How do I write the deliverables and the results?
The results are the products of what you do in the WPs. The deliverables is the documentation or product (thing) that comes out of the WP work. The results make the impact.
Each WP should have a reasonable number of deliverables written/done by the leaders of the WP and/or tasks. If a deliverable is a thing/SW/product/etc you must describe how you made it and its designed, how it works or other in a deliverable document.
In Horizon 2020 deliverables are contractual. This means that you must write them to get the money. Delayed or not delivered deliverables are a serious issues that will cause to trouble in the cooperation with the commission; delayed payments, payments cuts, cancellation of projects, threats about breach of contract etc etc
Deliverables must:
- Be substantial
- Cover the full work of all WPs (you must document what you do for each WP)
- But do not need to follow the WP/task structure
- A deliverable can cover several tasks or just one
- Be written by a lead writer and a small number of partners (not all)
- Avoid deliverables with input from everybody because it is so hard to get the input and organise the document
- It is better to make more deliverables than one big
- Reflect the amount of work done i.e. the more person months put into the task/WP the more substantial. In short the number of pages you write should match the number of person months you have worked
- Follow closely the work progress and timeline. However:
- You must assure that you have some deliverables early in the project i.e. in the first period. The authority giving you money needs proof of you work in each period
- Time the deliverables with the project periods. It is not a good idea to set a delivery month just after the period is finished.
- Too many deliverables at the end of the project shows bad project planning and puts too much effort too late in the work plan.
- Consider summer and public holidays in your planning. It is hard to coordinate work in these periods.
- Be both public and confidential
- Impact and dissemination is important for the policy makers and they want to see some public deliverables.
Consider when looking at your deliverables list:
- Is this output worth funding?
- Will these deliverables show results with a real impact?
- Do we deliver what is expected from the call text?
- Is it excellent research?
- Does it match the objectives and what we actually will do/have done?
- Have all the partners contributed to the deliverables?
- Can we deliver all this? Remember it is contractual.
The deliverables list is important in the evaluation process because only a quick look may reveal what your project actually will produce. And it shows the impact of your project.
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