The various types of contracts Research contracts from the Commission fall into five main groups. They each have their own detailed conditions, appropriate to the types of action and the activities to which they refer. The subject of the contract The main obligation of the participants is to carry out the project to completion in a pre-arranged period, and to make use of or disseminate its results. In return, the Commission undertakes to contribute financially to the realisation of the project, normally by reimbursing a certain percentage of the project costs . A participant whose role is largely in support of one or several of these principal contractors is termed an assistant contractor .
Assistant contractors have limited rights.
For SME co-operative research projects, SMEs benefiting from the project are principal contractors. For Exploratory awards , SMEs are principal contractors . For both SME Co-operative research projects and SME Exploratory awards , principal contractors share responsibility and have the same access to intellectual property rights. This distinction does not affect intellectual property rights. Principal contractors share joint and several responsibility.