WP1 – Project Management and Coordination
Toms Torims
WP1 is the management work package of EPITA, designed to ensure effective and transparent coordination, smooth internal communication, financial compliance, risk management, and continuous quality assurance.
This work package includes four tasks.
Task 1.1: Management, Coordination and Internal Communication
Establish the robust management framework required for the project’s successful execution and attainment of its strategic objectives, led by the Project Management Team within the overall managerial structure of the project aligned with the PM² methodology. Overall coordination and continuous monitoring of work, as well as maintaining regular administrative and technical communication with the EC. Proactive risk management, which will involve establishing and maintaining a Risk Register to identify and mitigate potential threats to the project’s objectives. An Internal Communication Plan will be developed, to define the communication strategy and tools, including the use of dedicated mailing lists and shared online platforms (CERNBox and Indico). Provide the administrative, financial, and contractual follow-up of the project in accordance with Grant Agreement. Prepare all periodic and final activity reports and review deliverable and milestone reports. The financial follow-up includes distributing EU funding payments, controlling resource utilisation, and preparing Financial Statements. The CERN Project Coordinator, supported by a Deputy from UOXF, will provide overall project leadership.
Task 1.2: Dissemination and Impact Generation
This task focuses on maximising the project’s long-term impact by effectively disseminating and exploiting its results. A comprehensive Dissemination Plan and a separate Exploitation and Impact Generation Plan will be established. This ensures that results are not only made accessible but also that a clear strategy is in place for their uptake, application, and long-term societal, scientific, and economic value after the project concludes. Public results will be made available on the EPITA website, while restricted documents will be referenced with appropriate confidentiality limitations. To ensure discoverability and long-term availability, all scientific outcomes, including articles, reports, and conference materials, will be uploaded to the Zenodo open-access repository. A centralised online Register of all publications and outputs will be maintained to provide a single, searchable source. The effectiveness of these efforts will be monitored using specific metrics, such as the number of downloads from the Zenodo repository and the EPITA website, and citations of scholarly publications, tracked using researcher identifiers like ORCID. Work Package Coordinators will be responsible for keeping content up to date and ensuring strategic alignment through regular discussions at Steering Committee meetings.
Task 1.3: Ethics, Integrity and Diversity
This task establishes a robust framework for ethics, integrity, and data protection, ensuring all project activities comply with the highest standards and applicable regulations. In its Ethics&Diversity Plan, inter alia it will address ethical issues identified in the project’s Ethics & Security Self-Assessment, guided by an ethics-by-design approach. This ensures adherence to fundamental ethical principles and the “Do No Significant Harm” principle. Special attention will be given to ensuring gender balance and diverse representation in all project-related activities, including the student and training programmes, to foster an inclusive and equitable environment. Protection of Personal Data will be managed in full compliance with GDPR and the highest ethical standards to safeguard individual privacy. To ensure compliance, a Data Management Plan will be created, led by CERN that will appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO) to oversee the development of a Privacy Notice and a Data Protection Impact Assessment that will detail data types, storage, access, retention, and associated risks. All personal data transferred to CERN will be handled according to its data protection framework, which is compatible with EU regulations. Additionally, a survey of task leaders will identify all experimental and production-related health and safety risks. These findings will be compiled into a Risk Register, which will be continuously updated throughout the project.
Task 1.4: Roadmap Follow-up, Coordination with Other Technology Clusters
Review roadmaps and strategic agendas of accelerator communities and technology developers to compile a preliminary list of integrated needs across Physical Sciences and Engineering domains. CNRS will focus on particle, nuclear, and analytical physics communities; PSI will engage accelerator, light source, and FEL communities; and CERN will contribute expertise in accelerators and detectors. CIEMAT will coordinate and lead the integration process. The work will emphasise collaboration with industry, excluding transnational access, with potential future extension to other ESFRI subfields.