Introduction

As indicated at the end of the Call for expression of interest, certain research organisations that participate in the European Research Area (e.g. public research bodies from EU Member States or Horizon Europe associated countries and entities set up involving the EU in joint research programmes with Member States) can request access to the database to search for experts. This page explains how to request the access and how to perform searches in the database once the access has been granted.

How to request rights to search?

The Common Legal Support Service (CLSS) of the EC manages the search rights to the expert database under the applicable Regulation 2018/1725 and the Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

The request for access to the expert database must be sent to the Director-General for Research and Innovation, as follows:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Research and Innovation

Director-General

ORBN 03/136

B-1049 Brussels

Subject: Request for access to the European Commission database of experts

The request should contain:

• Which entity requests access?

• For which purpose(s), described in as much detail as possible, the access to expert database is/are requested?

• Which representative(s) of the requesting entity should have the access?

Please mention the exact names and email address(es) of the people concerned.

Following the analysis of the request, the Director-General takes the decision concerning the access to the expert database.

You can contact RTD-CLSS-DATA-PROTECTION@ec.europa.eu for additional information.

Instructions on searching the database

How to search

The Search Experts application is available in the Funding and Tenders Portal to approved users with search rights.

To search one or more experts, proceed as follows:

1. Click the cursor in the Search field, or hover over it. A tool tip appears suggesting  possible search criteria types. The same information is displayed in the Tips and tricks section at the side of the screen.

   

2. Enter your search criteria in the Search field and click the Go button or hit the Enter key. A list of experts will appear based on your search criteria.

3. Click the Relevance button and use the sorting menu which appears, to control how your results will be displayed. You can sort either by relevance, or alphabetically, A to Z, or Z to A.

    

4. Use the buttons to the right of the Relevance  button to control how the results are displayed:

   

         Tiles (default): 

        

         - or -

         Table: 

        

5. Click the More info button for full details on any experts that look promising.

   

   

How to filter results

You have five filtering options on the right-hand side of the page. 

You can filter your results by:

• Professional Experience:   Select the experience range you require by checking the relevant box.

  

• Gender:   Female or Male. Select by checking the appropriate box.

• Age   you select an age range by using the two slider controls.

  You can expand or reduce the size of the range by moving the areas marked in red in the image below:

  

  For example, you can reduce the size of the range from 20-90 (70 years) to 35-65 (30 years).

  - and/or -

  You can move the range  by moving the area marked in red in the image below:

  

  For example, you can move the blue area to the left to change the range from 35-65 to 25-55. The age range has changed, but the range size is still 30 years.

• With publications:   You can, if you wish, filter the results to show only experts with publications. Choose the Yes option under With publications..You must then use the slider to choose what you consider to be the appropriate publication range (in years) for publications to be relevant. For example, you might only consider the years 2008-2018 to be relevant. The slider controls for expanding or reducing a range, and for moving a range, are the same as for the Age slider.

  Alternatively, you can select an expert with no publications to preserve the balance between industry experts and research experts. Choose the No option under With publications.

• Published in: You can, if you wish, filter the results to show only experts with publications. Click the Published in option, then move the left and right-hand sliders to select your desired publication date range.

  Move the right slider first to your maximum limit and then move the left one.

  Use the slider to choose what you consider to be the appropriate publication range (in years) for publications to be relevant. For example, you might only consider the years 2008-2018 to be relevant. The slider controls for expanding or reducing a range, and for moving a range, are the same as for the Age slider.

• Recent update of profile: Recent (in the last 6 months): By using this filter, you will reduce your search results to experts who have updated their profile in the last six months.

• Duplicates: Is not a potential duplicate: Profiles that are potential duplicates will be ignored. It is best to avoid duplicate profiles.

Note on searchability of experts.

An expert registered in ECS needs to consent for his/her profile to be available for search by institutions and bodies with access to the ECS database. The expert uses the tick boxes in the Who can see my profile page to manage his/her availability for assignments by:

• EU institutions and bodies

• EU Institutions (European Parliament, European Council, Court of Justice of the European Union, European Central Bank, European Investment Bank, European Court of Auditors, European Committee of the Regions, European Economic and Social Committee, ...)

• Research funding bodies with a public service mission, based in the EU/EEA countries (other than EU institutions and bodies) or in third countries, associated to Horizon Europe or to other EU funding programmes, for which the Commission has adopted an adequacy decision

• Research funding bodies with a public service mission, which are based in third countries, associated to Horizon Europe or to other EU funding programmes, for which the Commission has not adopted an adequacy decision (see note below).

The Expert must then click the I agree to work on... box to be considered for any EU related or other Research Funding body tasks. 

Failure to do so, means that the expert has effectively opted out of working for any of the bodies listed, and their profile will not be visible in the database.

For a full description on how to set up who can search for your expert profile, please consult the Choosing who can access your profile page.