1.1 Introduction

Hello and welcome to the “Essential Skills for Project Management of Funded Grant Proposals” course. You will learn step-by-step what to expect after a grant proposal is accepted for funding by the contracting authority: how to properly manage a project at financial, technical, and administrative levels.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Daniela Gomes and I have over ten years of experience in international and European-funded projects in research and innovation. 

My background is in International Relations, Project Management and Business Development. I have extensive experience in dealing with EU institutions funding programmes as well as delivering executive training courses on grant writing in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia and North America.

In Module One: The Grant Agreement and Project Cycle Management, we will explore the key elements of the Grant Agreement and its signature process, project cycle management and using the Logical Framework Approach to support quality project planning and management.

In Module 2: Grant Management and Project Reporting, we will explore the most important aspect of the grant management process: project reporting and its key aspects, including two important progress reporting documents, the Technical Report and the Financial Report.

In Module 3: Project Reviews, Audits and Investigations, we will explore the difference between ex-ante audits and ex-post audits, as well as two important audit-related documents: the Certificate on Financial Statements (CFS) and the Audit Announcement Letter (ADL).