News

A mid-term review of the nine projects funded in the 2010 EMRP call "Metrology for Environment" was held on 21st October 2013. The projects can be seen at http://www.euramet.org/index.php?id=emrp_call_2010.

The purpose of this review was to gather a strategic view of the related projects. It was intended to be a pilot of a potential method for improving reporting and evaluation under EMPIR and participants were asked to treat the event as a mutual learning exercise rather than an audit.

Five external reviewers, nominated by EMRP Committee members, were appointed to assess the projects through consideration of potential outcomes and the uptake of those outcomes by the stakeholders. In the morning each JRP-Representative was allocated a set amount of time to give a short presentation and answer questions from the reviewers. Having listened to all the presentations there was a closed session of reviewers to reflect on the presentations and formulate further questions which were taken to a joint Q&A session. Brief feedback from the reviewers was captured.

In addition, the JRP-Representatives engaged with the TP Environment Coordinator to share best practice and consider where they may work together in disseminating the results of the projects. The reviewers provided individual feedback for each project as well as general comments concerned with impact, for example, for the JRP-Consortia to ensure that they encourage greater involvement of stakeholders - adapting their projects to support the priorities those stakeholders identify, and recommending for them to be less conservative in terms of dissemination.

All the participants of the review found it to be a useful experience, with particular emphasis placed on the value of face-to-face discussion and evaluation. Thus, the pilot review has been judged a success and as a result there are three mid-term reviews planned for March and April 2014 for the 2011 EMRP Calls "Metrology for Health", "SI Broader Scope" and "Metrology for New Technologies".