Leonardo Da Vinci programme - What are the selection procedures?

Proposals submitted under the Community calls for proposals are selected by three types of procedure, known as A, B and C, depending on which measure is under consideration.

Types of procedure

 Projects on Mobility (Procedure A)

• Promoters must submit their proposal for placements or exchange projects to their country's National Agency. This must be done according to the priorities and rules set out in the Community calls for proposals published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
• The National Agency receives the proposals and organises the evaluation procedure according to the formal eligibility conditions and qualitative criteria set out at Community level.
• The National Agency, in co-operation with the competent national authority, draws up a list of the successful placement or exchange projects. It sends a list of the selected projects to the other National Agencies and to the Commission.
• The National Agency communicates the result of the selection procedure to the promoters and draws up contracts with promoters whose proposals have been accepted.

 Pilot projects, Language competencies, Transnational networks (Procedure B)

Procedure B comprises two stages:

• Stage 1 - Presentation and selection of pre-proposals
• Stage 2 - Presentation and selection of full proposals

The selection of pre-proposals must be finished within two months of the final date for the submission of pre-proposals, as laid down in the Community calls for proposals. Selection of full proposals takes place within five months of the final date for submission of full proposals, as laid down in the Community calls.

STAGE 1

• Promoters must submit their pre-proposal to their country's National Agency, bearing in mind the priorities and rules laid down in the Community call for proposals.
• The National Agency, in co-operation with the competent national authority, evaluates pre-proposals and communicates the results to promoters, while suggesting possible improvements to their pre-proposals. Only promoters who have submitted successful pre-proposals are invited to submit a full proposal.

STAGE 2

• Promoters of successful pre-proposals submit their full proposals to their National Agency and send a copy to the Commission before the same deadline.
• The National Agency, in co-operation with the competent national authority, evaluates full proposals and draws up a descriptive and reasoned list of proposals likely to be approved. This list, along with the report on the pre-proposal and full proposal evaluation procedure, is sent to the Commission.
• The Commission, with the assistance of independent experts, evaluates full proposals with a view to assessing their transnational and innovative nature.
• The Commission examines the national reports and consults accordingly with each participating country.
• For full proposals likely to be approved, the Commission, in co-operation with National Agencies and on the basis of the evaluations carried out at national and Community level, draws up the eligible ex-ante budget appropriate for each proposal, as well as the amount of the corresponding Community contribution.
• The Commission submits to the Committee, for its opinion, a proposed selection list based on national and Community evaluations, together with a proposed breakdown of the budget resources by measure and by participating country.
• After receiving the Committee's opinion, the Commission draws up the definitive list of selected projects for each participating country and allocates the funds assigned to the implementation of the selected proposals to each country.
• National Agencies inform promoters of the final decision and draw up contracts with promoters whose proposals have been accepted.

 Reference material, Thematic actions, Proposals submitted by European organisations (Pilot Projects, Transnational Networks, Language Competencies, Thematic Actions, Reference Materials) (Procedure C)

Procedure C comprises two stages:

• Stage 1 - Presentation and selection of pre-proposals
• Stage 2 - Presentation and selection of full proposals

The selection of pre-proposals must be finished within three months of the final date for the submission of pre-proposals as laid down in the Community calls for proposals. Selection of full proposals takes place within five months of the final date for submission of full proposals, as laid down in the Community calls.

STAGE 1

• Promoters submit their pre-proposal to the Commission, with a copy for their National Agency, bearing in mind the priorities and rules laid down in the Community call for proposals.
• The Commission, with the assistance of a group of independent experts, assesses pre-proposals and submits the list for the Committee's opinion. It then draws up a short list of successful pre-proposals and forwards the results to promoters, while suggesting possible improvements to their pre-proposals, on the basis of the comments by the independent experts. Only promoters whose pre-proposals have been successful are invited to submit a full proposal.

STAGE 2

• Promoters whose pre-proposals have been successful submit a full proposal to the Commission and a copy to their National Agency.
• The Commission, with the help of a group of independent experts, evaluates full proposals.
• For full proposals likely to be approved, the Commission, on the basis of the evaluations carried out by the experts, draws up the eligible ex-ante budget appropriate for each proposal, as well as the amount of the corresponding Community contribution.
• The Commission draws up a short list of proposals.
• The Commission receives the Committee�s opinion on its proposed selection list.
• The Commission then draws up the definitive list of successful proposals and informs the Committee.
• The Commission informs promoters of the final decision and then draws up contracts with promoters whose proposals have been accepted.

Elements of pre-proposals and full proposals (procedures B and C)

As mentioned earlier, proposals under procedure A are submitted in one step only (for more details, please refer to the specific Guide on mobility). As regards selection procedures B and C, they comprise two stages: presentation and selection of pre-proposals and presentation and selection of full proposals.

The application form is the same both for pre-proposals and full proposals but, in the former, only some items are filled-in as indicated in the application forms - sections A (promoter organisation), B (presentation of the proposal), C (objective of the project), D (partners).
 

 The pre-proposal

The pre-proposal should concentrate on the following elements:

• accurate needs analysis
• objectives of the proposal;
• target group(s);
• expected outcomes;
• expertise and role of the partners;
• global cost estimate of the project.

In terms of content, the pre-proposal and full proposal must represent the outcome of close consideration of a recognised need. It should reflect the transnational nature of the Leonardo da Vinci programme for the development of innovative training approaches and materials.

At the pre-proposal stage, one important issue is to identify organisations and institutions from different participating countries and people from different occupational backgrounds (e.g. different economic and/or educational sectors) who can bring in a range of expertise to address a common idea.
 

 The full proposal

The full proposal is based on the pre-proposal but it is more detailed. In addition to the information already provided in the pre-proposal, it must include:

• a work plan, which should describe the work-packages of the project (including the objectives, duration and expected outcomes of each work package), the methods of work, the precise role of the partners in each work package, the quality management plan (evaluation and quality assurance) and a detailed valorisation plan (dissemination and exploitation of results);
• a detailed financial plan for each expenditure category, indicating clearly the origin and nature of any funding which is not covered by the Leonardo da Vinci programme.