Selection Panel (SP)
The user groups will be selected by the SP, nominated at the JERICO-NEXT kick off meeting and consisting of independent international experts. The SP includes members of the project’s Scientific and Technological Advisory Committee (STAC):
- Peter Herman, NIOZ
- Laura Beranzoli, INGV and representative of EMSO
- Eric Delory, PLOCAN and representative of NEXOS
- Janet Newton, University of Washington (past member of FP7 JERICO SP)
- Roger Proctor, IMOS and University of Tasmania (past member of FP7 JERICO SP)
- Isabel Sousa Pinto, University of Porto and vice chair of EMBOS
- Alicia Lavin Montero, IEO (past member of FP7 JERICO SP)
TNA management team
The TNA management team will preliminarily check the proposals for respect of access rules and technical quality and will coordinate the evaluation process. The TNA management team is composed by the following members of the Consortium:
- Stefania Sparnocchia (CNR ISMAR, JERICO NEXT WP7/TNA Coordinator),
- Sylvie Pichereau (Ifremer)
- George Petihakis (HCMR)
- John Allen (SOCIB)
- Jukka Seppälä (SYKE)
Evaluation and selection
The adopted procedure is built on the principles of transparency, fairness and impartiality.
Submitted proposals will first be checked by TNA management team to ensure formal compliance with access rules and their technical quality. Requests for amendments of technical issues only can be requested to proponents, whose response is expected as soon as possible, anyway before one week.
Properly compiled proposals will undergo a three-step selection process involving:
- Validation of each proposal by the interested facility operator (feasibility assessment).
- Evaluation based on scientific excellence, innovation and impacts on the state-of-the-art. This step will be performed by the SP with the aid of additional experts, if necessary.
- Final assessment and selection by the SP, which will recommend a short-list of proposals eligible for support.
Only proposals successfully validated by the relevant facility operators will pass on to the evaluation phase. To avoid misunderstandings and difficulties, users shall interact directly with the facility operators during the preparation of their proposals, to confirm that their targeted facilities are suitable for the planned experiments.
In assigning proposals, care will be taken to exempt an evaluator from his/her duties if: 1) members of the user group are from the evaluator’s home country, 2) the facility being requested is located in the evaluator’s home country.
Evaluation criteria
The submitted projects will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
| # | Criterion for Evaluation | Max Score |
| 1 | Scientific and/or technological excellence of user group | 5 |
| 2 | Scientific and technical value of the project | 5 |
| 3 | Quality of the work plan | 5 |
| 4 | Potential for seeding links with industry and/or potential application to stakeholders | 5 |
| 5 | European relevance and interests for the scientific community | 5 |
| Total score | 25 | |
A proposal will be considered for acceptance if it receives a total score that is ≥15.
Selection of proposals
The SP will meet in person or by videoconference to assess all the proposals received and recommend a short-list of the user groups that should benefit for access.
The SP decision will be based on the ratings resulting from the evaluation.
Priority will be given to user groups composed of users who:
- have not previously used the installation and
- are working in countries where no equivalent research infrastructure exists.
According to EU requirements, special attention will be paid to female participation in order to promote equal opportunities in the implementation of the TNA activities, to the extent possible.
The SP is empowered to make recommendations that may deviate from those provided by the additional experts who may have been involved in the evaluation.
The results of the selection will be published on the JERICO-NEXT web site, and will be communicated directly to user group leaders and facility providers by email.
