CO-REACH Social Science Research

1. CO-REACHSocial 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)

2. 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: € 1.782.500,-

3. 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)

4. Thematic focus • Five thematic areas in social science & humanities: • Demography, Family and Welfare • Cultural Heritage • Law, Governance and Policy Making • Participation, Co-determination, Employment and the Quality of Life • Labour Market Change

5. Funding instruments • Open target group: networks comprising research groups from two (or more) participating European countries + CASS institute • Funding instruments • Mobility • Workshops/summer schools • Research projects (partly including personnel costs)

6. 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 2009 Consultation of peer reviewers • March 2009 Scientific Evaluation Committee • April 2009 Programme Steering Committee • August 2009 Start of projects • Fall 2010 Mid-term conference • Fall 2011 End of pilot phase

7. 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

8. 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

9. Selection of proposals by PSC • Programme Steering Committee (PSC) • Composition: High-level representatives of all funding partners & Chair person of the SEC Outcomes & decisions • PSC endorsed the SEC ranking of 20 fundable proposals • 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 • Final decision: 14 proposals selected for funding • Proposals involve all countries participating in the call • Proposals involve all thematic areas included in the call

10. 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 PI’s and/or participating research groups in each country according to national regulations • Applicants will submit mid-term and final reports to the funding partners

11. 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

12. 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