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Selecting the best proposals – Evaluation and peer review CRF II strongly believes that the number of expert researchers Another critical issue related to the evaluation of research proposals recruited into the evaluation system of Horizon 2020 should be as is to ensure cross-disciplinarity. A more robust practice of cross- high as possible in order to secure selection of the best proposals disciplinarity in carefully selected research activities is highly for final funding. dependent on the composition of the reviewers. A mono-disciplinary review board will be less able of evaluating cross-disciplinary The importance of evaluation and peer reviewing cannot be research proposals. Therefore, the composition of review boards underestimated. The quality of the peer review panels directly should always strive to reflect the most relevant disciplines within influences the margin of error in the project evaluations. The peer the research topic at hand. Lessons learned from previous more or reviewers need to be honest, transparent and fair, working to the less successful attempts to create cross-disciplinary panels should be highest professional standards. taken into consideration in this work. A strongly profiled and transparent evaluation system is also perceived as being reliable and consistent by researchers. This will undoubtedly reinforce the participation of the most esteemed researchers. A well-regarded peer review system with an excellent record is attractive and prestigious, as shown in the ERC programme. Those lessons learned should be spread to the general evaluation system. Once the excellence of the peer review system is established, it is important to give special attention to other competences of the evaluators. In order to maintain stringency and a high degree of decision-making capability in the peer review panels, it is imperative to secure the proper level of skills and cohesion in the panels through continuously extensive support and training of the evaluators. They also need to be thoroughly briefed on the challenge-specific roadmaps. 10


CRF_rapport_210x297_web_NY
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