Filiz HAYIRLI, Project Manager

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK)

26 June 2009, Tallinn

Turkish Turkish ––

Russian Russian Bilateral S&T Cooperation:Bilateral S&T Cooperation:

A Programme OwnerA Programme Owner’’s Perspectives Perspective

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey

TÜBİTAK

Programme Owner ERA.NET RUS Project Partner

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey

TTÜÜBBİİTAKTAK

is the leading agency for management

of research in Turkey.

is responsible for is responsible for --

promotingpromoting, ,

--

organizingorganizing, , --

coordinatingcoordinating

--

conducting conducting andand--

fundingfunding

research and development in line with national targetsresearch and development in line with national targets..

4

Internationalization of Science

& Technology

Bilateral Cooperationjoint projects, scientific meetings/workshops, expert exchanges,

scientific visits etc. are financially supported

Multilateral CooperationTurkey participates actively in the European research programmes as well as regional organisations and international organisations Participation of the Turkish scientists to the activities organised by these organisations is supported or monitored by TÜBİTAK

Cooperation with European Union – FP7informing, encouraging and preparing the Turkish scientific and technological research community towards participation in the FP7.

Institutions with which TÜBİTAK has Bilateral S&T Agreements

•

USA

-

NSF

(National Science Foundation)•

BELARUS -

National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

•

BULGARIA

-

Academy of Sciences of Bulgaria

•

CHINA

-

Ministry of Science and Technology

•

GERMANY

-

DFG (Deutsche Forchungsgemeinschaft) - BMBF

•

FRANCE

-

CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche

Scientifique)

-

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

•

S.

KOREA

-

KRF (Korea Research Foundation)

•

INDIA -

CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial

Research)

•

ITALY -

CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche)

-

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

•

HUNGARY

-

National Research and Technology

Office

(NKTH)

International

Cooperation –

Bilateral

•

MACEDONIA

-

Ministry of Education and Science•

MONGOLIA

-

Mongolian Academy of Sciences

•

PAKISTAN -

Ministry of Science and Technology•

ROMANIA -

National Authority for Scientific Research

of

Romania (ANCS)•

RUSSIA

-

Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR)

•

SLOVAKIA

-

Academy of Sciences•

SLOVENIA

-

Ministry of Higher Education, Science and

Technology•

TUNISIA

-

Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific

Research

and Technology•

UKRAINE -

Academy of Sciences

-

Ministry of Education and Science•

GREECE -

GSRT (General Secretariat for Research

and

Technology)Total: 20 countries/24 institutions

International Cooperation –

Bilateral

7

International Cooperation –

Multilateral

•

COST•

ESF

•

EuroHORCs•

ERAB

•

ERC•

ESOF

•

EUREKA•

OECD

•

NATO•

IEA

•

EMBC•

ICGEB

•

INTAS•

ESA

•

EURISY•

BSEC

•

ECO•

ICSU

•

UN-UNESCO

Cooperation with Regional & International Organisations

Number of International Projects

BILATERAL S&T COOPERATION BILATERAL S&T COOPERATION

WITH RUSSIAWITH RUSSIA

Bilateral S&t Cooperation With Russia

Mainly in the field of Space

Various fields

LARGE SCALE COOPERATION PROGRAMMES

Large Scale Cooperation Pogrammes 1SPECTRUM X-GAMMA HIGH ENERGY ASTROPHYSICS

SATELLITEAgreement with Space Research Institute of Russian

Academy of Sciences (RAS) for collaboration in observation during the operational life cycle of the satellite “Spectrum X-Gamma”

(1993)

Other participants: UK, Italy, Germany, Denmark, USA, Finland, Hungary, Israel.

Project canceled in 1997 by Russian Space Research Institute.

Large Scale Cooperation Pogrammes 2RTT150 TELESCOPE AGREEMENT (1995)

Agreement with Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and Kazan State University to install a middle sized optical telescope at the Turkish National Observatory in Antalya, Turkey

Main Scientific Purpose: to execute ground-based observation of cosmic x-ray sources (to be) reported by Spectrum X-Gamma SatelliteObservation time is duly shared.Still operating.

SMALL SCALE PROJECT FUNDING PROGRAMMES

Small Scale Bilateral Cooperation (Past)

1st initiative to fund joint projects: 1990s

At a time when S&T funding was not prioritized

Could not be implemented! No projects were funded!

Small Scale Bilateral Cooperation

(Present)“Memorandum of Understanding on Scientific Cooperation between

TÜBİTAK and RFBR”, December 2007

-

Proposal initiated by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research-

Memorandum covers natural sciences as well as social sciences and humanities

-

Mechanisms of cooperation:-

Joint research projects-

Joint workshops-

Other joint activities as may be mutually agreed upon

-

Areas of cooperation:-

Mathematics, mechanics and informatics-

Physics and astronomy-

Chemistry-

Biology and medical sciences-

Earth sciences-

Humanities and social sciences-

Telecommunications and information-

Fundamentals of engineering sciences

Small Scale Bilateral Cooperation (Present)

Joint Project Funding with RFBR-

2

year term projects

-

Agreed to support at least 10 projects in the first year

-

Annual funding for each project, up to:-

15 000 Euro from TUBITAK

-

500 000 Rouble from RFBR

-

Expenses covered:-

Consumables and other research expenses

-

International travel expenses between Turkey and Russia-

Per diem allowences and accomodations

-

TÜBİTAK bears the cost of the Turkish team and RFBR bears the cost of the Russian team.

Application & Evaluation ProceduresProject proposals must provide detailed information on the objectives and justification of the planned joint research work,the methodology to be followed, the composition of each research team, and the intended timetable and the proposed budget of the projects

Project proposals prepared in English are submitted simultaneously to TÜBİTAK and RFBR. Submitted proposals should match.

Proposals are independently evaluated and approved by each of the two parties, following their own rules and regulations,

The parties make joint decisions based on the evaluation results, where only projects which are positively evaluated by both institutions are accepted.

Joint Project Funding with RFBR

Joint Project Funding with RFBR

Evaluation Criteria

Scientific excellence of the projects

Mutual advancement of research through the transfer of knowledge and expertise

Participation of young researchers

Ability of the teams to successfully conclude the project

Experiences, Lessons Learned, Best Practices1. Defining thematic priorities and funding instruments

Definition of thematic priorities is guided by the areas of coverage of the Russian Foundation:

We have proposed the addition of some applied research areas (materials technology and peaceful uses of space technology) to the thematic priorities, but RFBR could support only fundamental scienceThis constituted a setback for us and led us to search for otherpartner institutions in Russia to jointly fund applied research as wellBut the amount of application has been very high when compared to our other bilateral project funding programmesThis proves that the thematic priorities determined matched with the interests of the researchers in both countries

Flexibility in funding instruments:Funding instruments have been identified only for two items, i.e. joint research projects and joint workshops; but other joint activities are left open to receive funding upon consultationUp to date, no instruments except joint project funding is implementedA plan to implement a joint workshop by the second half of 2009 is under consideration

2. Rules and regulations; evaluation practicesIssues re Rules & Regulations:

Rules and regulations applied in the implementation of the programme are left as original as possible for the both institutions; only in some special cases we tried to align the procedures (such as a joint application form)We opted for some flexibility to enable scientists of third countries to be able to participate in the joint research projects, but rules and regulations of the Russian Foundation could not accomodate this

Issues re Evaluation PracticesWe have proposed an additional evaluation criteria, i.e. economic and social impact of joint research projects, but the criteria could not be accomodated by the Russian Foundation Although agreed on a set of criteria, the individual evaluation results of the two institutions do not match completely,Mutual consultation in deciding on the set of jointly accepted projects

Experiences, Lessons Learned, Best Practices

3. Constaints to and difficulties in implementationLinguistic difficultiesPostal problemsVisa problemsSystemic differences

Experiences, Lessons Learned, Best Practices

Opportunities and Needs for Coordination

Between S&T Programme OwnersThird country Programme Owners’ inclusion in the bilateral programmes could create an opportunity for further coordinationNeed to identify overlaps and synergies

Between bilateral and multilateral cooperation programmes

Complementarities shall be sought

www.tubitak.gov.trwww.tubitak.gov.tr

Thank You!Thank You!

filiz.hayirli@tubitak.gov.tr