CONCERT-Japan Joint CallCONCERT-Japan Joint CallLessons learntLessons learnt

18 July 2013, Zurich18 July 2013, Zurich

Anna BOITARDCONCERT-Japan Joint Call Secretariat

National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)

1. CONCERT-Japan Joint Call • Concept, funding modalities and procedure• Evaluation process• Results

2. Lessons learnt• Success factors of the Call• Problems raised and solutions• Summary

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• The CONCERT-Japan project aims at enhancing the cooperation of European countries with Japan, in various areas of S&T

• The CONCERT-Japan Joint Call was a multilateral call for transnational research projects in two thematic areas: - Efficient Energy Storage and Distribution

- Resilience against Disasters

• The aim was to start new or strengthen existing, sustainable and multilateral research collaborations between European and Japanese researchers, through funding joint research projects for a duration of up to two years

1. Joint Call: Concept and aim

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• Japan: Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)• Belgium/Flanders: Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) • France: French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE)• France: French Ministry of Higher Education and Science (MESR)• Germany: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)• Germany/Region of North Rhine Westphalia: Ministry of Innovation, Science

and Research of the State of North Rhine Westphalia (MIWF)• Hungary: Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA)• Italy/Region of Lombardy • Italy/Province of Trento• Norway: Research Council of Norway (RCN)• Slovakia: Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS)• Spain: Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO)• Romania: National Authority for Scientific Research (ANCS)• Switzerland: ETH Zurich on behalf of State Secretariat for Education and

Research• Turkey: Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK)

1. Joint Call: Funding institutions

• Opening of the Call: 3rd September – 15 November 2012• Funding principle: virtual common pot with juste retour • Total budget: 5 290 000 €• Beneficiaries: public and private legal RTD entities/higher education

institutions/non-university research establishments/small and medium-sized entreprises (SMEs)/large-sized entreprises

• Consortium: min. 3 partners (1 Japan and 2 from two different European countries participating in the Joint Call), 2 project leaders (1 Japan, 1 Europe)

• Eligible costs: research material and small-scale research equipment/personnel costs/travel costs/living expenses/expenses for the organization of small scientific events

• Duration of funding: 2 years

1. Joint Call: Funding modalities

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• Tool for submission: PT-Outline webtool

• Available document: – Call Text and National/Regional Regulations – Guidelines for Applicants

• Project Description: – General information– Work plan– Information on the expected impact of results– Envisaged value of multilateral cooperation– CVs of the main participating researchers – Confirmation letters for the additional European project partners from countries

not participating to the Joint Call

• Joint Call Secretary (JCS) and National and Regional Contact Persons (NRCPs) available for information and help

1. Joint Call: Submission process

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A four-step evaluation process has been implemented:

1. Checking of general eligibility criteria and national/regional eligibility criteria

2. An online evaluation by peer reviewers according to four criteria- Scientific excellence of the project and the project partners- Methodology and work plan- Expected impact of project results- Added values of multilateral cooperation

following a scoring system from 0 to 5 points (5 = excellent)

3. A Scientific Committee (SC) consisting of independent experts establishes a ranking list of projects based on the online evaluations and own discussions

4. The Funding Organisations Forum (FOF) decides on the projects to be funded, based on the recommendations of the Scientific Committees

1. Joint Call: Evaluation process

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Number of received proposals: 96

1. Joint Call: Evaluation process

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1. Joint Call: Evaluation process - eligibility check

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A+: 2 A: 8 A-:

10 B: 15 C: 9

Efficient Energy Storage and Distribution

A+: 4A: 5A-: 5B: 11C: 9

1. Joint Call: Evaluation process - SCs

Resilience against Disasters

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• 9 funded projects:– CONCERT_EN-015 iTHEUS – CONCERT_Dis-013 ROADERS– CONCERT_EN-019 SolarFuel– CONCERT_Dis-029 INFILTIE– CONCERT_Dis-021 RAPSODI– CONCERT_EN-049 UMBLA– CONCERT_Dis-053 RAPIDMAP– CONCERT_EN-046 NASEMS – CONCERT_Dis-033 URBIPROOF

• Total budget used: 2 776 451 €• July 2013: all the projects have been launched

1. Joint Call: Decision of funding

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• Good dissemination of the Call: – June-Oct 2012 and 2 brokerage events in Milan and Tokyo in Sept.– 426 researchers from 19 countries, 96 projects

• Smooth communication between NRCPs , FOF and JCS• FOF meetings and decision: agreement on balanced consensus• Adapted tools:

– PT-Outline webtool updated regularly– Call Text and Guidelines updated – Excel tools

• Flexibility: problems were solved efficiently by communicating them to the respective responsible bodies and if necessary, processes were adapted accordingly

2. Lessons learnt: Success factors of the Joint Call

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Timing adapted before launch of PJC to give more time for evaluation process. However, project starting date not moved raise of JCS workload

More time for a potential next Joint Call: be able to discuss the details more thoroughly.Safety time in case of problems arising

Joint Call documents revised in Oct. 2012, after being published already. Call Text modified again in Dec., after FOF exchanges

PT-Outline webtool: - Questions raised. Funding rate, national regulations

More precise Guidelines and PT-Outline

- Closure of webtool 1h before deadline extra time given to consortia concerned, problems with eligibility check

Reinforcement of communication with DLR before the deadline

2. Lessons learnt 1/5

Application procedure

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Difference between basic or applied research

All countries/regions with a limitation to either basic or applied research have to check themselves the eligibility of their projects

Eligibility check very flexible: after the submission eligibility of proposals was discussed between FOF and JCS. Even with a list of eligibility criteria, it was unclear how strictly they should be applied.

A list with minor violations which do not lead to an ineligible proposal have to be agreed upon by the FOF before a next call clear rules

2. Lessons learnt 2/5

Eligibility check

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2. Lessons learnt 3/5

Online evaluation:

• Narrow the Call topics

• Find more specific keywords

• Do not attach too much attention to the researchers’ nationalities

• More anticipation from the beginning and support by NRCPs for JCS in identifying online evaluators

• Not necessary to have 1 European and 1 Japanese evaluator for each evaluation

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2. Lessons learnt 4/5

Scientific Committees:

•More time for the online evaluators

•More attention to the proposals with big gaps between two online evaluations

•Narrow down the thematic scopes

•Clear table for the conversion scores between Online Evaluation (0-20) and SC ranking (A+,A,A-,B,C) is required

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Rejected proposals are notified by JCS, with comments chosen by the Scientific Committee members, only.

This communication process has to be clarified too many unsatisfied consortia trying to have more details

Complaint about the lack of a redress procedure

No solution: too much time and could only be organized with significant efforts.

2. Lessons learnt 5/5

Communication of results

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2. Lessons learnt: conclusion

• Narrow the Call topics and the keywords

• Allow more time for the implementation of the Joint Call

• Reinforce communication to avoid small tool problems

• Define better the eligibility check criteria

• Adapt the timing for the online evaluators

• Define clear tables of scores for the evaluation process

• Clarify the communication of results

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

anna.boitard@cnrs-dir.fr

FP7-266604