Abstract:

The project „Grant Office – The Way to Successful Projects (GROFF)“, has started on the 1st of August 2011 in the framework of the Operational Programme Education for Competitiveness. This project is funded by the European Social Fund and the state budget of the Czech Republic.

The main objective of the project is (i) the development of the university system of qualified support for preparation and management of research projects and (ii) the education of academic and administrative staff in the field of the objective and financial management, communication and presentation skills, financial legislative and other competences essential for the high-quality preparation and successful management of research projects.

The project consists of 8 key activities (KA): KA01 Education in the field of language and ICT competence, KA02 Education oriented on project management, KA03 Practical and professional training abroad, KA04 Learning by doing, KA05 Education in the field of legislative, dissemination and commercialization of the research results, KA06 Software application for preparation, management and administration of projects, KA07 Workshops and KA08 Evaluation of project activities.

The project preparation phase and the project implementation phase began with two independent surveys focused on necessity of managerial skill education for academic and administrative staff which brought interesting outputs and comparisons.

The project implementation phase will end on the 31st of July 2014, nevertheless the successful and useful activities will continue.

The project GROFF is connected with another project implemented by the University of Pardubice named “Regional Information and Contact Point for International Cooperation in Research (RIKoC+)” which is focused on (i) the information service about 7th Framework Programme (FP7) and (ii) daily work on the real research project proposal preparation and project management and administration.

Implementation of both presented projects (GROFF and RIKoC+) should help to enhance the participation of the University of Pardubice in FP7, following HORIZON 2020 and to increase the financial sources necessary for research activities.

Keywords:

Project, research projects, European social fund, project preparation, project management, education, 7th Framework programme.