GRANT AGREEMENT PREPARATION (GAP)
End-to-end support from proposal acceptance to
grant agreement signature
Start your funded project smoothly with expert support through the entire Grant Agreement Preparation phase. We help you complete all administrative, legal, financial and technical requirements accurately and on time, ensuring a confident transition to project kickoff.
Overview of the service
Receiving an invitation to the Grant Agreement Preparation (GAP) phase is a major achievement for the project Consortium that worked hard to crystallise their plans into a coherent funding proposal. It confirms the excellence of your proposal, but it also triggers a time critical, detail heavy process that must be completed before your project can officially start.
Our consulting service supports coordinators and beneficiaries through the entire GAP phase, ensuring that all administrative, legal, financial and technical requirements are completed accurately, on time, and in full compliance with EU rules. We draw on our years of experience and our goal is simple: to help you complete the GAP as smoothly as possible and move into project execution without delays or risk.
What this service includes
Spinverse’s GAP service is designed to match the needs of each project and consortium. We will support you with end-to-end guidance through the GAP process, from invitation letter to grant signature. Depending on your own resources and experience, the service can include:
Preparation and coordination of the Description of Action (DoA)
Updating Part B based on the Evaluation Summary Report, Project Officer action points, and required responses collected from the Consortium.
Support with beneficiary validation and required roles
Legal entity and LEAR validations
PLSIGN and PFSIGN nominations and portal readiness responses collected from the Consortium.
Consortium-wide coordination and instructions
Clear guidance for all partners on their GAP tasks.
Support with Declarations of Honour and accession procedures.
Transfer of project implementation data into the EU portal
Data entry from the implementation section of Part B into structured data in the EU Funding & Tenders portal.
Liaison with the EU Project Officer
Supporting communication with EU officers and clarifying expectations during GAP.
Support with any ad hoc issues arising in GAP
Helping you manage the unexpected when work plans, partners or budgets change.
We work closely with coordinators and project managers, ensuring that every required action is completed correctly by every beneficiary, following the strict EU deadlines.
What’s in it for you?
Reduced risk of delays or errors in a legally binding project phase
Less administrative burden for Coordinator and project partners
Clear, structured instructions and support for all consortium partners, not just the coordinator
Confidence that EU rules, templates and portal requirements are followed correctly, enabling a smooth transition from funding decision to project kick-off
Instead of trying to navigate the GAP phase for the first time or under resource pressure, you can sit back and enjoy a structured, proven process led by experts who work with EU funding on a daily basis.
What our customers say
Read what our customers say about working with us in EU-funded projects and how we support their innovation initiatives.
Project: ASCERTAIN
The support from Spinverse was indispensable during the application process and the Grant Agreement Preparation phase. An external consultant like Spinverse was able to provide us with essential expertise on such a complex process and complemented our somewhat scarce resources, whilst helping us reach the successful outcome.
Who this service is for
- EU project coordinators responsible for leading the GAP phase
- Organisations new to EU projects preparing their first Grant Agreement, or inexperienced Consortia with many mandatory GAP updates
- Experienced coordinators managing large or complex consortia under tight timelines and/or with limited resources
- Any Coordinator or Consortium wishing to get through GAP with minimum effort, rather using the time to plan for kick-off and actual project implementation
Get started
Whether you are coordinating your first EU project or managing a large, multi partner consortium, Spinverse helps you steer through the Grant Agreement Preparation phase efficiently and with confidence. Our experts ensure that nothing critical is missed so you can focus on preparing for project execution instead of chasing administrative details.
Contact us for a free 30-minute discussion about your project and explore how Spinverse’s GAP service can support you.
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FAQs
Grant Agreement Preparation (GAP) is the mandatory phase that follows a positive EU funding decision. During GAP, the consortium prepares all legally binding project, budget and administrative information required for the Grant Agreement to be signed. The project can only start once the Grant Agreement has been signed by both the coordinator and the European Commission.
No. An invitation to GAP means your proposal has been positively evaluated, but the funding is not officially approved until the Grant Agreement is signed. Errors, missing information or delays during GAP can postpone or jeopardise the project start.
The Coordinator carries the overall responsibility, but all beneficiaries have mandatory tasks during GAP. These include organisational validation, role nominations, signing declarations and providing clarifications. Successful GAP requires coordinated action across the entire consortium.
The GAP process follows strict deadlines set by the European Commission. While the overall process can take up to a few months, the actual preparation deadlines are often only 2–4 weeks, making early action essential.
Typical challenges include:
- Tight timelines combined with parallel activities to complete
- Missing or incomplete beneficiary validations
- Incorrect or inconsistent budget data
- Unclear roles and signing rights in the Funding & Tenders Portal
- Updates required to the Description of Action based on evaluation feedback or comments from EU Project Officer
- Changes in project partners
- Updates stemming from errors noticed in proposal documents
Spinverse helps prevent these issues by guiding the process proactively.
The Description of Action (Annex 1 of the Grant Agreement) is a legally binding document describing the project’s objectives, work plan, tasks, deliverables, milestones, ethics and resources. It consists of:
- Part A: structured data entered in the EU portal
- Part B: the narrative document uploaded as a PDF
Accuracy and consistency are critical, as this document governs the entire project implementation.