Can I coordinate a FP7 project if I am based in Australia?
- For ‘frontier’ research projects funded by the European Research Council, the Chief Investigator must be established in a Member State or in an Associated Country.
- For coordination and support actions, the coordinator could be established in Australia if specifically set in the work programme.
- For actions in favour of training and career development of researchers (Marie Curie), a recipient of a fellowship can be established in Australia.
- For collaborative research projects it is very unlikely that a researcher established in Australia can be the coordinator. In FP6, there were no projects with Australian partners as coordinators. Furthermore, a coordinator having a joint position in an European organisation and in an Australian organisation could keep their coordinating role, but the coordinator’s role to dispatch EU grants to other partners, and project management, stays in Europe.
Further details
Persons and organisations wishing to participate in an indirect action shall appoint one of their members to act as coordinator to carry out the following tasks in accordance with the Regulation, the Financial Regulation, the Implementing Rules, and the Grant Agreement:
- to monitor the compliance by participants in the indirect action with their obligations;
- to verify whether the legal entities identified in the grant agreement complete the necessary formalities for accession to the grant agreement;
- to receive the Community financial contribution and to distribute it in accordance with the consortium and grant agreement;
- to keep the records and financial accounts of the EU contribution;
- to be intermediary for efficient and correct communication between the participants and to report to the participants and to the Commission on the progress of the project.
