Periodic Reporting for period 3 - NUCL-EU 2020 (Connecting EURATOM National Contact Points in a pro-active network under EURATOM Programme in Horizon 2020) Reporting period: 2018-09-01 to 2020-02-29 Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project NUCL-EU 2020 aims at improving and professionalizing the NCP service, thus achieving a more consistent level of NCP support services across Europe with the final goal to better support applicants and raise the average quality of proposals submitted.NUCL-EU 2020 builds upon the experience and results of the previous NUCL-EU project with the objective of responding to the new challenges that the EURATOM NCPs face in the new programme Horizon 2020, such as the broadened thematic scope of EURATOM programme, and the enlarged mandate of the NCPs. An objective of the NUCL-EU 2020 project is to satisfy the needs and priorities of all different types of NCPs, notably newcomers, NCPs with fewer resources, NCPs from EU-13 and NCPs in Third Countries so as to face the challenge of the current heterogeneity of the networkThe enlarged mandate of EURATOM NCPs and the holistic focus of H2020 imply that NCPs need to create expert knowledge and look for it outside the EURATOM Network by having a holistic approach and liaising and collaborating with other support structures, projects and programmes. NUCL-EU 2020 will therefore have a real structured coordination with the other NCP and support networks such as C-Energy 2020, Ideal-IST, SEREN3 and Health NCP Net 2.0 Idealist2018 Network and RICH 2020 where collaboration for joint activities like training courses, meet and exchange workshops and brokerage events is established. Main tools towards the objectives are:- support and information materials- comprehensive training programme- mentoring programme (staff exchanges)- training for stakeholders- system of email alert for NCPs about research funding and related policies- information and communication hub for EURATOM NCPs (easy access to information and services , exchange of information and opinions between NCPs)- International brokerage events Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far The work carried out during the first, second and third reporting period (54 months in total) reflects the goals outlined in Annex 1 and in particular towards the support and further development of the NCP role and capacity according to the needs of EURATOM community. WP1 Management The WP is designed to put in place appropriate and efficient coordination and management including administrative and financial tasks, take timely corrective actions, ensure timely delivery of results with an adequate quality level. This list of EURATOM NCP’s is continuously updated and in addition, the availability to host project related events (trainings, twinnings…) is checked among associated NCP’s as a priority.WP2 Capacity building for NCP’s The WP is conceived to improved and professionalised NCP services by providing training on key technical issues specifically related to EURATOM, to mentor newcomers through dedicated introductory trainings and webinars, achieve full synergy of EURATOM with other H2020 pillars and maximise the exchange within the EURATOM NCPs. Main Results:32 EURATOM NCP’s have responded to the “questionnaire on needs assessment” and by continuously collecting the answers for the members of the network, beneficiaries and the extended network. This was a powerful instrument for the planning of the different activities. During the second reporting period another benchmarking for EURATOM NCPs was carried out. In total, 15 answers were received, mostly from EURATOM Fission NCPs. 11 answers were from member states 1 from associated country, and three from third countries.The data gathered through the benchmarking activities give a good basis for further project activities and help us to have a good picture about the skills and needs of ther EURATOM NCP’s e.g. especially for twinnings, trainings and webinars.Regarding capacity building activities, they have been organised during the entire project: 7 interactive trainings, 9 webinars and 6 twinnings. All appointed NCPs involved in the project activity have been consulted in designing the training topics and agendas.Official collaboration has been established with C-Energy 2020, SEREN3, Health NCP Net 2.0 and a non-written agreement with Idealist2018 Network, RICH 2020 NCPs Network and NCP Academy.WP3 Dialogue with EURATOM participants The WP aims at encouraging the participation of EURATOM stakeholders within Horizon 2020 and to support them in the successful identification of potential project partners by enhancing the quality of knowledge of the EURATOM stakeholders and fostering network building activities by both organizing international Brokerage Events and planning training in order to strengthen the relationship between EURATOM stakeholders and the network.Main Results:During the whole project, NUCL-EU 2020 took the initiative to support 2 international BEs organized by the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) in topics related to EURATOM. Beside this, through the network’s collaboration with the C-Energy 2020 Network and the EC, NUCL-EU 2020 supported the organization of an international brokerage event in conjunction with the EC Energy/EURATOM Information Day in Brussels with a total of 274 participants.An additional BE was organized under the FISA/EURADWASTE 2019 in Romania with a Pitch session.Since the beginning of the project NUCL-EU 2020, 8 training sessions for stakeholders have taken place. Most of these training sessions have been organized in co-operation with the Energy NCPs network (C-Energy 2020).NUCL-EU 2020, in collaboration with C-Energy 2020 has developed an online partner search tool that offers partnering functions. The tool supports potential applicants of the EURATOM calls in finding potential project partners abroad, encouraging the establishment of new collaborations. The tool was updated with the different topics under Work Programmes EURATOM and ENERGY.WP4 Communication and dissemination Main Results:The visual identity of the project has been created and it is now broadly used on the promotional material, also NUCL-EU 2020 has been invited to be presented in relevant events in the EURATOM context. During the whole duration, NUCL-EU 2020 services were presented in 16 major event in the field of Euratom, Energy/Fission, Science and Innovation.The project utilizes also its website to disseminate and communicate all relevant information. The Dissemination and Communication Plan were updated three times during the project in order to better target all relevant end-users. The visitors of the website were increased since the beginning of the project, also the intranet available to EURATOM NCP's where relevant Euratom documents were uploaded.Newsletters were also published and shared among relevant stakeholders. In total 18 newsletters were produced in 54 months Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far) NUCL-EU 2020 network expected impact is twofold: • an improved and professionalised NCP service across Europe thereby helping simplify access to Horizon 2020 calls, lowering the entry barriers for newcomers, and raising the average quality of proposals submitted;• A more consistent level of NCP support services across Europe. The success of the project is expected to be measured in terms of: • Improvements in the EURATOM NCP services across Europe (also in terms of ensuring an easy access to H2020 calls) and the average quality of proposals submitted under H2020 and related programmes;• Securing a straightforward involvement in the network activities for less or no experiences EURATOM NCPs;• A more consistent EURATOM NCP network.
