Your application must always include a project description.
The project description must not exceed the maximum number of pages or characters (excluding references/bibliography) as outlined under each funding instrument - no matter whether the description includes figures/tables etc. or not. The number of characters stated under each of the funding instruments includes spaces, figure texts, formulas, etc. You must use the font Times New Roman, font size 12, at least 2 cm margin on the left, right, top and bottom, and line spacing of 1.5. Tables and figure texts must be readable by using at least font size 10 and line spacing 1.0. No links to external materials may be included.
List of references/bibliography must be uploaded as a separate appendix and only include bibliographic references and no further information in the form of endnotes.
It is recommended that you use the DFF project description template, which can be found below:
Download DFF - Project description template (word)
Download DFF - Project description template (LaTex)
Please note that summary of the project should only be included in the application form (under the section “Title and scientific content”). The summary should therefore not be included in the project description.
In the “Confirmation” section of the application form, you must confirm that your project description complies with the project description requirements, including the maximum number of allowed pages and characters, before you can submit your application.
An automatic validation of the length of the submitted project description will be made. If the project description exceeds the specified limitations on the number of pages or characters for the funding instrument applied for, it will be singled out for a manual check. Applications with project descriptions exceeding the specified limitations on the number of pages or characters will receive an administrative rejection (see the section of the call on the requirements for your application to be given active consideration).
All appendices must be in PDF format. As various text-editor programs use different methods for counting the number of characters, DFF recommends using the e-grant system to verify that the number of characters in your project description is within the permitted number. DFF will always use the number of characters stemming from the e-grant system in the decision of whether the project description fulfils the requirements or not. In this regard, DFF recommends that you, as the applicant, continuously generate a PDF-file of your project description and upload the PDF-file to the application. If the PDF-file exceeds the permitted length, you will receive a warning that it does not meet the requirements and have the opportunity to upload a new PDF-file. Alternatively, you can make use of e-grant’s counting tool without needing to create and navigate through an application. The counting tool will inform you how many characters e-grant has detected in the uploaded PDF-file. Please note that this component only functions as a PDF counting tool and that you will not be notified if you exceed the set requirements.