Page Updated: 02-Mar-2007

Support Grant Programme

Financial Assistance by SPS for Nationally Funded Activities

Contents Introduction Application Procedures Applicants from NATO Countries Applicants from EAPC Partner Countries and Mediterranean Dialogue countries SPS Secretariat

Introduction

• By means of a small yearly budget, the SPS Programme is able to provide financial assistance to cover transportation and/or living expenses of experts who would otherwise have difficulty attending meetings of SPS Programme Pilot Studies, Short-term Projects or Topical workshops. Exceptionally the SPS Programme can provide partial funding for some organizational expenses. This provision is applied primarily to meetings held in Partner countries
• The SPS Support Grant Programme may, subject to the availability of funds, be used to enable participation of experts from NATO countries, eligible EAPC Partner countries and Mediterranean Dialogue countries. Other countries are not eligible for such funding. As a general rule, funding is provided for only one expert from any given country. Support Grants are made to the Project Directors who then distribute the funds to the experts.

top 

Application Procedures

• The SPS Secretariat will prepare a Support Grant Application form for the Project Director, based on requests received from participants. The SPS Secretariat will forward the Support Grant Application form in electronic format to the Project Director, who may approve or disapprove it and who may add other relevant information. This form should be completed and returned to the SPS Secretariat well in advance of the meeting date (preferably six weeks) and it should include the following information:
  1. Travel expenses: train, air fare at the lowest available rate;
  2. Visa expenses;
  3. Living expenses including a per diem to cover the cost of the hotel, meals and local transportation to and from the airport. These should be agreed with the SPS Secretariat and the meeting Director, taking into account the cost of living in the host country;
  4. Translation expenses including the cost of equipment and interpretors;
  5. Local transportation (except from and to the airport);
  6. Conference room rental costs (mainly in Partner countries).
• Timely finalization of the application and approval by the Project Director will enable SPS Secretariat to process the request, prepare the support grant and transfer the funds prior to the date of the meeting.
• Once the application has been approved, an award letter is sent to the Project Director together with a payment form. The Project Director is free to indicate on the payment form the account number of another beneficiary (for example the point of contact in the host country where the meeting will be held) in order to facilitate the management of funds.
• The Project Director is invited to:
  1. reimburse the transportation costs (airfare, train fare) of the eligible experts (or provide a prepaid ticket for the expert if requested). Those experts are expected to produce a photocopy of their air ticket and an invoice from their travel agent if possible;
  2. pay the hotel directly (room, breakfast and taxes only) and deduct the hotel costs from the living expenses received from SPS for these experts;
  3. give the remaining funds to the experts (per diem minus hotel costs);
  4. require the experts to sign a receipt indicating that they have received the appropriate funds.
• After the meeting, the Project Director should submit a grant closure form to the SPS Secretariat with details of expenditure; this form can be obtained in an electronic format from the SPS Secretariat.

top 

Applicants from NATO Countries

• An expert and/or key speaker from a NATO country who needs financial support in order to attend a meeting of a Pilot Study, Short Term Project or Topical Workshop should submit a formal application for a grant to the Project Director, with a copy to the SPS Secretariat and to the SPS National Representative. The meeting Director and the SPS National Representative will be invited to confirm to the SPS Secretariat that they support the funding request. This should be done well in advance of the meeting dates. The grant application form is available in electronic format from the SPS Secretariat. The list of National SPS Representatives is also available from the SPS Secretariat.
• The expert who has been awarded a SPS grant is requested to submit a report/closure form to the SPS Secretariat and to his National SPS Representative at the end of his mission. The grant closure form is available in electronic format from the SPS Secretariat.

top 

Applicants from EAPC Partner Countries and Mediterranean Dialogue countries

• Experts from EAPC Partner countries and from Mediterranean Dialogue countries who need financial support in order to attend an SPS-sponsored meeting should submit a formal application for a grant to the Project Director, with a copy to the SPS Secretariat. This should be done well in advance of the meeting. The grant application form is available in electronic format from the SPS Secretariat.
• The expert who has been awarded a SPS grant is requested to submit a report/ closure form to the SPS Secretariat at the end of his mission. The grant closure form is available in electronic format from the SPS Secretariat.

top 

SPS Secretariat

• Queries, questions, forms and further information can be obtained from:
  
  SPS Secretariat
  (Ms. Susan Williamson or Ms. Martine Deweer)
  NATO Public Diplomacy Division
  B-1110 Brussels, Belgium
  
  Tel: 32 2 707 4928 or 4850
  Fax: 32 2 707 4232
  
  E-mail: science.admin@hq.nato.int

top 

(1) NATO countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Rep., Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, UK and USA.

(2) EAPC Partner countries eligible for support under the SPS Study Visit Programme: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Montenegro, Russian Federation, Serbia, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

(3) Mediterranean Dialogue countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia