European Joint Programme for the Integration of Radiation Protection Research (CONCERT*): lessons learned and perspectives

Transcription

1 Giornata Nazionale di Lancio dei bandi 2018 EURATOM di Horizon 2020 Roma, 9 febbraio 2018 ENEA, Sala Conferenze - Lungotevere Thaon di Revel, 76 European Joint Programme for the Integration of Radiation Protection Research (CONCERT*): lessons learned and perspectives Andrea Ottolenghi** Università di Pavia * This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme under grant agreement No ** Member of the Executive Board of CONCERT and Workpackage leader on Education and Training

2 A European Strategy for Radiation Protection Research Umbrella structure for radiation protection research in Europe Co-funding action Joint programming Open research calls Integrative activities plus national Programme Owners or Managers (POMs)

3 The Research Platforms MELODI - Multidisciplinary European Low Dose Initiative ALLIANCE - European Radioecology Alliance NERIS - European platform on preparedness for nuclear and radiological emergency response and recovery EURADOS - European Radiation Dosimetry Group EURAMED, Eurapean platform for radiation protection research in medical applications

4 Components of CONCERT EJP WP9 Research projects selected through CONCERT open calls WP8 Ethics

5 CONCERT EJP Work Packages Open RTD Call Preparation and Implementation WP 2: Integration and SRA Development in Radiation Protection Research: UEF WP 3: Priority Research and Joint Programming Needs in the Perspective of European Integration: SCK CEN WP 4: Management of the Open RTD Calls: ANR

6 CONCERT EJP Work Packages CONCERT Integrative measures: Cross-Cutting Topics WP 5: Stakeholder Involvement and Communication of Scientific Evidence and Radiation Protection Research: DH-PHE WP 6: Access to Research Infrastructure: CEA WP 7: Education and Training: Univ. Pavia WP 1: CONCERT Management and Administration: BfS

7 CONCERT EJP Participants 39 (+1) POMs (National Programme Owners/Managers) o 35 beneficiaries o 4 (+1) Research Platforms = exceptionality (MELODI/ALLIANCE/NERIS/EURADOS (+EURAMED)) 30 Linked Third Parties (LTPs) almost all European countries are a POM of CONCERT (total number 25 = 23 Member States plus Norway and Switzerland

8 Member states CONCERT Member states CONCERT Austria Latvia Belgium Lithuania Bulgaria Netherlands Croatia Poland Czech Republic Portugal Denmark Estonia Romania Slovakia RECENT ADDITION TO CONCERT Finland France Slovenia Spain PL Germany Greece Sweden United Kingdom CH SI Hungary + Norway Italy + Switzerland Ireland not a member Cyprus Luxembourg Malta

9 The CONCERT Partners Italian POs and PMs Università di Pavia (PM) per il Ministero dell Istruzione, dell Università e della Ricerca (PO) ENEA (PM) per il Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico (PO) ISS (PM) per il Ministero della Salute (PO) CONCERT POs MB TPs LTPs PMs or PFs PO PM PF LTP TP Programme Owner, i.e. Ministry Programme Manager Research Platform Linked Third Party, i.e. Research Institute Third Party, i.e. Research Institute MB Management Board

10 LINKED THIRD PARTIES Only affiliated entities or entities with a legal link to a beneficiary can be LTPs: Entities with a legal link refers to an established relationship (between the third party and the beneficiary) which is broad and not specifically created for the work in the Grant Agreement and a legal relationship. This may be either a legal structure or through an agreement or contract not limited to the action. The duration of the relationship must go beyond the action duration and it usually pre-dates and outlasts the Grant Agreement. Affiliated entity means that the entity is under direct or indirect control of the beneficiary or under the same direct or indirect control as the beneficiary or directly or indirectly controlling the beneficiary.

11 CONCERT Funding Scheme Co-funding o max. 70% EURATOM: o national funding: o EURATOM share: min. 30% national funding in-kind and/or in cash max.19.8 Mill. EURO Total CONCERT EJP eligible costs ~29.5m EURO in 5 years

12 CONCERT Funding Scheme

13 Timetable Grant application September 17 th, 2014 Information about successful score February 17 th, 2015 Start of EJP CONCERT Signature of grant agreement (GA) July, 2015 Signature of consortium agreement (CA) January, 2016 Open RTD calls 1 st call 2 nd call End of CONCERT May 2020 Start: June 1 st, 2015 Kick-Off Meeting: June 17 th /18 th, 2015 Deadline for proposal submission August 2016 Deadline for proposal submission May 2017

14 WP2: Integration and SRA development of radiation protection research

15 CONCERT call preparation Open consultation

16 CONCERT call procedure Publication of the CONCERT Open RTD call - Call text research topics - Guidelines for Applicants - Financial Call Conditions - Proposal Application Form Reviewing process involving experts independent from CONCERT from all over the world => topic ranking lists Decision of the CONCERT Management Board Informing the call winners Research contract negotiations Start of the project

17 First call 2016 Call for Proposals to support innovative research projects in radiation protection. The aims of the call were: To support transnational research projects that combine innovative approaches in the field of radiation protection in line with the research priorities of CONCERT; To actively integrate E&T activities and collaboration with universities in multidisciplinary research projects; To make optimal use of research infrastructures. Deadline for proposals August Funded projects have to be finished not later than 31 December 2019.

18 First call topics Project proposals must address multidisciplinary and transnational research. The project proposals must cover one of the following areas that are equal in relevance for this call: 1. Improvement of health risk assessment associated with low dose/dose rate radiation. 2. Reducing uncertainties in human and ecosystem radiological risk assessment and management in nuclear emergencies and existing exposure situations, including NORM.

19 1 st Call RESULTS In total 12 proposals were submitted by 147 partners from 85 different institutions in 26 countries. 8 proposals responded to Topic 1, in the area of Improvement of health risk assessment associated with low dose/dose rate radiation, 4 proposals to Topic 2, in the area of Reducing uncertainties in human and ecosystem radiological risk assessment and management in nuclear emergencies and existing exposure situations, including NORM.

20 1 st Call RESULTS With the total budget of 10.5 M available, the first 3 proposals, according to the ranking list, are funded Ranking Acronym TOPIC Full name 1 CONFIDENCE 2 COping with uncertainties For Improved modelling and DEcision making in Nuclear emergencies 2 LDLensRad 1 LDLensRad: Towards a full mechanistic understanding of low dose radiation induced cataracts 3 TERRITORIES 2 To Enhance uncertainties Reduction and stakeholders involvement TOwards integrated and graded Risk management of humans and wildlife In long-lasting radiological Exposure Situations For details see

21 Second call 2017 Second transnational Call for Proposals to support innovative research projects in radioprotection. Project proposals must address multidisciplinary and transnational research. This call addresses 2 main topics (each one having three sub-topics). The project proposals must fall within one of the call topics. Proposals must clearly demonstrate the potential impact on radiation protection in Europe as well as the added value of transnational collaboration. Additionally, each proposal should consider, where appropriate, the following aspects: Education and Training Quality assurance, Open Access and Infrastructures.

22 CONCERT 2 nd call 2 Priority Topics with subtopics described in the call text Topic 1 - Understanding human health effects from ionising radiation and improving dosimetry I. Improvement of health risk assessment associated with low dose/dose rate radiation. II. Improvement of occupational dosimetry. III. Patient-tailored diagnosis and treatment: full exploitation and improvement of technology and techniques with clinical and dose structured reporting. Topic 2 - Radioecology, emergency and social sciences and humanities I. Biomarkers of exposure and effects in living organisms, as operational outcomes of a mechanistic understanding of intra- and inter-species variation of radiosensitivity under chronic low dose exposure situations. II. Countermeasure strategies preparedness for emergency and recovery situations. III. Models, tools and rationales for stakeholder engagement and informed decisionmaking in radiation protection research, policy and practice for situations involving exposures to ionising radiations.

23 2 nd Call RESULTS With the total budget of 6,98 M available, 6 proposals, according to the ranking lists, are funded Details of the projects funded from the second call are not yet publicly available but will be published on CONCERT website in the near future

24 Education & Training activities in CONCERT WP7 Annual calls for proposals to host short training courses Courses should cover all aspects of the scientific research areas covered by CONCERT in order to attract new students and develop expertise in the field. The calls will be open to CONCERT Partners, Linked Third Parties of CONCERT and to every other Third Party, which is able to provide a 31% co-funding in cash in accordance with the co-funding rules for European Joint Programmes under Horizon Courses can be up to 3 weeks long More details on the CONCERT website

25 activities in CONCERT WP7so far WP7 5 annual call for proposals to host short training courses 3 E&T calls 36 courses so far First call, 8 courses in 2016 Second call, 14 courses in 2017 Third call, 14 courses in Travel grants 4 application deadlines per year max sum of 2,500 to the top applicants max support per applicant 625 so far 28 grants awarded

26 Information Contact

27 DISCUSSION WHAT ARE WE LEARNING FROM CONCERT? (not only for the field of Radiation Research) PROBLEMS STILL TO BE SOLVED WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?

28 Joint programming of research In CONCERT the call topics are derived from an amalgamation of 5 platform Strategic Research Agendas, together with research priorities presented by the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). From a large number of priority topics on widely varying areas of radiation protection, CONCERT WP2-WP3 must choose just two or three topics per call. It is an optimisation process that includes (not only in our field): a strategy to select research priorities starting from the SRAs of different platforms and how to validate the conclusions; the contribution to gap analysis; the use of common approaches and criteria, also when involving different platforms and therefore different points of view and general objectives; an open debate, also to avoid any conflict of interest

29 Peer review of European open calls The applications to a CONCERT call are all refereed by experts in the field. Because of the small size of the European radiation protection research community (but this problem can be easily encountered in other small communities) there can be difficulties in choosing referees who are not involved in institutions submitting proposals, and therefore not at risk of conflict of interest.

30 The administration of the calls The process chosen by CONCERT to choose the winning applications (CONCERT WP4 with a firewall around) produces a list of applications with scores, from which the Management Board has little choice but to award funding to the top-most proposals. The use of a firewall is needed to avoid conflicts of interest, the CONCERT experience needs to be analysed to help in avoiding (or at least limit) the risk of lack of transparency as an effect of this limited communication.

31 Equitable opportunities among States and institutions CONCERT is the only EJP to have open calls. In principle they are open to any European institution, and I insist that this should be the case. However, each successful project member must find at least 30% co-funding, which, in principle must come from the national RP research funding authority. CONCERT members can use their in-kind contribution to provide the 30%. Linked third parties are permitted to as well. But an unlinked third party must find the 30% in cash from the national funding authority. Not all EU states have a dedicated national fund for RP research, and some that have such a fund do not have any extra to give to new projects. So these third parties can be effectively excluded from participating. This is clearly unfair, and must be addressed by the European Commission.

32 Important questions for debate: (we are here referring to CONCERT, but assume them as general issues for any EJP or similar structures) 1. Does CONCERT provide an effective way of prioritising research topics for calls? 2. How should reviewers/adjudicators for calls be chosen? 3. Is the administration of the calls improvable to maximize the transparency of the procedures, still avoiding any conflict of interests? 4. Can the rules for POMs, LTPs and TPs be changed to make open calls fairer? 5. Is an EJP the right instrument for open European research, in particular, radiation protection research? 6. Should the use of the EJP be continued in Framework 9 ( )? a) With only closed calls? (e.g. Fusion, Waste disposal) b) All allowing open calls? 7. How can we better coordinate the different Italian POs (Programme Owners), i.e. the different Ministries, involved in EJPs, and the Italian representation in the Commission?

33 General Some personal thoughts and suggested answers 1. Research activity must be based on open competitive calls, based on scientific quality, whatever instrument is used by the EC 2. We should learn from the experience of CONCERT 3. If the EJP instrument is maintained in the 9 th framework it should include calls open to all institutions with equal rules for all applicants (e.g. in-kind co-funding). At the national level 1. The coordination among Italian PM (UniPv, ENEA and ISS) is working well and this positive experience will be maintained in the future, also beyond CONCERT 2. We need to improve the communication with people/institutions outside the usual circle. We need to expand the number institutions and researchers involved. 3. A coordination between PMs and POs (MIUR, MS, MISE) has been established and will certainly be maintained and enhanced 4. We need a systematic coordination among the ministries involved when more than one ministry is involved in a project 5. There is a lack of communication and coordination between the PMs (and the radiation research scientific community in general) and our national representatives: we need to work on it!

34 More information on CONCERT and CONCERT calls in: More information on CONCERT E&T calls in:

35 Whom to ask for help, in Italy: Università di Pavia (PM) Andrea Ottolenghi ENEA (PM) Simonetta Pazzaglia Anna Saran Istituto Superiore di Sanità (PM) Antonella Tabocchini Paola Fattibene per il Ministero dell Istruzione dell Università e della Ricerca (PO) andrea.ottolenghi@unipv.it - (National Contact Point) per il Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico (PO) simonetta.pazzaglia@enea.it anna.saran@enea.it per il Ministero della Salute (PO) antonella.tabocchini@iss.it paola.fattibene@iss.it

36 Acknowledgments I would like to thank Annemarie Schmitt-Hannig, and Mandy Birschwilks, BfS, for providing material on CONCERT, the other Italian PMs for comments and suggestions, Vere Smyth for helping in the preparation of this presentation, Mats Harms-Ringdahl, for the useful discussions and contributions. Disclaimer The opinions expressed in the discussion session are solely those of the author Thank you for your attention!