Documents

Annex to the ERA-LEARN report on the definition and Typology of alignment.

The Joint Programming Initiative More Years Better Lives (JPI MYBL) is an example of a Joint Programming Initiative in which a set of performance indicators has been set up in an early phase of the programme. The set of key indicators was later used in an independent evaluation in order to assess the progress made in the JPI. This case study provides information on the development of the indicators set and how the indicators were used by the external evaluation.

The case studies examine Monitoring and Evaluation approaches and instruments used in the context of existing JPIs. The case study analysis relies on a review of existing literature and targeted interviews with relevant P2P programme managers and participants.

This publication contains three case studies that examine Monitoring and Evaluation approaches and instruments used in the context of existing JPIs. The case studies highlight a variety of benefits commonly accruing to JPIs that set up adequate Monitoring & Evaluation frameworks and activities, including:

1. the development of a comprehensive, focused set of indicators beyond operational objectives and the explicit linking of the JPI’s vision, aims, and objectives to the indicator framework;
2. tool for organisational learning, where impact assessment provides the opportunity to reflect on internal organizational processes that can feed back into revisions of Strategic Research Agendas (SRAs);
3. assisting the overall coordination and giving direction for future activities; and
4. raising awareness among key stakeholders and improving impact communication.

The cases pinpoint a number of factors that enable the development of effective Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks and reveal the obstacles and challenges to be overcome in the process. At the end several key conclusions are drawn.

This lecture was held at the ERA-LEARN Workshop 'Implementing ERA-NET Cofund' on 21-22 September 2017 in Berlin.

This lecture was held at the ERA-LEARN Workshop 'Implementing ERA-NET Cofund' on 21-22 September 2017 in Berlin.

This lecture was held at the ERA-LEARN Workshop 'Implementing ERA-NET Cofund' on 21-22 September 2017 in Berlin.

This lecture was held at the ERA-LEARN Workshop 'Implementing ERA-NET Cofund' on 21-22 September 2017 in Berlin.

This lecture was held at the ERA-LEARN Workshop 'Implementing ERA-NET Cofund' on 21-22 September 2017 in Berlin.

This lecture was held at the ERA-LEARN Workshop 'Implementing ERA-NET Cofund' on 21-22 September 2017 in Berlin.

Meeting agenda of the High Level Group for Joint Programming (GPC) Meeting on 15 September 2017.

This publication contains seven case studies that examine novel alignment modalities of national research strategies, programmes and other activities. By ‘novel’ modalities, instruments, or approaches are meant that contribute to alignment of research activities at the strategic or operational level that are at a pilot stage or have been introduced in schemes or networks other than the JPI or ERA-NETs.

The case studies do not constitute in-depth evaluations of ongoing practices. Instead they aim to illustrate how select novel approaches have been used to promote alignment at strategic, operational and financial levels, and what the key “lessons learned” are from these experiences. The case studies outline the key benefits and challenges practitioners have faced when putting in place such approaches, and the key factors for their successful implementation.

The DACH Agreement is an instrument of cross-border collaboration, signed in May 2008 between the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and its partner organisations, the FWF (Austrian Science Fund, Austria) and the SNSF (Swiss National Science Foundation, Switzerland). It relates to the mutual opening of the respective funding programmes with the objective to simplify the execution of cross-border research projects. Simplification is achieved by making one of the funding agencies the only responsible of the evaluation process of the transnational projects ("Lead Agency" process). In particular, the DACH Agreement – and the related “Lead Agency Procedure” – is a concrete and successful example of cooperation at trans-regional level, which represents a good practice in implementing inter-operability and creates the basis for an alignment at operational level.

The political leaders of 15 European industrial regions gathered on 30 January 2014 in Brussels to engage in a joint effort for the industrial future of Europe. The ‘Vanguard Initiative for New Growth through Smart Specialisation’(VI) is now a network of 30 European regions and they are politically committed to support the wider application and visibility of smart specialisation principles with the aim of boosting EU competitiveness and to revitalise European industrial growth. This is delivered by aligning regional areas of strengths and enabling co-investment on the basis of regional smart specialisation strategies.

The Central European Research Infrastructures Consortium (CERIC-ERIC, acronym CERIC) was set up under the ERIC legal framework in June 2014 by the Commission's implementing decision, based on the formal request of five Countries. It provides open access to the Member's scientific facilities, such as synchrotron light sources, neutron sources, nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus and similar, based on international peer review. CERIC is a distributed research infrastructure in materials and biomaterials. The ERIC Regulation provides a common legal framework based on Article 187 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The setting up of CERIC by integrating several different facilities into a single distributed infrastructure opens a great opportunity to enhance the circulation of human resources, ideas and innovations. The driving force behind is the common scope to be relevant and attractive at the international level.

The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) was established in September 2003 by 15 European countries with the aim to develop capacity building for clinical trials and new clinical interventions to address the needs of sub-Saharan Africa in the fields of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Created as an Article 169 of the Treaty (since re-numbered as Article 185 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union), the EDCTP aims at improving coordination and integration of research from different European Member States in the field of poverty related diseases. The programme has facilitated alignment and coordination of European national research programmes and activities; has fostered African leadership in clinical research, and has strengthened the ethics and regulatory environment for conducting clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa.

The BLUEMED initiative, Blue Growth research and Innovation Initiative for the Mediterranean - BLUEMED Initiative, is the result of the efforts of 9 EU member states bordering the Mediterranean sea, to foster a sustainable blue growth in the Mediterranean sea area. Its final goal is to contribute to align or integrate the funding strategies, R&I funds and infrastructures at regional, national and EU level, by avoiding duplication, improving the effectiveness in the use of resources and maximizing the leverage effects. BLUEMED represents a good practice of alignment at strategic level, involving from one side the EU Mediterranean Countries, who committed at political level to adopt common research priorities and strategic agenda, and from the other side, the European Commission DG RTD and MARE, which facilitated and supported the process.

The ERA-NET Plus (European Research Area Network) Infravation is a transnational joint call for research proposals in the field of road infrastructure that relies on a “real common pot” funding mechanism. It brings together 11 National Road Authorities, including from Israel (FP7 Associated country) and the USA, and benefits from co-funding from the European Commission. This ERA-NET’s funding mechanism promotes greater financial alignment by allowing to pool financial resources from participating countries and optimally use the latter to fund selected transnational research projects, irrespective of applicants’ nationalities. It has also enabled participating countries to identify common research priorities and to promote alignment at the operational level through the delegation of funding, coordination and management responsibilities to a single entity.

Building on the Typology of Alignment (Task 4.1), this Task examines in greater depth selected actions and instruments that promote greater alignment amongst EU Member-States’ national research programmes and activities. A set of case studies are selected among existing P2P networks, research alliances and JPIs. These consist in a mix of actions and instruments undertaken at different stages in the research programming cycle and relying on different cooperation modes and actors, hence representing different facets of alignment. The analysis relies on a review of existing literature and targeted interviews with managers and beneficiaries/participants of these alignment modalities. In synthesizing the results of the selected case studies, a comparative analysis will be conducted in view of developing a roadmap/ toolbox for further aligning different P2Ps.

This publication contains nine case studies that examine different approaches and modalities used by EU Member-States (and Horizon2020 Associated Countries) to facilitate the alignment of national research strategies, programmes and other activities in the context of joint programming processes. These case studies have been conducted in the framework of Task 4.2 of the ERA-LEARN2020 Project (2015-18), and build on the “Typology of Alignment” developed under the project’s Task 4.1. The case studies do not constitute in-depth evaluations of ongoing practices. Instead they aim to illustrate how selected approaches have been used to promote alignment at strategic, operational and financial levels, and what the key “lessons learned” are from these experiences. The case studies outline the main benefits and challenges practitioners have faced when putting in place such approaches, and the key factors for their successful implementation. The main target audience for this publication are national research funding and research performing organisations.

The Joint Programme Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) is the largest global research initiative that enables participating countries to collaborate on tackling the challenge of age-related neurodegenerative diseases. JPND was among the first JPIs to establish a monitoring and evaluation framework. In 2016-2017, this framework was revised. This good practice case study focuses on the recalibration of the existing monitoring and evaluation framework and its underlying rationales. The case study highlights main sources and processes needed for performing the framework and highlights key benefits as well as challenges in this regard.