Phases

Phases are the successive stages of the project that make up the roadmap.

The start of a new phase is confirmed by a decision by PIQ Management. This decision releases the funding requested for the new phase of the project as described in the initial or revised roadmap. If the roadmap is revised, this will be the subject of an amendment to the agreement for payment between Inria and the institution being funded. The revised roadmap is appended to the amendment.

End-of-phase milestones

Marking the end of each phase, the milestones should make it possible to assess the momentum of the project and any achievements or uncertainties that have arisen during the phase. For example, a milestone may consist of:

• achieving a scientific or technological result;
• the development of a new software function;
• the development of a technological prototype, a proof of concept;
• achieving a result in an experiment;
• removal of uncertainty;
• submission of an article to a general-interest journal with a wider reach than the project community (e.g.: Science, Nature, etc.);
• putting together and submitting a project proposal (ERC, EIC, etc.);
• …( non-exhaustive list).

The end of a phase

At the scheduled end date of the phase, the project leader contacts PIQ Management. At this stage, the end-of-phase milestone is used to determine whether the project has proceeded as planned in its initial or revised roadmap. In particular, the project leader is asked to describe the work carried out during the phase, project developments and the achievement of the milestone in an end-of-phase report. Depending on how the project has progressed, there are two possible options:

• if the project leader and PIQ Management consider that the project is still in line with its roadmap, the programme will move on to the next phase;
• if either the project leader or PIQ Management considers that the project is no longer in line with its roadmap, the project leader will propose a revision.

The revised roadmap is presented to the PIQ Expert Committee for analysis and opinion. If the PIQ Expert Committee issues an unfavourable opinion, the project will be terminated prematurely.

At the end of a phase and before embarking on a new phase, if, for example, the project leader wishes to modify the duration of the project, the stages of the project or the resources required, the project leader may also spontaneously propose a new roadmap to PIQ Management. This revision will also be presented to the PIQ Expert Committee for its opinion before PIQ Management decides whether to implement it for the rest of the project.

A template for the end-of-phase report is available here. If this is a phase involving the data management plan, the initial version of which is expected within the first 6 months of the project and the final version at the end of the project, this plan should be attached to the report.