Multilateral co-operation between funding organisations: FWF's perspective & involvement Reinhard Belocky, FWF Austrian Science Day Bratislava, 5.12.2005

Mission The FWF (Austrian Science Fund) is Austria‘s central body for the promotion of basic research. The FWF invests in new ideas that contribute to an advance in knowledge and thereby to further developments. The FWF is equally committed to all branches of science and the humanities and is guided in its operations solely by the standards of the international scientific community.

Responsibilities & Aims Promotion of: High-quality scientific research Education and training through research Knowledge transfer and the establishment of a science-friendly culture continued improvement of science in Austria and an increase of its international competitiveness. enhancement of the qualification of young scientists. strengthening of the awareness that science represents a significant aspect of our culture.

Co-operation between research funding organisations WHY? excellent science is internationally connected fragmentation of the European funding systems is a barrier for co-operation particularly problematic for smaller countries co-operation between funding organisations to overcome this obstacle GOAL: Scientists should be able to apply for and to carry out joint research projects together with co-operation partners from abroad without (severe) administrative limitations

Co-operation between research funding organisations OBSTACLES (non-exhaustive) fundamental differences in national systems (existence of comparable funding structures, investigator-based vs. institution-based funding, …) difference in funding instruments (e.g. thematic calls vs. bottom-up approach) different quality assessments (e.g. national panels vs. international peer-review, conflict of interest standards, …) different application and reviewing guidelines different decision timelines

Modes of Co-operation informal administrative co-ordination, (MoU, ad hoc, ECRP) joint programme, national funding (CERC3, ESF EUROCORES) joint programme, (partially) common-pot funding (EURYI, ERA-Nets) opening of national programmes, cross-border funding (DACH-MfCL)

FWF Programme Participation

Informal administrative Co-operation „ad hoc“ administative co-operation Bilateral Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) European Collaborative Research Projects Social Sciences (ECRP) thematically open high degree of flexibility high administration effort limited added value for the applicants

Joint procedures, national funding CERC3 Transnational Projects (since 2002) ESF European Collaborative Research Projects (EUROCORES) thematic calls quality of procedures & decision duration of procedures reservation of (national) financial resources security of funding

Joint procedures, common-pot funding EURYI Award (since 2003) thematically open, age restriction national pre-selection limited common-pot risk fixed maximal financial contribution per project funding according national regulations

Joint procedures, partial common-pot ERA-Chemistry Call for Proposals (2005) thematic call, age restriction partial common-pot flexible financing scheme reservation of national budget joint application and reviewing procedures funding according national regulations

Opening of national programmes Money follows Co-operation Line (since 2003) (Money follows Researcher) thematically open reviewing and funding of project partners from abroad according to national procedures high flexibility compatibility of organizations involved

Transnational Funding Models Financial volume unknown but flexible (under/oversubscription) national priorities & earmarked budgets Common-pot funding Fixed financial volume (under-/oversubscription?) No juste retour Adequate inpayment key unknown Call topics selection nationally motivated (=ERA?) Cross-border funding Money follows Cooperation Line Money follows Researcher

Thank you for your attention! http://www.fwf.ac.at/ belocky@fwf.ac.at