SYNTHESYS3: Transnational Access supporting research Kristina Gorman, SYNTHESYS Project Manager June 2017 SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

Taxonomic Access Facilities 11 TAFs (Taxonomic Access Facilities) consisting of 18 natural history institutions & botanic gardens Access to 390 million natural history specimens, including 4.1 million type specimens Started with 16 institutions – Stuttgart & Senckenberg added in Call 2 State-of-the-art chemical analysis, molecular and imaging facilities SYNTHESYS funds research, travel + subsistence costs SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

13 years, 50,000+ User Days SYNTHESYS (FP6): 2004 - 2009 11 TAFs, 19 institutions 2,056 projects & 29,636 User Days funded over 9 calls SYNTHESYS2 (FP7): 2009 - 2013 10 TAFs, 16 institutions 1,002 projects & 10,463 User Days funded over 4 calls SYNTHESYS3 (FP7): 2013 - 2017 11 TAFs, 18 institutions 1,079 projects & 10,812 User Days funded over 4 calls (with further reserves recently funded) SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

Application Process Competitive funding calls Online application system Eligibility check + Host verification Scoring + discussion by User Selection Panel Feedback to all applicants SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

Application Summary SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

Success Rates SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

Applicant Home Institution Majority of applications from institutions in Spain (346), Italy (295), Poland (290) and Germany (256)

Applicant Nationality Similar pattern: highest # of applications over Calls 1-4 from Spain (347), Italy (331), Poland (295), and Germany (182) Number of unique nationalities consistent across calls (ranging between 35 – 37) NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

Gender Balance Gender balance of accepted applications consistently exceeds industry average* Improvement from 37% female in Call 3 to 43% female in Call 4 *‘She Figures 2012 Gender in Research and Innovation’ indicating that females account for 33% of scientific researchers in the EU. SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

Researcher Status Postgrad 586 Postdoc 489 Experienced 461 Undergrad 32 Technician 18 SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

User Evaluations Exit survey for all Users: used to help improve User experience with each Call. 99% of all evaluations rated Good, Very Good or Excellent. EC has its own confidential feedback survey.

Outputs Type Accepted In prep. In press Published Submitted Grand Total Book/Monograph   22 3 12 2 39 Database, CD or DVD 32 4 36 Non Peer Reviewed 9 26 65 104 Peer Reviewed 27 543 48 317 52 987 Thesis 1 38 6 51 Training 661 55 404 60 1218 1,218 outputs have been added to the SYNTHESYS3 application site SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

Outputs 497 outputs already accepted, in press or published from SYNTHESYS3 visits alone. 317 papers in Peer Reviewed journals have been published, with 75 more either Accepted or In Press. SYNTHESYS 1, 2 + 3: >4,700 research outputs. Accepted In press Published Total Book/Monograph 3 12 15 Database, CD or DVD 4 Non Peer Reviewed 9 2 65 76 Peer Reviewed 27 48 317 392 Thesis 1 6 Training Grand Total 38 55 404 497 SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

High-Impact Journals Biodiversity Data Journal Cladistics 2 Cladistics Earth and Planetary Science Letters 1 Gondwana Research Hystrix Journal of Biogeography Molecular Ecology Resources Nature Communications Plos One 9 PNAS Quaternary Science Reviews Scientific Reports SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

High-Impact Journals SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

Access Highlight Projects Untangling the evolution of dolphin-like marine crocodiles during the Age of Dinosaurs – Mark Young (HU, DE, FR-TAF) The genus Ommatoiulus (Diplopoda, Julida) – A synthesis of conventional taxonomy and novel approaches pushing boundaries in myriapod systematics – Nesrine Akkari (DK-TAF) Amphibian Research in Central Africa and Borneo – Maximilian Dehling (GB, BE, AT-TAF) Discovering a new rule in the evolution of mammals – Andrea Cardini (AT, CZ, HU, DE, FR, SE-TAF) SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

Benefits of TA User Wider community Host institution Increased collaborations with Hosts + multiple TAFs Users learn new skills - transferred to home institution Wider community High-quantity, high-quality research outputs Increased collaborations between international experts Fast-tracked progress in global research issues including environmental + climate change + climate modelling, soil biodiversity, marine, freshwater + terrestrial ecosystem functioning, mineral deposit distribution + food security. Host institution Increased quality of collections: identifying specimens, updating nomenclature Users create new metadata Enhanced electronic data capture + processing Increased use of collections leads to enhanced value in the collections SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017