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

2. 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

3. 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):
10 TAFs, 16 institutions
1,002 projects & 10,463 User Days funded over 4 calls
SYNTHESYS3 (FP7):
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

4. 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

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

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

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

8. 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

9. 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

10. Researcher Status Postgrad 586 Postdoc 489 Experienced 461 Undergrad32
Technician 18
SYNTHESYS3 Final Meeting
NHM, London, 6-7 June 2017

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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

14. High-Impact Journals Biodiversity Data Journal Cladistics2
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

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

16. 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

17. 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