1. ESF after ESF
What now?

2. A NEW CALLING
The traditional mission of ESF (funding of cross-border collaborative research programmes and networks) has ended in December 2015 after 42 years of setting European research agendas
The ESF governance has unanimously approved the continuation of the Association with a new remit, new service division name (Science Connect) and 3-year Business Plan
This new Business Plan lays out the activities and science services that ESF has started to develop as of January 2016 with the aim of ensuring that they are executed with our usual level of quality
The aim remains to promote scientific developments through collaborative actions, but with the emphasis shifting to helping research funding organisations carry out their decision making processes

3. ESF MEMBER ORGANISATIONS
ESF is now an independent association of 13 Member Organisations
research funding organisations
research performing organisations
academies and learned societies
in 11 countries

4. SERVICES
ESF’s aim is to serve the needs of the European research community and it is currently developing offers of services to science and research in Europe through:
Peer review services
Evaluation services
Programme and Project Management
Career Tracking
Hosting Expert Boards and Committees
Change

5. SERVICES Peer Review services for third parties
Professional services to support competitive calls for
proposals
Modular approach:
From external expert evaluation of proposals only to end-to-end management of competitive calls
Approach tailored to the size and scope of the projects to be supported
Why ESF?
Integrity and independence
Vast network of independent, highly-skilled reviewers
Strong experience and know-how (ca. 3,000 research proposals evaluated in past 3 years)
Quality controlled and optimised process and infrastructure
Experienced scientific staff and efficient management of workflow processes 

6. PEER REVIEW ACTIVITIES (1)

7. PEER REVIEW ACTIVITIES (2)

8. SERVICES Evaluation services Why ESF?
Ex-ante evaluation (of programmes or schemes)
Formative evaluation (activities or programmes)
Ex-post evaluation and strategy (schemes, organisations, etc)
Why ESF?
Independence and neutrality of the ESF
Tailored evaluation of proven quality
Clear criteria and indicators based on European & international standards
ESF is a privileged actor between Academia and funders
A pool of over several thousand international Academics
A large network of international high-level policy and evaluation experts 

9. SERVICES Career Tracking
Research Career Tracking and Monitoring services for surveys and studies
Running joint international or national projects
Tracking the quality of research training and skills
Tracking to find out where researchers move in their careers
Tracking for accountability and impact assessment
CHANGE 

10. CAREER TRACKING 2nd PROJECT
ESF has launched its 2nd CT services aimed at universities, RPOs, RFOs and philantropies
Surveys to explore career trajectories of doctorate graduates of participating organisations
To cover early career researchers whose PhD or equivalent was awarded by POs, up to 7 years after completion (at the R2 or R3 stage)
Call launched on-line on 11 April 2016 – kick-off meeting October – Survey January-March – Report Summer 2017

11. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
ESF has developed a strong expertise in project proposal development, project management and project coordination
ESF has been involved as a key partner or Coordinator in several successful proposals within FP6, FP7 and H2020
In most cases, representatives from the scientific community and/or industry came to ESF to ask for coordination and/or project management support
The ESF office offers its key expertise and know-how to scientific consortia set up for these projects in the areas of, e.g. proposal writing, financial and human resources management, networking, programme coordination, conference organisation and consensus-building

12. EC AND OTHER CONTRACTS
ESF has gained a reputation since 2006 of high-quality coordination of contracts funded by the EC or other entities, acting as Coordinator, Project Office or Partner, and dealing with proposal and project coordination and management (setting-up of the consortia, proposal writing, project supervision and consortium coordination, administrative management)
Partners comprise institutions but also industrial partners
Currently running projects include:
Graphene Flagship, MASE (space), Core1 (materials science)
SCOPE (bridging the two EU Flagships Graphene and Human Brain )
ASTROMAP (space astrobiology), Mars Special Regions (planetary protection astrobiology), PPOSS (space planetary protection)
BILAT-RUS (polar sciences), EUROFLEETS 2 (marine and polar sciences), SeaChange (marine science), AtlantOs (marine science)
DEMOCRITOS (advanced nuclear space propulsion)
EUROPLANET 2020-RI (planetary science)
BIOWYSE (water treatment)

13. EXPERT BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
Composed of high-level independent researchers or research managers to provide targeted expert advice in areas of science, policy, infrastructure, environment and society in Europe
Committee on Radio Astronomy Frequencies (CRAF)
European Marine Board (EMB)
European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC)
Materials Science and Engineering Expert Committee (MatSEEC)
Nuclear Physics European Collaboration Committee (NuPECC)
Other Boards or Virtual Institutes under discussion

14. NuPECC and ESF: a 29 year-long affair!

15. ESF – SCIENCE CONNECT Positioning
Proposing our services to partners and members in a number of areas
Relieving these partners from various “pains” linked to
identifying appropriate funding opportunities
defining projects scope
assembling or expanding consortia
writing or supporting the drafting of proposals
acting as project office, technical coordinator or hosting house managing the financial and administrative aspects of projects while partners can concentrate on contents
One main strength is our unique network of scientists and science stakeholders. This puts us in a good position to act as a go-between science and industry.