FAQ Working Groups + National Chapters

Yes, a member organisation can submit more than one Expressions of Interest (EoIs) and more than one full proposal. 

No. The Expression of Interest (EoI) or full proposal can only be submitted by a designated Point of Contact (principal or alternate) authorised to do so on behalf of the CoARA member they are affiliated with and on behalf of the other CoARA members cited in the Expression of interest and full proposal.  

The designated point of contact submitting the EoI or full proposal will have to declare that they have the authorisation to submit on behalf of  their organisation and of other supporting organisations.  

The Point of contact (principal and alternate) for your organisation should be indicated through an online form shared by the CoARA secretariat. In case you have not received the link for the form, please contact the CoARA secretariat at WorkingGroupCall@coara.eu 

Points of contact in each CoARA Member Organisation will be in charge of following the WG call process and submitting the Expressions of Interest and the full proposals on behalf of their organisation.  

Lead scientific proposers (to be indicated in item 5 of the submission form) will be the person in charge of the topical and/or scientific aspects of the EoI or full proposal.  

If successful, Working Groups will be led by at least two Chairs. Working Group chairs will be the main point of contact and responsible for communication within the CoARA and more broadly, they will be formally appointed during the first meeting of the WG by its members.  

Points of contact, lead scientific proposers and potential Working Group chairs can be one, two or more persons. While there will be one point of contact (and possibly an alternate) per CoARA member, there could be several lead scientific proposers (in case the member submits several LoIs/full proposals) and proposed Working Group Chairs can be different from the lead scientific proposers.  

Working Group Chairs can be different from CoARA members’ designated points of contact for Working Groups., the Point of Contact for the proposal process is being in charge of forwarding WG proposal call and process information in their organisation; answers to requests to join an Expression of Interest and working groups; identifies members’ representatives in Working Groups, put them in touch; liaise with the secretariat for questions. 

No. The submission of an Expression of Interest is mandatory to be able to submit a full proposal. Full proposals can however be significantly different from an original Expression of Interest (more elaborated, adapted focus, resulting from the merging of several Expressions of Interest) 

To be considered eligible, the following minimum number of proposing CoARA member organisations needs to be indicated: 

• 3 members for the Expressions of Interest (EoI)  
• 5 members for full proposals.  

Besides these requirements, there is no prescribed number of working group members. It is up to the working group proposers to put forward a convincing membership structure, as well as a robust plan and convincing mechanisms to ensure that other CoARA member organisations interested in the topic and the work of the working group can contribute to and benefit from its work.  

It must also be noted that working groups are expected to be inclusive, involving organisations of different types and sizes, and from different geographical areas and from a wide range of experience level.  

The points of contact information will be collected in a directory, published gradually and made available to points of contact of other organisations to allow interactions between members towards the formation of Working Groups. Once the process is completed and the contact details have no longer purpose in this context, the file will no longer be shared. Please find further information on the privacy policy here. 

There will be two cut-off dates for the submission of Working Group full proposals in 2023: One on the 6th of June, the second in Autumn 2023 (date TBC). It will still be possible to submit Expressions of interest and full proposals after 6 June 2023. Points of contact will be informed of the second -and final- cut-off date in June 2023.

Lead scientific proposers will be invited to present their Expressions of Interest to individual participants from CoARA Member Organisations   on 5th May 2023 (precise schedule will be determined once the number of EoIs to be presented is known). This event will allow to initiate discussions and interactions between groups proposers and the wider community of CoARA members towards further maturation and elaboration of WG concepts as well as identification of issues of common interest. 

When submitting Expressions of Interest, contact points will have the opportunity to indicate whether the lead scientific proposer is willing to take part in the workshop and present their topic. Precise planning will be defined once the number of participants is known and will be circulated by the secretariat. Participation is not compulsory.  

No, the workshop will be open to participants from all CoARA members, a registration form will be posted on CoARA website. The CoARA Steering Board will have no particular role in the workshop. The CoARA secretariat will share the workshop programme, dial-in details with the Point of Contacts ahead of the day, so anyone interested in learning on other proposals are welcome to listen in. 

For specific questions regarding Working Groups, the secretariat can best be reached via the following email address: WorkingGroupCall@coara.eu 

The Working Groups should define their duration according to the nature of their outputs/deliverables, keeping in mind that the maximum allowed duration for Working Groups is two years. 

All details on the criteria for evaluation and selection can be found in the “Call for Working Groups and National Chapters”[LINK] document. 

No. Working groups’ proposals will be evaluated based on the evaluation criteria listed in the “Call for Working Groups and National Chapters”[LINK]. The Steering Board encourages proposals related to the topics of peer-review and research cultures, considering there might be a need and interest for these topics to be addressed by the first approved working groups. However, proposed working groups on these topics will not have higher chances of being approved, compared to any other topic proposed.  

Complementing the interactions made possible through the workshop, the platform will support the sharing of information on proposals for Working Groups and National Chapters that are under preparation. This will allow contact points and lead scientific proposers to identify common and complementary EoIs, make contact with their proposers and further elaborate them towards Working Group and National Chapters full proposals. 

The platform will be updated with newly registered Point of Contact (PoC) entries on a weekly basis. Registered PoCs will be informed on the access to the knowledge sharing platform via email, once the update is completed. PoCs registered until the 6th April will be provided with access on the 06-04, updates will occur on the 14th April, 22nd April. Please look out for an email by the CoARA secretariat. 

Following the deadline for Expressions of Interest on 27 April 2023, access to the knowledge sharing platform will be further expanded and proposers will be informed and invited to join the knowledge sharing platform by email.

The CoARA secretariat will circulate instructions on how the Knowledge Sharing Platform works in practice before its release.  

We encourage CoARA member organisations to coordinate as much as possible so that the number of Expression of Interest (EoI) submitted for the same country is one or very limited. 

In the event that more than one Expression of Interest (EoI) is submitted for the same country, the Secretariat will encourage proposers, suggesting them to coordinaante in view of merging their proposals into one single National Chapter.  

It must be noted that there cannot be more than one National Chapter approved per country and that at least half of the members from a given country should take part in the proposal.  

Submitting an Expression of Interest is not compulsory, but this is highly recommended in order to make the information available to all CoARA members from a given country and progress in a coordinated manner.  

To be eligible, member organisations proposing a National Chapter should comprise at least half of the CoARA member organisations from the country.  

Mechanisms should also be put in place to ensure that a broader range of organisations, including from outside CoARA, can contribute to and benefit from the National Chapter. 

There is no prescribed duration for a National Chapter. However, National Chapters are expected to develop concrete tasks and outputs within a specific timeframe of two years.  

For the submission of National Chapters full proposals, there will be monthly cut-off dates, the first one being on 6th June.