EU twinning projects are important instruments for institutional cooperation between research organisations from widening countries and research institutions from Member States or Associated Countries. These projects are excellent means to bring together international expertise to achieve operational enhancement through peer-to-peer activities. In this article, we give you 5 fundamental questions for beginners to consider before submitting your twinning proposals this autumn.
Before getting to the important questions, we want to remind you that EU twinning projects always presume the mobilisation of staff of all project partners and demonstrated commitment and joint contribution to achieving project goals. Furthermore, it is important to remember that project partners must be willing to adapt and adopt new practices on board that the project brings forth. One should always remember that twinning is a shared commitment, not a one-way technical assistance instrument.
We asked Juha Kaija – a long-time EU projects senior specialist at the Geological Survey of Finland, to give a few hints for beginners considering entering a twinning project this autumn.
Here are 5 mandatory questions that he advises you to ask before entering into an EU project consortium or starting twinning project coordination:
1. Why is this project important and necessary for your organisation and what are the solid benefits of it?
Any project should be in line with your organisation’s strategy. They should add to organisational know-how development, strengthen networking, and increase external funding.
2. Do you have enough skilled human resources for this project?
One should always try to see beyond general project management aspects and ensure that a sufficient number of researchers and supporting staff are involved who carry out each planned task. Furthermore, legal, financial, and crisis management advisors who are familiar with EU rules and regulations should always be included. If you do not have such experts in your organisation, make sure that this expertise is brought in by any of the partnering organisations. In addition, having a separate team for communication and dissemination activities is strongly advisable.3. Are you aware of the other consortium preparing proposals for the same call?
You should have a system for your organisation's higher management´s approval of starting the proposal preparation phase. Management must know for example if any of your organisation's researchers have been invited to join other consortiums. This is necessary to avoid overlapping proposal preparation work at the organisation and to prioritize effectively using human resources.
4. Are the selected project partners known to you already or are they new?
Adding new partners can be very beneficial when expanding an organisation’s operational networks. However, entering a project with a new, unknown partner might sometimes also bring forth problems. For example, lack of real motivation, lack of skills or expertise, or in the worst cases even bankruptcy of the partner can affect the successful delivery of your project. Therefore, conducting at least a basic background study for any new partner under consideration is strongly advisable.
5. Can you coordinate the project?
Ask yourself again if you can take upon the management of this project! Go through the previous questions again and see that you truly have the time, energy and workforce to carry the project through.
In the end, if the question is whether to enter into an EU twinning project or not, the answer is definitely – yes. The EU twinning instrument will bring forth loads of new experiences for your organisation and expand current networks greatly. Because these projects are strictly controlled by EU officers they will be implemented with a view to the results to be achieved (the chance of failing or partial excecution is reduced to absolute minimal).
When the initial planning is done well and thoroughly, these projects will be excellent means for sharing the best practices with the worlds leading experts in the field. It will be an outstanding opportunity for your organisation's staff to participate in numerous activities including (technical) workshops, training sessions, study visits, internships and counselling conducted by the best lecturers, the best councellors, the best experts and the best guides in the field. With good planning, you can make it a true leap of organisational evolution!
