EU PROJECTS AND EVALUATORS

Evaluators are experts in charge of evaluating proposals, including ethics review experts. The evaluator provides individual scores and comments for each evaluation criterion that are described in the call documents and work programmes. The evaluators may also be invited to consensus meetings where the awarded scores are discussed and a consensus report is prepared.

Evaluators of EU projects may be of two types: Either Scientist, Expert having specific technical knowledge or Generalist/Businessman having some technical knowledge. Good Evaluators have the capacity to listen and can express and defend opinions. Commission officials informally evaluate the Evaluators and intervene to get back on track.

Types of Evaluators

1. The Sleeper: Does not participate actively
2. The 'Bully': Does not listen but talks a lot and insists we listen to him/her
3. The 'Iron Rod': Does not necessarily say much but is completely inflexible.
4. The 'Optimist': Too positive/lenient, assumes all problems can be solved during negotiations
5. The 'Mad Professor': Ignores business and exploitation issues, evaluates like it is a paper for a conference
6. The 'Blind Businessman': Ignores the scientific and technical side

How to become a Reviewer/Evaluator

1. You have done it before
2. Your CV shows a good match with the very specific technical area- You have generalist competence
3. You are visible to Commission officials (project coordinator, active at project reviews, attend Commission events)
4. You enquire directly