Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
After approval of an amendment, a Horizon Europe consortium publishes an updated Annex 1 with revised work-package timelines and partner roles.
- Is an instance
An NIH grantee submits an updated project plan following approval of a major scope change.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
The original project plan from the proposal is not an updated plan.
- Not an instance
An informal team-meeting note without formal sponsor approval is not the updated project plan.
Editorial commentary
An updated project plan is the revised version of a project’s formal planning document — timeline, work packages, budget allocation, or personnel roles — issued once a sponsor has approved a change to the original plan. It is the record of what changed, produced after the fact, not the decision to change something or the request that asked for permission.
What triggers one
An updated project plan is typically produced after a sponsor approves a formal change request, after a no-cost extension is granted (since the timeline itself has changed), or after a substantive pivot has been formally accepted by the sponsor. Without one of these upstream triggers, there is nothing for the plan to be “updated” from — the original approved plan simply stands.
What it typically contains
For Horizon Europe consortia, this commonly takes the form of a revised Annex 1 to the Grant Agreement, with updated work-package timelines and partner roles reflecting the approved amendment. For NIH awards, it takes the form of an updated project narrative or budget justification reflecting the approved scope, personnel, or budget change, retained as part of the award file.
The three-step sequence
These three terms describe consecutive stages of the same process, not synonyms: a pivot is the substantive scientific decision to change direction; a change request is the formal ask the sponsor must approve when that pivot meets the prior-approval threshold; an updated project plan is the resulting document that records what was actually approved and now governs the project going forward.
What it is not
An informal team decision recorded only in internal meeting notes, without the sponsor’s formal approval behind it, is not an updated project plan in the compliance sense — it has no standing against the original approved terms of the award until the sponsor has actually signed off.
Also known as
Revised project plan · Project plan v2 · Amended workplan
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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