Manana MikaberidzeDeputy Director General
Mariam Keburia, Head of IR and Fundraising Unit
Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation
Support Programmes for International Cooperation
Georgian – German Science Day
September 19, 2016
Tbilisi Innovation and Science Festival
Outline of Presentation
1. State of Art - Georgia’s international cooperation in STI system
2. SRNSF Programmes, Reforms and Latest Developments
3. SRNSF Bilateral Cooperation
4. SRNSF Multilateral Projects & International Cooperation in Science
Management
5. SRNSF Cooperation with German Partners
6. New Opportunities and Challenges
7. SRNSF updated agenda: vision and work plan
Well developed (87 countries; 80% co-publication rate); Support by several Donors
(but ‘donor driven’)
Recommendations:
Improve coherence (in line with Vision, Strategy, national priorities);
Promote internationalization of Research entities (Int. cooperation offices);
Strengthen cooperation with Diaspora3
International Cooperation in STI (PMPRD recommendations)
Statement in Policy Mix Peer Review Document (2015)
SRNSF – One of the Major STI Funding Agency:Programmes, Reforms and Latest Developments
27 Programmes!
• Research projects (basic and applied research, collaborative research)
• International joint research projects (CNRS, CNR, TUBITAC, STCU)
• Long-term targeted projects in STEM (from 2017)
• Mobility of scientists and international collaboration (TG, CG, SS)
• Young scientists’ development (YS, IG, MR, PhDF)
• Research and technology infrastructure development
• Science popularization (Research and innovative projects with
participation of secondary school students, targeted small scale
projects for science popularization)
• Promotion of Georgian Studies within international academic area (HE, OU)
• 2015 Structural Changes
• 2015-2016 New Programmes
developed
• More Transparency &
communication with Scientists
• Changes in Evaluation
procedures and criteria
• Efficacy Evaluations
• New international partners
SRNSF 2016 Calls CalendarProgrammes /Calls
Preliminary announcement
Call announcement
Electronic submission
Submission ofStatement
Result announcement
1 FR - Fundamental/Basic research (Institutional) grants January February April April August
2 AR - Applied research (Institutional) grants January February April April August
3 DI - Research with participation of compatriots residing abroad (Institutional) grants January February April April September
4 DO - PhD students' research (individual) grants January February May May August
5 YS - Young scientists' (Postdocs) research (individual) grants 30.12.2015 20.01.2016 21.03.2016 23.03.2016 23.05.2016
6 MR - Master students' research (individual) grants 30.12.2015 9.02.2016 6.10.2016 7.10.2016 24.11.2016
7 IG - Internship grants for young researchers (individual) 30.12.2015 20.01.2016 17.05.2016 19.05.2016 12.07.2016
8 TG - Travel grants (I announcement 15.03-30.06.2016) 30.12.2015 18.01.2016 15.02.2016 17.02.2016 7.03.2016
9 TG - Travel grants (II announcement 1.07-31.10.2016) 30.12.2015 06.04.2016 1.06.2016 3.06.2016 23.06.2016
10 TG - Travel grants (III announcement 1.11.2016-15.03.2017) 30.12.2015 1.08.2016 12.09.2016 14.09.2016 13.10.2013
11 UO GSP - SRNSF/Oxford University joint programme for Georgian Studies 5.01.216 11.01.2016 30.05.216 31.05.2016 17.09.2016
12 GEO CONF - Georgian Studies target conference 29.01.2016 22.02.2016 8.04.2016 11.04.2016 30.05.2016
13 CONF - International conference 30.12.2015 15.01.2016 2.03.2016 3.03.2016 24.03.2016
14 SS - Seasonal school grants 30.12.2015 11.01.2016 15.03.2016 17.03.2016 27.04.2016
15 LEO - 'Leonardo da Vinci' -young inventors programmes (for secondary school students) January 4.02.201610.05 (1) 19.09
(2)16.05.(1) 22.09(2)
June. (1), November(2)
16 SCR -Research with the participation of secondary school students 30.12.2015 29.01.2016 23.02.2016 25.02.2016 7.04.2016
17 PhD programme calls 20.01.2016 4.03.2016 18.04.2016 20.04.2016 15.06.2016
18 STCU/ SRNSF joint call January February March AprilJuly(1)-
December(2)
19 JUELICH PHD - Julich Center programme for PhD students April July October October November
20 JUELICH PHD - Julich Center programme for MA students April July August August September
21 CNR -CNR/SRNSF joint call 22 CNRS PICS - CRNS PICS/SRNSF joint call April May June June October
23 DAAD - SRNSF/DAAD joint call for young researchers October November December December March 2017
24 VW - SRNSF/VW joint call for doctoral programmes October November December December March 2017
25 FR INST - SRNSF/French Institute joint call for young researchers October November December December March 2017
26 Target programme for science popularization September October November November December
27 Annual stipends/awards in science and technology June July August August September
Scientific Fields funded by SRNSF programs
OSCD / EUROSTAT classification
1. Exact and Natural sciences
2. Engineering and Technologies
3. Medical and health sciences
4. Agrarian sciences
5. Social sciences
6. Humanities
+ Georgian Studies
(up to 10 % of annual budget)
Funding Research – Basic Research
• 2015 Total Budget - 5 049 648 GEL
• Maximum budget per project - 150 000 GEL.
• # Submitted proposals - 540;
• Funded - 106 project, 395 scientists;
• Project duration - 6-36 month.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
PI Age Distribution
17%
14%
9%
4%6%
15%
8%
5%
11%
11%
Distribution of Funded Projects by Fields
Georgian studies1
2 Humanities, Social sciences
Engineering and technology3
Information engineering and
Communications4
5 Mathematics
6 Physical & Chemical sciences
7
8 Medical and health sciences
9 Earth and environmental sciences
10 Agricultural sciences
Life Sciences
Up to-35 35-40 40-55 over-55
Funding Research – Applied Research
• 2015 Total Budget - 2 996 776 GEL
• Maximum budget per project - 200 000 GEL.
• # Submitted proposals - 213;
• Funded - 35 projects, 161 Scientists;
• Project Duration - 12-24 month.
9%
9%
43%
10%
2%
3%
2%
3%
12%
7%
Distribution of Funded Projects by Fields
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
PI Age Distribution
Georgian studies1
2 Humanities, Social sciences
Engineering and technology3
Information engineering and
Communications4
5 Mathematics
6 Physical & Chemical sciences
7
8 Medical and health sciences
9 Earth and environmental sciences
10 Agricultural sciences
Life Sciences
Up to-35 35-40 40-55 over-55
Funding Research – Collaborative Research [Compatriots]
• 2015 Total Budget - 598 909 GEL.
• Maximum budget per project - 150 000 GEL
• # Submitted proposal - 38;
• Funded – 12 projects; 74 Scientists;
• Project Duration - 6-36 month.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
PI Age Distribution
35-40 40-55 over-55
14%
9%
18%
9%
32%
18%
Distribution of Funded Projects by Fields
Georgian studies1
2 Humanities, Social sciencesEngineering and technology3
Information engineering and
Communications4
5 Physical & Chemical sciences
6 Earth and environmental sciences
International Collaboration and Mobility –Travel grants (2015)
5%
31%
6%
3%
4%
19%
15%
10%
5%2%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Age Distribution of Grantors
Georgian studies1
2 Humanities, Social sciences
Engineering and technology3
Information engineering and
Communications4
5 Mathematics
6 Physical & Chemical sciences
7
8 Medical and health sciences
9 Earth and environmental sciences
10 Agricultural sciences
Life Sciences
Up to-35 35-40 45-55
Distribution of Funded Projects by Fields
International Collaboration and Mobility – Conference grants 2015
22%
11%
34%
11%
11%
11%
Distribution of Funded Projects by Fields
1
Engineering and technology2
3
4
5
6
Medical and health sciences
Agricultural sciences
Natural sciences
Social sciences
Humanities sciences
International Collaboration 2015
• CERN – 316 539 GEL
• DUBNA – 716 149 GEL
• JUELICH CENTER -25 069 GEL
• CNR – 47 300 GEL
• CNRS – funded in 2016 [total 30 000 EURO for 3
years, 10 000 per year]
• STCU – results expected in February 2016 [grant
allocation 537 000 GEL]
• ISTC – co-financing from 2017
• EU Multilateral Programs (FP7 IncoNet EaP;
Black Sea Horizon)
33%
29%
13%
12%
6% 6%1%
Distribution of 69 Applications by Fields
35%
31%
14%
12%6%
2%
Distribution of Second Stage Projects by Fields
Life Sciences
Engineering and technology
Agricultural sciences
Physical & Chemical sciences
Information engineering and
Communications
Earth and environmental sciences
Medical and health sciences
Humanities, Social sciences
Engineering and technology
Agricultural sciences
Physical & Chemical sciences
Earth and environmental sciences
Medical and health sciences
2016-2017 highlights 5 New Programmes for Young Scientists’ Development and International Cooperation
(PhD Fellowships, MA Fellowships, DAAD, VW, JULICH SMART EDM LAB, French Inst. )
Evaluation of big grants implemented by external reviewers only (Outsourcing of expertise FR, AR, DI)
Increased Budget per proposal in FR, AR, DI programmes (by 20% in AR, 40% in FR, DI).
STI Funding growth (2012-2016)# Priority Directions/ Programmes Budget Growth in GEL Growth in %
1 Research Funding (FR, AR, DI) 2,305,538
2Supporting young scientists development and facilitation of
international collaboration 3,432,040
3 Supporting Georgian Studies Development 172,000
4
Joint Research Programmes and international collaboration
(bi-lateral and multi-lateral cooperation with partner
institutions)3,324,737
5Supporting Development of Scientific Infrastructure
(ELSEVIER)960,000
6 Science Popularization 114,430
TOTAL 10,308,745 41%
• Introducing international standards in SRNSF National Programmes: Application forms and call terms
• Revised evaluation procedures and criteria appropriate to EU standards
• More transparency for scientific community: More interaction with universities and research institutions/centers, collaboration and consideration of target groups’ recommendations on programs and calls administration and evaluation procedures
• Outsourcing of the big grants’ evaluation (FR, AR, DI, first three years: 2016-2018 by CRDF Global and ORAU)
• Starting creation of National Experts’ Data base, involvement of international experts, creation of regional evaluation platform
Introducing International Standards - Latest Developments at SRNSF
Prospects of International Experts’ involvement in SRNSF Activities
Attracting external experts for grants’ efficacy evaluation –site visits of international experts
Evaluation of SRNSF Programmes and Activities: Analysis of data and development of needs assessment
Revision and modification of SRNSF programmes and funding schemes based on evaluation results
Supporting SRNSF in Science Management and revision of grants monitoring and reporting forms - sharing EU and US funding programs experience - focusing on science productivity indicators
SRNSF Bilateral Cooperation in 2010-2014
“Targeted R&D Initiatives Programme”, partner STCUthematic priorities: A. Biotechnologies and Life Sciences; B. New Materials and Nanotechnologies; C. Information and Communication Technologies.
“International Exchange Programme”, partner CNRS (France) thematic priorities: A. Mathematics, B. Physics, C. Life sciences.
Programme “International Research Group”, partner CNRS thematic priority: Geosciences.
“Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Programme” and Other Joint Programmes in Biomedical Research, partner CRDF (USA) thematic priorities: A. ICT, B. Biotechnologies, C. Agrarian Sciences, D. New materials, E. Energy, F. Health + Biomedicine.
“International Exchange Programme”, partner CNR (Italy)All thematic priorities.
“Joint Research and Education Programme”, partner Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany) thematic priorities: Mathematics; Information Technologies; Natural Sciences; Engineering Sciences; Life Science and Health.
Bilateral Cooperation and International Partners (2015-2016)
• SRNSF NCP of ERC
Bilateral Cooperation
• University of Oxford, UK
• Jülich Center, Germany
• CNR, Italy
• CNRS, France
• STCU
• CRDF-Global, US
• TUBITAK, Turkey
• ISTC, (from 2017)
Access to international scientific infrastructure and databases
• CERN
• JINR DUBNA
• ELSEVIER
Multilateral cooperation - EU framework programmes
H2020 projects:
New Project - EaP Plus (from September 2016)
Black Sea Horizon ( 3 year project, 2015-2017)
Enhanced bi-regional STI cooperation between the
EU and the Black Sea Region - Black Sea HorizonIncoNet EaP FP7
STI International Cooperation Network for
Eastern Partnership Countries
Twinnings, BE, Mobility, info days, Mixed
Policy Review Document, Promoting H2020
participation; Regional Eval. Platform
Outsourcing of big grants (FR, AR, DI, STCU YS, DO):• CRDF Global US • ORAU – Oak Rage Associated Universities
Sharing experience in STI management (EU, US):• ERC (European Research Council) – SRNSF as ERC NCP• ETAG (Estonian Research Council)• ETIK – (Estonian Intellectual Property & Technology
Transfer Center) • ESF (European Science Foundation)• NSF, US (Embassy Science Fellowship Programme)In June 2016 STI EaP Regional Evaluation Platform created (MoU between 5 EaP countries/ IncoNet EaP prpject)
International Cooperation in Science Management
New Agreement University of Oxford (Since 2015)Joint Research Programme in Georgian Studies at Russian and Eastern European Studies Unit, School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies. Objectives: Research visits by Georgian Postdoctoral early career academics working in Georgian Studies.
Renewed Cooperation agreement with STCU / Targeted Research and Development Initiatives program
(TRDI) (2016)
What is new: reduced percentage involved scientists - former weapon of mass destruction (FWMD) scientists,
evaluation criteria in Georgia (in line with general evaluation rules in SRNSF), involvement of international
expertise starting from the first stage . Two stage evaluation, both stages include international peer reviewing
Renewed Cooperation agreement with ISTC (2015)
What is new: Georgia become an equal partner, represented by a single vote on the Governing Board, liability
for co - funding
JULICH Center – SRNSF – MoES – TSU (2016)
Targeted Project: SMART EDM LAB development at Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University
TUBITAK (Since 2016)Objectives: joint research and development projects, including exchange of research results and mobility of scientists and young researchers, Joint scientific meetings, conferences, symposia, workshops etc. Joint use of research infrastructure (as part of joint projects).
International Partnership New Agreements
Access to International Data Bases
Since 2014 Consortium of 21 organizations have access to
ELSEVIER data bases: Science Direct and Scopus
14 Public Universities
3 Research Centers
1 Scientific institute
Georgian National Academy of Sciences
The Georgian Academy of Agricultural Sciences
National Museum of Georgia
Since 2016 Production and Hosting of Georgian Journals by ELSEVIER
1. Transactions of A. Razmadze Mathematical Institute, Tbilisi State University
2. Annals of Agrarian Science, Agricultural University
SciVal Reviewer Finder – enabling SRNSF to find experts referring to their science
productivity, directions, abstracts and key words.
• Annual STI Forums
• ELS Info Days
• Trainings and
Workshops
• Capacity Building
“Joint Research and Education Programme”, partner Forschungszentrum Jülich(Germany) thematic priorities: Mathematics; Information Technologies; Natural Sciences; Engineering Sciences; Life Science and Health.
MA and PhD Students’ Fellowships (since 2012)
SMART EDM Lab at Tbilisi State University (from 2016)
New Partners (from 2016)
DAAD – Joint Fellowships for PhD Students and Post-Docs
Volksvagen Foundation – Joint PhD Programmes
Georgian – German Cooperation (since 2012)
1. Juelich – SRNSF joint PhD Fellowships
• 3 years
• SRNSF ann. Budget 24 000 EUR (8 000 EUR per F. 3)
2. Juelich – SRNSF joint MA Fellowships
• 1-2 years
• SRNSF ann. Budget 24 000 EUR (8 000 EUR per F. 3)
3. DAAD – SRNSF joint PhD and PostDocFellowships (3-6 months)
• Announcement timeline – December / January
• SRNSF ann. Budget 164 000 EUR (30 F)
4. VW – SRNSF joint PhD Programmes
• Announcement envisaged in Dec / Jan
• Results will be available in 2017
• SRNSF Budget 145 000 GEL per prog.
5. Jülich – TSU SMART EDM Lab
• Targeted programme
• Will be founded at Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University
• Participation of MA and PhD students from other Public Universities –consortia members is possible
• Agreement is signed on August 29, 2016
• SRNSF will start funding from January 2017
• Budget 500 000 EUR
Georgian – German Cooperation
New Opportunities and Challenges
• April 29, 2016 Georgia signed
Horizon 2020 Association Partnership!
• Regional STI Evaluation Platform
• Increased bilateral and multilateral cooperation
•Sharing Experience in Science Management
H2020 Association (PMPRD Statement)
• A major political initiative that should impact the whole STI system. However, the
necessary mobilization still not observed
• Need to develop a Plan of Action (to provide information; to support co-
funding/rewarding; to prepare participation in H2020 Governance; to set-up a Liaison
Office in Brussels; etc.)
• Need to strengthen the NCP system (role; train; remunerate; MoES/steering and
SRNSF/ ‘do the job’!)
• Participate actively in COST and Support Actions 25
It is extremely urgent!
New Opportunities and Challenges
Key messagesThe Association of Georgia to H2020 constitutes an
opportunity for improving the STI system
But it is also a challenge: a systematic multi-level effort is necessary in order to obtain the benefits from the Association
26
H2020 Association Opportunities and Challenges
SRNSF vision and plans:
New Programme for preparatory activities to foster H2020 project writing and networking
Supporting Georgian researchers’ participation in Brokerage Events, Twinning Programmes (TG, IG,
CG, SS, Multilateral projects)
Strengthening cooperation with Diaspora (DI)
SRNSF updated agenda: vision and work plan
Compliance of SRNSF action plan to EU Association Agreement agenda and European Research and Innovation Framework Programme HORIZON2020 (thematic priorities, application/evaluation /monitoring forms).
Creating special tools for effective evaluation and management of STI system:
- Grants Management Unified System (GMUS)
- Georgian Experts National Data Base (GENS)
- Georgian Research Portal
Mapping of Scientific infrastructure in Georgia: identification of excellent clusters andsupporting their development and integration in international research area / networks
Evaluation and Revision of National Programmes: focusing on international cooperation, capacity building, and young scientists development.
Funding best / excellent scientific projects, increasing grant scales and terms, supporting long-term international collaboration, promoting interdisciplinary approach.
Compliance of the SRNSF STI development strategy with the priorities of Georgian Governmental strategic document ‘Georgia 2020’ and active cooperation with other stakeholders: Research & Innovation Council (RIC), GITA, SAKPATENTI
Thank you for your attention