The management structure of the INTERACT project will promote the best practices in terms of the accomplishment of the foreseen scientific and technical activities, the human resource recruitment and the dissemination activities, scrupulously respecting the established timeframe and the allocated resources. The management style will be largely cooperative and its structure ensures the representation of all participants.
The linkage with CITAB (“Centro de Investigação e Tecnologias Agroambientais e Biológicas” (“Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences”)) from UTAD (“University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro”) will be permanent during the project development, but the bureaucratic structure will be as light as possible.
The UTAD administrative central staff, which includes financial and accounting human resources, public relation managers and the GAP (“Gabinete de Apoio a Projetos” (“Project Support Office”)) team, will also be involved in all the activities of the project coordination.
The Project Coordinator, along with the UTAD administration and GAP, will be in close and permanent connection with the CCDR-n (Comissão de Coordenão e Desenvolvimento Regional do Norte (Norte Portugal Regional Coordination and Development Commission)).
The Project Coordinator, from each research line, will oversee the daily administration of the project, human resource management and will ensure that the project plan is being undertaken according to the proposal.
The Advisory Board, from each research line, is a consultancy team of 4 appointed high level personalities defined by the Direction of CITAB (they can integrate members of the internal Advisory Committee of this Center).
They will give advice on decisions and strategies taken during the development of the project activities and may include external elements like invited stakeholders.
The Annual Assembly, from each research line, will take place at the end of each year of the project (one day) and all participants are expected to attend this meeting.
Oral presentations undertaken by the project scholarship fellows and by other participants from each task will allow project monitoring and discussion of outcomes among all participants and the Advisory Board.
The Steering Committee, from each research line, is responsible for monitoring the scientific progress of the project and for decision-making regarding the work plan, assuring the continuous coherence and synergies between task activities.
Steering Committee will also assist the Project Coordinator on implementing, at a network level, the activities linked to financial, administrative and legal issues. Meetings of the Steering Committee will be regularly according to the development of the activities. Members of the Steering Committee are the project coordinator and one member from each task, designated by the Project Coordinator in accordance with the Task Committees.
The Task Committees, from each research line, are operational bodies where all the task participants are represented.
Each task member will chair the TC and is responsible for implementing task activities, objectives, accomplishment of results and deliverables (including reporting).
The management of the project activities will start at the kick-off meeting, with the participation of all staff involved in the project. The Advisory Board will be invited to this first meeting in order to give advice on the working plan. Furthermore, the three general project meetings (the Annual Assemblies) will be scheduled at the end of each year to discuss work progress and prepare activities of the following year.
Publications in peer-review journals, communications at scientific meetings, dissemination of results to stakeholders and annual reports will be planned in a timely manner at each meeting. The Advisory Board will attend these meetings to discuss the ongoing research, as well as to provide scientific guidelines and advice for the upcoming activities.
This will take place in the end of each year of activity. The FS aims at disseminating the main project results to national authorities and stakeholders. Foreign experts will also be invited to share their knowledge and thereby help disseminating the obtained outcomes and promote knowledge transfer.
