Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia

Program for Excellent Projects of Young Researchers: Project Description Form

Project Description
Prepare a document1 in PDF (up to 15 pages, including all figures, tables, formulas, list of
references, and appendices) with a detailed description of the proposed research, including the
implementation plan, budget requests and requirements for workspace and equipment, according to
the following guidelines. The PDF document should be unprotected so that parts of the text can be
selected and copied.

The document should be prepared according to the following template2. The structure of the
template has been designed to ensure that important aspects of your planned work are presented in a
way that will enable the experts to make an effective assessment against the evaluation criteria.
Sections 1, 2 and 3 each correspond to an evaluation criterion.

Project proposal title:

Acronym:
Principal Investigator (PI):
Research field of the Project3:

1. Excellence
1.1. Objectives
 Describe the specific objectives for the Project, which should be clear, measurable,
realistic and achievable within the duration of the Project. Objectives should be consistent
with the expected exploitation and impact of the project (see Section 2).

1.2. Concept and methodology

 Describe and explain the overall scientific concepts and methodology underpinning the
Project. Describe the main ideas, methods, models and assumptions involved. Identify any
trans-disciplinary considerations.
 If applicable, describe how the proposed Project is related to other projects in which the
PI, the participants and their Scientific institution(s) have been involved.

1.3. Ambition
 Describe the advance your proposal would provide beyond the state-of-the-art, and the
extent to which the proposed work is ambitious.
 Describe the novelty (e.g., ground-breaking objectives, novel concepts and approaches,
new products, etc.) which the proposal represents.

1
Page format A4, margins at least 20 mm, font Times New Roman at least 10 pt, spacing 1 or 1.5.
2
Replace the instructions in the template by your descriptions.
3
For multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research, specify the primary and the secondary fields.

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Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia
Program for Excellent Projects of Young Researchers: Project Description Form

 Describe the significance of the proposed research, innovation and application potentials,
and potentials for future extensions.

2. Impact
2.1. Expected impact
 Describe the expected contributions of the Project to the development of new research
groups, improvement of professional capacities of young scientists in the Republic of
Serbia, and launching research in new areas and directions.
 Describe the expected impact of the Project on the scientific community, society,
economy, industry, healthcare, education, etc., as applicable.

2.2. Dissemination of results

 Provide a plan for the dissemination and exploitation of the results of the Project.
 As relevant, include information on how the research data will be generated and/or
collected during the project (open research data).
o What types of data will the project generate/collect?
o What standards will be used?
o How will these data be exploited and/or shared/made accessible for verification and re-
use? If data cannot be made available, explain why.
o How will these data be curated and preserved?
o How will the costs for data curation and preservation be covered?
 Outline the strategy for knowledge management and protection. Include measures to
provide open access to peer-reviewed scientific publications that might result from the
project.
 Describe proposed communication measures for promoting the Project and its findings.

3. Implementation
3.1. Credentials of PI and members of Project team
 Describe strong points of credentials of the PI and the members of the Project team.
 Describe the complementarity and synergy of the members of the Project team for the
proposed research.

3.2. Implementation plan

 Provide the Project implementation plan, which includes:
o a list of members of the Project team in Table 3.1;
o a brief presentation of the work plan (broken down into tasks and subtasks, as
applicable), as a textual description and in Table 3.2;
o milestones4, as a textual description and in Table 3.3;
o deliverables, as a textual description and in Table 3.4;
o involvement of members of the Project team, as a textual description;
o timing of different tasks; fill out a Gantt Chart (following the template available at:
http://fondzanauku.gov.rs/pozivi/) to match the implementation plan of this Project and
upload it.

4
Milestones are control points in the project that help to chart progress. Milestones may correspond to the completion of
a key deliverable, allowing the next phase of the work to begin. They may also be needed at intermediary points so that,
if problems have arisen, corrective measures can be taken.

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Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia
Program for Excellent Projects of Young Researchers: Project Description Form

Data in Tables 3.1–3.4 should match the Gantt Chart.

Table 3.1. Members of Project team.

Person-
ID5 Name and family name Scientific institution
months6
PI
P1
P2
P3
P4
P5
Total person-months

Table 3.2. Tasks.

Members
Task/subtask Start End of Person-
Task/subtask title Description
number month month Project months
team7

Table 3.3. Milestones.

Task/subtask Due
Milestone ID8 Milestone name Means of verification
number month

Table 3.4. Major deliverables.

Task/subtask Month of
Deliverable ID9 Deliverable name Deliverable description
number delivery

3.3. Risk management

 Elaborate the feasibility of the Project implementation.
 Provide risk management analysis by filling out Table 3.5. For each risk category, provide
potential risks (if any) and planned risk mitigation measures. Indicate rating of the risk.

5
PI – Principal investigator, P1 – the first participant, etc.
6
The number of person-months regardless of the % of working time.
7
Give IDs of Project team members involved.
8
The ID should be composed as M01, M02, etc., and used in the Gantt Chart.
9
The ID should be composed as D01, D02, etc., and used in the Gantt Chart.

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Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia
Program for Excellent Projects of Young Researchers: Project Description Form

Table 3.5. Risk management.

Summary rating of risk
Risk management actions to be (place a cross in the
Risk Description
undertaken by team members or appropriate box)
assessment of the risk
Scientific institutions HIGH MEDIUM LOW

Description
of the risk
Methodology
Actions to
risk
be
undertaken
Description
Timing, of the risk
milestones and Actions to
deliverables be
undertaken
Description
Participants of the risk
and Scientific Actions to
institutions be
undertaken
Description
of the risk
Procurement Actions to
be
undertaken
Description
of the risk
Budgetary
Actions to
issues
be
undertaken
Description
of the risk
Other risks Actions to
be
undertaken

3.4. Resources to be committed

 Provide a table showing the number of effective person-months required (Table 3.6),
which takes into account the % of working time.

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Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia
Program for Excellent Projects of Young Researchers: Project Description Form

Table 3.6. Effective person-month requirements.

Effective
ID Name and family name Scientific institution person-
months10
PI
P1
P2
P3
P4
P5
Total effective person-months
 Give specifications of the workspace and equipment required for the implementation of
the Project:
o workspace provided by the Scientific institution(s);
o equipment provided by the Scientific institution(s);
o equipment to be procured within the Project;
o equipment to be available to the Project team in institutions other than the Scientific
institution(s).
 Specify Project budget:
o for personnel costs (including all taxes and withholdings for participants working on
the Project) and specification of the work time of the participants that will be allocated
to the proposed Project;
o for procurement of equipment essential for the Project and consumables for the
research11;
o for short-term trips required for the Project implementation, giving the motivation for
the trip and relevance for the Project;
o for publishing papers, including papers in open-access journals and participation in
conferences and seminars;
o for the visibility of the Project and for the dissemination of the results to fellow
researchers, relevant stakeholders and the general public through publications,
seminars, lectures and other means;
o for the Scientific institution(s)12 for administrative and other expenses related to the
Project; and
o other expenses relevant for the Project.
Provide a detailed description of each budget item. Upload an Excel file for the budget
(following the template available at: http://fondzanauku.gov.rs/pozivi/). The Excel file and budget
description in this document must completely match.

4. Ethics
 Fill-out the Ethics issues table (Table 3.6).
 If any answer in Table 3.6 is YES, please provide the relevant page number in the Project
description and submit an ethics self-assessment following the common practice of
Horizon 2020
(http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/grants_manual/hi/ethics/h2020_
hi_ethics-self-assess_en.pdf).

10
The number of person-months taking into account the % of working time from the Gantt Chart.
11
The request must be clearly justified.
12
The researchers can be employed in different Scientific institutions, information should be given for all these
institutions, and the overhead is distributed among the institutions in proportion with the corresponding numbers of
person-months.

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Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia
Program for Excellent Projects of Young Researchers: Project Description Form

Table 3.6. Ethics issues table.

1. HUMAN EMBRYOS/FOETUSES YES/NO PAGE
Does the proposed research involve human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs)?
Does your research involve the use of human embryos?
Does your research involve the use of human fetal tissues / cells?
2. HUMANS YES/NO PAGE
Does your research involve human participants?
Does your research involve physical interventions on the study participants?
3. HUMAN CELLS / TISSUES YES/NO PAGE
Does your research involve human cells or tissues (other than from Human
Embryos/Fetuses, i.e. section 1)?
4. PERSONAL DATA YES/NO PAGE
Does your research involve personal data collection and/or processing?
Does your research involve further processing of previously collected personal
data (secondary use)?
5. ANIMALS YES/NO PAGE
Does your research involve animals?
6. ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH and SAFETY YES/NO PAGE
Does your research involve the use of elements that may cause harm to the
environment, to animals or plants?
Does your research deal with endangered fauna and/or flora and/or protected
areas?
Does your research involve the use of elements that may cause harm to
humans,
including research staff?
7. DUAL USE YES/NO PAGE
Does your research involve items that are normally used for civilian purposes,
but may have military applications or may contribute to the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction, or involve other items for which an authorization
is required?
8. EXCLUSIVE FOCUS ON CIVIL APPLICATIONS YES/NO PAGE
Could your research raise concerns regarding the exclusive focus on civil
applications?
9. MISUSE YES/NO PAGE
Does your research have the potential for misuse of research results?
10. OTHER ETHICS ISSUES YES/NO PAGE
Are there any other ethics issues that should be taken into consideration?
Please specify!

5. Other issues
Propose up to three preferred and up to three non-preferred reviewers of the Application
(name, affiliation, contact e-mail).

B. Attachments
1. Declarations of Scientific institutions

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Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia
Program for Excellent Projects of Young Researchers: Project Description Form

 Prepare a declaration of the Scientific institution(s) where the PI and participants will
be employed during the implementation of the Project (in Serbian) following the
template available at: http://fondzanauku.gov.rs/pozivi/.
o The Scientific institution shall confirm that the researchers are employed in the
institution, or that they will be employed, and that the institution supports the
application and the proposed Project.
o The Scientific institution of the PI shall confirm that the PI already fulfills
conditions to perform independent research.
o The Scientific institution shall confirm that it shall provide the space and
equipment specified in the proposed Project.
o The Scientific institution shall confirm that it accepts the responsibilities
defined in the Project Contract with the Fund.
Note. If the PI and participants will be employed in several Scientific
institutions, prepare one document for each institution.
 Prepare declarations of other institutions that they shall make their equipment
available to the Project participants (in Serbian) following the template available at:
http://fondzanauku.gov.rs/pozivi/.
 Declarations must be signed and stamped by official representatives.
 Combine all the declarations into a single PDF file and upload it.
2. Prepare and upload a PowerPoint presentation of the Project (at most 10 slides).