The Steering Committee, with the help and assistance of the Managing Director of the Administration Core, will allocate budgets on a yearly basis to the various Consortium initiatives. The Programs/Facilities’ Committees will manage their budget independently, albeit with the supervision of the Administration Core, based on strategic evaluations of the Consortium activities that require direct or indirect financial support. While Facilities’ services will be financially covered based on the planned use of Facility resources and on a refined yearly balance provided by the Principal Investigators, any research & development project will be supported upon request, based on the submission of a concise but fairly detailed plan for integration and a list of milestones and deliverables to be attained. R&D projects funded by the Consortium will have to be fully developed in a three-year period (save exceptional cases) and should start anywhere during the first 24 months of the Consortium activities. This strategy is devised not only to direct funding on the most promising and scientifically relevant activities carried out by Consortium investigators but also to foster and reward real integration among the scientists participating in the Consortium.