RE: Project partners: another trial idea...

Hej!

I agree that Herman's proposal is excellent from a community point of
view and for an Open Source initiative this might be a good idea, but
I would suggest that you consult the contact person at the
commission. In general the EC is concerned about large consortiums, as
the past clearly has shown that many of the consortiums have ended up
in a management deadlock, or with few results. As a regular
consultant to the commission I know that such proposal often will get
a very low grade and consequently not be funded. Thus I would
recommend that you talk to the commission. ANother concern from the
commission point of view is that it is difficult to committ partners
to deliver specific deliverables as 0.5 Man-year in general is too
little to allow generation of concrete items. We are going to
contribute extra resources to handle this problem, but unless we
committ ourselves in the contract the commission will have problems in
terms of corresponding results to resources. 

I am happy to see everyone agreeing on a large consortium, but are you
also willing to committ resources to the project to make a convincing
case to the EC? I.e. it will be part of a final contract and thus
require a specific contribution to the project (paid by other means).


Sincerely

Henrik