HORIZONTAP: TAPPING INTO THE RESEARCH PROJECT MANAGER COMMUNITY FOR A SUCCESSFUL #HORIZON2020

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HORIZONTAP TAPPING INTO THE RESEARCH PROJECT MANAGER COMMUNITY

FOR A SUCCESSFUL HORIZON 2020

(Wordle made from the speech of the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire  Geoghegan-Quinn "Remarks at the public hearing on Horizon 2020" ITRE Committee, European

Parliament Brussels, 20 March 2012)

DR INO AGRAFIOTI

MAY 2012

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TABLE OF CONTENTS The CONTEXT ............................................................................................................................................ 3

THE IDEA: .................................................................................................................................................. 4

THE BUSINESS MODEL .............................................................................................................................. 4

1. CUSTOMERS ................................................................................................................................ 4

2. VALUE PROPOSITION ................................................................................................................... 8

3. CHANNELS ................................................................................................................................. 11

4. KEY ACTIVITIES........................................................................................................................... 12

5. KEY RESOURCES ......................................................................................................................... 14

6. COSTS ........................................................................................................................................ 15

7. REVENUE ................................................................................................................................... 16

8. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS ...................................................................................................... 16

9. KEY PARTNERS ........................................................................................................................... 17

THE HorizonTap CANVAS ........................................................................................................................ 17

EXTERNAL ENVIrONMENT ...................................................................................................................... 19

CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 20

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 21

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THE CONTEXT The Lisbon treaty and the Europe 2020 strategy have been aiming at a knowledge-based economy and

society. To achieve this, the European Union (EU) has been striving towards becoming the world's

leading Research Area, through continuously increasing support and investment in world-class state-of-

the-art research.

One   of   the   EU’s main research support instruments are the so-called Framework Programmes for

Research, Technological Development and Demonstration activities, or Framework Programmes (FP) for

short. We are currently near the end of Framework Programme 7 (FP7) the EU's research support

instrument for the period 2007-2013. The FP7 budget was set at €54.6  billion and almost half of it was

invested over its first four years (2007-2010,  €25.8  billion) (Fourth FP7 Monitoring Report, 2011).

FP7 funding is distributed through thematic calls across Europe in a large number of organisations that

range from higher or secondary education institutions and research organisations, to private for profit

organisations. All these organisations have hired and trained administrative staff to ensure the smooth

running of the thousands research projects funded under FP7. As a result, a European community of

research managers and administrators has emerged, a very knowledgeable human capital resource,

whose members deeply support and understand the building and the needs of the European Research

Area.

In   2014,   the   EU’s   new   framework programme for research and innovation will be launched. Running

from  2014   to  2020,   “Horizon  2020”,  with  a  proposed  €80  billion  budget   (a  46%   increase  over  FP7),   is  

intended to form a key part of the overall drive to create new growth and jobs across Europe. The

efficient and strategically smart investment of this large contribution of EU Member States has to be

ensured, despite the major procedural simplifications that will be also taking place. This is especially

important given the storm clouds of deep economic crisis gathering ominously in the background.

It is thus recommended that the EU should tap into the large knowledgebase and skills that have

accumulated in the community of research managers across its Member States. Some members of this

community have been occupying positions integral to the organisations receiving EU funding, most

usually as public or civil servants, or on long-term contracts. A great number, however, has been

employed directly on EU research projects, facing job insecurity at the end of project funding. At that

point, they either choose to work on a different research project in the same organisation – if such an

opportunity exists – or seek project manager positions outside the research sector. What is missing is a

way for all these highly trained project managers to learn about and apply for research project

management jobs in different parts of their organisation or different organisations altogether, in the

same or a different country. In this way, they will be able to continue to contribute with their knowledge

and skills to the development of the European Research Area.

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THE IDEA:

HorizonTap, an e-recruitment website hosted by the European Commission (EC), funded by Horizon

2020, specific for the recruitment of EU-funded research project managers aiming at taping into the

knowledge and skills of this specialised labour force. It is believed that such a website will benefit the

Horizon 2020 programme, the organisations seeking skilled personnel for project management as well

as the research managers in their career progression. Finally, such a tool is contributing to the Europe

2020 Strategy goals, related to the knowledge-based economy and society but also to mobility of the

european labour force, since project managers will be able to move more easily from city to city and

country to country.

THE BUSINESS MODEL

1. CUSTOMERS

HorizonTap customers can be split into two categories: (a) research project managers seeking new jobs

and (b) public or private organisations that will be receiving Horizon 2020 funding.

Thanks to past FPs, a large number of research project managers have been trained for managing the

running, the reporting and the finances of EU research projects. Their skillset is extensive and could be

summarised as follows:

Since they have been at the interface between the EC and the scientific community, they are both

familiar with EC organisation and procedures, but also with communicating with scientists, who are

most often still completely unfamiliar with the workings of the EC (for the most efficient allocation of

human capital, scientists should focus on what they do best, i.e. research, rather than spending their

time understanding in detail the administrative aspects of their projects).

Since in a large proportion of EU-funded projects more than one participant is involved, in most

cases from different countries, research project managers have experience in bridging cultural and

legal differences between countries.

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Under Horizon 2020, focus is shifting further towards innovation and industry. Since project

managers have already been bridging the gap between academia and industry during FP7, they will

be very valuable in this transition.

Other skills they have acquired include:

Deep understanding of the nature and lifecycle of research projects.

Ability to manage several tasks (e.g. work packages) independently, from inception to conclusion.

Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.

Ability to synthesise and present sometimes complex information.

Liaising with the appropriate stakeholders to develop, manage and assist in the delivery of the

agreed work program.

Facilitation and assistance in the organisation of meetings, events, workshops and conferences.

Secretariat support for the meetings.

Excellent knowledge of the very specific FP management and financial rules. Overseeing project

finances and budget planning.

Excellent writing and communication skills, given that they have been contributing to the

deliverables and reports submitted to the EC. They are also are usually the project contact point

for all stakeholders as well as the communication channel with the EC Project Manager.

Excellent IT skills, proficient use of EC websites, sometimes even ability to maintain websites.

Excellent use of English and usually one more European language, in addition to their mother

tongue.

The next question is whether there are enough people with this extensive skillset for HorizonTap to be

truly worthwhile. If we take as an example the first four years of FP7, it can be estimated that around

9,000 people in Europe have this very impressive skillset. This estimate was obtained as follow.

According to the Fourth FP7 Monitoring Report (2011), in March 2011 a total of 10,524 grant

agreements were signed, involving 58,945 participant organisations and with  total  cost  of  €  18.5 billion.

These grant agreements can be grouped into five categories: "COOPERATION", "IDEAS", "PEOPLE",

"CAPACITIES"  or  “EURATOM”  as  shown  in  the  figure  below.

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FIGURE 1 NUMBERS OF SIGNED GRANT AGREEMENTS AND PARTICIPANTS FOR FP7 CALLS CONCLUDED DURING THE PERIOD

2007-2010 (AS OF MARCH 2011). SOURCE: FOURTH FP7 MONITORING REPORT (2011)

For simplicity it will be assumed that only funded projects under the COOPERATION1 and CAPACITIES2

programmes will require the services of project managers, i.e. only 4,443 out of 10,524 projects (see

also Table 1 below). By definition projects funded under these schemes will involve more than one

participant, so it can be safely assumed that man efforts have been contributed by the organisations to

their management, irrespective of whether this personnel is hired specifically for the project or the time

of an already employed member of staff is dedicated for this purpose. The fact that these projects

involve more than one participant is also demonstrated by the numbers of participants per programme

(third column of Table 1): even though less than half of the projects belong to COOPERATION and

CAPACITIES, the vast majority of participants (48,308 out of 58,945) are participating in these

programmes.

TABLE 1 NUMBERS OF FP7 SIGNED GRANT AGREEMENTS AND PARTICIPANTS FOR CONCLUDED FP7 CALLS WITH CLOSURE DATE IN THE PERIOD 2007-2010 BY SPECIFIC PROGRAMME. (MODIFIED FROM FOURTH FP7 MONITORING REPORT (2011))

1 Collaborative, transnational research projects. 2Actions that are designed to improve Europe's research infrastructure and the research capacity of SMEs, but also smaller programmes relating to Science in Society, Regions of Knowledge, Research Potential, International Cooperation etc.

PROGRAMME GRANTS SPECIFIC PARTICIPANTS

AVERAGE PARTICIPANTS/GRANT

COOPERATION 3,472 38,928 11.2

IDEAS 1,539 1,702 1.1

PEOPLE 4,461 7,801 1.7

CAPACITIES 971 9,380 9.7

EURATOM 81 1,134 14.0

COOPERATION + CAPACITIES 4,443 48,308 10.9

TOTAL 10,524 58,945 5.6

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Dividing the number of participants with the number of grants (see Table 1), shows that on average

there are 10.9 participants per project. Even if we assume that a fifth (20%) of these participants will

invest in a full-time project manager (1 FTE) for the project, this means that for the first four years of

FP7 a total of 8,886 project managers were working full-time on CAPACITIES and COOPERATION EU

research projects.

As mentioned previously, some of these approximately 9,000 project managers will be public or civil

servants already, so it will be assumed that only 6,000 of them are funded from the EU funding itself and

will thus be looking for a job at the end of the project. Since research projects usually last 3-4 years,

every year a large subset of these estimated 6,000 research project managers will be seeking new

employment at any point throughout the year. An especially high percentage of them will be seeking

work at the beginning of 2014, when most FP7 projects will have finished.

Despite a huge need for a repository containing all available postings, there are currently no European-

wide or National websites with this aim mind. As a result, all these project managers are facing great

difficulties in identifying positions available.

The other category of customers of HorizonTap will be the organisations who will receive funding in

the context of Horizon 2020 and will thus be looking to recruit the best available personnel for the

management of these projects. In the case of FP7, these organisations were divided into four main

categories: higher or secondary education (HES), private for profit (excluding education) (PRC), Public

body (excluding research and education) (PUB), Research organisations (REC). For all these

organisations, the efficient and correct financial management of EU funded projects is of paramount

importance.

According to the Fourth FP7 Monitoring Report (2011), the total cost of the 4,443 COOPERATION and

CAPACITIES grant agreements was €   20.21 billion,   €   6.04 billion of which was contributed by the

organisations themselves (see Table 2). Efficient management of this huge investment is thus in their

interest, if they are to ensure that their contribution is efficiently invested.

TABLE 2 FP7 SIGNED GRANT AGREEMENTS AND AMOUNTS OF BUDGETS (IN € MILLION) FOR CONCLUDED FP7 CALLS WITH CLOSURE DATE IN THE PERIOD 2007-2010.(MODIFIED FROM 4TH

FP7 MONITORING REPORT (2011))

PROGRAMME GRANTS PROJECT COST EU CONTRIBUTION AVERAGE PROJECT COST/GRANT

AVERAGE EC CONTRIBUTION/GRANT

COOPERATION 3,472 17,620.1 12,333.4 5.1 3.6

IDEAS 1,539 2,408.0 2,406.8 1.6 1.6

PEOPLE 4,461 1,827.5 1,702.7 0.4 0.4

CAPACITIES 971 2,598.5 1,845.1 2.7 1.9

EURATOM 81 403.9 204.2 5.0 2.5

COOPERATION + CAPACITIES 4,443 20,218.6 14,178.5 4.6 3.2

TOTAL 10,524 24,858.0 18,492.1 2.4 1.8

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2. VALUE PROPOSITION

HorizonTap will provide value to its customers – the research project managers and the organisations

that will receive Horizon 2020 funding, to the European Commission but also to the European Unionin

general. Each of these will now be considered in turn.

First, research project managers who are currently facing great difficulties in their job seeking, will

consume less time in looking for a new job, their job hunting will be a lot easier and they will benefit

from finding employment appropriate for their skillset.

At the moment, if they are to find another EU funded project, they have to look in individual laboratory

websites, or those of research organisations that have been or are likely to be funded under an FP. As a

consequence, job seeking for these highly trained project managers is immensely time-consuming. At

the same time, given the specificity of their skillset, it is very common for researchers who have applied

for funding to look in the local pool of personnel to fill the manager position unaware of the far larger

project manager pool that exists. As a result, in many cases the positions are not even advertised.

In the best of cases, the organisations for which they worked choose to hire them in more permanent

positions. This is not necessarily the best strategy however, equally for the organisation, the manager,

the European job market or the EU framework programmes. More disappointingly, given their very high-

quality skillset and the difficulties in identifying the appropriate positions, project managers are more

likely to be recruited in a sector not related to research, in this way removing their skills and knowledge

from the research manager pool.

Second, the value given to organisations receiving EU funding is twofold. On the one hand, hiring the

highly experienced managers will lead to a smooth running of their projects, timely submission of

deliverables and will ensure an appropriate environment for scientists, that allows them to dedicate

most of the time carrying out their research.

At the same time, an experienced project manager will be able to manage the project’s  financial aspects

in such a way as to maximally use the EC contribution. For example, if an event is organised under a

work package A, whose description in the grant agreement did not include the organisation of such an

event, it will mean that the cost of the event cannot be part of the financial report. Such inefficient

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financial management is of course costly for the organisation, since it is the organisation’s  own  budget

that will have to pay for the event. Organisations are currently aware of the commonality of such errors,

so they are putting aside on a yearly basis a small part of their budget specifically for taking care of these

financial mishaps, instead of investing it on new research. According to the author’s   experience,   this  

issue is considered of paramount importance for these organisations. An experienced manager – who

knows the regulations as well as the grant agreement in detail – will know that such an event couldn’t

be justified to the EC and would thus deter the scientists from organising such an event, before any

funding is spent. If it is necessary for the event to happen, the project manager will be able to notify the

management   of   the   organisation   that   a   part   of   the   organisation’s   budget   will   be   needed   for   this  

purpose.

For these two reasons – efficient operational and financial management – it is in the interest of the

organisations who will receive Horizon 2020 funding to hire the most experienced and skilled staff.

These two reasons, these two issues, have also been at the centre of the EC deliberations on what

should be the characteristics and procedures of Horizon 2020. In terms of operational project

management, the EC has been trying to simplify its corpus of rules and procedures, i.e. the

implementation of the Framework Programmes (relating to e.g. certification of costs, grant agreement

negotiation, project reporting, streamlining and harmonisation of documentation, Research Participant

Portal, etc.).

Nevertheless, as shown in the figure below, project management (both general and financial) is still a

sector in which there is space for improvement (Fourth FP7 Monitoring Report, 2011): when National

Contact Points3 (NCPs) were asked to rate the ease of use of FP7, only 39.48% of them responded that

project management procedures were good or excellent, and only 31.80% thought that the financial

aspects and requirements of FP7 project management is good or excellent. These percentages are

contrary to an overall trend of a high level of satisfaction with FP7 procedures.

It is thus not surprising that the launch of Horizon 2020 has been recognised as a unique opportunity to

further simplify these procedures in a fundamental way. But the success of all simplifications and

changes heavily depends on their understanding and implementation by project managers. What the EC

thus needs, is efficient and skilled project managers spread in all EU-funded organisations. It is in the

EC’s   interests to make sure that research project managers are not lost from the community once

projects come to an end and that the best allocation of human capital is taking place at both the

National and European levels.

3 National Contact Points provide guidance to future applicants on choosing thematic priorities and instruments, advice on administrative procedures and contractual issues, training and assistance on proposal writing, assistance in partner search etc.

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FIGURE 2 ASSESSMENT BY NATIONAL CONTACT POINTS OF THE EASE OF USE OF FP7. Q: BASED ON YOUR OWN

OBSERVATIONS AND THE FEEDBACK RECEIVED FROM RESEARCHERS AND STAKEHOLDERS IN YOUR COUNTRY, HOW WOULD YOU RATE, FOR 2010, THE EASE OF THE USE OF FP7 FOR THE FOLLOWING ADMINISTRATIVE AND F INANCIAL ASPECTS OR

PROCEDURES IN ABSOLUTE TERMS? (SOURCE: FOURTH FP7 MONITORING REPORT (2011))

Furthermore, efficient financial management is especially important for the EC as well, since only in this

way its contribution will be maximally used for the benefit of the European society and economy. In the

example described above, due to financial regulations, the amount spent on the event that cannot be

justified in the project’s financial report to the EC, cannot be used for another purpose. As a result, the

final claim of the organisation to the EC will be lower than predicted in the budget and thus the EC

contribution is not taken advantage of to the full.

Therefore, even though the EC had chosen to invest this amount of money in this specific project, since

the specialised evaluation committees thought that this particular investment will push the EU further

towards knowledge-based society and economy, the EC is faced with reduced spending on this project.

As a consequence, the EC needs to invest the unspent funding elsewhere and since, as it turns out, the

size of funding returned to the EC for this reason is great, new calls are advertised, whole new projects

are funded, just because organisations were not able to ensure the smooth financial management of

their projects. Not only the efficiency of the EC procedures and evaluation processes is reduced, but the

EC is forced to spend some of this returned funding on paying for the costs of the release of new calls,

with new evaluation committees, etc.

Finally, and more generally, HorizonTap will produce value for the EU, since it is the EU member states

who are investing funds to create the €  80  billion  Horizon  2020 budget, despite the economic crisis that

is currently hurting its economy and the long-term nature of the benefits of research. It   is   in   the  EU’s  

interests that this funding is managed by the most experienced and skilled personnel achieved only

through the most efficient allocation of productive human resources.

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It is important to mention that HorizonTap will also be in line with Europe 2020 strategy, since it will

promote the mobility of research project managers within and between countries. It has been found

that very low levels of job mobility such as those in this sector are detrimental to economic growth

(Andersen et al, 2008). Reallocation of resources and knowledge is needed to gain positive multiplicative

effects in terms of outputs of research funding, especially if experienced project managers are moving

to institutions with small experience in EU research project management. According to an relatively

recent OECD report, labour mobility among research organisations (universities and other research

institutions) and the business sector, as well as among firms, together with informal contacts within

innovation networks, is the most powerful mechanism for transmitting tacit knowledge (OECD, 1999). In

the same report, it was emphasised that this is true not only for scientists, technicians, engineers, and

skilled workers, but also for business executives (in this case project managers), whose mobility is a very

effective way of propagating best managerial practices.

This increased mobility is also related to the European Employment Strategy, which addresses the need

to make labour markets more flexible and adaptable. For example, Guideline 20 calls for improved

matching of labour market needs through (Andersen et al, 2008):

The modernisation and strengthening of labour market institutions, notably employment

services, also with a view to ensuring greater transparency of employment and training

opportunities at national and European level,

Removing obstacles to mobility for workers across Europe within the framework of the

Treaties,

Better anticipation of skill needs, labour market shortages and bottlenecks,

Appropriate management of economic migration.

To summarize, HorizonTap will produce public value, not just for research project managers that will

be recruited, but also to the organisations that will receive the Horizon 2020 funding, the EC and the EU

more generally, since it is in line with its Europe 2020 strategy goals.

3. CHANNELS

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The channel chosen to link the customers to each other and to the EC, is an e-recruitment website

rather than, for example, the use of a recruitment agency. The main activities of the HorizonTap

website (see also 4. KEY ACTIVITIES) will be to allow organisations to post project manager positions as

soon as they become available and project managers to apply through a unified procedure, irrespective

of where the position is located. Since the salaries of these managers will be provided by the

Horizon2020, it is assumed that organisation- or nation-specific regulations in staff recruitments will not

be an obstacle to this service.

There are a number of advantages in using a website for the recruitment of project managers. First,

online recruitment is cost effective. The only costs involved are the costs of creating and maintaining the

website (see also 6. COSTS), which are minor compared to, for example, the cost of using a recruitment

agency or the cumulative cost of advertising for each position separately in national newspapers.

Second, recruitment will be quick, since it can be advertised as soon as a description for the post

becomes available and there is great flexibility on how many days later the deadline for applications can

be put.

Third, given the far greater number of people who will have access to this site, there is a far better

chance of finding the best candidate for the job. The fact that people from all over Europe will have

access to the description of the post means that organisations will have access to a far larger pool of

candidates to choose from. Fourth, overall reduced administration costs will be enjoyed as all applicants

are held on a single recruitment system, which means that they can be contacted individually or

collectively with a couple of clicks, in this way reducing the time, effort and cost of the recruiting staff.

Finally, since all positions will be gathered in the same repository it will be far quicker for project

managers to find a job, and therefore reduce chances that they will be unemployed in between jobs.

4. KEY ACTIVITIES

HorizonTap as an e-recruitment website will be directed towards both categories of customers

mentioned above, i.e. the research project managers and the organisations seeking to recruit. Three

scenarios will be proposed, each containing a number of additional activities.

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“Scenario A”,   the   most   minimal   of   the   three, will have all those basic features included in all e-

recruitment websites. Under this scenario, research project managers should be able to search for jobs

and view detailed job descriptions, including what does the job entail, how can they apply, as well as a

weblink to the page of the recruiting organisation. Under the same scenario, organisations aiming to

hire a new project manager should be able to publish job descriptions online.

Scenario A, even though very basic, will still lead to huge benefits: it will manage to bridge the gap

between those hiring and the available labour force. Nevertheless, a number of very simple additional

activities would lead very cheaply to a far greater value. Under this “Scenario B”, in addition those

activities described under Scenario A, research project managers should be able to:

Create a personal profile

Apply online

Register for job alerts

Monitor and track progress of their application

Additional activities in relation to the organisation seeking to hire new personnel should be the

following:

Receive applications

Create an organisational profile

Search through the pool of candidate profiles for specific skills

Require online assessments

Search, rank and prioritise suitable candidates

Automatic or manual communication to candidates through the website

Finally,   in   “Scenario C” the HorizonTap website includes all the simple e-recruitment activities of

Scenarios A and B but also works as a community incubator. First, it should include community forums

for a variety of purposes. For the first time, such forums would allow project managers scattered all over

the EU member states, to exchange knowledge on issues related to their work, but also opinions on how

rules and procedures could be changed. For example, this proposal could have been discussed in such a

forum. In addition, since thanks to HorizonTap mobility of project managers will increase, these forums

will be extremely valuable for past employees of organisations to advise new employees and help them

adjust to their new environment. Second, training and/or dialogue workshops could be organised by

project managers for project managers, physically or online, with or without the help of the EC.

Under all scenarios, HorizonTap should be designed in a way that gives valuable information to the EC

to facilitate the evaluation of HorizonTap. A minimal Scenario A should be able to provide information

on the state of the job market (e.g. how many project manager jobs become available per year, what is

their proposed duration, how are the salaries varying across Europe and between different

organisations, how many project managers are applying for each position, etc).

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A more advanced website, such as that described under Scenarios B and C, would be able to provide the

EC with even greater insight (e.g. what are the current skills of the project manager labour force, what is

the pathway that they have taken, how often are they seeking for a job, how often do they stay at a

particular organisation and how often are they moving country because of their job, what kind of

organisations have the greatest number of positions available, what is each organisation providing in

terms of training and education for their employees, etc).

5. KEY RESOURCES

The resources needed for HorizonTap are a website and the personnel that will maintain it. Both of

these should be provided by the EC, as part of the Horizon 2020 budget. Once created, under all three

scenarios, the website should be able to run mostly by itself, so the personnel mentioned above is

mostly for ensuring that there are no technical difficulties, to answer any enquiries, to listen to

comments and suggestions of the users and to evaluate the website (e.g. statistics mentioned above). In

the case of Scenario C, these members of staff will also have the additional responsibility of taking part

in the organisation of such debate/training workshops.

For the first couple of years of the HorizonTap lifecycle, additional man efforts will be required to

advertise the website to the different communities related to research, i.e. to let both project managers

and organisations know of its existence. All research project managers currently working in the context

of EU-funded projects should be informed of the existence of this website. At the same time, funding

bodies, research organisations, universities, SMEs, publishing houses, other public and private bodies,

who have applied for FP funding or are planning to apply for funding under Horizon 2020 should be

aware of this website. In fact, all organisations funded by Horizon2020 should be obliged to notify all

their human resources departments that it is compulsory to advertise all available positions on

HorizonTap.

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6. COSTS

As mentioned above, the costs of HorizonTap will be mainly the creation, maintenance and advertising

of the website. The costs of HorizonTap under the three scenarios mentioned above can be seen in

Table 3.

TABLE 3: ESTIMATED HORIZONTAP COSTS FOR EACH SCENARIOS

SCENARIO A SCENARIO B SCENARIO C WEB  DESIGN  (in  €) 2000 6000 10000 MAINTENANCE (in Full-Time Equivalents) 0.25 0.5 0.75 ADVERTISING(first 2 years) (in Full-Time Equivalents) 0.25 0.25 0.25 TOTAL COST FOR HORIZON2020 DURATION(in  €) 84,000 166,250 236,250 Based on current website prices, the design of the website is not predicted  to  surpass  the  amount  of  €  

10,000. Maintenance costs include the salaries of the technical and support personnel required for the

running of the website. This is the main factor affecting the total cost of HorizonTap, since different

man efforts are required depending on the number and nature of activities provided by the website. For

Scenario A, only technical support is needed and it is estimated that a quarter of an FTE would suffice

for the smooth running of the site. In Scenario B, the interactivity provided to the customers is more

advanced, so technical support is not enough. As mentioned above, the website needs someone that

will answer any enquiries, to listen to comments and suggestions of the users and to evaluate the

website (e.g. statistics mentioned above). For this reason, it is estimated that a quarter of an FTE is

needed per year for the technical website aspects and a quarter for the other tasks. Finally, in the case

of Scenario C, this personnel may also have to contribute to the organisation of workshops, which will

take additional time. For this reason, it is estimated that under Scenario C, a quarter of an FTE is needed

per year for the technical website aspects, a quarter for the additional tasks described under Scenario B

and a quarter for the organisation of workshop and maintenance of the forums.

Advertising  costs  are  predicted  to  be  needed  just  for  the  first  two  years  of  the  website’s   lifecycle,   just  

until it takes off. These costs are considered to be the same for all three scenarios, i.e. a quarter of an

FTE per year.

In the final line of Table 3, a preliminary costing of HorizonTap was attempted. For this purpose it was

assumed that cost of an FTE is equal to €  35,000 and the Maintenance FTEs were multiplied by 7 since

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Horizon 2020 will last for 7 years. Thus, the formula used to calculate the total cost for each scenario

was:

TOTAL COST = WEB DESIGN + MAINTENANCE FTEs * 7 * 35000 + ADVERTISING FTEs * 2 * 35000.

7. REVENUE

It is believed that funding for HorizonTap should come from the Horizon2020 budget. The maximum

cost  of  such  a  service  will  therefore  be  that  under  scenario  C  equal  to  € 236,250 over a period of seven

years, i.e. 0,00031% of the total Horizon2020 funding. Especially considering the money gained from the

efficient financial project management, it is believed that the latter will greatly surpass the cost of

HorizonTap even from its second year of life.

8. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS

Customers of HorizonTap should be quite self-sufficient in their online usage of the services of the

website. It is important that the website has been designed effectively from the start so that the need

for personalised communication with the customers should be minimised. In other words, it is should be

straightforward for project managers to create their personal profile, search the database of jobs and

then to apply by uploading of their CV and cover letter. It should be equally straightforward for

organisations to create their profile, upload the description of the position available and receive a PDF

of the documents uploaded by the applicants.

For the first two years the website will be free for its users. Nevertheless it is recommended to

introduce a small yearly participation free under scenario B and C for the organisations who will by then

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be regularly using the website in search for the best employees. This fee could be of  the  order  of  €  100  

per year. It is believed that an annual subscription should be enough to cofund the maintenance of the

website, but its main purpose is to make sure that the organisations will be regularly using its services: it

has frequently been observed that once one has paid for a service, one puts extra emphasis in using this

service.

No participation fee should be required from the project managers. Even though the application side of

the website should be open to everyone, only those who have worked under an EU-funded project

should be able to register and participate in the forums under scenarios B and C. In this way the quality

and interest for the website will be maintained. In the case of Scenario C, there will be increased

community feeling amongst members if they know that those contributing to the forums are carrying

out equivalent tasks as them.

9. KEY PARTNERS

Promotion, support and championing of HorizonTap from the DG Research and Innovation leadership

will greatly improve the chances of success of this endeavour. But it is only if future employers make

regular use of the site and advertise all job openings available that the website will be truly functional.

Finally, in the case of activities planned under Scenario C, the support from the project managers

themselves is vital – the forums will only work if they invest enough effort and enthusiasm.

THE HorizonTap CANVAS

In the following figure, the HorizonTap canvas is presented as a summary of all the points raised in the

previous section.

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EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT Before concluding it is important to mention existing research manager associations, even if these

also include project managers that are not working on EU funded projects, but mainly those working

on nationally funded projects. As a result, it is assumed that most members of these associations are

permanent of organisations funding research, whether these are public or private.

Some of these organisations are the following:

1. Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA, UK): formed in 1991, is the

professional association for research managers and administrators in the UK, and currently

has around 1,700 members.

2. Australasian Research Management Society (ARMS, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific):

formed in 1999, and has members working in universities, hospitals, medical centres,

industry, government and research institutes.

3. Canadian Association of University Research Administrators (CAURA, Canada): formed in

1971, and has members in universities and other post-secondary institutions, hospitals, and

research institutes.

4. Danish Association of Research Managers and Administrators (DARMA, Denmark): formed in

2006 and already has 130 members in a country of five million people, with five large and

five small universities.

5. European Association of Research Managers and Administrators (EARMA): formed in 1994,

and has members in public and private research organisations from over 30 countries across

Europe.

6. National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA, USA): founded in 1959, is an

organisation of over 7,000 individuals with professional interests in the administration of

sponsored programs at colleges, universities, teaching hospitals and independent not for

profit research institutes.

7. Society of Research Administrators International (SRA International): founded in 1967, the is

a nonprofit association dedicated to the education and the professional development of

research administrators, as well as the enhancement of public understanding of the

importance of research and its administration. SRA International continuously seeks to

broaden and diversify its membership base of over 3,500 individuals worldwide.

Of course, the association with the most vested interests in HorizonTap is EARMA, which represents

the community of Research Managers and Administrators within Europe. Currently it has 500

members, its website includes 15 discussion forums and is organising at least one event per year to

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discuss issues related to research management. However, no specific actions have been taken by

EARMA to address the issue of job hunting by its members.

CONCLUSION

In this essay, HorizonTap was proposed, an e-recruitment website hosted by the EC, funded by

Horizon 2020, specific for the recruitment of EU-funded research project managers aiming at taping

into the knowledge and skills of this specialised labour force. It is believed that such a website will

benefit the Horizon 2020 programme, the organisations seeking skilled personnel for project

management as well as the research managers in their career progression. Finally, such a tool is

contributing to the Europe 2020 strategy goals, related to the knowledge-based economy and society

but also to mobility of the european labour force.

In the business model developed above, estimates were given for the minimum size of the customer

base and the maximum costs of HorizonTap. It is strongly believed however, that the size of the

customer base is underestimated and the costs are overestimated.

It is considered important that the website should be public, i.e. openly available to search engines

(e.g. google) and not as part of e.g. the EC participant portal, since even if someone is working on an

EU project it is not necessary that they will have access to such a portal (e.g. it could be the head of

financial services of an organisation that submits the financial reports prepared by the manager,

rather than the manager him/herself).

The support that this endeavour will receive from DG Research and Innovation leadership is

considered equally crucial. It is critical that all organisations currently funded by FP7 and all project

managers working in the context of FP7 are reached.

It should be noted that the recommendation of the author is to implement this tool as soon as

possible, since with the approach of the end of FP7, many project managers will be seeking a job in

the very near future.

Even if it is strongly believed that HorizonTap will produce the greatest public value if it is a

European-level repository, what could also be recommended is to start with a pilot website. In Table 4

below, the general and within-group rankings of the 20 research organisations with the highest

numbers of participations in FP7 signed grant agreements during the period 2007-2010 are presented

(Fourth FP7 Monitoring Report, 2011). As can be seen in the 2nd column, these organisations also

occupy the highest positions in the overall ranking of participations in FP7.

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TABLE 4 RANKING OF TOP 20 PARTICIPANT REC ORGANISATIONS IN FP7 SIGNED GRANT AGREEMENTS IN TERMS OF COUNTS OF PARTICIPATIONS FOR THE PERIOD 2007-2010. (TAKEN FROM FOURTH FP7 MONITORING REPORT, 2011)

It could thus be proposed to start a HorizonTap beta version for the French National Centre of

Scientific Research (CNRS), which participates globally in the most EU-funded projects. This pilot could

run until the start of Horizon 2020 in order to identify any faults of the endeavour.

REFERENCES Andersen T, Haahr JH, Hansen ME and Holm-Pedersen  M  (2008)  “Job  Mobility  in  the  European  Union:  

Optimising  its  Social  and  Economic  Benefits”  Danish  Technological  Institute.

Fourth FP7 Monitoring Report (2011)

http://ec.europa.eu/research/evaluations/pdf/archive/fp7_monitoring_reports/fourth_fp7_monitori

ng_report.pdf

OECD  (1999)  “Managing  National  Innovation  Systems”.