Evaluation of national R&D units with the support of the European Science Foundation

The first phase of the evaluation of applications submitted to Call FCT Call Evaluation of R&D Units will involve the active collaboration of the European Science Foundation (ESF). In this evaluation exercise, 324 units are candidates for evaluation, with more than 15,000 integrated members proposed. Given the size and scope of the exercise, the FCT has chosen to involve the ESF, benefiting from its more than three decades of experience in international evaluation processes. The ESF's involvement will always be in close collaboration with the FCT's services and management.

The ESF will be responsible for selecting and assigning international experts to evaluate the applications submitted, and will collaborate in all procedures associated with the first phase of the evaluation of the units. The FCT Governing Board will remain responsible for appointing the evaluators and panel members selected and recommended by the ESF.

The choice of ESF comes within the scope of consultation with foreign organizations similar to FCT, for the appointment of evaluation panels for the ongoing evaluation of R&D Units by the FCT Board of Directors. In its mission to promote international cooperation in scientific research programs in almost all scientific fields, the ESF works closely with its partner organizations, such as the FCT. Support for the evaluation of projects, scientific networks, and institutions is one of its areas of activity. The ESF has been coordinating evaluation exercises for joint projects of the European Space Agency/NASA/Space Agencies of Canada and Japan, as well as several European universities and European networks and consortia.

In addition to three decades of experience in conducting evaluation exercises (both internally and for other organizations), ESF has carried out several studies on the practice ofpeer review by European funding agencies, publishing a number of reports and guides on best practices.

The evaluation of scientific research and technological development units began in July 2013. The evaluation of national R&D institutions is organized regularly by the FCT and results in the assignment of a classification, which determines the amount of funding to be allocated to each institution. This evaluation and the associated funding will take effect from January 2015 and will be valid for a period of six years.