European Commission Community Research Information Package Information Brochure Call Specific Archimedes Distinctions for High-level Research Work Edition September 2001 Call identifier: IHP-ARP-01-1 http://www.cordis.lu/improving IMPROVING HUMAN RESEARCH POTENTIAL AND THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC KNOWLEDGE BASE
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Contents 1. FOREWORD 1.1 OVERVIEW 1.2 REFERENCES AND INFORMATION SOURCES 2. THE ARCHIMEDES PRIZE 2.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIZE 2.3 RESEARCH FIELDS 3. WHO CAN APPLY? 3.1 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA 3.2. WHO MAKES THE APPLICATION? 4. HOW TO APPLY 4.1. CALLS FOR PROPOSALS 4.2. HOW TO PREPARE AN APPLICATION 4.3 HOW TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION 4.4 CONFIDENTIALITY/PROPERTY RIGHTS 5. HOW WILL YOUR PROPOSAL BE EVALUATED? 5.1 GENERAL PRINCIPLES 5.2 PRE-SELECTION 5.3 FINAL SELECTION 6. INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE 6.1 INTERNET 6.2 EUROPEAN COMMISSION SERVICES 6.3 NATIONAL CONTACT POINTS ANNEX 1: ENTRY FORM 3
1. FOREWORD 1.1 Overview The Archimedes Prize is an award for undergraduate students of higher education institutions. The prize is open to individuals or groups of students, who have developed novel scientific ideas or concepts related to one of the 6 themes selected for this call for proposals (4 September 2001) for Archimedes. The Archimedes Prize may consist of first, second and third prizes. The prize is comprised of two elements: honorary distinctions giving public recognition to the best science projects performed by European undergraduate students and monetary awards to be used to enhance the scientific careers of the winners. Archimedes is one of European Commission's awards, which aim to contribute to promoting research in Europe and to improving its visibility both here and across the world. It also aims to draw the attention of the public to European research achievements and in so doing will stimulate the public's interest in science and technology. The Archimedes Prize is an activity of the Improving Human Potential (IHP) programme which, in turn, is one of the specific programmes of the Fifth Framework programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (1998-2002). For more information on the Fifth Framework Programme go to: http://www.cordis.lu/fp5 1.2 References and Information Sources This Archimedes Guide contains all the information and help that you need to propose your project for the Prize. However the following documents are also important in the preparation of your prize entry: 1. The call for proposals, which is announced in the Official Journal of the European Commission and under 'Prizes' at: http://www.cordis.lu/improving. 2. The relevant section of the Improving Human Potential Programme Work Programme document. The Work Programme describes the specific activities supported by the programme, including the Archimedes Prize. The Work Programme is revised regularly to ensure its continued relevance in the light of evolving needs and developments. Potential candidates should therefore ensure they are consulting the current version of the Work Programme when planning a proposal. This is available at: http://www.cordis.lu/improving/code/workprogram.htm 3. The Archimedes Prize Guide for Evaluators, which can be extremely useful as it gives a clear idea of how your project will be evaluated. 4
2. THE ARCHIMEDES PRIZE 2.1. Description of the Prize i. The Archimedes Prize is comprised of: Honorary distinctions giving European public recognition to the best undergraduate science projects. Monetary awards which will consist of a right for the prize winners to draw funds to allow them to enhance and develop their future scientific careers. ii. Community monetary support will be aimed to enhance and develop the scientific careers of the winners. The community funds could be used, inter alia, to: pursue postgraduate studies in a Member State or an Associated State; take part in summer schools and workshops in prestigious scientific European institutions and large scale facilities; set up an activity, linked to the scientific achievements and career; purchase equipment or consumables for scientific purposes. iii. The financial support of the Commission to the winners will correspond to an indicative amount of 50,000, per project. 2.2. Research Fields i. Every year different scientific fields will be specified in the call. ii. For the call of 4 September 2001, the Archimedes Prize will be awarded for projects, which demonstrate scientific and technological achievements relevant to the six following themes/challenges: 1. Structure and function in macromolecules 2. Water resources modelling and management 3. Societal and economic implications of demographic change in the EU 4. Energy devices 5. Aquaculture 6. Implications of tourism on natural and human ecosystems 5
3.1. Eligibility criteria 3. WHO CAN APPLY? To be eligible, candidates to the Archimedes Prize must be: natural persons who are nationals of a Member State or an Associated State (see box below), or residing in the EU for at least the five last years; and registered in an institution of higher education established in a Member State or Associated State; (proof of registration must be submitted with the proposal) and attending university (or equivalent institution of higher education) course leading to a first degree or equivalent, which qualifies the holder to embark directly on a doctorate or equivalent degree. Member States: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Associated States: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Malta, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland 1 For updates Check http://www.cordis.lu/fp5/src/3rdcountries.htm for updates on the association of new countries. 3.2 Who makes the application? i. Entries to the Archimedes Prize may be submitted by individual students or by teams of students. ii. Where several participants are involved, students must designate amongst themselves a co-ordinator who will submit the application, on behalf of all the students and take the leading role in representing the proposal during the selection procedure. iii. Important: the rules concerning eligibility criteria are applicable to all the members of the team. Therefore, the proof or nationality/residence and registration at a higher education institution must be provided for all members of the team with the application submitted. 1 Subject to the ratification of the Association Agreement 6
4.1. Calls for proposals 4. HOW TO APPLY i. Students should ensure that they have consulted the call for proposals for Archimedes Prize applications, which is published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, as well as on the Improving Human Potential Programme Internet site, under the Prizes section: http://www.cordis.lu/improving ii. The call is the official announcement that the prize is open for entries. The call describes the themes of each year s prize and the closing date and address where entries should be sent. iii. The call also provides the Call Identifier the reference code that must be used by applicants to identify their proposal. The Call Identifier for the call of 4 September 2001 is: IHP-ARP-01-1 4.2. How to prepare an application i. To apply for the Archimedes Prize, students are required to complete the prize entry form, which can be found at the end of this document. Important: applications made without using the standard form will not be considered eligible. ii. The form consists of three parts (A, B and C). Part A is a standard form and certificate, which allow the Commission to gather essential information about the applicant, name address, date of birth, etc. Part B is a one-page description of the information that is required to present the scientific project for the Archimedes Prize. Finally Part C must only be filled in if a group of students is submitting a joint application to the prize. Important: individual applicants must provide a complete proposal - Parts A & B joint applicants must provide a complete proposal - Parts A, B and C iii. In addition to completion of Part A of the proposal all applicants are required to provide the following information to demonstrate their eligibility for the prize: 1. For nationals of an EU Member or Associated State - a copy of their passport or identity card 2. For students who are non-nationals of an EU Member or Associated State - proof of residence in the Community (15 Member States) for at least the last five years. 3. For all applicants - proof of registration at an institution of higher education for the academic year 2001-2002. Such proof could for example be a letter from the relevant academic department signed by the Head of Department or tutor responsible for the student, with the official university stamp/letterhead. iv. Proposals may be submitted in any official language of the EU. If the proposal is not in English, a translation of the abstract and proposal summary should be provided by the applicant/s - a translation of the full proposal would be of assistance to the evaluators. 7
4.3. How to submit an application i. Entries to Archimedes must consist of five complete bound copies of the full proposal and one complete unbound paper original with original signatures (for joint applications original signatures are required for all the students involved). For applications from individual students a complete proposal is: Part A - completed and signed Part B - the description of the project as described in Part B Supplementary information - copy of passport/identity card or proof of residence and proof of registration at an institute of higher education. For joint applications involving a number of students a complete proposal is as above but with the inclusion of Part C of the proposal - information on the group - plus the supplementary information for every student. ii. The complete set of proposal documentation should be placed in an envelope or envelopes marked Commercial-in-confidence with additionally the following information clearly indicated on the envelope: The call identifier - IHP- ARP-01-1 The Archimedes Prize - call 4 September 2001 The Improving Human Potential Programme iii. To be receivable, proposals must be submitted on paper 2 (by post, courrier service or by hand) must be received by the Commission not later than 5 p.m. (Brussels local time) on 15 March 2002 at the following address: Archimedes Prize - IHP-ARP-01-1 The European Commission The Research Proposal Office (ORBN 8) Square Frère Orban/Frère Orbanplein 8 B-1040 Brussels, Belgium iv. Please note that it will not be possible to return any information that is submitted for the prize. 4.4. Confidentiality/Property rights i. The Commission cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for the protection of patents, copyrights or any other rights in the ideas, concepts and proposals submitted. ii. Proposers shall be solely responsible and must ensure that any necessary protection of their interests and interests of partners, if any, is arranged before submitting an entry to the Archimedes Prize. All the necessary authorisations to disclose any information contained in the proposed, and possibly to receive the award for the results achieved must have also been obtained. 2 Proposals sent by e-mail of fax will not be eligible. For courier services that require a telephone number for the recipient, please use +32 2 2984206. 8
5. HOW WILL YOUR ENTRY BE EVALUATED? 5.1. General principles i. On receipt, all proposals will be subject to a validation process, to ensure they conform to the requirements of the call concerned, of the submission procedure and of the rules for participation. Only proposals that conform to all these requirements will be subject to evaluation. ii. The evaluation of proposals will be based on the fundamental principles of transparency and equality of treatment. The entire evaluation process is described in detail in the Archimedes Guide for Evaluators. iii. In order to help the Commission, panels of independent experts will be constituted covering an appropriate range of relevant expertise, without linguistic or geographic bias. 5.2. Pre-selection i. The independent experts will examine each eligible proposal against the criteria described in the box below. The criteria used are drawn from a set of criteria agreed at the level of the Framework Programme. The weighting reflects the specificity of the Archimedes Prize. Thresholds have been applied to the criteria used to ensure that proposals retained surpass certain minimum acceptable levels. ii. Experts will provide marks for the criteria set out below and they will provide comments to accompany each of their marks in a form suitable for providing feedback to the Proposers. These comments must be consistent with any marks awarded. Scientific and technical criteria Scientific/technological excellence: In terms of achievements: Exceptional quality, creativity, and originality of achievements, in line with the selected theme or challenge specified in the call for proposals. European dimension/added value: Relevance of findings at European level; Method of work-collaboration (Projects able to show European teamwork will receive additional recognition). Score Range 0 85 0 15 Only proposals obtaining scores of 80 and above may be nominated for the awards. iii.experts will examine proposals individually, then meet as a panel to agree a list of limited selected projects of exceptional quality. Each panel will issue a short list of retained projects as well as a report and a justification of its proposal, to be transmitted to the Selection Jury. 9
5.3. Final Selection i. A Jury will be appointed composed of members drawn from academic, industrial and public life chosen to cover the broadest spectrum of scientific and technological interests. Up to one third of the Jury will be renewed annually. ii. The Jury will take the decision to attribute the relevant prizes, taking into account the experts reports, as the case may be, and their own appreciation. They will take their decision on basis of the evaluation criteria, taking into account in determining the number of prizes to be awarded in each area- the number of deserving projects and the budget available. iii. The decision of the Jury shall be final. No correspondence can be entered into following the announcement of the results. All reports issued in the framework of the evaluation and selection process will remain confidential and will not be disclosed. iv. Entries selected for the Archimedes Prize will be notified in writing and winners will be invited to an Award Ceremony. 10
6.1. Internet 6. INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE The Internet is the most important source of information for students interesting in putting forward their project for the Archimedes Prize. This document, including entry form, the Guide for Evaluators, the Work Programme for the Improving Human Potential Programme and other useful information is available at: http://www.cordis.lu/improving. Look under 'Prizes' for information about Archimedes. 6.2. European Commission Services For general information concerning the Archimedes Prize, please contact: European Commission DG Research - Human Potential Programme Archimedes Prize Unit C-4 Rue de la Loi, 200 B-1049 Brussels, Belgium Fax: +32 2 2967024 e-mail: improving@cec.eu.int 6.3 National Contact Points For applicant students who may prefer further explanation by someone in their own country, National Contact Points are located in each Member and Associated State. They are available to answer queries relating to the Archimedes Prize and other activities of the Improving Human Potential Programme. The list of National Contact Points (NCPs) is available on-line at: http://www.cordis.lu/improving/code/ncp.htm
European Commission Community Research Entry Form Archimedes Prize Call 4 September 2001 IHP-ARP-01-1 Annexe 1 Entry Form 12 IMPROVING HUMAN RESEARCH POTENTIAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC KNOWLEDGE BASE
The Archimedes Prize - Entry Form For Commission use only: PROPOSAL N Other material: PART A - Administrative Information Please complete all questions below; use separate sheets of paper if more space is required. This form should be typed. Family name: First name: Title: The Applicant (or project co-ordinator) 3 Gender 4 : Female Male Nationality 5 : Place of birth: Postal address 6 : Town: Country: Date of birth: Tel: E-mail: Legal name: Address: Fax: Higher Education Institution 7 3 The person indicated as the applicant or project co-ordinator will be the point of contact for all correspondence/enquiries from the Commission. 4 Please tick as appropriate. 5 A copy of any applicant/s' passport or identity card must be attached. For non-nationals of an EU Member/Associated State proof of residence for the last five years in the European Community (15 Member States) must be provided. 6 Please ensure that the contact details given will be relevant for the academic year 2001 2002. 7 The host institution is the institution where the applicant is registered for the academic year 2001-2002. Proof of registration at the above institution for the academic year 2001-2002 i.e. a letter signed by a head of department/tutor - must be attached to this form. Additional proofs of enrolment for every team member are necessary too. 13
The Archimedes Prize - Entry Form For Commission Use Only: Proposal N : PART A - Administrative Information CERTIFICATION I hereby agree to abide by the rules and conditions of the ARCHIMEDES PRIZE as set forth in the relevant Guide and Guide for evaluators. I certify that I am fully authorised to submit the above research achievements in view of competing for the ARCHIMEDES Prize and to sign any contract that may result therefrom. I also certify that the information I, on behalf of the project teams having participated in the research project, have given is a true description of the original work which does not infringe the rights of any other party. In case of selection, I accept to present the results and achievements of the research to the public, in front of the media, specifically on the occasion of the award ceremony. Print Name: Signature(s) 8 : Date: 8 In its case, this certification must be signed in all the copies submitted. It will have to be signed by all the team members, in the case of a joint submission. 14
The Archimedes Prize - Entry Form For Commission Use Only: Proposal N : PART B - Scientific Project Description For Part B of the proposal applicants must provide all of the information required, as described below. This information should be typed with each page clearly numbered and indicating the name of the applicant/proposal co-ordinator. Part B should be bound together and attached to Part A and the necessary proofs required. A The Project Description 1. Background - provide the following in a no more than 2 pages A4 1. 1 Indicate the title of the selected theme as given in the call for proposals. 1.2. Give the start and end date of the project 1.3. Give an overview of the aims and objectives and background to the project 2. Describe the research achievements in a maximum of 10 pages A4. 3. Provide any photos, diagrams, etc. to enhance the presentation of your project. Please remember that this must be on paper and that it will not be possible for the Commission to return any photos submitted. (Maximum 6 pages A4): B The Summary Report This summary report, which may be published, should (in a maximum of 2 pages, including tables, figures, drawings and photographs) describe the key scientific results and achievements. 15
The Archimedes Prize - Entry Form For Commission Use Only: Proposal N : PART C - Only for Collaborative Projects This page must be filled in, and the required information provided, if the project submitted involves more than one person. This must be typed and attached to Parts A and B of the proposal. Name of applicant co-ordinator Description of individual participants 9 Names Higher Education Institution Nationality 10 Contribution of the team members Describe each team member s contribution to the achievements in no more tan 100 words per team or individual. 9 Please add more rows if needed. 10 A copy of each applicant/s' passport or identity card must be attached. For non-nationals of an EU Member/Associated State proof of residence for the last five years in the European Community (15 Member States) must be provided. 16
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