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Science Foundation Ireland

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 October 2018

Wednesday, 24 October 2018

Ceisteanna (210)

Seán Sherlock

Ceist:

210. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the criteria employed for membership of the Science Foundation Ireland oversight review panel; if the director general or senior SFI or departmental staff sat on the review panel or took part in deliberations in respect of funding decisions for an individual or for all of the SFI centres under review; the remit of the panel; the rationale for the existence of the panel to consider the funding allocations for SFI funded research centres 2019-2025; if such a panel’s existence has precedence in other locations internationally; if not, if such a model is a bespoke or unique model employed by SFI; her views on the international reputation of Ireland through the use of this model; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44006/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The first seven of SFI’s Research Centres were established in 2013. SFI undertook a pre-planned international review process at the four-year stage of these centres. As part of this, the seven Research Centres were invited to submit proposals for probable future funding.

The review process involved three key stages: 

Firstly, a detailed written review was undertaken by different teams of international experts on the progress the individual SFI Research Centres had made and the proposals for future research outlined in the applications.

Secondly, the same international reviewers conducted an on-site review, and subsequently wrote a report with recommendations and scores.

Thirdly, and following the above, a separate International Oversight Review Panel was put in place to consider the individual reviews from the first two stages

With regard to the composition of the Oversight Panel, I am advised that members of the highest calibre were selected.  Each panel member was required to have strategic leadership roles within prestigious organisations such as national funding agencies and world leading universities.

Members of the SFI Executive, including the Director General, and a number of SFI Scientific Staff attended the panel meeting as observers.  The SFI observers did not participate in any of the panel’s deliberations in respect of the funding recommendations.  There were no staff members from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation present at the panel meeting.

The remit of the Oversight Panel was to ensure:

- Quality assurance

- Fairness and consistency

- Parity of practice across the seven Site Review Panels

- Normalisation of the scoring

- Ranking of the fundable applications

This additional panel was put in place as a quality assurance measure, to ensure parity of practice across the seven Site Reviews. This was important, as the on-site panels reviewing the various Research Centres were comprised of different reviewers. The Oversight Panel was also requested to make a recommendation to the SFI Executive and Board on whether each centre should either receive additional new term funding, should not be funded for a new term, or should progress to an open competition, to be reviewed against other potential centre applicants in 2020. 

Oversight panel precedence:

A two-stage peer review process comprising expert assessments, such as those conducted through the on-site reviews, followed by a final review panel (i.e., oversight panel) deliberation is considered to be international best practice by the European Science Foundation (an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organisation that promotes the highest quality science in Europe). Indeed, an external evaluation of other SFI funding programmes which adopt a similar review process involving a final oversight panel concluded that the review process compares favourably to processes used internationally by other government sponsored funding agencies.

Science Foundation Ireland funds research based on robust and rigorous international peer review processes.  These international best practice processes have led to Ireland now being ranked in 11th place in global scientific ranking – a dramatic rise which has occurred since the establishment of Science Foundation Ireland in 2003.  This quality assurance stage, put in place by Science Foundation Ireland, ensures Ireland’s reputation as a location of world class research. 

SFI, in its capacity as an independent agency of my Department has conducted a review process in accordance with best international practice. I am satisfied that the recommendation of the review panel and the subsequent decision of the SFI Board to invite the INFANT Research Centre to progress to an open competition in 2020 for future funding is both fair and appropriate. 

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