Questions & Answers institutional collaboration projects - Orange Knowledge Programme

We will answer questions about open calls until the date stated in the time schedule of each call. New questions and answers will be published here every Wednesday and Friday.

Questions and answers are posted in chronological order per call. General questions and answers are also in chronological order. The latest questions are at the top.

General questions and answers

These questions and answers are applicable to all calls.

Question

What if my country does not agree to providing at least 50% of the required co-funding?

Answer

Providing the minimum amount of required co-funding is a fixed criterion. Do note that co-funding can come in the form of in kind or in cash.

Question

Is it possible to have more time for implementation than the end date which is mentioned in the call document (the project should be finished before 31 March 2022)?

Answer

No. The time frame is fixed by the legal subsidy framework which governs the Orange Knowledge Programme.

Question

Is it possible to include investments in equipment and machinery as part of the project proposal? Is it possible to cooperate with experts from other countries, especially from European countries?

Answer

Yes. It is possible to include investments as part of the project proposal. Please refer to article 5.7 of the Grant Obligations and Conditions for more information about this. It is also possible to cooperate with experts from other (European) countries. In fact, the proposal must be a ‘joint proposal’, meaning that you have to find a Dutch partner to develop a proposal together. For more information about this, please read chapter 3 of the Call Document.

Question

Is it possible to include a training component in the project proposal for professionals in the food and nutrition sector? Can they take a course in the Netherlands or in other countries around the world?

Answer

Yes. Staff members of the ‘Country A’ consortium members can be trained in the Netherlands or in other countries around the world. For more information about this possibility, please read article 5.5 and 5.6 of the Grant Obligations and Conditions. Please pay attention to the limitations for long-term staff training that exceeds the duration of the project. Starting a Master degree before 31 March 2021 is allowed, considering the ICP’s have gained an extension of 3 months. Starting a Master degree after 31 March 2021 is also possible, as long as the studies in question will be finalised before 30 September 2022.

This particular call also asks for the establishment of a scholarship facility, which would allow other professionals in the region to gain training as well. For more information about this, please read chapter 2.2. of the Call Document.

Besides the opportunities arising from this call for proposals, the Orange Knowledge Programme also offers Tailor Made Trainings and individual scholarships for professionals. Please visit the OKP website for detailed information.

Question

The proposed project needs land to build on, so if this land does not belong to the national government, can the proposed project be implemented on land belonging to the private sector?

Answer

In case the Country A consortium partners do not possess the resources necessary to implement the project, a maximum of 20% of the grant amount or the specific amount mentioned in the call for grant applications is eligible for costs of equipment, infrastructure and other investments. Refer to Eligible Costs in the Grant Obligations and Conditions document version 4.0., section 5.7. # 1 - #10

Question

Is the investment cost calculated on the total fund available and not exceeding 20% of the proposed project total cost?? i.e up to 20% of the TA cost and up to 20% of the scholarship cost??

Answer

A maximum of 20% of the grant amount or the specific amount mentioned in the call for grant applications is eligible for costs of equipment, infrastructure and other investments. Refer to Eligible Costs in the Grant Obligations and Conditions document version 4.0., section 5.7 §1 - 10

Question

Is it possible to claim management cost of 20% on the scholarship component of the project and 20% for the technical assistance (TA) component I.e 20% of the total project cost goes for management??

Answer

The maximum amount available for project management by the grant recipient and consortium partners is a fixed amount calculated as 20% of the grant budget (including both the scholarship and TA component). Or a specified amount as fixed amount in the call for grant applications. Refer to Eligible Costs in the Grant Obligations and Conditions document version 4.0., section 5.8 §4 – 10

Question

Are the two project components go together or each component is separate and have its budget and management???

Answer

It is one project and therefore Nuffic expects one bid proposal which includes the scholarship facility.

Question

Is the co-funding of 20% calculated on the total project cost? Or only on the TA part only??

Answer

This is stated on page 1 of the tender document. Minimum required co-funding is 20% of the budget that is applied for (total implementation costs). At least 50% of the required co-funding must come from local funding in the partner country. The partner countries in this call are Jordan and Iraq.

Question

Is country A entitled for at least 30% of the Management cost ?

Answer

Yes. At least 30% of the management costs should be allocated to the participating Country A Partners combined, to ensure sufficient ownership. Refer to the Grant Obligations and Conditions document version 4.0., section 5.8 §7.

Question

What if an organization in country A is an implementer not recipient ? Can they claim part of the investment and Management to the organization?

Answer

An organisation providing capacity building is always part of the ‘Dutch’ consortium. As such they can claim part of the management costs for the ‘Dutch’ partners. They are not allowed to claim a part of the investments, as these should be directed towards the partners of the ‘Country A’ consortium as part of the capacity building.

Question

Can a Jordanian non-profit organisation be the grant applicant?

Answer

Yes. As section 3 of the call document explains: The grant applicant must be a Dutch institution for secondary vocational or higher vocational or academic education; or a national or local knowledge institution or organisation (knowledge institution, ministries, national commissions or non-governmental organisation) that contributes to capacity development in the area of higher and vocational education within the local priorities as set out in the country plan of implementation (CPI).

Question

Can grant applicants only target one of the two countries (Jordan and Iraq) and, if so, does the maximum funding still amount to EUR 1,900,000?

Answer

Targeting only one country is possible, but the aim of the call is both countries: The call document states: Applications must contribute to the long-term impact for the regional programme in the areas of Food & Nutrition Security and efficient water management for agriculture and align closely with Dutch priorities and programmes for the two target countries in the MENA region.” And positively assed will be (one of the recommended points of attention): “Applications having institutions from both Iraq, Jordan and (a) Dutch knowledge institution(s) in order to facilitate North-South-South collaboration”. The maximum funding is set at EUR 1,900,000 per proposal.

Question

How many projects will be selected under this call?

Answer

One project will be selected.

Question

Can the applicant only apply for one of the two components of the Call (ICP activities and local scholarship facility) or does it have to apply to both?

Answer

The scholarship facility is to be part of the ICP proposal.

Question

Is it allowed to include a UN organization based in Europe as consortium partner? What would be the fees that we should apply for employees of this partner? Would that be in accordance with the list of fees on page 17 of the Grant Obligations & Conditions document?

Answer

It is possible to include any organisation or expert in your consortium, as long as the lead applicant is a Dutch education organisation. The list of fees on page 17 of the Grant Obligations & Conditions document apply.

Question

Is it possible to subcontract a UN organisation based in Europe? Do we need to stick to the fees on page 17 of the Grant Obligations & Conditions document?

Answer

It is possible to subcontract a UN organisation based in Europe. The fees on page 17 of the Grant Obligations & Conditions document apply.

Question

Is it possible to include in the proposal and budget a number of scholarships for staff of key institutions in Sool and Sanaaq on horti/veg and nutrition?

Answer

It is possible to include formal and informal training in the ICP application. Please refer to the ICP grant obligations and conditions (cf. Art. 5.5 GO&C). Please pay attention to the limitations for long-term staff training that exceeds the duration of the project. Starting a Master degree before 31 March 2021 is allowed, considering the ICP’s have gained an extension of 3 months. Starting a Master degree after 31 March 2021 is also possible, as long as the studies in question will be finalised before 30 September 2022. The partners must report on the progress of all scholarship holders when they submit the final report. Please note in addition, that Training of staff within the Country A Partner organisations is not eligible for Orange Knowledge Programme – Institutional Collaboration Project funding (cf. Art. 5.6 GO&C).

Question

The OKP-MENA-30012 call document states the following “The proposal must include the establishment of an independent committee which will assess the scholarship candidates based on objective and clear criteria”. The question is: who will be the members of the independent committee, how many persons, from which organisations, nationalities (Dutch, Iraqis, Jordanian or mixed) and should the committee report to Nuffic or to the project lead?

Answer

The call has no format or template in regards to the establishment of the scholarship facility nor to its assessment committee other than that the committee must be independent from the project management and team of experts. It is up to the applicant(s) to design the scholarship facility and how its assessment committee will operate. The scholarship facility and the assessment committee are part of the ICP (project) and are therefore accountable to the ICP lead, i.e. the contract holder.

Question

Is it possible to include international organisations in the Dutch consortium and pay for their fees?

Answer

It is possible to include any organisation or expert in your consortium, as long as the lead applicant is a Dutch education organisation.

Question

Is it possible to include scholarships for regional courses in the application?

Answer

It is possible to include formal and informal training in the ICP application. Please refer to the ICP grant obligations and conditions (396.2 kB) (cf. Art. 5.5 GO&C). Please pay attention to the limitations for long-term staff training that exceeds the duration of the project.

Starting a Master degree before 31 March 2021 is allowed, considering the ICPs have gained an extension of 3 months. Starting a Master degree after 31 March 2021 is also possible, as long as the studies in question will be finalised before 30 September 2022. The partners must report on the progress of all scholarship holders when they submit the final report.

Question

What is the definition of country A partners?

Answer

Country A partners are partners that are situated in one of the ‘countries A’. Countries A are the countries listed on the OKP overview page.

For the call OKP-MENA-30012, Country A partners are partners from Jordan and or from Iraq.

Question

Who are the beneficiaries of the call?

Answer

The Country A (consortium ) partners are the beneficiaries in an OKP ICP joint proposal: their professionals/ staff are the direct beneficiaries since their capacity is being built. Section 3 of the call document explains more about consortium members.

Question

When 50% of the required co-funding must come from local funding in the partner country, by whom can this co-funding be provided?

Answer

At least 50% of the required 20% co-funding must come from local funding in the partner country (i.e. 10%). Co-funding may involve public, private and/or own funds. This is not limited to the beneficiaries or consortium partners and can come from a third party willing to provide the funds. The co-funding can be in-kind or in cash.

Remember that proof of co-funding must be provided together with the proposal. Please refer to the Grant Obligations and Conditions; to section 2.3 of the call document; and to the application assessment explanation which explains how Nuffic will evaluate the provision of co-funding. All these documents are available on the calls page.

Question

Is there a template for the letter of intent (annex 2) and for the consortium agreement?

Answer

No. We do not provide a template for the letter of intent. This document can be drafted freely by each of the partners. The same answer applies to the consortium agreement. Please bear in mind that this document does not have to be submitted at the moment of submitting your application (cf. art. 4.6.1 and 4.6.2 of the Grant Obligations & Conditions). When an annex requires the use of a template, it is stated: 'mandatory format'.

Question

Can we use the OKP ICP Grant to give full MSc scholarships to the requesting organisation's staff?If yes, can they already start in September 2021 and get a 2-year scholarship until they graduate in 2023?

Answer

Yes, please refer to the ICP grant obligations and conditions (cf. Art. 5.5 GO&C). Starting a Master degree before 31 March 2021 is allowed, considering the ICPs have gained an extension of 3 months.

Starting a Master degree after 31 March 2021 is also possible, under the following condition: Nuffic will consider these costs eligible as long as the studies in question will be finalised before 30 September 2022. The partners must report on the progress of all scholarship holders when they submit the final report.

Question

Considering the Logframe, it mentions that a medium-term impact should be copied or picked from the project call. Whereas I can find the long-term impact in the call, for the medium term impact I can only find the following:

  1. Education system (TVET/HE) is of good quality, relevant and accessible (SDG 4);
  2. Partnerships between persons and organisations are inclusive and sustainable (SDG 17);
  3. Organisations key to (sectoral) inclusive development of partner countries are strengthened by inflow of enhanced workforce.

Should additional medium term impacts plus indicators be picked from the M&E framework, or do these three (which are already noted in the logframe) suffice?

Answer

In accordance with the Theory of Change‌ (388.32 kB) for the Orange Knowledge Programme, our projects and scholarships contribute to the abovementioned medium term impacts, which in their turn will contribute to the long-term impact formulated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their thematic areas Water, SRHR, SRoL and FNS. In addition, we include (indirect) thematic indicators for the medium term in order to make visible how the projects and scholarships will contribute to the thematic long-term impacts. For the short term (outcome level) we include (direct) thematic indicators as well, as it cannot be excluded that projects do achieve direct results when including activities with communities, farmers, pregnant women etc, while strengthening the capacity of educational organisations. Please refer to our M&E-framework (264.76 kB), where we distinguish between thematic indicators and capacity development related indicators.

So in answer to your question, you have to select medium term thematic impacts and indicators from the OKP M&E framework next to the three capacity development related medium term impacts. For the short term (outcome level), this is allowed, but it is not obligatory.

Question

In the format for institutional proposals several questions have to be answered with a maximum of 200 words. This gives the applicant very limited possibility to explain the strategy and other important aspects in the projects. What happens when at a certain question the number of words is higher than the prescribed 200?

Answer

The maximum number of words is a guideline, not a criterion for disqualification. However, if the elaborations are too long, this will be assessed negatively under ‘Technical quality of the application’, V.a.4 ‘Presentation’.

Question

In our proposals we often include institutions where the English or French is not spoken. These institutions are not able to complete the requested documents for a proposal as they do not understand the language and/or do not have the information available. What is the solution for this as we like to include them in our consortium.

Answer

The selection of consortium partners and the communication with those partners is the responsibility of the lead partners. It is therefore up to the lead partners to find a solution with regard to any issues, including language, that may hinder cooperation.

Questions

  • Are locally-registered international NGOs eligible to apply?
  • Furthermore, can they be the lead applicant?

Answer

We refer to the legal policy framework‌ (196.50 kB) for OKP (subsidiebeleidskader), section 4: Institutional collaboration projects are aimed at strengthening national and/or local knowledge institutions and organisations in developing countries (knowledge institutions and, if desirable, also ministries, national commissions and non-governmental organisations) that contribute to capacity building in the area of higher and vocational education within the local priorities as set out in the CPIs.

International organisations are considered neither national nor local knowledge institutions. They are not eligible as country A organisations. They may participate in a Dutch consortium, but may not take the lead.

Question

About the form for references of experience: what consortium is meant in the column: Participation consortium in implementation of the project (%)? There is not always a consortium and generally a consortium carries out 100% of a project, while the tenderer will have implemented a part of the project. We are inclined to put here the percentage implemented by our organisation. Is that correct? Or do you want to see the percentages of all consortium partners, if any (and not always known)?

Answer

Yes. You can put the percentage implemented by your own organisation. Please remember that all organisations involved in the application (Dutch and country A lead partners and consortium members) must list their references of experience. Maximum of 3 references per partner.

Question

What is the difference between the Project Director and Project Coordinator? Would you specify their role in the project?

Answer

The respective roles of Project Director and Project Coordinator may vary from project to project and from organisation to organisation. It is up to the applicants to propose a strong project management team, which will be assessed by the Application Assessment Committee (refer to the assessment criteria).

Question

What does it mean Output Number? (in the grant application form)?

Answer

We ask you to clearly number the proposed outputs so that the application form, the logical framework and the budget refer to the same outputs in an identical and coherent way.

Question

Is it possible to co-fund in kind? Such as supplying vehicles, Office and Office equipment( Computer, printer, copier etc), stationary material?

Answer

Yes, this is possible, if these are costs which otherwise would have been charged to or bought by the project. All costs made for the project, including co-funding, have to be included in the audit of the project. Please see chapter 5.10 of the Grant Obligations & Conditions.

Question

The call states “Institutional Collaboration”, does this entail institutional collaborations between knowledge based institutions/organisations or does it also entail collaboration with Nuffic or the Dutch Embassy?

Answer

Nuffic and the Dutch embassy will not participate in the institutional collaboration between knowledge institutions as defined in the call. Nuffic is responsible for the administration and monitoring of the programme and will monitor the achievement of project results. The EKN can be seen as a relevant stakeholder of the OKP programme that has a strong interest in the complementarity, coordination and contribution of OKP projects in relation to prioritised themes and bilateral programmes of the Embassies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the countries under consideration.

Question

Does the project proposal already need to be in collaboration with Nuffic?

Answer

The project proposal will not be developed in collaboration with Nuffic. The call can be seen as an invitation to interesting applicants to present proposals to strengthen institutional collaboration between knowledge institutions focusing on sustainable strengthening of higher and vocational education capacity within the expressed priority themes relevant to development cooperation. Nuffic will have an active role in the assessment of applications and selection of the institutional collaboration project that has received the highest score. It can therefore not take part in the development of proposals.

Question

As per this call clause 2.2, which emphasises the necessity of higher and applied education for young generation, can we arrange teaching sessions for our students directly by academician form Netherlands in addition to the skill developments of teachers.

Answer

The aim of Institutional Collaboration Projects within OKP is capacity building, which includes curriculum development and skill development of teachers, among other things. Teaching sessions directly for students by Dutch staff is not part of this.

Question

In order to address the specific training needs for the skill development of faculty members and officers of this University and to transform it into a centre of excellence, is it possible to arrange lab attachment, short courses, seminars, visits etc. to Universities or other centre of excellence/ ports in Netherlands and other country of interest?

Answer

Occasional travel is possible if it fits with - and has significant contribution to - the objectives of the project/call.

Question

Since PhD is a pre-requisite for professional development of faculty members, is it possible to send few faculty members for PhD programme in any Dutch or other university?

Answer

Within projects of the Orange Knowledge Programme, it is possible to send staff for PhD programmes in the Netherlands.

Question

In order to introduce competence-based-learning methodologies, is it possible to establish institution, laboratory (oceanography/ bio-technology/ off-shore engineering/ language), simulator and/or other relevant infrastructure under this project? Is it also possible to include procurement of certain training aids/ items to improve the training methods for classroom facilities like audio-visual and computer assisted training aids?

Answer

Yes, all types of equipment such as the items you mention can be purchased under the equipment component of the budget. The equipment should be directly related to the teaching and research component which the project proposal intends to target. Please note however that the equipment component is limited to 20% of the total proposed project budget.

Question

How much will be the research element in this project? Is there any scope of joint research projects to be undertaken with Dutch universities within this programme?

Answer

As mentioned in the call document, the proposed project should, among other things, change systems and practices within the maritime and port sector institutions through evidence-based research. Please note that the research component is basically focusing on teaching new evidence-based methods and not so much on doing the research itself, although it could be a minor part of the project.

Question

Can non-educational institutes who may have concerns in SRHR be consortium partner(s) (for example, local health organisations etc.)?

Answer

Yes, this is allowed. Institutional collaboration projects are aimed at strengthening national and/or local knowledge institutions and organisations in developing countries (knowledge institutions and, if desirable, also ministries, national commissions and non-governmental organisations) that contribute to capacity building in the area of higher and vocational education within the local priorities as set out in the CPIs. Any organisation that is relevant for the project outcomes may participate in the consortium.

Question

Would you clarify how can I identify or communicate to registered Dutch vocational education and training institutes as partner(s) in NL to my grant application? and Who will select this consortium partner?

Answer

This is a call for joint proposals by consortia of Ethiopian and Dutch organisations. Nuffic does not interfere in the composition of the consortia. Nuffic is not allowed to refer to specific potential Dutch partner organisations in view of a level playing field. On the Study in Holland website you can see which organisations are already participating in the Orange Knowledge Programme. Or post a request on social media with #OrangeKnowledge so we can share it via our Twitter and Facebook channels. Tell us what kind of organisation you are - please include your website's url - and in which country you are based. Let us know what you are looking for (what kind of partner? which expertise? which priority theme (Water, FNS, etc.)? which call? in which country? etcetera).

Question

Can the 20% amount for investments from the total budget be used for constructions such as additional classrooms to increase number of female students in TVET institutes, sanitary rooms and other educational facilities?

Answer

Yes, this is allowed, if this contributes to the project objectives. Please refer to the Grant Obligations and Conditions‌ (396.2 kB), chapter 5.7, Cost Category F: Investments.

Question

Should the grant application proposals be prepared for one year or within the time frame indicated in the call (i.e from 2018- 2022)

Answer

The grant application should be prepared for the time frame indicated in the call. The final date for projects is 31 December 2021, and in view of the deadlines in the time schedule, the starting date could not be before 1 September 2019.

Question

Could you kindly let us know if there is a limitation on the number of days European staff can be added to the budget?

Answer

There is no limitation to the number of days European staff can be added to the budget.

Question

Is it possible for doing by collaboration with different country A Universities?

Answer

It is possible that various country A universities collaborate in the project. However, there must always be at least one knowledge institution from The Netherlands involved in the collaboration. Otherwise the application will not be eligible.

Question

What is the difference point between single university doing by itself individually and multi university collaboration?

Answer

There is no straight answer to this question. The applications will be assessed by an Application Assessment Committee (AAC). The AAC will look at different criteria, a.o. Quality of the partnership, Capacity needs of Country A partner(s), ambitiousness of the project, etc. Please refer to the assessment criteria‌ (149.53 kB).

Question

Is it required to have a relevant Partner in Dutch or Netherlands as eligible criteria in order to develop project proposal?

Answer

Yes, this is required. There must always be at least one knowledge institution from The Netherlands involved in the collaboration. Otherwise the application will not be eligible.

Question

As per FAQ, International organisations are not considered national nor local knowledge institutions. They may participate in a consortium, but may not take the lead.

With this provision, may we know what guidelines should we follow when preparing the budget? Does our cost qualifies in Cost Category A: Time/input by Dutch/European staff and experts or Cost Category B: Time/input by regional/local staff and experts?

Answer

International organisations may participate in a Dutch consortium and related costs must be included under Cost Category A.

Question

Could you please clarify if the proposals for the Institutional Cooperation calls have to be submitted in ONE pdf only, including all annexes (apart from the budget in excel), or that we may submit the annexes (CVs, statements, letters) separately in different pdf’s?

Answer

We prefer the proposals for the Institutional Cooperation calls to be submitted in separate annexes (Proposal, CVs, statements, letters) and the budget also separately in Excel. However, there is no objection to submitting the proposals for the Institutional Cooperation calls in ONE pdf only, including all annexes (apart from the budget in excel).

Question

Concerning Management team of the Country A consortium: is it obligatory that the project coordinator is employed with the lead partner of Country A? Or could it also be a person employed with Country A consortium member, or even a person not employed with any Country A partner?

Answer

Our rules and regulations do not specify whether the project coordinator has to be employed with the lead partner, or indeed by any of the partners. This means that you are free to take a different approach.

However, in practice most lead partners choose to nominate a project coordinator employed by the organisation. This facilitates the practical implementation of the project as this person also decides on organisational and financial matters. The role of the project coordinator is crucial for the successful implementation of the project and we often see that this person continues to be a highly valuable asset within the organisation even after the project has ended (capacity building of the lead organisation through professional experience gained). Therefore, we encourage you to carefully consider the strategic choice of the project coordinator and provide solid arguments for the composition of the management teams on both sides (Dutch partner and Country A partner), in case you decide to deviate from the most common practice.

Question

Can a non-educational institute be GRANT applicant?

Answer

Institutional collaboration projects are aimed at strengthening national and/or local knowledge institutions and organisations in developing countries (knowledge institutions and, if desirable, also ministries, national commissions and non-governmental organisations) that contribute to capacity building in the area of higher and vocational education within the local priorities as set out in the CPIs. This relates to knowledge institutions and organisations in Category A countries (see the Country List Annex).

Question

Can a non-educational institute (like Deltares) be NL lead applicant? Or should it be eg VHL?

Answer

The Dutch organisation must be a Dutch institution for secondary and higher vocational or academic education. This means that the institution has to be registered as an educational institution at the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) either in the CROHO (Centraal Register Opleidingen Hoger Onderwijs) or the Crebo (Centraal Register Beroepsopleidingen) or has to provide an educational programme at master's level which is registered in CROHO.

In the last case the institution must comply with the following criteria (proof has to be provided with the COCA):

  1. admission, enrolment and financial administration of the students is handled by the educational institution providing the education, and;
  2. more than 50% teaching staff of the educational programme registered in CROHO is employed by the educational institution, and;
  3. assessment of interim and final examinations in the educational programme registered in CROHO is coordinated by and (predominantly) performed by the educational institution providing the education.

In addition the Dutch organisation must have signed the Code of Conduct International Students in Dutch Higher Education or Vocational Education and Training.

Question

The amount for investments is supposed to be ‘20% of maximum project budget as published on front’. Does this mean that the 20% will be calculated from the maximum grant applicable for, or 20% from the proposed grant amount, or 20% of the total amount proposed for the project (so grant amount plus co-finance)?

Answer

A maximum of 20% of the grant budget or the specific amount mentioned in the call for grant applications is eligible for costs of equipment, infrastructure and other investments.

Question

Is it allowed to submit a budget with more than 20% investments, for instance as part of co-finance?

Answer

Yes, through co-funding the amount for investment can go over the 20% of grant budget. However, eligible for Nuffic funding remains 20% of grant total or the specific amount mentioned in the call for grant.

Question

Is it allowed to submit a budget with less than 20% investments? (For instance when partner A don’t feel the need for investments)

Answer

Yes, it is allowed to submit a budget with less than 20% investments.

Question

May the prescribed 20% of investments be covered partially by co-fincance?

Answer

Yes, this is possible. Nuffic does not prescribe on which cost category the co-financing has to be used.

Question

Private companies can be consortium partners in the proposal. Do the same rules in terms of eligible costs apply to these partners as those applying to other partners? E.g. in terms of fees payable to staff of the private company in accordance with the table on pp 17-18 of the OK Grant obligations and conditions document?

Answer

Yes, the same rules in term of eligible costs also apply to consortium partners which are private companies. Please use the list of fees as presented under 5.2.10.

Question

Can we use products and knowledge of previous projects as co-funding?

Answer

Yes, products can be used as co-funding if these are products which otherwise would have been charged to or bought by the project. For knowledge the question is how you can define the value of knowledge in euros. Knowledge through services by (external) experts is eligible for co-funding. All costs made for the project, including co-funding, have to be included in the audit of the project.

Question

Can we use existing projects (with guaranteed funding) as co-funding?

Answer

If the project is not funded by the Dutch government this is allowed as co-funding. If the project is funded by the Dutch Government and is complementary for the proposed Orange Knowledge project it is very advisable to connect these projects, but it will not be considered as co-funding.

Question

Which Dutch organisations are eligible, on their own or as lead of a consortium, either or not as grant applicant?

Answer

Please refer to the legal policy framework for OKP (subsidiebeleidskader):

Translation legal policy framework Orange Knowledge Programme‌ (196.50 kB)

see section 4:

The Dutch organisation must be a Dutch institution for secondary and higher vocational or academic education. This means that the institution has to be registered as an educational institution at the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) either in the CROHO (Centraal Register Opleidingen Hoger Onderwijs) or the Crebo (Centraal Register Beroepsopleidingen) or has to provide an educational programme at masters level which is registered in CROHO.

In the last case the institution must comply with the following criteria (proof has to be provided with the COCA):

  1. admission, enrolment and financial administration of the students is handled by the educational institution providing the education, and;
  2. more than 50% teaching staff of the educational programme registered in CROHO is employed by the educational institution, and;
  3. assessment of interim and final examinations in the educational programme registered in CROHO is coordinated by and (predominantly) performed by the educational institution providing the education.

In addition the Dutch organisation must have signed the Code of Conduct International Students in Dutch Higher Education or Vocational Education and Training.

Question

How is co-funding visualised in the Orange Knowledge budget and declaration forms?

Answer

The project partners are invited to develop their budget in accordance with the grant application and including and specifying grant and co-funding. In annex 8 to the application the proof of funding is specified and substantiated, duly signed by the co-funder. In case the applicant is awarded a grant, the grant award letter will explicitly mention the amounts stemming from the Orange Knowledge grant and the amounts stemming from the co-funding.

This relation (e.g. total budget = 100% of which the grant is 95% and the co-funding = 5%) will be applied to the final calculation at the end of the project on the basis of all audited and approved cost declarations (of a declaration of EUR 2.000,000, Nuffic will then transfer EUR 1.900,000) with a maximum of the grant amount.

Question

In view of the end date for ICP: 31 December 2021, how do we go about with PhD candidates?

Answer

Please refer to the Grant Obligations and Conditions:

Orange Knowledge grant obligations and conditions institutional collaboration projects (396.2 kB)

See page 21:

5.5 Cost Category D: PhD/master’s and other training in the Netherlands/Europe:

  • To ensure all long-term staff training can be completed within the grant period or shortly thereafter:
  • PhD and BSc students must have started the programme before 1 January 2020.
  • MSc students must have started the programme before 1 January 2021.

and page 22:

Long-term staff training continuing after the end of the grant period:

10.The grant recipient can request a budget-neutral extension specifically for long-term staff training allowing the PhD, BSc and/or Master’s student(s) to complete their studies. The request must contain a personalised budget per calendar year for the remaining period still required by the PhD/BSc/Master’s student to complete, and an overview of the expenditures made for the individual PhD/BSc/Master’s student until that moment. You can find the prescribed format on our website.

Question

In the call for grant applications it is not clear if the duration is 4 years or less. Could you please clarify? And what does ´established´ mean exactly in this context?

Answer

In accordance with the legal policy framework‌ (196.50 kB) for OKP (subsidiebeleidskader), joint collaboration projects may last a maximum of four years. However, the Orange Knowledge Programme must be completed and reported upon before 1 July 2022. Therefore the final date for projects is 31 December 2021, which limits the maximum duration of projects with a starting date of for example 1 July 2019 to 2,5 years. Projects that start later will have an even shorter duration.

Established means that the project should be finished and all deliverables should be ready by 31 December 2021. The first months of 2022 may only be used for reporting and administrative closure of the project.

Question

The terms 'graduates' and 'alumni': do these 2 terms refer to the same or are they used consciously to refer to two different categories? In the second part of the M&E framework the terms seem to refer to alumni of the OKP capacity building activities whereas in the first part discussion impact they seem to refer to students graduated from the universities who have benefitted from better education given by university staff that were trained in OKP and apply their improved education in their jobs? If the term indeed refers to these student graduates, with what term does the M&E framework refer to the staff of the collaborating universities that receive training through the various activities of the project?

Answer

Please note that ‘alumni’ have benefitted from Orange Knowledge capacity building, so this means they are either ex-scholarship holders or staff of a country A organisation that benefitted from staff training in the framework of an institutional collaboration project. ‘Graduates’ refers to students who graduated from the organisations that were strengthened through the OKP. Graduates therefore have benefitted indirectly from better education through OKP and apply their improved knowledge and skills in their jobs.

Question

Employers: parallel to the above confusion: in a few places the term 'employers' seems to refer to those organisations employing students who graduated from the universities who have benefitted from better education given by university staff that were trained through the OKP. In the second part of the framework employers seem to be the universities employing the staff being trained through the OKP. How do we have to interpret this term?

Answer

Please note that the M&E framework is developed for the Orange Knowledge Programme as a whole and applies to institutional collaboration projects, individual scholarships and group trainings. Employers may be either employers of alumni (ex-scholarship holders) or employers of graduates (indirect beneficiaries).

Please refer to page 3 of the M&E framework, which visualises the Theory of Change of the Orange Knowledge Programme and note that the five blue blocks, representing the medium-term impacts and the outcomes, correspond with the capacity development-related indicators on the pages 15-19 (I, II III, A and B).

Medium impact III: Organisations key to (sectoral) inclusive development of partner countries are strengthened by inflow of enhanced workforce responds to alumni of individual and group training (scholarships) and to the inflow of graduates from enhanced education institutions. In the case of an Institutional Collaboration Project it would correspond to employers of graduates of strengthened education.

Question

For listing outputs per year the log frame format has only three columns, year 1, 2 and 3. Why not a column for year 4?

Answer

As the project has to be completed before 31 December 2021, there is no need for a fourth column.

Question

Could you inform us a bit more about the review process? Will the proposals also be reviewed by reviewers from academic or governmental institutions?

Answer

Please refer to the grant application assessment explanation. The assessment committee will consist of an independent chair, if possible a representative of the respective Dutch embassy and a Nuffic country programme manager as secretary. The independent chair may come from any organisation from any country and is selected on the basis of his/her expertise, relevant for the call.

Question

In your Nuffic OKP conditions you state the following: “The following costs will not be reimbursed under any circumstances: Salaries, stipends, incentives, fees, allowances or any other rewards paid or to be paid for the time which staff members of the ‘Country A Partner(s)’ spend on the project. The only exception is a limited compensation for the time spent on project management and administration”.

Does this refer to all country A partners or only to the Country A partners who are main beneficiaries of the project? How does this compare with the statement that compensations can be given: “Time/input by regional/local staff and experts “? And “Remuneration is based on the time spent by the expert and the consulting fee paid to the expert or the organisation employing the expert.”? And “If an external expert is an employee (part-time) of the Country A Partner or Country A Consortium Partner(s), the costs for his or her services is not eligible for funding”? We envisage a major role for local experts in the capacity building of the benefitting universities. These experts are mostly based at other universities. How can we expect these support universities to play this key role in the project if staff time spent is not compensated? The above rules seem to suggest we should not try to involve other universities institutionally (even though this would be essential for longer term sustainability) but rather hire key staff for specific services so that they can be compensated. In other words can we include salaries, stipends, allowances, etc for Indonesian experts not related to the beneficiary universities?

Answer

Please note that organisations that would benefit from the project would be part of the country A consortium and organisations and/or experts that contribute to the capacity building of these country A organisations would be part of or hired by the Dutch consortium, even if they are from or in country A.

Question

What is the figure used for the alliance between the organisations and what minimum commitments should be acquired between the parties?

Answer

In the call checklist it is stated: Annex 1 Letter of intent for a consortium agreement signed by all partners (Country A lead partner including consortium members and Dutch lead partner including consortium members) including organisational diagram of the project. No consortium agreement is required (yet) during the application, only one or two letters stating the intent to sign a consortium agreement, signed by all consortium members. In case the applicant is awarded a grant, the grant recipient must agree and sign a Consortium Agreement with all consortium partners including Country A and Dutch consortium members.

The grant recipient must submit the Consortium Agreement together with the first report (report 0 or report 1).

With each progress report the project implementers need to attach a declaration from both organisations on their satisfaction with the progress on achieving the proposed outputs within the scope of the grant award, referring to the Consortium agreement.

The consortium agreement must include:

  1. a plan on how the project is to be carried out, and:
  2. a specification on how responsibilities for project output(s) are to be assigned among the consortium members, and:
  3. a code of conduct for the cooperation between the grant recipient and the consortium partners for the duration of the project.

Question

When should I submit the COCA form?

Answer

You can submit a COCA form at any time during the year or at the time of submitting an application. An approved COCA remains valid for max. 1 year. If you already have a COCA registration number, please refer to this when you submit your application, otherwise you can submit the complete form at the time of application.

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