific criteria for the eligibility of expenditure

- the land acquisition (without construction) is eligible only up to 10% of the eligible value of the project (GD 759/2007) and only if it was done after 1 January 2007 from private funds (at the moment of submitting the application form there must exist a property act upon the land). The eligibility rule also applies if a building is purchased in order to be demolished and the land is going to be used in compliance with Art. 6 of GD no.759/2007;

- the various and unforeseen expenditure for the infrastructure projects shall not exceed 10% of the amount of the following types of expenditure related to the investment: expenditure for the land urbanization; expenditure for the terrain urbanism for the environment protection, expenditure for providing the utilities necessary for the objective; design expenditure; expenditure related to the organization of the public procurement procedures; consultancy expenditure; technical assistance expenditure; construction expenditure, installation and fitting; expenditure for the procurement of equipment and installation; outfits expenditure, which may enter the category of the fixed assets or the inventory objects;

- the project wage expenditure accumulate per person with all the direct wage incomes obtained from the financing contracts completed from the Priority Axis 2 funds and from the state budget funds allocated for the National Plan II for 2007-2013, and these cannot exceed the limits stipulated in Annex 3 of the GD no. 475/2007 regarding the approval of the NPII for 2007 - 2013 (OM 2508/31.12.2007). The wage expenditure is deducted according to the labour contract and/or proportionally to the percentage in the job description/the attendance sheet related to the specific duties for the project implementation;

- the expenditure related to the project management is eligible up to 10% of the project eligible value, but not more than 2,000,000 RON (OM 2508/31.12.2007). Personnel costs for maximum 5 persons can be ensured from public funds;

- the general administration expenditure is eligible in the limit of 1% of the project eligible direct costs (OM 2508/31.12.2007) According to the GD 759/2007, the general administration expenditure represents the expenditure made for the beneficiary's general functioning and cannot be directly assigned to a certain activity within the project. The calculation method used for the pro-rata calculation for the deduction of the administration general expenditure will be established by the Management Authority and it will be attached in the annex of the financing contract.

The expenditure made by the beneficiary, included in project design, monitoring and management, is eligible (in compliance with paragraph 1, Art. 9 of the GD no. 759/2007), if it applies the general eligibility criteria and the following conditions:

a)      it is stipulated or derives from the national legislation application in order to obtain the necessary notifications, agreements and authorizations for the implementation of the project eligible activities, or derives from the application of the community legislation specific to the structural instruments

b)      it is related to some studies and/or analysis requested by the MA or IB, for and on behalf of the MA, in order to receive the non-reimbursable financial assistance

c)      it is necessary in the public procurement process for the project eligible activities

d)      it is made for the project management and/or monitoring during the implementation period, related to the monitoring and coordination activities regarding the work execution and reception

3.4.3. Categories of non eligible expenditure

The following expenditure is not eligible:

a)      interest and other commissions related to credit

b)      collateral expenditure in a leasing contract

c)      decommissioning of nuclear power stations

d)      procurement of second-hand equipment

e)      fines, penalties and trial expenses

f)        the costs for the investment objective operation

g)      value added tax

The added value tax shall become eligible for the projects financed from NP II - Capacities.

For the projects financed from SOP-IEP, the added value tax shall be covered from public funds through the budgets of the beneficiary's main credits authority

3.5. Financing the projects

The value of the non-reimbursable financial assistance is between 2,000,000 RON and 60,000,000 RON.

The total value of the project (the eligible and non-eligible costs) cannot exceed in any of the situations the equivalent of 50 million EUR.

The non-reimbursable financial assistance represents 100% of the total eligible costs. The non-reimbursable financial assistance for the strengthening administra 12212n139m tive capacity shall not exceed 300,000 RON.

Beneficiaries must specify in the application form whether the project is revenue-generating. The net revenue generated by the project is depicted from the benefit-cost analysis of the feasibility study attached to the project. The discounted net revenues calculated for a period of 5 years from the moment of project implementation are deducted from the eligible costs of the project. If the value of the project is not totally eligible, (there is also non eligible expenditure) these revenues shall be proportionally deducted from the eligible value, applying the ratio between eligible and non-eligible costs of the project (Art. 55 of the Council Regulation no.1083/2006 regarding the general dispositions referring to ERDF, ESF, and CF). The calculation method of the non-reimbursable financial assistance value is presented in Annex 3 of the Applicant's Guide.

4. FILLING IN AND SUBMITTING THE APPLICATION FORM

The type of call for project applications in 2007 is the one with fixed deadlines.

The application form must be uploaded online on the NASR site (see section 4.2 of the Applicant's Guide). The support documents on paper (see Annex 2) must be submitted in a file including an opis to the Research IB regional offices indicated in section 4.3 of the Applicant's Guide.

How to submit the projects

The application form is filled in on the base of the form provided in Annex 1, which is also available on the NASR web page - www.mct.ro (Structural Funds page).The applicants must follow strictly the format of the Application Form and fill it in with all requested information.

The applicants shall fill in the Application Form in Romanian and English

The Application Form must be filled in carefully and as clear as possible in order to be evaluated properly.

4.1. Horizontal themes

The submitted projects must be in compliance with the related legislation of the equal opportunities, environment protection and public procurement.

Promoting equal opportunities and non-discrimination together with sustainable development (environment improvement and protection and the increase of energetic efficiency) are priorities agreed by all Member States in the European Union and therefore found in all EU policies. Romania's commitments regarding the implementation of these principles reflect also in the strengthening of projects contributing to reaching the objectives of sustainable development and equal opportunities.

Sustainable development

Sustainable development represents the development that corresponds to the present necessities, without compromising the possibility of the future generations to satisfy their own necessities. The projects must contribute to the introduction and/or use of equipment and technologies environmentally protective and/or lead to reduction of raw materials, energy and fuel. The minimal requirements had in view for all projects are to apply the European and national regulations regarding the environment protection.

Equal opportunities

The projects proposed for financing have to foresee clear measures to involve young researchers and women in the RD&I activities. The projects have to foresee, through constructive solution, definite measures for the " equal opportunities" concept to become operational, especially regarding the access of the disabled to RD activities (for example: access boards, height of switches, special sanitary groups, other necessary facilities etc). All these elements must be depicted clearly in the constructive solution and budgeted.

• Public procurement

With regards to procurement of assets/works/services in order to implement the project, it is mandatory to apply the national legislation for public procurement (GUO no. 34/2006 regarding the assignment of the public procurement contracts, the public works franchise contracts and the service franchise contracts, with further modifications and completions).

The expenditure related to the supply/services/works contracts carried on for the project to be implemented cannot be considered eligible and, consequently, cannot be reimbursed if the assignment procedure of these contracts is not in compliance with national legislation for public procurement.

4.2. How to fill in the application form

The application form consists of:

I. Information about the applicant

II. Information about the project

III. Compliance with EU policies and national legislation

IV. Project financing package

V. Annexes and application certification

I. Information about the applicant

I.1.1. The applicant

The applicant must be certified* (in compliance with the GD no. 551/2007) to carry on RD activities and must function on the territory of Romania in order to be declared eligible.

*) The applicants have to submit the evidence of forwarding the documentation for their institution to be certified. This documentation has to be forwarded to the specialized commissions until the end of the year 2007, so that the result of the certification would be obtained before the completion of the selection and appraisal process of the project proposals.

Name of the organization - shall be the entire official name, without abbreviations, in conformity with the act of establishing the organization

Registration number at the Trade Register - not to be filled in

Number at the Associations and Foundations Register - not to be filled in

Main NACE Code - the code corresponding to the main activity of the institution, made up of 4 digits, in compliance with the Classification of the Activities in the National Economy (the legal base GD no. 656/1997)

I.1.2.Applicant Types

Applicant's type of organization

The eligible institutions participating in this operation are certified public higher-education institutions or their component and public RD institutions, qualified as research organizations (in compliance with section 3.1.1 - 'Categories of applicants' of this Guide).

These participating institutions have to comply with the definition referring to the "research organization" of the Community Framework for RD&I State Aid (2006/C 323), as follows:

-a pubic entity (university or research institute) whose primary goal is to conduct RD activities and to disseminate its results by way of education/teaching/training, publication or technological transfer

-the exceeding profit/revenue is reinvested in these activities or in education

-enterprises that can exert influence upon such an entity, in the quality of, for example, shareholders or members, shall enjoy no preferential access to the research capacities of such an entity or to the research results generated by it

The following abbreviations are used according to the applicant's type of organization:

INCD - national research-development institute

I-AR - institute functioning within the Romanian Academy

I-AS - institutes, research-development centres coordinated by the Academy of

Agricultural and Forest Sciences

I-AM - institutes, research-development centres coordinated by the Academy of

Medical Sciences

IPCD - RD institutes/centres/stations organized as public institutions

IPRD - international RD centres set up on the basis of international agreements

UNIS -public certified higher-education institutions or their component structures  (including clinical and university hospitals)

Number of employees - number of employees at the end of the year, as indicated in the application form

I.1.5. The bank

The bank/subsidy - The district treasury of Bucharest/ regional treasuries

I.1.6. Previous or present non-reimbursable financing granted from public funds

With reference to previous financed projects, large projects will be highlighted, where the applicant had a major scientific contribution. International projects will be highlighted, but there can be also mentioned the projects financed by national public funds.

In both situations, it is desirable to mention previous projects from the same area of the project proposed for this call in order to demonstrate the experience and the outputs in the respective field of activity.

II. Information about the project

II.2.1 Thematic areas of the project

The following thematic areas are eligible:

1. Health

2. Agriculture, food safety and security

3. Energy

4. Environment

5. Innovative materials, products and processes

6. The technology of Information and Communication

7. Biotechnologies

8. Space and security

9. Socio-economic and humanistic research funds

10. Exploratory and frontier research (on the following directions: biology, genetics and medicine; chemistry, environment and material sciences, mathematics; physics and technological physics; geology and atmospheric physics)

The UNESCO code of the project

The UNESCO code of the project is correlated with the thematic area and demonstrates that the T/S domain of the project fits the thematic area.

If the feasibility study of the project was financed by IMPACT programme, the IMPACT registration number of the project shall be indicated.

II.2.2. Location of the project

The project will be developed in Romania, otherwise it is not eligible. The region, county, town/city, address shall be indicated.

II.2.3. Description of the project

The purpose, the objectives and the subject of the project proposal shall be in compliance with the objective of the call (eligibility criterion).

Objective of the project

The objectives of the project shall be indicated and also the way the project contributes to the achievement of the call objectives, which are the following:

Increasing the research capacity by investing in the development of RD infrastructure to reach the scientific competitiveness at international level

Improving the quality and the efficiency of the RD activity carried out in universities and RD institutes in order to foster their performant service offer for enterprises

Ensuring a high technical-scientific level for the research and educational environment with the purpose of attracting specialists from abroad and young researchers in public RD institutions in Romania

Project necessity to be implemented

The applicant is requested to indicate why the project is needed for the achievement of the objectives and also, its added value from scientific and economic point of view. The new/ modernized laboratories and the contribution of the infrastructure to the increase of performance in research and to the increase of international cooperation shall be also indicated.

It is important to mention the new/improved research services can be provided to enterprises and the number of potential users of these services.

The applicant shall also present the novelty/ uniqueness of the infrastructure or equipment proposed to be procured by means of the project, more specifically to present information on the existence and the international distribution of several laboratories/ research centres or similar equipment.

Definite examples of new research directions and possible future research projects shall be mentioned, too.

Project context

It shall be mentioned whether the project to be financed is a component of a more complex infrastructure. Comparatively, the context on national and international plan shall be described so that the performance level of the proposed infrastructure could be determined. The applicant shall mention the "state-of-the art" nature of the equipment at the international level: whether and where this equipment is used, which are the superior performances at the European and global level of the equipment/installations to be procured by means of this project.

"State-of-the-art" nature means on one hand, modern, top equipment and on the other hand, scientific performances at global level, which can be obtained by means of the proposed equipment/installations.

Project components

The components/stages of the project shall be described, for example construction of new building, modernization of existent laboratories, procurement of R&D equipment etc. With regards to buildings (new constructions, expansion of a new building, modernization of a building, etc.) their necessity and utility shall be detailed.

The main characteristics of the RD equipment that worth more than 100,000 EUR shall be indicated; the elements enabling the estimation of the performance level of the equipment shall be provided, too. If known, the national distribution of some similar equipment shall be indicated.

Project activities

The activities and sub-activities of the project shall be mentioned, per components. They should be correlated with table 2.6 - 'Activities Calendar' in the application form.

The development of the research infrastructure may be associated with institutional development activities in the context of some enhanced institutional modernization projects proposed by the beneficiary.

The activities of the project shall comprise one or more eligible activities defined for the operation.

The eligible activities are detailed in chapter 3.3 - 'Eligible activities' of this guide. The information provided here shall be coherent to the information indicated in the table 2.6 in the application form.

Expected result following the implementation

The future results of the project shall be presented, including those which will be obtained by means of the infrastructure to be achieved, in compliance with the objectives.

Direct/indirect beneficiaries

The groups/entities benefiting or directly/indirectly targeted by the results of the project shall be indicated. It is recommended that beneficiaries should be mentioned as definite as possible, numerically and if possible, with clear examples.

It is also necessary to indicate what kind of services beneficiaries shall benefit from, as a result of proposed infrastructure. The applicant institution or its employees cannot be beneficiaries.

II.2.4. Project management

Methodology of project implementation

The implementation methodology shall describe the way of organizing and planning the activities to be developed for the achievement of the project, the implementation/achievement of the project (contracting for works, services, procurement of equipment etc.), the monitoring of the contractors, activities and expenditure, in order to obtain the results in the foreseen timeframe.

Key personnel in project implementation

The project management can be accomplished directly by the employees (or by the persons to be employed) in the applicant institution or partially accomplished by another institution, as a contracted service.

It is mandatory to indicate the project manager's name. Maximum 5 people can be paid, regardless of each one's norm. Each person's duties within the project shall be indicated, in compliance with the implementation methodology of the project

The wage costs through the project together with other direct wage revenues acquired from financing contracts concluded from the funds allocated to the Priority Axis 2 of SOP- IEC or from the budget funds allocated to NP II cannot exceed the limits foreseen in Annex 3 of the GD no. 475/2007, regarding the approval of the NP II for 2007 - 2013. This provision is also applicable for the projects financed within SOP- IEC.

The ability of the proposed team to implement the project is presented in the CV-s attached to the application form.

Risks

The main risks related to the project implementation as well as the measures/solutions to reduce or prevent them shall be presented.

II.2.5. Project duration

The duration of the project shall be indicated in number of months and shall not exceed 24 months for the projects of modernization (without construction or expansion of buildings), respectively 36 months - for the projects of construction or expansion of buildings.

When estimating the duration of the project implementation the preliminary activities, prior to the signature of the financing contract, shall not be taken into consideration.

II.2.6. Activities calendar

The calendar of activities shall be in compliance with the time schedule and the achievement chart of the investment indicated in the feasibility study, as well as with the implementation methodology.

It is recommended that the execution of the project and the acquirement of the construction authorization (if necessary) should be done within at most 12 months from the date of starting the project.

II.2.7. Indicators

The indicators related to the project can be divided into 2 categories:

output indicators, which represent the investment/infrastructures or the financed

result indicators, which represent the direct results/ advantages obtained by the users of the infrastructure

In the application form the mandatory indicators only shall be mentioned, out of which the indicators corresponding to the project shall be selected, for which the values must be filled in at the end of the implementation period, namely:

Output indicators

- RD modernized laboratories derived from the project (number)

- New created RD laboratories derived from the project (number)

- RD equipment, worth more than 100,000 EUR, procured by means of the project (number)

- Total RD equipment procured by means of the project (number)

Result indicators

- New jobs created/maintained in RD due to the project (number)

-The applicant's non-eligible private contribution to the project (RON)

- International projects in which the infrastructure will be involved (number)

It is recommended that other relevant indicators for the project shall be presented, where the case.

The achievement of the indicators is monitored during the project and reaching the values of the indicators is mandatory.

In the financing contract it is stipulated that 'regarding the beneficiary's commitments mentioned in Article 6 a) (1), if the project does not accomplish integrally the indicators stipulated in the contract, the non-reimbursable funds shall be proportionally reduced, with the exception of the well - justified cases'.

II.2.9. Relationship with other programmes / strategies/ projects/ relevant documents

The way the proposed infrastructure is addresses to other sectoral strategies (environment, agro- alimentary, health, space), strategies and industrial policies (energy, innovative materials, etc.) or/and regional innovation strategies (RIS) shall be presented . For the latter ones, it must be proved whether the area of the infrastructure is identified with one of the development areas or with clustering potential. Regarding infrastructures addressed to the "Innovative materials, products and processes" thematic area, it shall be mentioned a possible impact of the proposal for the main or secondary areas, which present comparative economic advantages, identified through medium/long - term industrial strategies and policies, beginning with 2007 (where the case).

II.2.11. Revenue-generating projects

If a project generates net revenues, the column shall be filled in with the discounted value of the net revenue generated by the infrastructure for the first 5 years from the moment it becomes operational. This value derives from the feasibility study.

II.2.12. Project sustainability

Financial sustainability

It shall be presented the way the acquired infrastructure will be financially supported after the ceasing of financing made by means of the present application form, for at least 5 years after the project ends. This can be proved by indicating the operational costs and maintenance: responsible entities, funds, activities, time horizon.

The information is correlated with the feasibility study, where the option of the most probable revenue development can be chosen.

Institutional sustainability

The team using the infrastructure and their CVs (max. 10 people) shall be presented. The experience of the team using the infrastructure shall be enhanced, by taking into account their activity in the laboratories of the same area (in the country or abroad), the results obtained in the research activities (publication, patents, projects, etc.), the team's ability to train young people with master degree, PhD or post-docs in these laboratories.

The new created jobs in research, its profiles and the financing sources shall be presented. The technical and administrative support ensured by the institution for the new laboratories shall be also described.

II.2.13 The non-reimbursable financial assistance impact upon project implementation

The impact of the non-reimbursable financing, using also the information in the feasibility study and comparing the effects of non-financing with the effects of financing shall be justified.

II.2.14 Communication and publicity

Communication and publicity activities shall be included: press ad in a regional and/or local newspaper about the start of the project, press ad at the end of the project about the results, as well as printing/publishing brochures, folders, posters, labels, etc.

III. Compliance with EU policies and national legislation

III.3.1. "The polluter pays" principle

It shall be explained how the project applies national and European regulations regarding the environment protection and "the polluter pays" principle. The reasons why the project does not apply this principle shall be presented, too.

III.3.2. Sustainable development

It shall be presented the way the project contributes to the introduction and/or to the usage of the equipment, technologies ensuring the environment protection and leading to the diminishing of raw material, energy and fuel consumption.

III.3.3. Equal opportunities

It shall be explained the way the principle regarding equal opportunities was integrated either in the elaboration and implementation of the project, or in the project management, by mentioning any specific component proving this fact (involvement of the youth, mixed team - men and women etc.)

III.3.4. Public procurement

It shall be presented the calendar of public procurement of services, assets, equipment, in compliance with section 2.6 Furthermore, at this item it shall be mentioned the estimated value and, depending on this, the procedure which was used, in conformity with the provisions of the legislation in force (G.U.O. no. 34/2006 regarding the assumption of concession projects, of public works and of projects of service concession, with further modifications and completions).

IV. Project financing package

IV.4.1. Project costs detailed for each expenditure category

The budget of the project shall be detailed on eligible expenditure (which can be non-reimbursable financed throughout the programme) and non-egible expenditure (which will be covered from other sources, i.e. their own, other public funds, etc.)

Information regarding expenditure is presented in section 3.4 in this Guide. The detailed presentation of costs within chapter "Costs for modernization/ expansion/ construction of buildings" shall be coordinated with the information in the feasibility study.

IV.4.2. Project financing package

At this point the budget of the project shall be presented, per financing sources, according to the economic - financial analysis in the feasibility study, as follows:

The total value of the project = the eligible value + the non-eligible value.

The eligible value = the requested non-reimbursable financial assistance + the applicant's eligible contribution (for revenue-generating projects, the non-reimbursable financial assistance covers but partially the eligible value of the project according the calculation method in Annex 3 of the Applicant's Guide)

If the project is revenue-generating, the net discounted revenue for the next 5 years since the end of the investment shall be indicated separately, according to the feasibility study.

Submitting the projects

The applicant shall submit the application form from the date the call for proposals is published until the deadline (14 of March 7o'clock pm, Romania's time), as follows:

Application form - online registration, in compliance with the information provided in section 4.3.1

Documents and the information in PCR (Potential Contractors Register) - registration/updating, in compliance with the information provided in section 4.3.2

Support documents - submitted to the DG-IB regional offices corresponding to the region where the applicant institution carries out its activity, in compliance with the information provided in section 4.3.3

4.3.1. Registration of the application form

The web page for the registration of the application form is https://structurale.ancs.ro/index2.php

In order to submit a project proposal the following steps are required:

Step 1: The application form shall be filled in "off-line" (in Romanian and English) for the project beneficiaries, including the CVs of the personnel dealing with the project management and the one operating and using the infrastructure.

Step 2: The project coordinator creates a new account from "new account" on the left side of the page.

Step 3: The applicant logs in by introducing on the left side of the page the e-mail address and the password automatically sended by the application at this address at short time after the setting up an account. (Please, check also the "Bulk" or "Junk" folders in your inbox.)

Step 4: Click on "project registration" and fill in the requested fields. The application form for the project beneficiaries and the personnel's CVs shall be uploaded, first the Romanian, then the English version. The registration number of the application form appears on the screen and is also sent by e-mail.

Step 5: The project submitted can be visualized by clicking "submitted projects".

Step 6: To sign out, click "logout".

Any application form electronically registered after the deadline will be automatically rejected.

4.3.2 Registering/updating the information in PCR

PCR can be accessed at www.mct.ro/rpc/home.jsp/

For a correct and complete registration of the information regarding your organization, before the beginning of the registration, it is necessary to follow the next steps:

after having the account and the password for your organization (by accessing the above given address), visualize the PCR content in order to see what are the required information

be in possession of all necessary updated information when you begin the registration

scan with 100 dpi resolution the following documents:

1. The Status

2. Legal document certifying the establishment date of the institution

3. Registration certificate at the Trade Register

4. Extract from the Trade Register with information about shareholders, social capital (if necessary);

5. The official balances for the last two years, including the Profit and Loss Account.

The registration in the PCR shall be made once and shall be updated each time modifications of the information regarding your organization appear or when The National Authority for Scientific Research requests this.

In order to facilitate working in PCR, the following documents are available at www.mct.ro/rpc/home.jsp):

Guidance Manual

Utilization Regulations

Approval Decision

IMPORTANT: The registration/updating of the information in the PCR has the same deadline, 14^th of March 5 o'clock pm, Romania's time.

4.3.3 Support documents

The support documents attached to the application form shall be sent in a sealed envelope, by mail, private courier or handed directly (a reception confirmation signed and dated shall be handed to the person sending the envelope) at the addresses mentioned below:

The support documents attached to application form sent by any other means (for ex. Fax or e-mail) will be rejected.

Please write on the envelope the following:

the call code: SOP IEC-A2-O2.2.1-2007-1+Capacities-I-2007-2

the name of the applicant institution, its address and the Sole Registration Code

the name of the Intermediate Body: Directorate General Intermediate Body for Research - Regional Office, ... Region

the title of the project

the entire name of the project manager and his/her contact details

4.4 Support documents

1. Copy of the letter addressed to the specialized Commission, with registration number, attached to the Self-Assessment Report, in compliance with GD no. 551/2007 - signed and stamped by the legal representative of the institution, 2 copies*
2. The Decision of the Senate/GSA/AC for approving the investment and, according to the case, the financial contribution of the applicant - signed and stamped by the legal representative of the institution, original and 1 copy*
3. Institutional Development Strategy - signed and stamped by the legal representative of the institution, 2 copies*
4. City planning certificate and technical fiches for obtaining other endorsements /approvals of principle (according to the case)2 copies*

5. Property title for the land / estate, or document of concession (according to the case) and conclusion of registration in the land registry, 2 copies* together with:

Extract from the Land Registry with the mention "free of any charges" original and 1 copy*

Statement on own responsibility that the land / estate is not subject to any litigation - signed and stamped by the legal representative of the institution, original and 1 copy*

6. Renting agreements/contracts registered in the land registry for locations/ estates (according to the case), 2 copies*
7. Applicant' statement of fulfilling the eligibility conditions (research organization) - signed and stamped by the legal representative of the institution, original and 1 copy*
8. Applicant' statement of avoiding double financing - signed and stamped by the legal representative of the institution, original and 1 copy*
9. Feasibility study, including the financing analysis (in Romanian and English, on CD)  - 4 copies
10. Statement of certification of the application (see section 5.2 signed and stamped by the legal representative of the institution, original and 1 copy*

on the copy it shall be mentioned "in compliance with the original", signed and stamped by the legal representative of the institution

IMPORTANT: Sending the support documents has the same deadline. They must be received and registered at the Regional Office (by mail, courier, etc.) until the 14 ^th of March 2008, 7o'clock pm, Romania's time.

Supplementary information

Possible questions may be sent by e-mail, before the deadline, at structurale@mct.ro mentioning clearly the session number (call code).

In order to apply an equal treatment to all applicants, the Contracting Authority cannot express a previous opinion regarding the eligibility of a certain applicant or of a certain project.

The questions which may be relevant also for other applicants, together with the answers, will be published at www.mct.ro, on the Structural Funds page.

APPRAISAL AND SELECTION OF THE PROJECTS

5.1. Appraisal procedure - generalities

The appraisal and selection process consists of the following steps:

I. Receivability check

II. Eligibility check

III. Technical and financial appraisal

IV. Selection

The first two steps are performed by the Implementation Unit within the Research IB in the Regional Offices. The appraisal and the selection of the proposals are organized by the Implementation Unit at central level (NASR).

One or more Evaluation Groups shall be organized for each eligible thematic area, according to the number of applications, so that the number of applications distributed to each group could correspond to the evaluation period. Each group shall consist of 3 members: two scientists from abroad, with relevant experience and one investment expert, preferable with experience in research, who can be also from Romania. A NASR representative will ensure the Secretariat for the Evaluation Group without having the right of scoring. The Evaluation Groups are approved by the president of NASR through a Decision.

The scoring grid shall be filled in panel after each member has independently studied and evaluated the project proposal, by marking the important elements, which will be discussed in panel. If the panel members do not meet the consensus, the project proposal is evaluated in a new panel. If the second panel does not meet the consensus the final score is calculated as the average of the individual scores given by the members of the second panel. For every thematic area, following the scoring process, a ranked list of projects determined by the total score shall be provided. Projects not meeting the minimum quality threshold are automatically rejected. The minimum score for financing is of 21 points. The ranking lists, together with all appraisal grids and fiches shall be sent to Selection Committee, which has the following duties:

to approve the preliminary appraisal report

to appoint the Committee for Appeals

to classify the projects with the same score

to apply the specific selection rules

to elaborate the final appraisal report and the lists of applications selected for financing and to send them to the president of NASR in order to be approved.(after having obtained the MA approval, for projects to be financed under SOP - IEC

After the preliminary results are posted on the www.mct.ro site, the appraisal reports for all project proposals are sent to the applicants, together with the procedure of submitting possible appeals, where necessary. The appeals shall be analysed by a Commission responsible for the solving of the appeals, which is designated by the Selection Committee.

The Selection Committee is approved by the president of the NASR in a Decision, after being endorsed by the MA and consists of members of the Romanian Committee for Research Infrastructures, representatives of NASR and MA, as well as investment specialists. The members of the Selection Committee shall not have conflicts of interests. In this case these take exception to the previous thematic area on which exist the conflicts of interests. The necessary quorum for the appointments of the Committee is of half plus one of the number of members. The decisions are taken in consensus and if this is not possible, by the vote of a half plus one of the present members. The Selection Committee cannot consist of more than 17 members. The Representatives of the European Commission may attend the meetings of the Selection Committee as observers. The list of evaluators involved in the appraisal process will be published after the selection process ends. Acceptance letters are sent to the successful applicants. Successful applications whose financing cannot be covered from the budget allocated to the call are placed on the Waiting list.

Receivability check

For the receivability check of the application, the following conditions must be met

the application form has been submitted online in due time according to the Call

the support documents have arrived and have been registered at the IB Regional Office in due time according to the Call (if an electronically registered application form does not exist, the project proposal shall be neither received nor registered by the IB research personnel.)

Rules for receivability check

the receivability check for the project proposals is performed by the IB Research Regional Offices

the receivability check is performed in the received order

the receivability check means to fill in the the receivability check fiche. The answers to the question in this fiche are "Yes" or "No".

if the project proposal is incomplete, meaning that some support documents are missing, or one or more of these documents are not signed or stamped, as required, the IB Research sends the applicant a letter/fax to let him know about the missing papers. If within 5 days from receiving the letter/fax, the applicant does not comply with the requests, the project proposal will be rejected.

In order to be eligible, all project proposals must answer "Yes" to all questions in the receivability check fiche, otherwise, the proposal is rejected and the applicant receives a rejection letter containing also the reasons for his failure.

CRITERia	YES	No	Remarks
1. The project proposal has been sent in due time according to the Call
2. The application form has all   mandatory fields filled in.
3. The project proposal is complete Application form and CVs (in Romanian and English) FORMCHECKBOX FFFFFFFF650000001400060043006800650063006B003100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 The city planning certificate/technical fiches/ principle notifications/approvals FORMCHECKBOX FFFFFFFF650000001400060043006800650063006B003100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 The applicant has submitted the self-evaluation report according to the G.O no. 551/2007 FORMCHECKBOX FFFFFFFF650000001400060043006800650063006B003100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Property title for land/estate, or concession papers together with Statement and Extract of cadastral register / Rental contracts FORMCHECKBOX FFFFFFFF650000001400060043006800650063006B003100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 The applicant is registered in PCR with all information updated FORMCHECKBOX FFFFFFFF650000001400060043006800650063006B003100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Statement of avoiding the double financing FORMCHECKBOX FFFFFFFF650000001400060043006800650063006B003100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 The Senatorial/ GAA/AC decision FORMCHECKBOX FFFFFFFF650000001400060043006800650063006B003100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Eligibility statement FORMCHECKBOX FFFFFFFF650000001400060043006800650063006B003100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Strategy of Institutional Development FORMCHECKBOX FFFFFFFF650000001400060043006800650063006B003100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Feasibility study, including the financial analysis (in Romanian and English) FORMCHECKBOX FFFFFFFF650000001400060043006800650063006B003100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Certifying statement of the application FORMCHECKBOX FFFFFFFF650000001400060043006800650063006B003100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
4. The support documents are signed and stamped as required

The receivability check ends on the 31^st of Mach 2008, 5 o'clock pm, Romania's time at the latest.

Eligibility check of the project and applicant

Only the project proposals selected during the receivability check shall be taken into consideration for the eligibility check.

Rules for eligibility check:

the eligibility check for the project proposals is performed by the IB Research Regional Offices

the eligibility check means the check of eligibility for both the applicant and the project proposal

The answers to the question in the eligibility check fiche are "Yes" or "No".

In order to be eligible, all project proposals must answer "Yes" to all questions in the eligibility check fiche, otherwise, the proposal is rejected and the applicant receives a rejection letter containing also the reasons for his failure.

The eligibility check ends on the 7^th of April 2008, at 7o'clock pm, Romania's time, at the latest.

The project proposals together with the report regarding the receivability and eligibility checks will be sent by the IB Regional Offices to the Central Office of NASR.

5.4. Technical and financial appraisal

Criterion1. Institutional performance

The institutional performance shall be evaluated by the special Commissions mentioned in the G.O. no. 551/2007, in compliance with the methodology and the criteria in the G.O. no. 551/2007. The Group's Evaluating Secretary shall fill in the appraisal fiche in panel the score obtained by the applicant institution.

The institutions certified in compliance with G.O. no. 551/2007(which have scored at least 80 points per person, out of which at least 15 points per person obtained from primary performance criteria) will be granted a score of maximum: 10 points.

The institutions certified in compliance with G.O. no. 551/2007 (which have scored at least 10 points per person) will be granted between 1 and 8 points, as follows: 1point if 10≤the score < 20; 2 points if 20≤the score < 30; .. . 8 points if the score ≥ 80).

Criterion.2. Relevance

It is important the way the proposal meets the objectives of the Call, presented in the application.

Criterion 2.1 Scientific Relevance

For this section the application form is to be examined, especially the following chapters:

1.6 Non-reimbursable grants previously or presently received from public funds

2.3 Project description

2.7 Indicators

plus the attached Feasibility Study, chapter 2.

The impact upon the development of the scientific field in which the project is framed shall be appraised. The evaluator must make an analysis and a comparison of the proposal with the real situation at the world-wide level. The proposed research must lead to the significant progress of knowledge. It is important that the laboratories should be endowed with modern advanced equipment at international level.

The projects which involve construction/ expanding of buildings must propose infrastructures (laboratories, research centres), unique at national level. For these projects, the evaluators will present in "Comments" section the necessity of construction/expanding component within the project and the conclusions should be reflected in the score. No maximum score is granted for this criterion if:

• The proportion between the value of the project and the number of new created jobs in RD, as a consequence of the accomplishing the project, is higher than 4,000,000 RON/researcher, or if
• the attraction of researchers from abroad is not taken into consideration

It shall be appraised the contribution of the infrastructure to strengthen the capacity of participating to international projects, especially to FP7. The applicant may prove having this capacity by mentioning major international projects where he brought a great scientific contribution.

Criterion 2.2 Social-Economic Impact

For this section the application form is to be examined, especially the following chapters:

2.3 Project description

2.7 Indicators

2.9 Relation with other programmes / strategies / projects / other relevant documents

2.11 Revenue-Generating Projects

4.2 Project financing package

Plus the CVs of the management team and of the personnel operating and using the infrastructure, as well as the attached Feasibility Study, chapters 5 and 6.

It shall be appraised the way the proposed infrastructure addresses also to other sectoral strategies (environment, agro-alimentary, health, space, etc.) industrial strategies and policies (energy; innovative materials, products and processes) and/or regional innovative strategies (RIS). For RIS, it shall be appraised whether the area the infrastructure refers corresponds with one of the development areas or with the presented clustering potential.

For the infrastructures referring to the "Innovative materials, products and processes" thematic area, it shall be appraised the impact of the proposal upon the (sub)areas presenting comparative economic advantages, identified through medium/long-term industrial strategies and policies beginning with 2007 (where necessary).

It is considered that the economic impact is more important for the projects generating net revenue from contracts with the industry. It shall be enhanced the correlation of the net revenues achieved by the applicant's contribution.

It shall be appraised the contribution of the project results and the proposed indicators to the fulfilment of the Call objectives, the nature and the impact upon the direct/indirect beneficiaries.

It shall be appraised the contribution of the project to promoting sustainable development and equal opportunities.

It shall be appraised the way the project contributes to the introduction and/or utilisation of equipment, technologies that ensure the environment protection and/or lead to the diminish of raw materials, energy and fuel.

It shall be appraised the way the project fosters the participation of young people and women in RD activities through the infrastructure management and operational teams. It is important the way the infrastructure allows the access of disabled and is in compliance with the legislation in force (G.O. no. 649/2001 regarding the approval of the Normative for the adjustment of civil buildings and urban space afferent to the exigencies of the disabled, indicative NP 051/2000).

Criterion3. Maturity and sustainability of the project

It shall be appraised the extent in which the proposal represents a real feasible sustainable idea and not a simple wish, as attractive as it might be. It shall be permanently checked the correlation between the application form and the Feasibility Study.

Criterion3.1 Coherence and feasibility of the project

For this section the application form is to be examined, especially the following chapters:

2.3 Project description - the description of project activities and the description of the results

2.4 Project Management

2.6 Calendar of activities

2.13 The impact of the non-reimbursable financial assistance upon the project implementation

2.14 Communication and publicity

3. Compliance with EU policies and national legislation

4. Financing package of the project

Plus the CVs of the management team, as well as the attached Feasibility Study

It shall be appraised the extent to which the applicant has correctly identified the activities according to the proposed project type and its goal. The activities must have a logical sequence and lead to the proposed results. Human and financial resources must be properly estimated and distributed on types of activities. The eligibility of the estimated costs and the accurate financing terms shall be checked. All remarks shall be written in the "Comments" section.

It shall be appraised the correlation between the application form and Feasibility Study.

It shall be appraised the way the scientific community and the wide public are informed about the project and its publicity.

It shall be appraised the implementation methodology and the ability of the designated team to implement the project. The experience of the team members in carrying on major projects is a plus.

The results of the financial analysis shall be appraised: the cash flow analysis, the discounted net value and the internal rentability rate, the non-reimbursable financial assistance rate presented in chapter 5 of the Feasibility Study.

It shall be appraised the risks implied by the projects and the way they are identified by the applicant, as well as the proper solutions to solve them.

The project's degree of maturity is also ensured by the existence of the necessary notifications, authorizations and endorsements for starting the works and the procurement. Projects with a rapid implementation calendar shall be supported (the ones starting the works within a period of maximum 6 months since the date of signing the Financing Contract).

Criterion 3.2 Operational capacity of the infrastructure (institutional and financial sustainability)

For this section the application form is to be examined, especially the following chapters:

1.6 Non-reimbursable grants previously or presently received from public funds

2.12 Project sustainability

Plus the CVs of the personnel operating and using the infrastructure, as well as the Feasibility Study, chapters 5 and 6, sections "Costs and incomes".

It shall be analysed the experience of the team using the infrastructure by taking into account their activity in the nearest profile laboratories (inland or abroad) and their ability to use the infrastructure for future research activities. This can be proved through publications, patents, projects, etc.

The team's ability to train young people with master degree, PhDs, post-docs in these laboratories/equipment for the research activity shall be scored.

It shall be appraised the institution's capacity to sustain technically and administratively the infrastructure through adequate technical personnel or by ensuring other necessary support facilities for the optimal functioning of the infrastructure.

The results of the financial analysis must reveal the capacity of the proposed investment to sustain itself financially for at least 5 years after finishing the project, by paying off the operational and maintenance costs.

5.5. Specific selection rules

1. The appraisal and selection process shall be organized on priority thematic areas. Separate lists on each priority thematic area shall be presented. The projects with the same score are selected by the following criteria:

- the score granted for the "institutional performance" criterion

- the score granted for the primary performance criteria in the process of evaluation in compliance with G. D no. 551/200.

2.The project proposals which do not exceed the quality limit of 21 points and the ones which obtain 0 points for either criteria are not to be financed.

3. An equal number of projects for each priority thematic area shall be financed, in a decreasing order of the total scores, within the limits of the allocated budget for this call. This number can differ for the two thematic areas 1-5 (1.health; 2. agriculture, food security and safety; 3. energy; 4. environment; 5. innovative materials, processes and products), and 6-10 (6. technology of information and communication; 7. biotechnologies; 8. space and security; 9. socio-economic and humanist research; 10. exploratory and frontier research), but the same number of projects within the same group.

APPLICANT

ONLINE REGISTRATION OF THE APPLICATION FORM

APPRAISAL ON GROUPS OF EVALUATION

NO

REGISTRATION OF PROJECT PROPOSALS AT IB REGIONALOFFICE (IB creates project file)

RECEIVABILITY CHECK (IB REGIONAL OFFICE )

ELIGIBILITY CHECK (IB REGIONAL OFFICE )

YES

SEND PROIECTS TO CENTRAL OFFICE (together with receivability and eligibility checks)

YES

NO

REJECTED

		YES

SELECTION IN THE SELECTION COMMITEE

YES

REJECTED

NO

APPLICATION ACCEPTED

CONTRACTING

SECTION III -CONTRCTING AND FINANCING PROJECTS THROUGH SOP IEC

6. SIGNING THE CONTRACT

The Intermediate Body (IB) shall send a "letter of acceptance" to each applicant in the list of eligible projects to invite them to contracting.

• The "letter of acceptance" contains the conclusions about the appraisal and the suggested changes for the application form (where necessary).
• The beneficiary is obliged to send an answering letter within a period of 3 calendar days, in which he accepts or rejects the suggestions in the "letter of acceptance".
• If he accepts these terms, the applicant shall send to IB the contract signed by his legal representative, until a scheduled deadline, in order to be signed by the Contracting Authority.
• If the applicant does not comply with the deadline or does not send all requested documents, signed and having a registration number, the decision regarding the granting of non-reimbursable financing shall lose its validity.
• The financing contract is concluded between the beneficiary/applicant and IB Research (NASR) and is endorsed by the Management Authority of SOP IEC.

By signing the financing contract, the beneficiary agrees with the terms and conditions granting him the non-reimbursable financing and commits on his own responsibility to implement the project for which he receives financing, in compliance with national and EU legislation.

The beneficiary has the obligation to implement the project for which the financing contract was signed from SOP IEC in compliance with the provisions of the application form attached to the contract.

If the beneficiary does not succeed in putting the project into application under the assumed and stipulated terms in the financing contract, he must assume the partial or total failure. In this case, the contribution from public funds (national or EU) can be diminished and/or the Management Authority through IB can claim for total/partial restitution of the already paid sums, if the beneficiary does not meet the contractual terms.

If, during the validity period of the contract, a substantial modification appears, since the day of its appearance, the financing shall be suspended and the sums allocated until that moment will be recovered in compliance with national legislation. The substantial modifications at the project are the ones that:

affect in a great measure the nature and the terms of implementation or that offer to a third party an undeserved advantage or

derive from a change of the nature of the property of a certain item of infrastructure, respectively, a cessation or a change in the location of the investment.

The beneficiary has the obligation to inform The Intermediate Body for Research within a period of 15 calendar days since the date of occurrence of any substantial modification.

The contracted non-reimbursable financing shall be proportionally recovered also for the cases when the financed objectives are not used according to the settled goal and when they have been sold or rented within a period of 5 years after the Project ended (the limit term of the last payment), in compliance with Article 57, paragraph (1) from the Regulations of the European Committee (EC) No 1083/2006.

7. FINANCING THE PROJECTS

Pre- financing

Legal basis:

- G. O. no. 29/2007 regarding the way of allocating structural instruments, pre-financing and co-financing allocated from the state budget, inclusive from the National Development Fund, in the budget of the institutions involved in the administration of the structural instruments and their usage for the objective of convergence, published in the Official Journal, no. 86 from the 2^nd of February 2007.

- Order. no. 911/10.08.2007 for the approval of the Application Norms in the G.O. no. 29/2007

The pre-financing is granted in compliance with the regulations in the financing contract.

Granting pre-financing

Granting pre-financing is possible in compliance with the EC Regulations.

Therefore, in compliance with G.O. no. 29/2007, Art. 1, paragraph 2, letter 1, the pre-financing means the sums transferred form the state budget or from structural instruments (ERDF) to a beneficiary , except those from the private sector (if through this transfer it is not encroached upon the legislation, regarding the state aid) or to a non-governmental organisation - through direct or indirect payment - for paying off the payment commitments to a contractor, in the initial stage of project implementation, on the basis of a financing contract concluded between the beneficiary and the Managing Authority/ Intermediate Body responsible for ensuring the proper development of the projects.

The pre-financing is granted, in compliance with The Regulations of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, only for the beneficiaries from the public sector and NGOs.

The sums afferent to the pre-financing will be transferred to the Beneficiary from the budget of the Ministry of Economy and Finance through the Payment Unit belonging to the Managing Authority

The pre-financing is granted in a percentage of maximum 15% from the eligible value of the financing contract concluded between the beneficiary and the Intermediate Body (NASR). The pre-financing within the limits of the above mentioned percentage, can be granted totally or in instalments, according to the foreseen of the payment flow agreed upon by the Managing Authority

Requesting pre-financing

After having concluded the first contract with the service/work/equipment supplier, the Beneficiary may request pre-financing.

To obtain pre-financing the beneficiary has the obligation to send the following documents to The Intermediate Body for Research (NASR), at its Regional Office in his geographic area (see the table at section 4.3 of "The Applicant's Guide"), but not later than the 5^th of the month:

The public procurement contract concluded between the beneficiary and an undertaking

The beneficiary's pre-financing form, in compliance with the financing contract concluded between The Intermediate Body and the beneficiary (in the standard format requested in the contract)

The sums afferent to the pre-financing to the concluded contracts within the SOP IEC can be granted totally or in instalments from the state budget or by ERDF, according to the foreseen of the payment flow agreed upon by the Managing Authority. These will be foreseen in the budget of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

NASR centralises the requests received form beneficiaries and sends them to the Managing Authority.

Use of pre-financing

The pre-financing sum for beneficiaries within SOP IEC, Axis 2, in compliance with G.O.no.29/2007 and its Application Norms can be used for the payment of eligible expenditures only.

Recovery of pre-financing

In compliance with the Application Norms of G.O. no. 29/2007, the sum granted to a beneficiary in the form of pre-financing shall be progressively recovered, by applying a percentage from the value of each refund request drawn up by beneficiaries, established by each Managing Authority.

The pre-financing shall be progressively recovered by applying a percentage of maximum 50% from the value of each interim refund request, according to their total value, until its full recovery.

The recovery shall be performed beginning with the first refund request, so that the pre-financing sums shall be fully recovered before the last refund request.

The pre-financing shall be refunded if the Beneficiary has not submit any refund request justifying the procurement of assets, services or the works, within a period of 6 months since its receival.

7.2. Reimbursement of expenditures

The reimbursement of the expenditures shall be performed in compliance with the regulations of the financing contract.

For the reimbursement of the expenditures the Beneficiary shall draw up and send the following documents, attached to the reimbursement claim

The Progress Report

Legal copies mentioning "in compliance with the original", signed and stamped by the Beneficiary and the signature of his legal representative, of the following documents: invoices, payment documents, account extracts, other justifying documents

For the procurement procedure: the proof of publicity, selection criteria, report of the contract designation

For communication and publicity: photos, ads, statements, documents to prove the TV/radio commercials payment

For procurement of assets: legal copy of the note of reception in book-keeping, legal copy of the minutes of assets delivery/receive or copy of the minutes of making them operational;

For service supply: the beneficiary's approval for the submitted documents within the consultancy, (certificates for attending courses, evaluation grids, payrolls for trainers, certified copies, etc)

For the execution of constructions: legal copies of minutes for verifying determined execution phases, legal copies of the site form master's reports

For personnel expenditure: lists of presence, payrolls

The invoices must mention in detail the procured assets, the supplied service offered or the performed work

MA/IB has the right to request supplementary documents to clarify possible misunderstandings

Before requesting a reimbursement, the respective expenditures must be already performed and paid. The payment date is considered to be the date of the bank wire from the Beneficiary's account into the contractor's.

The reimbursement claim shall be sent to the Intermediate Body for Research (at its Regional Offices from their geographic areas) at time intervals settled by the submitted reimbursement claim chart (annex to the financing contract). The reimbursement claims shall be performed on finalized activities and determined phases. The non-remittance of the reimbursement claim according to the schedule without written justification may lead to the withdrawal of the project financing and to the reimbursement of the received sums until that moment.

The verification of the reimbursement claim shall be performed by the Intermediate Body for Research and its authorization shall be made by the Managing Authority, within a period of 80 days from the date of its submission. The Beneficiaries will be informed regarding the authorized sums.

The reimbursement shall be performed by the Payment Unit belonging to the Managing Authority, based on the reimbursement claim sent by the Beneficiary to the Intermediate Body, within a period of 10 days from the date when the beneficiary has been informed about the authorized sum. MA/IB may request the prolongation of the term under justified circumstances, especially for monitoring visits, by informing the beneficiary.

7.3. Revenues generated by the project

Legal basis: Art.55 from General Regulations no. 1083/2006 regarding general provisions for ERDF ESF and CF

Revenue-generating project means any project involving an investment in an infrastructure the use of which is subject to charges borne directly by users or any project involving the sale or rent of land or buildings or any other provision of services against payment, in compliance with the regulations of art. 55 paragraph 1, from General Regulations no. 1083/2006.

The eligible costs of the revenue-generating projects shall not exceed the current value of the investment cost less the current value of the net revenue from the investment over a specific reference period of time (5 years after the project ends) for investments in infrastructure.

Where not all the investment cost is eligible for co-financing, the net revenues shall be allocated pro rata to the eligible and non-eligible parts of the investment cost.

The method of calculation the value of the non-reimbursable financial assistance (the grant value), for revenue-generating projects is provided in Annex 3 of the "Applicant's Guide" (in compliance with art. 4 of the financing contract).

7.4. Public procurement

Concerning the procurement of assets, services and works, in order to implement the project, the beneficiary must be in compliance with the provisions of G.U.O. no. 34/2006 with further completions and modifications.

For the public procurement performed before the financing contract is signed (in compliance with G.U.O. no. 34/2006, with further completions and modifications) and after the date of the 1^st of January 2007, the real values, and not the estimated ones, together with the dates to carry on the procedure shall be filled in the application form.

In case of infringements, the costs afferent to the payment of assets/services/works procured in this way shall not be considered eligible and shall not be refunded.

7.5. Reimbursement of VAT

(in compliance with art. 8 of the financing contract

Legal basis:

- The G. O no. 29/2007 regarding the allocation of structural instruments, of pre-financing and allocated co-financing from the state budget, inclusive from the National Development Fund, in the budget of the institutions involved in the administration of structural instruments and their usage for the convergence objective (published in the Official Journal no. 86, 2^nd of February 2007), approved with further completions and modifications through the Regulation no. 249/2007 published in the Official Journal no. 498 from the 25^th of August 2007.

The OM no. 911/2007 regarding the approval of the Methodological Norms of application the regulations of G.O. no.29/2007, with further completions and modifications published in the Official Journal, no. 591 from the 28^th of August 2007.

Taking into account the entrance into force since the 1^st of January 2007 of the Law no. 571/2003 regarding the Fiscal Code, for beneficiaries from the public sector the VAT exemption shall not be applied.

In this sense, it was settled that the sums representing the value added tax afferent to the eligible costs shall be reimbursed by the Certifying and Payment Authority to the eligible beneficiaries (the beneficiaries from the public sector to whom financing from the state budget shall be granted, through the budget of the public coordination authorities in compliance with the law), through transfer into the account of the Payment Units belonging to the Managing Authorities, on the basis of the provisions sent by the Managing Authority.

7.6. Archives

The beneficiary must keep all legal documentation, including the inventory of the assets procured as a consequence of the non-reimbursable financing and also the book-keeping documents regarding the eligible activities and costs, in order to ensure a proper audit trail, in compliance with EU and national regulations. All documents shall be kept for a period of 3 years from the official closing of SOP IEC.

COMMUNICATION AND PUBLICITY

In compliance with the art. 69 provisions of the Council Regulations no. 1083/2006, the objective of communication and publicity actions is to accomplish the information and the publicity of the programme and of the co-financed projects, both for the general public and for the potential beneficiaries, so that the role of the European Community and the transparency of the financing opportunities could be enhanced.

The messages shall be adapted to different aimed target groups, by using an accessible language, the avoidance of the excessive usage of technical terms and offering examples of good practices.

The cooperation with the media will also have an essential role in the successful implementation of the actions regarding the communication and the publicity.

The beneficiary shall describe within the progress reports all communication and publicity activities performed for the project and shall attach to the report copies of the newspaper articles, photos of the events organized within the project, so that it could be easily seen the compliance with the communication and information regulations and also the resulted documents. The communication and publicity measures are presented in the financing contract.

Through the communication and publicity activities we can recommended: regional/local newspaper ads, referring to the beginning of the project, or its end by mentioning the obtained results as well as editing or posting: brochures, folding, boards, labels, etc.

The beneficiary shall, during the implementation of the project, put up a billboard at the site of each project. When the project is completed, the billboard shall be replaced by the permanent explanatory plaque, mentioning the existence of an objective financed by ERDF within SOP IEC, with the emblem of the European Union, according to the graphic standard from the manual of visual identity and with a motto chosen by the Managing Authority enhancing the intervention of the European Community, preferably "Investing in your future".

The beneficiaries have the obligation to send all communication and publicity materials to the Intermediate Body for Research, in order to be given an expert opinion within a period of minimum 15 working days before their launching and usage.

SECTION IV - MONITORING AND CONTROL

The monitoring of the projects shall be made by the Intermediate Body for Research to check whether the beneficiary's objectives are reached. The monitoring process begins the moment the financing contract is signed and ends after a period of 5 years after the termination of the project.

The monitoring activities are detailed in the financing contract.

The monitoring process consists of verifying the physical and procedural progress registered in the project implementation and of collecting and registration all legal information about the project in SMIS, in order to be gathered at the level of Priority Axis and reported to the Managing Authority.

The beneficiary shall send quarterly reports of technical progress to IB along the whole period of the project implementation and within 5 years after the termination of the project he shall submit the annual reports regarding the investment durability.

For the fulfilment of the physical monitoring of the projects, the IB shall perform the following activities:

check the content of the reporting documents (quarterly progress reports) elaborated and sent by the beneficiary (performed activities/physical progress)

monitoring visit to check the physical stage of the project implementation at the present location/headquarters of the beneficiary

Checking the documents

The IB Research will check the documents to ensure that the reports submitted by the beneficiary (see "Reporting") are complete and accurate, that the project is implemented in compliance with the European Union and the national legislation. The IB Research will also assess the evolution in time of the indicators settled in the application form, their achievement in comparison with the objectives and their achievement percentage.

Monitoring visit

The purpose of the monitoring visit is to verify, at the present location, the physical achievement and the management system of a project and to allow the collection of some supplementary information in comparison with the one in the progress reports, in order to assess the values of the indicators compared with the objectives and of the accuracy of the information supplied by the beneficiary.

The monitoring visit aims:

To ensure the progress of the project from the point of view of physical achievement, in compliance with the activity calendar in the application form

To identify possible problems as soon as possible and to find solutions to improve the implementation

To identify elements of success for the project

To ensure a good communication between the beneficiary and IB that could lead to an efficient cooperation for a successful implementation of the project (the fulfilment of all indicators stipulated in the contract within the settled period of time)

The monitoring unit within the IB shall organize a monitoring visit at least once during the implementation of the project.

The information regarding the monitoring visit shall be communicated in written to the beneficiary within a period of 12 calendar days before the visit takes place: date, time, place, participants, beneficiary's representatives, available documentation.

The beneficiary has the obligation to participate to the visit through the persons designated in the letter and to put to the disposal of the monitoring team all the requested documents.

In the case of some ambiguities regarding the project implementation, resulted as a consequence of the submission of the progress reports, the IB can also organise on-the-spot visits.

ANNEX 1 TO APPLICANT'S GUIDE

-APPLICATION FORM-

NASR

National Authority for Scientific Research

APPLICATION FORM

SECTORAL OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME INCREASE OF ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS

PRIORITY AXIS 2- RD&I: Operation 2.2.1

NATIONAL PROGRAMME "CAPACITIES"

MODULE I: Large investment projects

<< PROJECT TITLE / ACRONYM>>

APPLICATION FORM REGISTRATION (To be filled in by the NASR-IB Research)
Institution:
Electronic Registration No:	Date of Registration: D......../M......../Y.............
NASR Registration No:	Name of the person who fills in the present form:
Session No of Call for Applications (call code):	Signature:

ELEMENTS OF THE APPLICATION FORM

1. Information about the applicant

2. Information about the project

3. Compliance with EU policies and national legislation

4. The financing package of the project

5. Annexes and the application certification

PROJECT TITLE

Acronym

O.INFORMATION ABOUT THE TYPE OF THE NON-REIMBURSABLE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE REQUESTED

The European Regional Development Fund (for thematic areas 1-5 of the call only)

State budget

INFORMATION ABOUT THE APPLICANT

APPLICANT

Name of the organization
Sole Registration Code		Trade Register Registration No.
No. from the Registry of Associations and Foundations		Main NACE code
Phone		Fax
Head Office Address		E-mail address
Registration to Register of Potential Contractors (RPC)		YES NO

APPLICANT TYPE:

Organization type
Establishing year

Information about the Applicant
Number of employees
Turnover (Lei)
Income from research-development (Lei)

LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE

Name		Position
Phone		Fax
Address		E-mail

1.4 PROJECT MANAGER

Name		Position
Phone		Fax
Address		E-mail

BANK

Bank/ Branch
Address
Bank Account Number (IBAN)

NON-REIMBURSABLE GRANTS PREVIOUSLY OR PRESENTLY RECEIVED FROM PUBLIC FUNDS

Did the applicant benefit from non-reimbursable assistance from public funds or from an IFI loan in the last 5 years?

YES

NO

If yes, please specify the following information for 5 projects at most (presented in decreasing order according to their date of signature):

Project title and reference number
Project value and, in case of partnership, the sum allocated to the applicant		Financing source
Year of signing the contract		Final year

Project title and reference number
Project value and, in case of partnership, the sum allocated to the applicant		Financing source
Year of signing the contract		Final year

Project title and reference number
Project value and, in case of partnership, the sum allocated to the applicant		Financing source
Year of signing the contract		Final year

Project title and reference number
Project value and, in case of partnership, the sum allocated to the applicant		Financing source
Year of signing the contract		Final year

Project title and reference number
Project value and, in case of partnership, the sum allocated to the applicant		Financing source
Year of signing the contract		Final year

For the project that represents the object of this application form or its components, has there been before any request for financial support from public funds, including EU funds?

YES

NO

If yes, for each request please specify the following information:

Programme name		Project registration number
Project value		Financing source
Brief description of the components for which the financing was requested
Stage of proposal	Evaluation in progress Selected Rejected
	If rejected, specify the reason:

Did the project that represents the object of this application form or its components ever benefit from financial support from public funds, including EU funds, in the last 5 years?

YES

NO

If yes, for each approved financing please specify the following information:

Programme name		Project registration number
Project value		Financing source
Brief description of the components for which the financing was requested
Implementation stage	Implementation in progress Finalized Interrupted
	If the implementation was interrupted, please specify the reason:

PROJECT INFORMATION

PROJECT THEMATIC AREA

Project thematic area
Project UNESCO code
The project involves activities of construction/expansion of buildings	YES NO
Operational Programme	SOP IEC (for thematic areas 1-5 in the call only)
Priority Axis	PA2: RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION FOR COMPETITIVENESS
Key Area of Intervention	KAI2.2: Investments in RDI infrastructure and related administrative capacity
Operation	O2.2.1: Development of the existing R&D infrastructure and the creation of new infrastructures (laboratories, research centres)
National Programme	Capacities - module I - large investment projects
State Aid Scheme	Not applicable
IMPACT Registration Number	(if the case)

2.2 PROJECT LOCATION

Please specify the following information for each of the locations proposed for the project implementation:

Country		Region
County		City
Address

2.3 PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Project objective

(Please mention the project objectives and explain how the project contributes to the achievement of the call objectives)

Justification of the project implementation necessity

(Please provide the reasons why this project is needed to achieve the objectives and describe its added value from scientific and economic point of view; present the new/modernized labs and the types of research considered; mention the contribution of this infrastructure to the increase of research performance and to the increase of international cooperation)

Project context

(Please mention whether the project to be financed is a component of a more complex infrastructure; describe the context related to the field at the national level; present the international context of the project so that the level of performance for the proposed infrastructure could be determined)

Description of project components

(Please describe the project components - e.g. construction of new building, modernizing existent labs, procurement of R&D equipment etc.; please present a list of the R&D equipment worth more than 100,000 EUR; describe the level of performance of the equipment; describe as much as possible the national distribution of similar equipment)

Description of project activities

(Please describe the activities and sub-activities of the project according to table 2.6)

Description of the results expected after the implementation

(Please specify the main project results)

Direct / indirect beneficiaries

(Please indicate the groups/entities who will benefit/be targeted by the project results, directly or indirectly)

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project implementation methodology

(Please present the way in which the project implementation will be managed and the key-aspects of the implementation)

Key personnel of the project implementation team

Please present the personnel already employed in the institution who will be involved in the project management, and mention, if the case, the vacancies intended for the project implementation (the team can include 5 people at most):

Crt. No.	Name/Surname	Position	Responsibilities within the project	Involvement (no. of months)

Risks

(Please present the main risks related to the project implementation and the measures to reduce them)

2.5 PROJECT DURATION

Specify the project implementation duration, in months (from the date of contract signature):

2.6 CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES

Was the feasibility study financed from public funds?

YES

NO

Fill in the table below with the activities scheduled to be performed during the project implementation, as well as the periods in which these will be realized, correlated with the project implementation methodology

Crt. No.	Activity	From.. (month no from the beginning of the project)	To.. (month no from thye beginning of the project)
	Activities of building modernization/extension/ construction (please detail below the sub-activities involved)
	Execution project
	Obtaining the authorization for construction
	Preparing the procurement dossiers
	Procurement procedure for construction / extension / modernization works
	Construction / extension / modernization phase (there can be more than one phase)
	Comissioning
	Procurement of equipment and immaterial assets for R&D
	Preparation of the procurement dossiers
	Procurement procedure for equipment and immaterial assets for R&D
	Installing and placing into use the equipment
	Increase of the administrative capacity (if support is requested)
	Project management (including communication and publicity regarding the project, which will be detailed in section 2.14)

INDICATORS

Please fill in the forecast value of the output and result indicators from the table.

INDICATORS	Value at the beginning of the implementation period	Value at the end of the implementation period
Output indicators
Modernized R&D laboratories, as a result of the project (number)
Newly created R&D laboratories, as a result of the project (number)
R&D equipment worth more than 100,000 EUR procured on the project (number)
Total of R&D equipment procured by means of the project (number)
Result indicators
Jobs created in R&D due to the project (number)
Jobs maintained in R&D due to the project (number)
Applicant's private non-eligible contribution to the project (Lei)
International projects in which the infrastructure will be used (number)

2.8 PARTNERS INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

Not applicable for this call.

2.9 RELATION WITH OTHER PROGRAMMES / STRATEGIES / PROJECS / OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS

Crt. No.	Type (programme/strategy /project/others)	NAME	RELATION

VALUE ADDED TAX

Is the organization VAT-paying?

YES

NO

Are there activities within the project for which you are requesting financing in the present application form, and for which the organization is paying VAT?

YES

NO

2.11 REVENUE-GENERATOR PROJECT

Is the project for which you are requesting financing revenue - generator? 

YES

NO

If yes, please estimate the discounted value of the net revenue generated by the project in the first 5 years since the infrastructure commissioning/first utilization: .......... ..... ...... ........... Lei (according to the financial analysis section in the feasibility study)

2.12 PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY

Financial sustainability

(Please present how the infrastructure will be financially sustained after the present project ends, as well as the capacity to ensure the investment operation and maintenance after project finalization: responsible entities, funds, activities, time horizon)

Institutional sustainability

(Please present briefly the research team who will use the infrastructure and attach their CVs; specify the newly-created jobs in research, their profile and financing sources; describe also the technical and administrative support provided by the institution for the new laboratories)

2.13 THE IMPACT OF THE NON-REIMBURSABLE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE UPON THE PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

The non-reimbursable financial assistance requested will:

a) speed the project implementation

YES

NO

(if yes, please justify)

b) be essential for the project implementation

YES

NO

(if yes, please justify)

2.14 COMMUNICATION AND PUBLICITY

Please present in detail the proposed communication and publicity measures related to the non-reimbursable financial assistance.

(Press notification in a regional and/or local paper announcing the beginning and the end of the project mentioning also the outputs and results shall be included, as well as publication and display of brochures, folders, panels, labels, etc)

Communication and publicity activity (brief description)	Estimated duration	Estimated costs

3. COMPLIANCE WITH EU POLICIES AND NATIONAL LEGISLATION

3.1 THE "POLLUTER PAYS" PRINCIPLE

(Please explain how the project applies the "polluter pays" principle; if the project does not apply this principle, please mention the reasons why)

3.2 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

(Please explain how  the project applies the sustainable development principle)

3.3 EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

(Please point out how the equal opportunities principle was integrated in the elaboration and implementation of the project, both in the activities and the management of the project, mentioning each specific component related to this aspect)

3.4 PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

Please fill in the form regarding the public procurement programme:

Crt. No.	Object of the contract/ frame agreement	Estimated value (Lei)	Procedure applied	Estimated date for beginning the procedure *	Estimated date for finishing the procedure*

* Fill in the no. of the month (e.g. the third month) from signing the project financing contract

NOTE: For the public procurement made before signing the project contract, but after 1^st of January 2007, (in compliance with the GUO 34/2006, with the subsequent completions and modifications) the table will be filled in with the real values, not the estimated ones, and with the calendar dates for the procedure.

THE FINANCING PACKAGE OF THE PROJECT

4.1 PROJECT COSTS DETAILED ON EACH CATEGORY OF EXPENDITURE

Code	Expenditure	Expenditure value	Eligible value*	Non-eligible value	Intensity of the public intervention		Non-reimbursable financial assistance value
DIRECT ELIGIBLE COSTS
	Expenditure for land purchase *
Expenditure for building modernization / extension / construction
	Land arrangements
	Land arrangements for the protection of the environment
	Expenditure for utilities necessary to reach the objective
	Project design [6]
	Organizing public procurement
	Consultancy
	Technical assistance
	Constructions and installations
	Assemblage of technological machines
	Procurement of installations and machines
	Organizing the construction site
	Payment of legal shares
	Diverse and unpredicted expenditure
	Commissioning  expenditure
Expenditure for endowments and fixed immaterial assets
	Endowment (fixed assets or working inventory)
	Procurement of fixed immaterial assets
	Procurement of buildings and locations
	Renting of equipment and machines, others than for R&D
	Insurance premium
Expenditure for increasing the administrative capacity					Cannot exceed 300,000 Lei
	Procurement of fixed immaterial assets (informatics applications and licences)
	Endowments (fixed assets or working inventory)
	Communication and publicity (for institutional promotion) (to be added to procurement of services)
	Consumable materials (not eligible according to OM 2508/2007)
	Publications, subscriptions and taxes
	Procurement of services
Expenditure for project management
	Communication and publicity (publicity for the project)
	Expenditure afferent to the project management
INDIRECT ELIGIBLE COSTS
	General administration expenditure
TOTAL PARTIAL
NON-ELIGIBLE COSTS
	Value added tax
	Expenditure 1
	Expenditure 2
TOTAL NON-ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURE
TOTAL GENERAL		(Total project budget)	(Total eligible value)	(Total non-eligible value)		(Non-reimbursable assistance value)

Eligibility rules:

The land purchase (without constructions) is eligible up to 10% of the eligible value of the project (GD 759/2007) only if it was made after the 1st of January 2007 from private funds (when the present application is submitted there must be property evidence over the land). The eligibility rule is also applied if a building is procured in the purpose of its demolition and re-use of its related land (GD 759/2007).

The diverse and unpredicted expenses for the infrastructure project must not exceed 10% of the sum of the following types of expenditure: land arrangements; land arrangements for the protection of the environment; utilities necessary to reach the objective; project design (except for the expenditure for expertise, research and energetic audit); organizing public procurement; consultancy (except for the consultancy in studies and analysis necessary during the period of implementation of the project and the technical, financial or legal consultancy); technical assistance (except for the services for the installation and placing into use of the equipment, technical assistance services for the accountancy and studies / analysis necessary during the period of implementation of the project and the services of external financial audit and certification); constructions and installations; assemblage of technological machines; procurement of installations and machines; endowments (fixed assets or working inventory) (OM ..........).

The expenditure afferent to the project management is eligible up to 10% of the eligible value of the project, but no more than 2,000,000 Lei (OM ..........). Personnel costs may be covered from public funds for maximum 5 people.

The general administration expenditure is eligible in the limit of 1% of the direct eligible costs of the project (OM ......... )

4.2 PROJECT FINANCING PACKAGE

Please present the financing sources of the project in detail, according to the table:

Crt. No.	FINANCING SOURCES	VALUE
I (I=II+III)	TOTAL VALUE OF THE PROJECT
II	NON-ELIGIBLE VALUE OF THE PROJECT
III	ELIGIBLE VALUE OF THE PROJECT
III.1	NON-REIMBURSABLE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE REQUESTED
III.2	ELIGIBLE CONTRIBUTION OF THE APPLICANT
III.2.1	Contribution in cash
III.2.2	Contribution in kind	Not applicable
III.2.3	Loan
A	DISCOUNTED NET REVENUES FOR THE FIRST 5 YEARS (for revenue-generating projects)

5. ANNEXES AND THE APPLICATION CERTIFICATION

5.1 LIST OF ANNEXES

All applicants must be registered in the Register of Potential Contractors and have the data updated (https://www.mct.ro/rpc/home.jsp).

ANNEXES
Statute and legal act of establishing the institution Extract from the Trade Registry with information on the shareholders, social capital Registration Certificate from the Trade Registry Official balance sheets on the last two years, including the Profit and Loss Account	RCP
Copy of the letter addressed to the specialized Commission, with registration number, attached to the Self-Assessment Report, in compliance with GD no. 551/2007	Support document
The Decision of the Senate/GSA/AC for approving the investment and, according to the case, the financial contribution of the applicant.	Support document
Institutional Development Strategy	Support document
City planning certificate and technical fiches for obtainign other endorsements /approvals of principle (according to the case)	Support document
Property title for the land / estate, or document of concession (according to the case) and conclusion of registration in the land registry, together with: Extract from the Land Registry with the mention "free of any charges" Statement on own responsibility that the land / estate is not subject to any litigation	Support document
Renting agreements/contracts registered in the land registry for locations/ estates (according to the case)	Support document
Applicant' statement of fulfilling the eligibility conditions (research organization)	Support document
Applicant' statement of avoiding double financing	Support document
Feasibility study, including the financing analysis (in Romanian and English, on CD)	Support document
Statement of certification of the application (see section 5.2)	Support document
CVs of people involved in the project management *	Max. 5
CVs of the personnel that will operate and use the infrastructure*	Max. 10

*) It is filled in the application form (see section 5.2) and it is electronically registered together with it.

5.2 STATEMENT

The following statement certifying the application is annexed to the application form, which was electronically registered. It is written on paper support and signed by the legal representative of the institution.

I hereby certify that the information provided in the application form entitled .......... ..... ...... ................, having the acronym .................. and the e-registration number ........................, as well as the details presented in the support documents are accurate and the financial assistance requested is necessary for the project implementation according to the description.

I certify that the project proposal submitted is in compliance with the priorities of our strategy of institutional development.

I also certify that I do not know any reason for which the project might not be implemented or could be delayed.

I am aware that the project proposal might be rejected if the application form is incomplete considering all the details and aspects required, including this section,.

Date (Legal representative)

Position in the organization

D...../M......./Y................

Name (caps)

Signature

ANNEX: CVs of people involved in the project management (max. 5)

Please fill in a CV of max. 1 page for each team member implementing the project, following the model below:

Project acronym:

Position within the project:

1. Name:

2. Surname: 

3. Date and place of birth: 

4. Nationality: 

5. Marital Status: 

6. Education:

Institution	Period	Diplomas

7. Scientific title:

8. Professional experience:

Institution	Period	Position	Description

9. Foreign languages:

10. Abilities in investment field:

Other specializations/qualifications:

12. Experience (especially in management) in other national/international programmes/projects:

Programme/Project	Position	Period	Administrated budget

13. Other mentions:

I hereby state on my own responsibility that the data provided is accurate.

Date: Signature

ANNEX: CVs of the personnel operating and using the infrastructure (max. 10)

Please fill in a CV of max. 2 pages for the personnel that will operate and use the infrastructure, following the model below:

Position within the Project:

1. Name:

2. Surname: 

3. Date and place of birth: 

4. Nationality: 

5. Marital status: 

6. Education:

Institution	Period	Diplomas

7. Scientific title:

8. Professional experience:

Institution	Period	Position	Description

9. Foreign languages:

10. Patents (max. 5):

11. Published works (max. 5 works, the most relevant ones for the activity to be carried out with the infrastructure subject to the present project): 

12. Member of professional associations:

13. Specializations and qualifications:

14. Experience (including in management) in other national/international programmes/projects:

Programme/Project	Position	Period

15. Research fields and topics to be investigated using the infrastructure developed through the project:

I hereby state on my own responsibility that the data provided is accurate.

Date: Signature

ANNEX 2 TO THE APPLICANT'S GUIDE

LIST OF THE SUPPORT DOCUMENTS TO THE APPLICATION FORM

Copy of the letter addressed to the specialized Commission, with registration number, attached to the Self-Assessment Report , in compliance with GD no. 551/2007
The Decision of the Senate/GSA/AC for approving the investment and, according to the case, the financial contribution of the applicant.
Institutional Development Strategy
City planning certificate and technical fiches for obtaining other endorsements/approvals of principle (according to the case)
Property title for the land / estate, or document of concession (according to the case) and conclusion of registration in the land registry, together with: Extract from the Land Registry with the mention "free of any charges" Statement on own responsibility that the land / estate is not subject to any litigation
Renting agreements/contracts registered in the land registry for locations/ estates (according to the case)
Applicant' statement of fulfilling the eligibility conditions (research organization)
Applicant' statement of avoiding double financing
Feasibility study, including the financing analysis (in Romanian and English, on CD)
Statement of certification of the application