specific activities covering a wider field of research new and emerging science and technology nest...

Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology

NEST Roadshow 2004

New and EmergingScience and Technology

NEST

www.cordis.lu/nest


Focusing and Integrating Community research

Strengthening the foundations of the ERA

Structuring the ERA

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Thematic priorities

FP6 - Where does NEST fit in?

“Wider field of Research”

SMEs

International co-operation

JRCc

NESTSupport to

policies


NEST objectives

• Stimulate visionary and pioneering long term research at the frontiers of knowledge and at the interface between disciplines

• Give researchers freedom to develop and prove their ideas within the broadest possible limits

• Respond rapidly to new problems and opportunities


What mayNEST achieve?

• Enhance the creative potential and capabilities in European science and technology

• New science, new principles, new techniques and new basic technologies

• An increased responsiveness to possible problems and risks arising from new discoveries

• New communities of knowledge in emerging areas

• Strategic inputs for the development of future European research initiatives


Key characteristics of NEST funded activities

• May fall in “any” area of research

• Research not falling within the Thematic Priorities

• Novel, possibly multi-disciplinary, possibly unconventional

• Well focused objectives, which are ambitious but clear, possibly risky, and consistent with the scale of the project


Two modes

Open domain:

Focused actions:

235 M €

Overall

Budget

• ADVENTURE

• INSIGHT

• NEST SUPPORT

PATHFINDER


Implementation

Through standard FP6 instruments

• Specific Targeted Research Project, STREP:To provide funding for research activities.

• Co-ordination Action, CA:To provide funding for networking and co-ordination.

• Specific Support Action, SSA:To provide funding for activities in direct

support of NEST


Second Call

• Call reference: FP6-2003-NEST-B

• Call date: 17 December 2003

• Budget: 30M€ (ADVENTURE, INSIGHT, NEST SUPPORT)

• Closure dates: 14 April, 15 September 2004

OPEN DOMAIN


Second Call

• Call reference: FP6-2003-NEST-PATH

• Call date: 17 December 2003

• Budget: 35M€

• Actions: “Synthetic biology”; “Tackling complexity in science”; “What it means to be human”

• Closure date: 14 April 2004

PATHFINDER


Outline of Presentation

• The OPEN mode• ADVENTURE, INSIGHT, NEST SUPPORT

• Evaluation• STREP, CA, SSA

• Feedback from first call

• The FOCUSED mode• PATHFINDER

• Topics 2004:Tackling complexity in science Synthetic biology “What it means to be human”


NEST ADVENTURE

www.cordis.lu/nest

Reference document: download from www.cordis.lu/nest


ADVENTURE:The mandate

“support research in emerging areas of knowledge and on future technologies, in particular in trans-disciplinary fields, which is highly innovative and involves correspondingly high (technical) risks.”


ADVENTURE„If only ...“

• Neural networks had been the result of an ADVENTURE project

• The Scanning Tunnel Microscop (STM) or atomic force microscope (AFM) had been developed in an ADVENTURE project

• The first in-vitro demonstration of motor-proteins had been made in an ADVENTURE project

• PCR had been developed in an ADVENTURE project

• etc, etc, ...


The “Spirit of ADVENTURE”

• Exciting, pioneering research with the aim of opening up new avenues for progress in science and technology

• Freedom for researchers to define new challenges and pursue new ideas

• Across a wide scope of science and technology, but lying outside or cutting across the FP6 Thematic Priorities

• With a special interest in novel multi-disciplinarity

• High risk / high gain, with challenging and tangible objectives


What ADVENTURE projects are NOT!

• Research that falls within the scope of the thematic priorities

• Research without clearly identifiable novel aspects

• Open-ended research without tangible and challenging objectives

• Technology demonstrations

• Combinations of existing technologies

• Research of interest to a particular industrial sector without broader applicability

• Research related to implausible and hypothetical phenomena


ADVENTURE Implementation

• Specific Targeted Research Projects, STREPs

• Coordination Actions, CAs

• Project budget: indicative funding range from 800.000 to 2.000.000 Euro

• Funding period: up to 3 years

• Consortium: At least three independent partners from three member states or associated states - of which at least two member states or associated candidate states


ADVENTURE STREPsEvaluation criteria

• Relevance to NEST objectives [4/5]

• Scientific and Technological Excellence [4/5]

• Potential impact [3/5]

• Quality of the consortium (FULL proposal only) [3/5]

• Quality of management (FULL proposal only) [3/5]

• Mobilisation of resources (FULL proposal only) [3/5]


ADVENTUREFirst STREPs selected

BIODEFENCE - “Rapid induction of passive immunity against weapons of bioterrorism using transformed GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) organisms”

THE OPTICAL NOSE - “An on-line, non-invasive and total-profiling” instrument for trace gas sensing applications in medical sciences

INA - “Imaging with neutral atoms”

ATOM3D - “Advanced techniques for optical manipulation using novel 3D light field synthesis”

CHIRALTEM - “Chiral dichroism in the transmission electron microscope”

EA-BIOFILMS - “Electrochemical control of biofilm-forming micro-organisms”

ELCAT - “Electrocatalytic Gas-Phase Conversion of CO2 in Confined Catalysts”

BIOPLASMA - Bio-engineering by atmospheric plasma treatment

http://www.cordis.lu/nest/projects.htm


NEST INSIGHT

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INSIGHT: The mandate

“support research to assess rapidly new discoveries or newly-observed phenomena, which may indicate emerging risks or problems of high importance to European society, and identify appropriate responses to them.”


INSIGHT„If only ...“

• The hormonal activity of certain chemicals had been proven by an INSIGHT project (Endocrine Disruptors)

• The discovery of prions, or the link between Creutzfeldt-Jakob and BSE had been proven by an INSIGHT project

• The Ozone depletion in the Atmosphere by Perfluorated Compounds had been shown by an INSIGHT project

• The impact of a new technology, e.g. ICTs, on societal behavior (e.g. life style, communication, work , consumption, criminality) had been anticipated by an INSIGHT project


INSIGHT projects

• Should have an anticipatory function

• Should address possible risks associated with new phenomena; high potential risk; significant scientific uncertainties

• Project outputs should be aimed at decision making. Analysis of the uncertainty should allow the concerned actors to frame strategic choices about future action

• May need to challenge orthodoxy and/or address complex or inter-disciplinary questions


What INSIGHT projects are NOT!

• Policy evaluation studies

• Technology foresight studies or technology assessment studies

• Research that legitimately falls within the scope of the thematic priorities

• Research addressing topics in on-going “risk debates”, which are “open-ended” or projects without plausible or convincing evidence to their real or potential existence


INSIGHT STREPsEvaluation criteria

• Relevance to NEST objectives [4/5]

• Scientific and technological excellence [4/5]

• Potential impact [3/5]

• Quality of the consortium (FULL proposal only) [3/5]

• Quality of management (FULL proposal only) [3/5]

• Mobilisation of resources (FULL proposal only) [3/5]


INSIGHT: Implementation

• STREPs for the support of research

• CAs for networking, e.g. of national organisations or responsible regulatory bodies

• Budget: up to 800.000 Euro Commission funding

• Funding period: 1 - 2 years

• Consortium: At least three independent partners from three member states or associated states - of which at least two member states or associated candidate states


INSIGHTFirst STREPs selected

PERFORCE: Perfluorinated organic compounds in the European environment

PORGROW: Policy options for responding to the growing challenge from obesity



NEST SUPPORT

www.cordis.lu/nest



NEST SUPPORT: The mandate

• attracting good proposals

• shaping and refining modalities

• establishing future actions

… to assist in the development and exploitation of NEST activities


NEST Support: The specific areas

1. Promotion of interaction with the research community

2. Engagement of the research community in the process of identifying future research opportunities

3. Analysis of methodological and technical issues associated with the NEST research domain


NEST SupportImplementation

• To support the implementation of NEST

• May cover information and communication, conferences, seminars, expert groups, operational support….

• Typical duration up to 2 years

• Grant to the budget up 100%

• Scale ~ 50 - 200k Euro

• Minimum of one partner from a Member State or Associated State (but generally more)


NEST SUPPORTFirst SSAs selected

NEST-IDEA: NEST Information on Development of Emerging Activities

ATBEST: Assessment tools for Breakthrough and Emerging S&T

NETIAM: New and Emerging Teams in Industrial and Applied Mathematics



INSTRUMENTS

AND

EVALUATION

www.cordis.lu/nest



Instruments Overview

ADVENTURE INSIGHT ADVENTURE

INSIGHT NEST SUPPORT

NEST SUPPORT

STREP

STREP CA SSA

2-stage evaluation

2-stage evaluation

1-stage evaluation 1-stage evaluation

OUTLINE proposals

anonymous

OUTLINE proposals

anonymous FULL proposals not anonymous

FULL proposals not anonymous

FULL proposals not anonymous

FULL

proposals not anonymous


NEST EvaluationKey Elements (1)

Peer review, following EC Guidelines on quality and fairness

• 2-stage process for STREP

• 1-stage for SSA and CA

• Pool of Evaluators covering all areas of S/T

• A panel of high-level scientists with a broad perspective and a good appreciation of multi-disciplinary issues with inputs from specialized remote referees


NEST evaluation Key Elements (2)

• Remote individual assessment with specialist referees (~150), followed by high-level inter-disciplinary panel (~30-40 members) to decide on final assessment

• High level of transparency to proposers: Evaluation Summary Report (ESR) with all evaluators comments send to proposal coordinator

• In addition, the panel provides a few paragraphs reflecting its opinion


Evaluation of OUTLINE STREPs

ADVENTURE and INSIGHT

OUTLINEproposals

Remote referees, individual assessments

Stage A panelPrepare full

proposal in ~ 2 months

NO

Anonymous


Evaluation of FULL STREPsADVENTURE and INSIGHT

FULL proposals

Remote referees, individual assessments

Stage B panelNegotiation

and contractNO

Non anonymous


Evaluation of CAs and SSAs

ADVENTURE, INSIGHT, NEST SUPPORT

Proposals Remote referees, individual assessments

PanelNegotiation and contract

NO

Non anonymous


NEST needs evaluators

The success of NEST will depend on the success of its projects - the selection is crucial

• Specialists for remote refereeing - in all relevant fields

• Generalist scientists, with a broad overview and an open eye for high risk, multi-disciplinary research

• Potential beneficiaries: from industry, regulatory agencies, policy makers, ...

Please Register, or nominate experts, through! www.cordis.lu/experts/fp6_candidature.htm


FEEDBACK FROM

FIRST CALL

www.cordis.lu/nest

See also www.cordis.lu/nest


Call: FP6-2003-NEST-A

• Following closure date May 14, 2003

• 187 proposals were received

• 14 were not evaluated (late or non-eligible)

• 28 proposals retained (3 SSAs selected for Negotiation, 25 STREPs invited for Full Proposal Submission)

Outline/Full Proposal Stage



• Following deadline Sep 24, 2003


• 25 proposals were evaluated

• 1 proposal, although evaluated, is incomplete

• 10 proposals selected for negotiation

Full Proposal Stage (STREPs only)


• STREPs

• CAs - nil• SSAs - 7 proposals, 3 negotiation/contract

Proposal numbers

166 Outline proposals

25

10

Retained for stage 2

Negotiation



• Following closure date Oct 22, 2003


• 11 were not evaluated (late or non-eligible)

• 33 proposals retained (1 SSAs selected for Negotiation, 32 STREPs invited for Full Proposal Submission)

Outline Proposal Stage


• STREPs

• CAs – 5 proposals, 0 Negotiation• SSAs - 9 proposals, 1 Negotiation

Proposal numbers

251 Outline proposals

32

?

Retained for stage 2

Negotiation


Feedback fromthe first call

• The “5-page OUTLINE proposal” concept has been well-received

• The transparency of the feedback to proposers (ESRs) appears to have been well-received

• No need for major changes to the evaluation methodology; remote individual assessment plus a strategic panel


Messages forProposers (I)

• NEST proposals should “lie outside or cut across” the

Thematic Priorities

• Many proposers appears insufficiently aware of the basic principles behind NEST:– ADVENTURE: novelty, ambition, risk, impact– INSIGHT: risks arising from novel phenomena– Support actions must help in implementation of NEST

• INSIGHT and ADVENTURE are different things. A project must be designed for the one or the other


• 5-page OUTLINE proposals are not about describing

an idea for an area of work.

• They should contain a concise description:– What exactly is the novelty of the proposal

– What are you planning to do and how?

– What may one expect as a result of the project?

– What would be the impact on science and technology

• A degree of quantification might be useful

Messages forProposers (II)


• Innovations in social sciences and economics are

valid for NEST as long as they conform to the

requirements set in the reference documents

• Proposals on mathematics are also welcome

providing that the new techniques are coupled with

the development of knowledge in other scientific

and technological spheres

Messages forProposers (III)


Final advice

• Please read the NEST reference documents http://www.cordis.lu/nest/publications.htm

• Please specify one single Activity Code: ADVENTURE, INSIGHT, NEST SUPPORT, PATHFINDER

• Please use the Electronic Proposal Submission System, EPSS

• PLEASE DON’T SUBMIT LAST MINUTE“A deadline is what it is!”

• Your NEST NCP (National Contact Point) will help youthe NEST NCP informs, advices and supports potential applicants in

the preparation, submission and follow-up of NEST project proposals


• Outline

• Full

• Outline

• Full

30%

80%

?%

NEST first call:electronic submission via EPSS

50%


Information Sources

• NEST Web-site: http://www.cordis.lu/nest

• NEST documents: http://www.cordis.lu/nest/publications.htm

• Info on contracts: www.cordis.lu/fp6/instruments.htm

• NEST helpdesk: [email protected]

• Evaluators: http://www.cordis.lu/experts/fp6_candidature.htm

• CORDIS: http://www.cordis.lu

specific activities covering a wider field of research new and emerging science and technology nest...

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