Electronic Proposal Submission Service
- EPSS preparation and submission guide Release
Date: 23 April 2010
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 2 of 31
Table of Contents
1 EPSS Preparation –User’s Guide............................................................................. 3
1.1. Using PIC in EPSS.............................................................................................. 4
1.2. The first step: getting a user ID and password.................................................... 6
1.3. Login................................................................................................................. 10
1.3.1 Initial Login ..................................................................................................... 10
1.3.2 Subsequent Logins........................................................................................... 10
1.4. General.............................................................................................................. 11
1.5. Proposal Setup .................................................................................................. 13
1.6. Part A ................................................................................................................ 17
1.7. Part B and Annexes........................................................................................... 21
1.7.1 Part B ........................................................................................................ 21
1.7.2 Annexes............................................................................................................ 24
1.8. Validation.......................................................................................................... 26
1.9. Submit Proposal................................................................................................ 27
1.10. The History ................................................................................................... 30
2 EPSS Checklist ......................................................................................................... 31
3 Note for Macintosh users.......................................................................................... 31
EPSS help desk
Phone: +32 2 23 33 760
Email: support@epss-fp7.org
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 3 of 31
1 EPSS Preparation –User’s Guide
The EPSS (Electronic Proposal Submission Service) allows Proposers to create their
proposal completely on-line without downloading or saving anything on their local
personal computer. The EPSS service is available via the Internet as a Web based
application.
The System requirements are:
 A connection to the Internet
 A screen with a 1024x768 resolution and small fonts.
 On-screen text size: Users should not use the font scaling option that is available
with some browsers to enlarge the font size when viewing 'A forms', as this may
lead to corrupted view of the forms.
 Internet Explorer 6.0 and above or
 Netscape Navigator 7.0 and above or
 Mozilla Firefox 1.0 and above or
 Opera 7.0 and above or
 Mac OS X Mozilla Firefox browser for Apple Macintosh users (Mac OS 9 is not
supported and Safari - Google Chrome neither) see Note on p.29
 JavaScript or ActiveX controls enabled (depending on browser)
 Cookies enabled browser
Note: the EPSS web application is best viewed with using:
- Internet Explorer 6.0 (and above)
- or Mozilla Firefox 1.0 (and above).
- Safari and Google Chrome are NOT supported (whatever the OS)
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 4 of 31
1.1. Using PIC in EPSS
The PIC or Participant Identification Code is a unique code for identifying the participant
in any stage alongside the R&D funding management process of the programmes
managed by the Commission's Research DGs. Participants will not have to submit their
legal and financial information (and supporting documents) each time they submit a
proposal or negotiate a grant agreement, but they should just introduce their PIC.
All organizations which already signed an FP7 contract with the Commission should
have received a PIC, which has been communicated to all contact points for FP7 grant
agreements known to the Commission. Find out within your organization who are contact
points for FP7 grant agreements; they will be able to tell you what your PIC is. If you
cannot find any contact point within your organization, ask the Digit-EFP7 help desk to
put you in contact with them. DIGIT-EFP7-SUPPORT@ec.europa.eu
If your organization does not have a PIC yet, then we suggest that get one by registering your
organization by following the steps described on the following page of the Participants
Portal.
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/appmanager/participants/portal?_nfpb=true&_
pageLabel=myorganisations#
If you encounter some problems during the registration, please contact the service desk:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/appmanager/participants/portal?_nfpb=true&_
pageLabel=contactus
For more information about Unique Registration Facility including support please visit
the corresponding section of CORDIS: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/pp_en.html
After registration, the new PIC will only be active in EPSS after 48h, therefore we
suggest you to make sure that you start your self registration well before the deadline of
the chosen call.
Once ready, you should type your PIC when asked in EPSS. Part of the legal data
associated to that PIC will then be shown in order for you to verify that the PIC you are
using is indeed the right one. Should you think there are errors in the data shown that
might affect the eligibility of your proposal you can always remove the PIC and fill in all
requested data manually as usual.
For technical reasons, there is no dynamic synchronization between the EPSS and the
URF registry of legal entities. The data related to a PIC are transferred to the EPSS only
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 5 of 31
at the moment when the PIC is inserted in EPSS. If between the introduction of a PIC in
the EPSS and the submission of the proposal the data of the legal entity are changed in
URF, a synchronization with the data displayed in EPSS can only be forced by a removal
of the respective PIC of the partner (with loss of PIC data for this partner in the partnerspecific
proposal forms) and a new introduction of this partner PIC in the proposal
setup. This procedure should only be applied for changes having an effect on the
eligibility of the proposal (e.g. SME status in calls requiring a minimum number of SMEs
or country of establishment in calls requiring a minimum number of participants from
specific country groups). Minor data inconsistencies can be ignored.
Important: Applicants are able to prepare and submit their proposal (use EPSS)
without the possession or without the introduction of PIC.
The default format of PIC is a 9 digits numeric code without separator or special
characters. In EPSS the proposal co-ordinator (who is responsible for the overall
coordination between partners) can introduce a PIC or clear a PIC for a participant.
Providing the PIC implies that the proposal co-ordinator has access to this information
from its own organisation or through the proposal partners' organisations.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 6 of 31
1.2. The first step: getting a user ID and password
Access to the EPSS is specific to calls and to the corresponding sub scheme.
You have to first make your choice for which call for proposals and for which subscheme
you want to apply.
Access is provided via the respective CORDIS call page (see
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm ) or via the respective call page on the
Participant Portal (see
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/appmanager/participants
/portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=fp7_calls). After selecting the call, you will arrive
to the call page. On the call page, go to the Electronic Proposal Submission Service (EPSS)
section; choose the sub-scheme you want to apply for from the dropdown list and press
"Go". You will then arrive at the EPSS start page. Click on "Register", fill in the
registration form and submit it. The EPSS will send you coordinator and partners’
usernames and passwords by e-mail.
Important notice: The EPSS registration email, which contains the access codes to
prepare and submit the proposal, will be sent to the email address you define during the
registration. This email will be sent from noreply@epss-fp7.org. Prior to the registration
you should check that this domain (epss-fp7.org) is accepted by the email server of your
organization. If you do not receive this email, please check your SPAM in case it ends up
there. In any case you can always contact the EPSS Helpdesk to assist you if you have
not received the EPSS codes.
Note: If you have a PIC number you can already use it here. Once you obtain the EPSS
account you will be still able to stop working with a PIC number if you decide so.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 7 of 31
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 8 of 31
If you enter your PIC, and wish to see what the associated PIC data is you may click on
the 'View PIC data' button.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 9 of 31
If at that stage you object the correctness of your PIC-data or simply you decide not to
use it, you can clear it by clicking the .
After clearing your PIC-data (or simply if you don’t have a PIC) you should proceed with
entering valid data to all mandatory fields by manual typing.
Important: The login and password you receive by e-mail is specifically linked to only
one proposal (for the call and for the instrument you have chosen). For any other proposal
you want to prepare you have to register again, following the procedure described above.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 10 of 31
1.3. Login
1.3.1 Initial Login
As a coordinator you must use the login and password that has been sent to you by e-mail
to access the EPSS.
 Go to https://www.epss-fp7.org
 Introduce the Coordinator User ID
 Enter the Coordinator Password
 Change the Coordinator Password
 Enter the Other participant Password
 Change the Other participant Password
Distribute the 'Other participant' username and the modified 'Other participant' password
to your other participants –if any.
1.3.2 Subsequent Logins
 Go to https://www.epss-fp7.org
 Introduce the –Coordinator or Other participant- User ID
 Enter the –modified Coordinator or Other participant- Password
Note: By entering the proposal as another participant, you can only access your A2 Form
for editing. Other participants can view all proposal information but only edit A2 forms.
Tip: Reduce typing errors: Write logins and passwords in a text program
and copy/paste them into the fields. This prevents mistyping errors.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 11 of 31
1.4. General
Now, you may prepare the proposal. By clicking on the “General” Tab, you can find
information about:
 The selected call
 The selected sub-scheme
 The proposal’s status
 The proposal number (if this has been submitted)
 The Coordinator’s Name (as registered)
 The proposal Title (as registered)
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 12 of 31
Note:
 If the co-ordinator details change, you do not need to register again; co-ordinator
information is taken from the A2 forms.
 If you wish to modify the Title of the proposal you will have to do it in the forms.
The title appearing in this page is taken from the registration data and cannot be
changed. This does not affect the submitted proposal, because what is evaluated is
the content of the forms and the Part B.
Go to “Proposal setup”.
Tip: Please check the call and sub-scheme identification first. If you have
selected the wrong call and the wrong sub-scheme, you will have to register
again. The EPSS operator cannot change the registration information and
transfer data from one registration to another.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 13 of 31
1.5. Proposal Setup
In the proposal setup section you define the number of other participants that participate
in your project.
Note: The first participant is always the co-ordinator.
Make sure that the co-ordinator e-mail address is correct. You can include multiple email
addresses, you must separate them with a semi-colon “;”.
 To add another participant to the proposal, you may provide the relevant
participant's PIC number and must provide a participant short name and e-mail
address. If a PIC is provided then the corresponding data will be retrieved from
the database once the corresponding A2 form is opened
Tip: The e-mail addresses introduced in this section are used by EPSS to
send automatic e-mail confirmation once the proposal is submitted/transferred
for evaluation. Please check that they are complete and accurate.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 14 of 31
Important: You shall make sure that the responsible participant opens the corresponding
A.2 form in order to finish validation. The associated PIC-data set is only inherited once
the A.2 form opened. The same validation step is mandatory if the PIC number is deleted
or modified. These validation steps are necessary to avoid unintended changes in the
administrative data. If for some reason you decide to change or re-introduce a PIC, please
always make sure that you click on the 'Update Participant information' and then on 'Accept'.
Please do not forget to open the corresponding A.2 form afterwards to finish verification and
have the PIC data inherited.
 If you add a new participant without providing a PIC number, then the following
information is also requested by filling manually - mandatory fields marked with
red asterisk:
 The legal status of organization
 The Method of determining the Indirect Cost
 Click "Add Participant"
Once a participant is added, the system automatically creates an A2 form and either an
A3.1 form or extra rows in the A3/A4 form depending on the exact call. Those forms are
accessible via the A2-Link, A3-Link buttons, but they can also be found after clicking in
the “Part A” Tab.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 15 of 31
You can use the button to modify data related to a participant:
Important: In order to enforce changes you must click on
to update a Participant’s details.
Note: If the participant was added by introducing its own PIC, then the fields related
to the 'Method of determining the indirect costs' and the 'Status of organization' will
contain data retrieved from the database and will be in read-only mode.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 16 of 31
Rejection of the retrieved PIC-data
If you object the accuracy of the retrieved information then you can decide to remove
it by clicking on the button.
If the PIC-data is cleared, than all associated information will be erased from the A.2
and A.3 forms and have to be re-entered manually again.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 17 of 31
1.6. Part A
This section concerns with the administrative forms of the proposal or Part A.
The Proposers need to fill the A forms appropriately and save them on the EPSS server.
Also, each form can be downloaded as a PDF file to your computer's hard disk. Check
the relevant fields and click on “download” to receive PDF copies of the 'Part A'
forms.
Depending on the type of call (strictly call- and sub-scheme-specific), Part A shows
the overview of forms A1, A2, A3.1 and the summary A3.2 (certain sub schemes also
have an A4 form or don’t have the A3.1/A3.2 forms). Click on the links on the screen
that are listed under “Form name” to access the forms.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 18 of 31
Note: If a participant has been added with the use of PIC, then a set of fields on the A2
form will already be pre-filled with information as retrieved from the database. Only
some of these fields are editable.
For a participant for whom a PIC has been provided, the first time that the A2 or A3.1
form is opened the following screen shows up:
Important! You must make sure that the responsible participant opens the corresponding
A.2 form in order to finish validation. The associated PIC-data set is only inherited once
the A.2 form opened. The same validation step is mandatory if the PIC number is deleted
or modified. These validation steps are necessary to avoid unintended changes in the
administrative data. If for some reason you decide to change or re-introduce a PIC, please
always make sure that you click on the 'Update Participant information' and then on 'Accept'.
Please do not forget to open the corresponding A.2 form afterwards to finish verification and
have the PIC data inherited.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 19 of 31
When filling the form please pay particular attention to the verification:
 Fill in all fields with data. All fields on the forms are mandatory and cannot
be empty (“-“or “0” are the values that designate the “none” or “Non
applicable”).
 The acronym will be used to identify your proposal efficiently in the call. It
should be of no more than 20 characters (use standard Latin alphabet and
numbers only; no spaces, symbols or special characters please). The same
acronym should appear on each page of part B of your proposal.
 Press the “Validate” button at the bottom of the form: The validation is looking
for formal errors in the forms. If it finds errors, it indicates at the end of the
form which fields are wrongly filled in and these validation errors are
highlighted in red color.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 20 of 31
 If all the necessary fields are filled in, you will see the message “no validation
errors” at the bottom of the form.
Do not forget to save the form by pressing the “Save Form” button, or your changes
will be discarded!
Note: The “Save Form” button performs form validation as well.
Please make sure, you fill out all forms for which you are responsible.
For forms with spreadsheets, the total amounts are automatically calculated by the
system when the “Validate” button is pressed. Obviously the appropriate fields need
to be completed first.
Tip During form preparation save early and often. Saving will also validate
the form. Pay attention to the time-out of the system: editing a form is not
considered as an action of the user, only saving or validating actions will reset
the time-out.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 21 of 31
1.7. Part B and Annexes
1.7.1 Part B
For the proposal content (part B) you are requested to use exclusively PDF (“portable
document format”, compatible with Adobe Acrobat version 5 or higher, with embedded
fonts). Other file formats will NOT be accepted by the system. Both commercial and free
tools to convert files to PDF format are widely available on the WEB.
Compressed (zipped or otherwise compressed) archives will NOT be accepted (PDF is
self-compressing; there is no gain in zipping). Technical problems resulting from the use
of other formats may lead to your proposal being excluded.
Unless otherwise specified in the call legal text, only one PDF file comprising the
complete technical annex (part B) can be uploaded. Further files with annexes or
additional information (company brochures, supporting documentation, reports, audio,
video, multimedia etc.) will be rejected during the evaluation of the proposal.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 22 of 31
There are some calls though (i.e. calls for the Marie Curie funds) that request two
separate Part B files namely Section 1 and Section 2. If this is the case, then all
instructions remain the same with the only difference that the user will have to provide 2
separate files. Format and naming convention applies for these files.
The format of part B of a proposal (the description of the content of the proposal) for the
specific call is specified in the so called “Part B Template” file. By clicking on the link
“Download Part B Templates” the proposer downloads the template file (RTF format) and
uses it as a guide to structure the proposal Part B section appropriately. Open the template Part
B RTF file and edit it. Save the file, convert it to PDF and then add it to the proposal. The Part
B filename should not contain any special characters or spaces. It can only contain Latin letters
(a-z), digits (0-9), the underscore (_), the dash (-) and the dot (.) character. Your part B
filename must not exceed 100 characters.
Using only PDF format for submission of part B
Why?
This format for text documents is supported by the vast majority of computer platforms. The
advantage of saving as a PDF file is that the contents are "locked" and the original formatting
(margins, page breaks, etc.) will always be maintained when the file is printed. In addition, unlike
many common document formats, there are almost no viruses associated with PDF files. Allowing
proposers to submit in any possible format would require the Commission to maintain an arsenal of
software in different versions - and even then readability could not be guaranteed in 100% of the
cases.
How?
The possibility of converting a text file into PDF is integrated into some word processors. In case
this is not implemented in the word processor you are using, you can download special conversion
software (commercial software or downloadable freeware) from the web. Conversion into PDF is
the last step in preparing a document for submission; since PDF documents are "locked", they
cannot be edited like normal text files.
Tip Do not use special characters in the file name. The system will prevent
you from uploading such files.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 23 of 31
Once the Part B file is created, use the “Browse” button to locate the part B file.
Click on “Upload Proposal File” to upload the Part B file to the proposal.
It is your responsibility to ensure that the submitted proposal contains the right files
with the right content.
Part B checklist:
- Part B is in PDF format (compatible with Adobe Acrobat version 5 or higher, with
embedded fonts)
- Filename ends in .pdf
- Filename does not contain any special characters or spaces (and does not exceed 100
characters)
- The PDF Part B must not be encrypted and the parameter that prevents printing must not
be selected
- The proposal contains no unnecessary coloured or high resolution pictures. It will be printed
in Black and White at 300dpi for evaluation.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 24 of 31
1.7.2 Annexes
For the majority of instruments and project types in FP7, part A and part B form the
complete proposal, so it might be that this section does not appear for your case.
For some particular actions, additional annexes can be required. In this case, you can use
the Annex Upload section to locate and upload them. You should not annex any other files
unless this is specifically requested in the Call Text. For the Annex content the only supported
format is PDF. The Annex filename should not contain any special characters or spaces. It can
only contain Latin letters (a-z), digits (0-9), the underscore (_), the dash (-) and the dot (.)
character. The Annex filename must be different from the Part B filename. Your annexe
filename must not exceed 100 characters.
Note: In case of uploading annexes to the EPSS, please make sure that the name of the
annex file is NOT identical with the name of your part B file!
Note: Before being saved to the EPSS database, the Part B and Annex files are checked for
viruses. If files are found to be infected they are rejected by the system and the user is warned.
Tip Upload your proposal early in the process and press the “submit” button
and all buttons that follow in the subsequent pages. Doing this ensures that
an interim version of the proposal text (the part B) is already present on the
system. Remember that the system allows multiple uploads of the proposal
text and this facility should be used to avoid the call closure rush.
Tip In some rare instances, the proposal may be altered while in transit on the
Internet. To check that the uploaded file has been received unaltered, perform
a download of the part B.
Tip Practice the conversion of the file to the PDF format. The conversion may
take an extended period of time if the page layout is complex or contains
graphics. There is no point is creating a PDF document with a resolution higher
than 300 DPI and in black and white. Nuances of grey may be reproduced but
should be avoided for legibility purposes.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 25 of 31
Upon successful upload of a file the following screen appears:
If the proposal is ready you should click on “Submit NOW” in order to submit it. If not,
then click on “Submit LATER” or any other of the Tabs in order to continue with its
preparation.
It is your responsibility to ensure that the submitted proposal contains the right files
with the right content.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 26 of 31
1.8. Validation
Click on this tab in order to validate the entire proposal. Possible errors are indicated and
can easily be found and resolved.
Please note that during the validation process Errors or Warnings may be reported. It is
still possible to submit a proposal, which has Warnings; it is NOT possible to submit a
proposal that has Errors.
If you cannot locate validation errors please contact the EPSS help desk immediately
on +32 2 23 33 760 or support@epss-fp7.org.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 27 of 31
1.9. Submit Proposal
In order to complete the proposal submission the proposer must select the “Submit
Proposal” section (in fact it is to this section that a user is also directed when clicking on
the “Submit NOW” button). Without submission, all the uploaded data (Forms, Part B,
and Annexes) are simply saved in the EPSS database without forming a proposal
package and without being recognized as a submitted proposal.
By clicking on the “Submit Proposal” button the screen that follows appears:
Press on “Press this button to submit the proposal”.
An automatic validation check will verify the proposal. If there are no validation errors,
the following will appear:
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 28 of 31
If you receive this screen, the proposal is successfully submitted. The proposal can be
modified and submitted up until the closure of the call. Each subsequent submission
overwrites the previously submitted version (earlier versions are not archived).
If there are blocking validation errors you’ll not be able to submit the proposal and get a
screen like the following:
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 29 of 31
If there are “Warning” types of validation errors, then you can see proceed with the
submission by supplying some relevant comments and click on the “Submit NOW”
button:
Tip
Simply uploading a new Part B file or modifying the A forms is not sufficient;
the “submit” button (as well as the buttons on the pages that follow) need to
be pressed in order for the changes to be registered in the proposal package.
Pressing the “submit” button is similar to putting the envelope in the mailbox.
Proposals or modifications that have not been submitted before the deadline
are not transferred for evaluation.
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 30 of 31
1.10. The History
By clicking on the “History” Tab, the record of all the actions performed while using the
EPSS system appears. Thus it is possible for the coordinator to check when for example
Partner 2 updated his A2 form.
An example of the history record before proposal submission:
And after the submission:
EPSS User Manual Released on 23 April 2010 page 31 of 31
2 EPSS Checklist
I. Choose the call and Sub-scheme for which you want to apply
(http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm )
II. Via the respective CORDIS call page, register with EPSS in order to obtain a
login and password well in advance of the call
III. Use the provided username and password to prepare and submit the proposal
(https://www.epss-fp7.org/epss)
IV. Proposal Setup – Enter Participants,
V. Fill in the Part A Forms and save the forms,
VI. Upload the Part B file (and annexes, if required).
VII. Validate the proposal.
VIII. SUBMIT THE PROPOSAL!
3 Note for Macintosh users
Better results can be obtained using the Mozilla Firefox Browser (you can download it
from http://www.mozilla.org/download.html). It handles the files without their pathname.
The Mac OS 9 is not supported.