How much should you budget for your EU-project website?
Here you are, expert in your academic field. And you have found equally qualified partners to create a consortium around a really exciting piece of research. You have everything settled and your research budget is excellent. The project proposal is almost done! But then you realize you have this damned obligatory communication section to add to your proposal…and now you are lost. It’s tempting to turn this into an afterthought, but the proposal evaluators will notice. Not to worry: we will explain how to budget for the most important and basic part of this: the website. Why create a website for your EU project? When you're considering how to execute your communication and dissemination plan, you will quickly find that a website basically sits at the optimum for reach, cost, and depth. A proper website has the potential to reach an enormous audience while costing relatively little, and with endless opportunities for customization and layering information to serve various audiences. Websites can be the platform for more complicated forms of science communication too, like infographics, animations or e-learning. How to create a website that satisfies the EU requirements A basic website that will please the European Commission needs a few things (there are some varieties based on the specific call): Relevant logos and project acronym. A statement that the EU has funded this project. Links to relevant partners and other projects. Contact information. News (milestones, publications, activities) concerning the project. Basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to make sure people find the website. GDPR compliance (this becomes more significant when you use the website to collect data). Optional: a .eu extension with your domain. Optional: a section for media inquiries. Mind you, depending on the exact [...]