COST. European COoperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research

Transcription

1 COST European COoperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research Ministère de l Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Direction de la Stratégie Bureau des Affaires européennes Michel Gorlicki COST National Coordinator pour la FRANCE

2 What Definition for COST? COST constitutes an experimental laboratory for European cooperation which will provide valuable information for the future Camillo Ripamonti, Italian Minister of Scientific and Technical Research, Chairman of the Ministerial Conference held in Brussels in Novembre 1971, founding event of COST.

3 What Definition for COST? (II) Inter Gouvernmental Organisation Set off in 1971 Covering all Science Spectrum through 9 Scientific Domains of Activity European Participation and beyond 34 Member States & 1 Associate State International Organisations & Research Institutes in non-cost Countries European Commission "COST Actions" Center stage Instrument in COST: An Action consists in Networking ongoing or starting R & D operations, each financed at national level

4 History I 1971: Ministerial Conference, Brussels / 19 founding Member States: AT, BE, CH, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GR, IE, IT, LU, NL, NO, PT, SE, TU, UK, YU 1991: Ministerial Conference, Vienna : 4 new Member States: CS, HU, IS, PL : YU HR, SI; CS CZ, SK 1995: Basel Conference: 1st COST Day 1997: Ministerial Conference, Prague: 3 additional Member States: EE, MT, RO 1998: + 4 Observer Countries: BG, CY, LT, LV new Members 2000: Associated State: Israel 2001: + YU (Serbia-Montenegro) 2002: + FYR of Macedonia 2003 : Ministerial Conference, Dubrovnik Scientific Secretariat handed over to the ESF, Implementing Agent

5 History II In 1971 COST is the single all fields instrument for Cooperation in Europe 1974 : ESF 1984 : 1st FP 1985 : EUREKA : FP2 to FP6 COST meets continuous interest from scientific communities From 19 members in 1971 to 35 members in 2007 From 7 Actions in 1971 to 220 Actions in 2007 From 7 Science disciplines in 1971 to 9 multidisciplinary Domains in 2007

6 COST Member States The 27 EU Member States 1 EFTA Member States AELE Iceland Norway Switzerland Candidate Countries Turkey Croatia FYR of Macedonia (FYROM) 2 Other Countries Serbia and Montenegro 2 1 from 1 January Not Associated to FP COST Co-operating States Israel

7 Main Features of COST COST is an instrument for Networking and Coordination COST is present everywhere in Europe and beyond COST is essentially non competitive; is concerned with pre-normative Research, is transdisciplinary, and of public interest Research financed by Member States: commits MS responsibility Bottom-up principle; flexibility COST covers a wide field of disciplines, or inter-disciplines COST is open to wide cooperation

8 Domaines of Activity in COST TELECOMMUNICATIONS - METEOROLOGY MATERIALS - ENVIRONMENT INFORMATICS * - TRANSPORT OCEANOGRAPHY * BIOTECHNOLOGY - AGRICULTURE - FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY MEDICINE SOCIAL SCIENCES URBAN CIVIL ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY - FLUID DYNAMICS * FORESTS and FORESTRY PRODUCTS PHYSICS - NANOSCIENCE ad hoc* BIOMATERIALS ad hoc*

9 COST Governance

10 Bodies in COST 1 CSO (& JAF) Each Member State is represented by a delegation of two Members, one of whom is the National Coordinator for this MS The CSO takes on the following tasks: Each and every issue touching global Strategy and governance of COST Decision on adoption of each single action Approval of Institutes from non-cost countries participation Approval of extensions or specific requests Executive Board : JAF Group

11 Bodies in COST 2 Domain Committees DCs (2006) Scientific Experts & Managers in a field: 1 representative for each Member State, + 2 additional Experts (pool) 15 to 20 members DCs are in charge of: Selection of new COST Actions Monitoring of running Actions Quality Control Ex post evaluation of finalized Actions Dissemination and valorisation of Actions results Strategic issues related to the domain Synergies with other likewise organisations ESF, EUREKA, OECD

12 Bodies in COST 3 COST Office The COST Office provides scientific secretariat to: Domain Committees (including call assessment) COST Actions (MCs, WGs, workshops ) Specific events (COST Days, co-organised events, strategic workshops, etc) Implemented by ESF, which provides financial administration and legal personality 35 staff members, including 10 science officers, each in charge of about 20 actions, and key actors in the assessment processes of proposals

13 Bodies in COST 4 Actions Management Committees A committee set up for each Action up to 2 representative by signatory State, scientists participating in Researches coordonnated by the Action One representative by Non-COST participant country EU Commission representative as observer Observers from other organisations Supervision and coordination of Action course Scientific coordination at national level Concrete organisation of Action development

14 Bodies in COST 5 Actions Working Groups Scientists working together on a specific task MC members and/or other scientists from participating countries Invited experts Members of non-cost countries Configurations Ad hoc configuration in specific cases

15 Structural overview (2006) COST National Co-ordinators COMMITTEE OF SENIOR OFFICIALS (CSO) Council COST Secretariat COST Office Scientific Secretariat COST Domain Committees (9) T U D CMBS MPNS.. ISCH Advisory bodies to the CSO COST Actions (224) MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC WORKING GROUPS (NETWORKS) ~6000 research groups MC = Management Committee Scientific Domain

16 Financing of COST: Wherefrom? 1971 : On set out of COST, each Action is launched through a Memorandum of Understanding which foresees financial support allocated by participating MS. COST has no annual budget in proper. EU Commission provides an annual support on a case by case basis: around 1 M yearly in : COST is granted a budget from FP3: 20 M over 4 years. EU Commission provides Scientific Secretariat , : Budgets from FP4, then FP5: 20 M : FP6, foreseen budget: 50 to 80 M 80 M 2007 : FP7 : from 210 M to 250 M 30 to 35 M yearly

17 Financing Schemes of COST

18 Development of COST : running Actions Prague - FP 5 - FP Establishment of COST (19 members) - Commission in charge of the secretariat - Introduction of MOU 1 st Framework Programme (FP) - Eureka - FP 2 - FP 3 - FP funding + Secretariat - Enlargement to 23 members - FP

19 Breakdown of COST Actions per Domain: BMBS CMST ESSEM FA FPS ICT IE ISCH MPNS TUD

20 Life Cycle of a COST Action Pre proposal (2 months) Full Proposal (4 months) Implementation (4 years) Dissemination (years) Call deadline Assessment EEPs assess DCs assess Full proposals pre proposals DCs finalize list of selected projects Monitoring Evaluation CSO approves draft MoUs of selected projects 1st MC Meeting 5 countries sign MoU time

21 The Intergovernmental Agreement: Memorandum of Understanding - MoU The Memorandum of Understanding of an Action is a commitment signed up by each Member State wishing to participate in this Action Includes a statement of intention to participate, and a Technical Annex describing extensively the objectives and proceedings of the Action It refers to the Rules and Procedures for a COST Action" adopted by the CSO in 2001 in the last version The Technical Annex takes on the full proposal final version, after the selection process and negotiation with both the relevant Domain Committee, and the COST Office COST acknowledges three official languages: English, German, French. But Proposals are to be written en English.

22 The Memorandum of Understanding Technical Annex COST Action 4xy Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Brussels, 13 March 2001 COST 000/01 Draft MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING for the implementation of a European Concerted Research Action designated as COST Action 498 Exploration of continental shelves" The Signatories to this Memorandum of Understanding, declaring their common intention to participate in the concerted Action referred to above and described in the Technical Annex to the Momorandum, have reached the following understanding: 1. The Action will be carried out in accordance with the provisions of document COST400/01 "Rules and Procedures for Implementing COST Actions", the contents of which the Signatories are fully aware of. 2. The main objective of the Action is to increase the knowledge of the geology, topography and ecology of the continental shelves surrounding Europe to a level making it feasible to assess different strategies for oil-drilling by taking into account the economic consequences as well as the long-term environmental effects. 3. The economic dimension of the activities carried out under the Action has been estimated, on the basis of information available during the planning of the Action, at Euro 150 million in 2001 prices. 4. The Memorandum of Understanding will take effect on being signed by at least five Signatories. 5. The Memorandum of Understanding will remain in force for a period of four years, calculated from the date of first meeting of the Management Committee, unless the duration of the Action is modified according to the provisions of Chapter 6 of the document referred to in point 1 above. + Rules and Procedures for implementing COST Actions COST 400/01 (Ref : Guide for the proposers of new Actions, COST 401/01)

23 Structure of the Technical Annex A Background B Objectives and Benefits C Scientific Programme D Organisation E Time Table F Economic Dimension G Dissemination Plan Each Item to be carefully addressed. In particular, the economic dimension, witch accounts for the financial cost of Researches brought into networking, measures the leverage effect of COST Follow Guidelines!!

24 Example of Time Table

25 COST Actions: eligible costs" Science management meetings (MC and WG) Printing of Proceedings, final reports, COST brochures Scientific workshops and seminars Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) Training Schools and Research Conferences (new) Evaluations and Studies Dissemination, Web site

26 Highlighting: Short Term Scientific Missions AIM Promote exchange within an action Scientific Objective HOW by allowing a scientist (especially a junior researcher) to go to a laboratory in another COST country to learn a new technique or to make measurements using instruments and/or methods not available in their own laboratory MEANS Average contribution for a mission (between 5 days and 3 month) will not normally exceed EURO 2,000

27 Some New Features (2005) Training Schools High Level Research Conferences with ESF Support for Europe s «Near Neighbours» researchers Strategic Workshops on emerging topics COST Events: EP exhibition, Nanotech fair (with EC), Cultural Heritage.

28 Budget Statistics of one COST Actions Mean budget of Action / Annual Cost / Meeting / Participant Short Term Scientific Mission Mean expenditure for publications Mean cost of one Workshop Final Evaluation Up to 2500 Total funding of Coordinated Researches : 10 M per Action

29 Global Statistics of COST Actions Total Science Budget 15 M Number of Actions 208 Number of Science events 921 Number of participating researchers Number of scientific exchanges 761 Number of financial transactions Total COST Office staff 31

30 Quality Control COST DC Members duties Assessment of proposals for new Actions Peer review by an Assessment Panel and by the DC Monitoring of the Actions in progress By DCs through rapporteurs from the DC plus an Annual Progress Report. Evaluation of completed Actions. Peer review by an Evaluation Panel. Final Evaluation Report presented to and approved by the DC

31 Some Results of COST Scientific Quality Thousands of papers in refereed journals and books. Doctorates. Recognition of COST scientific Community outside Europe. Contribution to European Competitiveness Contributions to normative and standardisation bodies. SME s originating from COST Actions. Societal concern Delicate issues arising from new technologies based high quality, independent advice. Contribution to ERA. COST precursor of research projects (including Networks of Excellence) in the FP s. Complementarity with FP, and with others, including ESF

32 : The Big Re-foundation 2002: EU Commission announces it will no longer provide Scientific Secretariat CSO envisages several formulas: Creating a non profit Association Transferring Secretariat to a Council Unit Finding a host organisation with legal personality End 2002: Memorandum of Understanding between COST and the European Science Foundation: ESF will provide a COST Office through a contract between EC and ESF under FP6 Early 2004: COST Office fully operational, staffed with about 35 people Provides secretariat to Actions and Domain Committees

33 : The Big Re-foundation (2) Conclusions of Ministerial Conference 2003: COST to design a new domains scheme, and increase flexibility in procedures. March 2005 : Set up of a Working Group gathering the Heads of Technical Committees (former DCs) September 2005 : delivery of finalized report November 2005 : adoption by CSO 17 domains 9 domains 12 TCs 9 DCs June 2006 : end of TCs mandates, new DCs operationals

34 New COST Scientific Domains 1. Biomedicine and Molecular Biosciences BMBS 2. Food and Agriculture F & A 3. Forests, their Products and Services FPS 4. Materials, Physical & Nanosciences MPNS 5. Chemistry and Molecular Sciences & Technologies CMST 6. Earth System Science & Environmental Management ESSEM 7. Information & Communication Technologies ICT 8. Transport & Urban Development TUD 9. Individuals, Society, Culture & Health ISCH

35 : The Big Re-foundation (3) Qualified majority From COST creation: adoption by consensus unanimity Actual Veto right within CSO Adoption of a qualified majority rule: 75% of Member States, whether attending a session or not. Unanimity still rules for admission of a new MS, or calls to contributions to the COST fund used by the CSO. COST less intergovernmental, more integrated : significant evolution of internal functioning, more flexibility

36 : The Big Re-foundation (4) Open Call for Proposals Before 2006, proposals could be submitted any time in the year, and were assessed by Technical Committees, with an adoption 3 times a year First call issued in April 2006, cut off date (deadline) 31 May stages process peer reviewed (full proposals) Selection criteria are published Emphasis given to young researchers One or two cut off date per year (30 March 2007 & possibly September) Actions resulting from 1st date adopted in November 2006 Six month procedure

37 Selection Process (1) Preliminary Proposals: BMBS Collection Date Eligibility Check Allocation to Domains anonymised distribution CMST ESSEM FA FPS ISCH ICT MPNS Electronic Rating Automatic Ranking Normalisation of the ranking of the DCs Invitation of top 75 for Full Proposals TUD 1 week 3 weeks 3 days

38 Selection Process (2) Full Proposals: Establishment of External Expert Panels Dead Line Full Proposals Rating by EEP in panel meetings in Brussels Presentation of proposals Ranking by DCs Meeting of DC chairs Final List for approval JAF Approval by the CSO Start of the new Action 10 weeks 2 weeks 2 weeks 2 weeks 4 weeks

39 First Open Call: Response by Domain Initial response at first collection date (824 proposals) BMBS CMST ESSEM Exploratoria FA FPS ICT ISCH MPNS TUD

40 Open Call 2006: Assessment process Status Initial proposals Number 824 Eligible proposals 707 A HUGE SUCCESS And a High Selection Rate!! Full proposals Approved proposals 79 39

41 Current Evolution of COST: from FP6 to FP7

42 Overview of FP7 Lisbon Action Plan: Knowledge Society Structural Funds Including regional competitiveness FP CIP Competitiveness and innovation Education Programme 3. Health Cooperation 4. Food, agriculture and biotechnology 5. Information and communication technologies 6. Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials and new production technologies 7. Energy 8. Environment (including climate change) 9. Transport (including aeronautics) 10. Socio-economic sciences and the humanities 11. Security 12. Space Ideas Frontier research ERC (Agency) People Marie Curie Actions Executive Agencies (in progress) Capacities Research infrastructures Research potential Regions of Knowledge SME Science in Society INCO Coordination (policies)

43 FP7 Specific Programmes SP1 - Cooperation Collab. research 32.3 G = 62% SP2 - Ideas Frontier Research 7.46 G = 15.65% SP3 - People Human Potential 4.73 G = 9.41% SP4 - Capacities Research Capacity 4.29 G = 9.87% + JRC (non-nuclear) 1.75 G = 2.39% Euratom JRC (nuclear) 517 M = 0.71% Euratom (not including JRC) 2.23 G = 3.36%

44 FP7 Specific Programme "Cooperation" Collaborative Research (62% of FP7 funding) Under each theme there will be sufficient flexibility to address both Emerging needs and Unforeseen policy needs Dissemination of knowledge and transfer of results will be supported in all thematic areas Collaborative Research NoE, Strep, 10 Themes Coordination of National Research Programmes ERA-NET, ERA-NET+ Articles 169, 171 COST, EUREKA European Technology Platforms Joint Technology Initiatives International Cooperation operation

45 Coordination Instrument in EU: 3 Levels Policy level Open method of coordination (OMC) CREST Policy support oriented research Legislation (e.g. COM (2004) 178 Directive*) * 3rd country researchers in Europe Programme level ERA-NET Towards ERA-NET PLUS Article 169 Project level Existing Instruments STREP, etc. New FP6 Instruments NoE, IP Intergovernmental Instruments : COST, EUREKA

46 Financing of COST in FP7 Specific programme Cooperation foresees at least 210 M and up to 250 M will be reserved for COST, subject to the mid-term evaluation through a grant which will be paid on the basis of a grant agreement between the Commission and a legal entity designated by COST as its implementing agent Contract is under preparation, involving COST, ESF, and EU Com

47 Near Future in COST COST acquis Scientific traditions in many key areas Networks of thousands of leading Scientists Mobility of researchers Cooperation and better understanding COST Assets researchers involved Leverage effect: networked researches represent ~2 G annual An outstanding position in ERA, after having been a precursor

48 Since 1971 In the service of European Research and Competitiveness.

49 COST Ministère de l Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Direction de la Stratégie Bureau des Affaires européennes Coordination Nationale COST