CO-REACH Social Science Research Presentation on CO-REACH pilot call for ILN Meeting Brussels 24 September 2009 Anouk Tso Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW)
Key characteristics of the pilot call Sino-European pilot programme for joint research in social sciences and humanities (5 thematic areas) Duration 2 years (August 2009 – Fall 2011) Funding for multilateral research networks (minimum 2 European partners + 1 Chinese partner) Call process co-ordinated by Joint Call Secretariat Joint assessment and selection procedure Virtual common-pot Total budget: ,-
Participating partners Academy of Finland (AKA) Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), U.K. Austrian Federal Ministry for Science and Research (BMWF) British Academy (BA) Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Germany Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), U.K. Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MAEE) French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR) Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW)
Thematic focus Five thematic areas in social science & humanities: 1.Demography, Family and Welfare 2.Cultural Heritage 3.Law, Governance and Policy Making 4.Participation, Co-determination, Employment and the Quality of Life 5.Labour Market Change
Funding instruments Open target group: networks comprising research groups from two (or more) participating European countries + CASS institute Funding instruments 1.Mobility 2.Workshops/summer schools 3.Research projects (partly including personnel costs)
Design & timeframe of the call 2-step submission process Pre-registration 20 August – 28 October 2008 Full proposal submission 3 November – 8 December 2008 Jan- Feb 2009Consultation of peer reviewers March 2009Scientific Evaluation Committee April 2009Programme Steering Committee August 2009Start of projects Fall 2010Mid-term conference Fall 2011End of pilot phase
Peer review procedure Jan – Feb 2009 Consultation of peer reviewers Goal: collect written reviews by 3 external experts per proposal 2 reviewers nominated by European partners 1 reviewer nominated by CASS Method: scoring (0-5) & written remarks (review forms) Outcomes: At least 2 written reviews per proposal were collected Preliminary ranking list based on median scores
Ranking by Scientific Evaluation Committee 19 & 20 March, SEC meeting, Berlin SEC members had access to all 82 proposals & written reviews Preliminary ranking on basis of peer review scores, including: Category A- proposals (score 29 or higher) Category B- proposals (score < 29) SEC discussion on A-proposals and B-proposals with strongly deviating reviews Outcome: ranking of A- proposals Category A1 Outstanding Category A2 Excellent Category A3 very good Final ranking of proposals: Top 20 recommended for funding
Selection of proposals by PSC Programme Steering Committee (PSC) Composition: High-level representatives of all funding partners & Chair person of the SEC Outcomes & decisions 1.PSC endorsed the SEC ranking of 20 fundable proposals 2.Due to budgetary limitations PSC decided to Implement a 10% budget cut of Chinese and UK budgets Accept flexibility of partners in covering funding gaps 3.Final decision: 14 proposals selected for funding 4.Proposals involve all countries participating in the call 5.Proposals involve all thematic areas included in the call
Notification & release of funding Notifications on funding decisions sent out by joint call secretariat in April 2009, copied to all national contact points: Proposals selected for funding Proposals positively evaluated but not selected due to budgetary limitations Proposals not selected for funding Award letters regarding national funding component sent out by national contact points in each country Funding to be released to PIs and/or participating research groups in each country according to national regulations Applicants will submit mid-term and final reports to the funding partners
Key lessons learnt Overwhelming interest of European & Chinese research groups reveals high demand for multilateral programmes Positive impact of the pilot call on the relations with CASS Interest in Europe in engaging broader Chinese target group Need for more focus in defining topics & funding instruments Need for longer timeframe for implementation of the call & review periods Administrative effort too high for merely funding pilot projects Budgetary set-up too restrictive: Budgetary limitations: good proposals not selected for funding Lack of balance in virtual common-pot model: need to define framework for corresponding contribution by all partners/countries
Summary CO-REACH SSR call Well received by scientific community in Europe and China Milestone in stimulating European-Chinese social science research Ingredients for possible follow-up: Close monitoring & evaluation of the pilot call Organising a mid-term conference for all projects and partners Re-modelling of the scheme according to evaluation results Exploring collaboration with thematic ERA-NET(s) Expanding the partnership in China