Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A Horizon Europe RIA lists 12 milestones across 4 work packages, with means of verification and due dates.
- Is an instance
A clinical trial sets a milestone for first-patient-first-visit (FPFV) and another for last-patient-last-visit (LPLV).
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A routine weekly meeting is not a milestone.
- Not an instance
A small consumables purchase is not a milestone.
Editorial commentary
Milestones are distinct from deliverables: a milestone is a point in time and a state of progress, while a deliverable is a tangible output. Horizon Europe formalises milestones in Annex 1 (the description of action) with named milestones, due dates, means of verification, and responsible WPs. Milestones often trigger management actions (e.g., go/no-go decisions, milestone-payment release, sponsor reviews). Missed milestones must be reported and may require remedial plans.
References
- Horizon Europe Annotated Grant Agreement; PMBOK Guide milestone definitions.
Also known as
Milestone · Project checkpoint · Project gate
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
<role vocab="credit"
vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
vocab-term="Project milestone"
vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/project-milestone" />{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "DefinedTerm",
"name": "Project milestone",
"identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/project-milestone",
"description": "A significant intermediate point in a project, marking achievement of a key activity, completion of a deliverable, or successful transition between phases, used to monitor progress against the project plan.",
"inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-lifecycle-stages-and-project-metadata/",
"url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/project-milestone",
"sameAs": [
"Milestone",
"Project checkpoint",
"Project gate"
],
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}
