Experts roles and tasks

If you have registered as an expert and have the required profile, the EU service will contact you in due course to let you know whether you have been selected. This depends on whether there are any proposals to be evaluated or projects to be monitored requiring your particular expertise.

Roles and tasks assigned to experts

As an expert, you can perform a variety of roles and tasks:

1. Evaluators are responsible for evaluating proposals submitted in response to a call for proposals. Evaluators may also act as a rapporteur, chair, or vice-chair at consensus discussions or meetings of panels of evaluators. Rapporteurs are responsible for drafting the consensus report (CR) of a consensus meeting.
2. Observers provide the EU services with independent advice on the conduct and fairness of all phases of the evaluation process, on how evaluators apply award criteria, and on how to improve the procedure.The observer may attend any meeting held during the proposal evaluation process and drafts a report on the evaluation session observed.
3. Monitors assist EU services in monitoring the implementation of projects that have received funding, taking into account work descriptions, reports and deliverables.

All experts' tasks are laid down in their contract and its annexes. See the Model Contract for Experts for further details.

Proposal-evaluation process

The underlying principles to bear in mind during evaluation are:

• Excellence - projects must demonstrate a high level of quality in relation to the topics and criteria set out in the calls
• Transparency - funding decisions must be based on clearly defined rules and procedures, and applicants should receive adequate feedback on the outcome of the evaluation
• Fairness and impartiality - all proposals must be treated equally and evaluated impartially on their merits, irrespective of their origin or the identity of the applicants
• Confidentiality - all proposals and related data, knowledge and documents must be treated in confidence
• Speed and efficiency - proposals should be evaluated and grants awarded and administered as swiftly as possible, without compromising quality or breaking the rules

Award criteria

The award criteria to be applied by the evaluators are set for each programme in the call conditions.
Thresholds may vary according to the work programme. For two-stage submission schemes, thresholds and the maximum overall score may vary between the first and the second stage.

Steps in the Process

The diagram below depicts the main steps of the evaluation process and highlights at which stages the experts intervene:

There are three main phases in the experts' involvement in the evaluation process.

Before starting their work, experts are briefed on evaluation procedures (including remote evaluation), the topics of the relevant calls for proposals and the terms of their contracts. This briefing can be done in Brussels or remotely (e.g. web-streaming).

Monitoring projects (Technical review)

Projects are monitored to assess the work carried out over a given period and make recommendations to the EU services. Monitoring may cover scientific, technological and other aspects of the implementation of the project and Grant Agreement.

The monitoring expert's task is to advise the EU services on how the project has progressed with regard to:

• the initial work plan
• deliverables
• planned and used resources
• relevance of the objectives
• scientific and industrial quality
• management procedures and methods
• Beneficiaries' contributions, and
• the expected potential impact in scientific, technological, economic, competitive and social terms, and the plans for the use and dissemination of results.

Depending on the project's complexity and progress, the review may include remote work entailing reading and analysis of the Grant Agreement, grant decision and other background information and deliverables and finally drafting the report. The expert may also be required to attend project meetings at the EU services offices or at the premises of the Beneficiary.

The EU services may require the expert to carry out on-site technical audits to verify whether critical milestones are being met, or to assist in carrying out research integrity (scientific misconduct) analysis during implementation.

Types of project monitoring

• Periodic monitoring provided for in the Grant Agreement (generally linked to payment)
• Ad-hoc monitoring, which the EU services can request at any time, where necessary, and which may involve reviewing financial and technical aspects, or only technical aspects.

Monitoring process

• Review meeting and assessment - experts read all relevant documents before and attends the review meeting. They then assess the project on the basis of the written material and information provided at the meeting. In the event of remote monitoring, the assessment is based on written documents only.
• Monitoring report - the expert draws up the monitoring report on a project, and the EU service sends it to the consortium via the Coordinator, but it is not made public. If more than one expert is involved in project monitoring, they issue a single consolidated report written by a rapporteur.
• Recommendations - the monitor will also assist the EU services by recommending any changes that may be required. However, the final decision on recommendations and changes is taken by the EU services alone.
• Observations - Beneficiaries may comment on the monitoring report within one month of receiving it.
• Project assessment by the EU services? - taking the experts' formal recommendations into account, the EU services informs the Coordinator of its decision, which, however, may depart from the recommendations. It may entail
  • accepting or rejecting the deliverables
  • allowing the project to continue in its existing form
  • suggesting modifications, or
  • taking steps to terminate the Grant Agreement or to exclude a Beneficiary from taking part.