UD policy scientist participates as expert for EU's Seventh Framework Program
8:49 a.m., Oct. 12, 2012--The European Commissions Research
Executive Agency invited a University of Delaware researcher to weigh-in
on significant academic funding decisions for a week in Brussels this
October.
Tibor T??th, associate policy scientist at the Center for Applied Demography and Survey Research,
participated as an expert for the European Unions Seventh Framework
Program (FP7). He joined 40 scholars from across the EU, and was the
only expert invited from the United States to evaluate applications for
the prestigious Marie Curie fellowships in the economic and social sciences.
Launched in 2007, FP7 has a total budget of 55 billion for research
and innovation. It has so far supported some 19,000 projects involving
over 79,000 participants (universities, research organizations and
businesses) across all EU member states, with a total EU investment so
far of 25.3 billion.
T??th evaluated proposals for Intra-European Fellowships (IEFs), an
FP7-funded program intended for European researchers with doctoral
degrees working in all areas of science and technology.
IEF funding allows academics to re-enter the research field after
having pursued a different career path, noted T??th, or to acquire new
or complementary skills. Financial backing for 12-24 months makes this
program both attractive and competitive.
Proposals are selected in an open competition. Selection is through
transparent, independent peer review, based on a series of
pre-determined criteria. With 150 proposals submitted this year
for the particular panel, the evaluators had the daunting task of
evaluating and scoring submissions for funding.
Prior to the meeting, each evaluator read and scored up to 20
proposals. While in Brussels, experts met in sub-groups for a total of
35 hours to discuss each proposals strengths and weaknesses.
T??th chaired five of these discussions, writing and submitting a
report of the sub-groups recommendations. Achieving consensus among a
diverse group of academics from different countries was not as
challenging as you might expect, T??th said. Given the clearly defined
criteria, the best proposals stood out against the competition.
With the Universitys continued commitment to going global, the
Center for Applied Demography and Survey Research (CADSR) supported the
initiative. We are proud that Tibor was selected to participate in this
international endeavor, noted CADSR Director Edward Ratledge. With
only one U.S. institution represented, it is an honor to have the
University represented on this global stage.
Originally published by UDaily.
