Criteria for the evaluation of WIB research tasks
Contents presented in this article are preliminary information about the Virtual Research Institute (Polish: Wirtualny Instytut Badawczy – WIB) and are intended for potential Applicants to familiarize themselves with the Open Competion being prepared as early as possible.
In connection with the above, ŁUKASIEWICZ – PORT clearly informs that the presented responses cannot constitute the basis for formulating subsequent claims against ŁUKASIEWICZ – PORT as the Managing Entity.
The criteria for the evaluation of research tasks are set out in the Act on supporting research activity from the Polish Science Fund (PSF) and include:
- current achievements of research team members in terms of their research activity and commercialisation of results of such activity,
- potential of the research team for conducting research activity at the highest, international level,
- importance of the planned results of research activity for the development of the economy and the developmental policy of the State, including contribution to the innovation level of the economy,
- potential for commercialisation of the planned results of research activity.
This article describes the above-mentioned criteria in more detail.
The evaluation of research tasks will involve two stages and include formal and substantive evaluation.
FORMAL EVALUATION
The formal evaluation criteria will be applied to verify, i.a., applicant eligibility, the correctness of filling in the application and appendices to it, as well as their completeness, the compliance of the research task with the programme documents, and the catalogue of eligible costs. It should be stressed that the financing of research tasks from the resources of the PSF may not take the form of public aid for entities conducting research activities under the supervision of their leader and by other members of research teams, therefore, research tasks must involve only conducting non-economic (basic) activities by these entities, as specified in Chapter 2.1.1 Public financing of non-economic activities, Communication from the Commission – Framework for State aid for research and development and innovation (Official Journal of the European Union C 198, 27.6.2014, pp. 1-29) (18-20).
SUBSTANTIVE EVALUATION
Substantive evaluation will serve as a tool for verifying the research task in terms of scientific and economic-social criteria, the most important aspects of which are presented in the table below.
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Criterion name |
Criterion clarification |
Maximum possible score |
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SUBSTANTIVE–SCIENTIFIC CRITERIA |
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Previous achievements of Leader in the field of research activity |
The experience and scientific achievements of the leader will be evaluated under this criterion (data not older than for the last 5 years counted from the year of submitting the application), including, i.a., leading research teams and scientific research in this country and abroad, publications (10 examples), the number and value of implemented scientific–research projects, scientific awards, participation in and organisation of prestigious conferences, membership in renowned scientific organisations/committees. Additional consideration will cover the relevance and complementarity (quantitative and qualitative) of the leader’s involvement as compared to the involvement and composition of the research team. |
4 |
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Previous achievements of key personnel members in the field of research activity |
As with the leader, evaluation will involve the scientific achievements of the named members of the key personnel of the research team (data not older than for the last 5 years counted from the year of submitting the application), according to the stage of their scientific career and represented field. Also considered will be the number of persons making up the research team, their involvement and relevance, as well as complementarity in terms of the scope and type of the planned research work. Within this criterion, the research teams whose members are employed by various entities, where this demonstrates their higher potential for conducting research activity at the highest international level, will be preferred. |
4 |
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Potential of the research team to conduct research activities at the highest international level – description of the research task and research plan |
Quality of the planned research activities and their results will be evaluated, including their consistency aimed at the evaluation of logical dependencies between specific tasks, outputs and results. This criterion will involve the evaluation of the purpose of the research task, the quality of the applied research method, scientific value and strategic nature of the research task. Also considered will be the description of individual stages of the research task, the quality of the material and financial schedule, its appropriateness and rationality as compared to the planned tasks, selection of indicators, analysis of demand, description of standards necessary for commercialisation, characteristics of identified risk, access to the infrastructure necessary for the performance of the research task and the manner of task management. |
12 |
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ECONOMIC–SOCIAL CRITERIA |
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Previous achievements and experience of the Leader and research team members in the field of commercialisation |
This criterion will involve experts evaluating the achievements of the leader and other members of the key personnel in terms of commercialisation (data not older than for the last 5 years counted from the year of submitting the application). The evaluation will focus on financial results or other practical aspects, including, in particular, achievements and experience in the commercialisation of research results and cooperation with the business sector in the implementation of projects in the field of biotechnology, concentrating on the commercialisation of the obtained research results, the achievements of the leader and research team members in terms of industrial property rights, practical application of research results, development of the technologies, implementations, sales of patents or licenses, established start-up/spin-off companies, etc. |
16 |
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Commercialisation potential of the planned results of research activity |
Evaluation will include the socio-economic demand for research task results, the importance of research results for socio-economic development, the potential for market implementation of research task results, a description of markets and a description of the planned results and their future socio-economic applications in Poland and throughout the world. |
16 |
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The importance of the expected effects of research activity for the economic development and developmental policy of the State, including contribution to the innovation level of the economy |
Evaluation of the planned economic and social results – the economic and social consequences and impact (on society) of the results of the planned research (according to the research plan). This criterion will involve the evaluation of whether the presented non-measurable economic/social results of the research task will provide any social benefits considering the expenditure incurred in the performance of the research task and the innovation level resulting from the research task – considering the importance/breakthrough nature of the proposed solution in relation to the present socio-economic standing and competitive solutions. |
4 |
SUBSTANTIVE EVALUATION –PANEL OF EXPERTS
At the stage of evaluation by the
panel of experts (a roughly two-hour long debate) to which the leader and other members of the key personnel of the research team will be invited, the research task will be evaluated according to the criteria provided below. The maximum score of 4 points may be obtained within each of them, which, in total, may increase the score achieved by a research task by 16 points.
The criteria of the expert panel involve:
- Potential of the research team for conducting research activity at the highest international level – Description of the research task and plan,
- Previous achievements and experience of the leader and research team members in the field of commercialisation,
- Potential for commercialisation of the planned results of the research activity,
- the importance of the expected effects of research activity for the economic development and developmental policy of the State, including contribution to the innovation level of the economy.
To summarise, under formal evaluation, the application for funding will be verified according to the compliant/non-compliant rule. If an application is not compliant with any of the criteria, it will be rejected. As far as certain criteria are concerned, there will be an opportunity to submit a single clarification/supplement covering the omissions/errors identified in the application documentation.
At the stage of substantive evaluation, a task may be granted a total of 72 points, including:
- 20 points: scientific criteria – the required minimum evaluation score – 60%,
- 36 points: economic-social criteria – the required minimum evaluation score – 60%,
- 16 points: the expert panel – the required minimum evaluation score – 50%.
At each stage, several experts will be evaluating the application for funding simultaneously.