Glossary
- TAP Transnational Access Platform (the application system).
- User-Group The group of people involved in the proposal applying for RI access.
- TA Transnational Access.
- Remote Access Transnational Access in which the user(s) do not visit the infrastructure or installation physically themselves, instead the staff of the infrastructure or installation conducts the study/collects the samples/does the monitoring for the user(s) according to their research plan.
- DMP Data Management Plan.
- RI Research Infrastructure.
- Lighthouses “The EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030”, supports regional engagement and cooperation through area-based ‘Lighthouses’ in major sea and river basins: Atlantic-Arctic, Mediterranean Sea, Baltic-North Sea, and Danube-Black Sea. Mission Lighthouses are sites to pilot, demonstrate, develop and deploy the Mission activities across EU seas and river basins.
With the opening of the first Transnational Access Call on the 11th of November 2024, we are officially in the ‘Age of (our Transnational Access) AQUARIUS’, which, in case you weren’t aware, stands for: Aqua Research Infrastructure Services for the health and protection of our unique ocean, seas and freshwater ecosystems.
As word has been spreading about this unique and significant opportunity, interest is growing, and good questions are rising. To support applicants and ensure they have the necessary insights to be successful, Guidelines and FAQs have been developed and are available on our website. For a quick reference, we have asked Anneli Strobel, who is leading the “Call design, management, evaluation and access platform”, to run us through the key points of the project’s application and evaluation process, and to explain why researchers should not miss this opportunity.
Right out of the gate, what would you tell people thinking of applying to the AQUARIUS Transnational Access Funding Call?
Transnational access enables researchers to use facilities such as research vessels, observation platforms, satellites, data services and other infrastructures located in other countries to conduct their work, and thereby it fosters collaboration and innovation across borders.
I would say to researchers that this is an exceptional opportunity to access a variety of state-of-the-art research infrastructures from all over Europe. AQUARIUS has robust funding and clear access conditions. Therefore, it is a unique platform that you can use to elevate your research and contribute to the European research and innovation landscape.
The Application Process
Here is a step-by-step reference guide to start your application journey:
- Visit the AQUARIUS AQUARIUS Calls page
- Check the eligibility requirements
- Does your planned project fulfill the call challenges?
- Check in the RI Catalogue which RI is best suited to advance your Transnational Access (TA) project
- Check the Research Infrastructure catalogue for the availability of the infrastructures
- Contact the operators of the RI to which you are requesting access to find out whether your proposal can be implemented in the RI as planned. They are available for queries
- Register on the AQUARIUS TAP and activate your account
- Fill in the TA application form in the TAP
- Review and submit your application
Who is eligible to apply for transnational access?
The majority of people making up a user group must be located in a different country from the one where the research infrastructures they are applying to access are located. However, there’s an exception for infrastructures run by international organisations, like the Joint Research Centre (JRC) or an ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium).
Also, user groups must agree to share the results of their research for their applications to be eligible. See the guidelines for information regarding data management.
Can one institute make an independent application or is a partnership required?
Proposals for the AQUARIUS TA calls must involve at least three partners from three different countries.
Can researchers and institutes outside the European Union apply?
Yes, non-EU user groups are eligible to apply for AQUARIUS TA; we can grant them up to 20% of the access units that we offer in each TA call. This means that AQUARIUS will fund at least 80% of the total units of access, for example the number of days on a Research Vessel, or hours of flight time for an observation aircraft provided by the AQUARIUS project, to parties with the majority of users working in the EU or associated country.
Where can we access the application form and relevant information to prepare our application?
We have developed the Transnational Access Platform (TAP) a user-friendly portal for researchers to prepare and to submit an application. There will be a training webinar on the use of this platform on 27th November 2024.
On the AQUARIUS website you will find all the information you need to develop your application, including project information, the Research Infrastructure catalogue, and templates and guidelines for applicants which list the application procedure in detail.
What kind of time investment is needed to complete an application?
In AQUARIUS, we try to make the application process as user-friendly and, therefore, as time efficient as possible. The research plan itself should not need more than 10 pages. For those who are familiar with the EUROFLEETS application, the AQUARIUS application is similar. However, it is very important that you invest the time to research and decide which research infrastructures you would like to access. Please have a look at the RI catalogue.
In a nutshell, what are the initial considerations and steps in the application process to be successful?
Applicants should strive to integrate multiple research infrastructures in a meaningful way, and to ensure there is at least one scientific challenge that matches the goals of the EU Mission: Restore our Oceans and Waters by 2030. The next steps are to select a specific topic and the most appropriate research infrastructures. For example, if you want to monitor pollution, you can use satellite observations, but you can also use underwater measurement systems or observations from research vessels.
Can a user-group request access to a research infrastructure located in the North Atlantic to conduct a research project in the Mediterranean?
Usually no but check the research infrastructure’s ‘Normal Area of Operation’ in the Research Infrastructures Catalogue. Some infrastructures are mobile and can be transported to other regions. Most research vessels are only available in their “Normal Area of Operation”. Please contact individual research infrastructure operators for confirmation in advance of preparing your proposal – contact details for all operators are available in the Research Infrastructures Catalogue.
How can we access portable equipment (drones, floats, etc.)?
You can apply for the portable equipment as part of the AQUARIUS Transnational Access Calls. Check the Research Infrastructure Catalogue for detailed scheduling information, including vessel locations. Remember, it’s about aligning your proposal with available research infrastructures so study the catalogue thoroughly and request information as needed.
The Evaluation Process
How long does it take from application to decision?
The evaluation process includes a review of the eligibility criteria and logistical pre-check, followed by an external scientific review and a logistical review afterwards. This usually takes two to three months after call closure, before a provisional funding decision is made and negotiations on access time to the research infrastructures begin.
How are the applications being evaluated?
AQUARIUS follows a transparent evaluation system for TA applications. The scientific evaluations are overseen by the AQUARIUS Scientific Expert Panel (SEP). The SEP consists of international experts in the field from the different EU Mission Lighthouse Regions. The SEP proposes external reviewers for the TA proposals, who review the TA applications independently and anonymously.
The SEP then creates a ranking list of the proposals that have been scientifically assessed as excellent. These high-ranking proposals are then reviewed by the AQUARIUS Operational Expert Panel (OEP) to determine the logistical feasibility of the proposed work.
Via this process, AQUARIUS ensures that only the projects that are scientifically excellent, meet the call challenges and integrate multiple infrastructures in a meaningful way, will receive the financial support from AQUARIUS.
Are members of the evaluation team part of the AQUARIUS consortium or are they external?
The scientific evaluation process in AQUARIUS is monitored by a panel of experts, at least 50% of whom are external members. This panel supports AQUARIUS in the search for external reviewers for each TA application. So the actual evaluation is conducted by a minimum of two external, anonymous reviewers. The SEP members are selected according to their expertise to cover all the EU Mission Lighthouse regions and a broad range of marine and freshwater science domains, thus encompassing a wide range of expertise. You can read more about the evaluation procedure and the panel members here.
What are the requirements concerning data generated from research conducted within the scope of receiving AQUARIUS transnational access?
The data management strategy is fully outlined in a deliverable available on our website, which details how data generated while using the research infrastructures will be managed and shared. You can access it here. Each funded TA research project and user group will implement a data management plan (DMP), which will be supervised and reviewed by assigned data centres.
Integration seems to be an important concept in AQUARIUS. Can you provide some of the key points?
AQUARIUS is very much encouraging integration of partners, themes and research infrastructures. Having one or more of the following will be favourably reviewed:
- Users can select an unlimited number of infrastructures from the nine categories. The selection and integration of at least two infrastructures from multiple categories is strongly encouraged.
- Applications proposing advanced training or educational element for scientists or technicians in their projects are encouraged.
- Applications from early-stage researchers and applications that have a gender balance in the user group are favourable.
- Applicants are strongly encouraged to include scientists from less well-equipped countries among the user-group.
- Collaboration with researchers from Ukraine and researchers with refugee status will be favourably reviewed.
- Applications with the inclusion of industry in the application are welcome.
- Cooperation with citizen science groups or a citizen science component is encouraged.
The Joy of a One-Stop-Shop
On a personal level Anneli, what is the most exciting part of this project for you and what do you see as being a major benefit that AQUARIUS is offering researchers?
The most exciting thing for me is the new online application platform (TAP). It was developed based on our experience with other platforms from other research and infrastructure projects. We have developed it to be as easy to understand and user-friendly as possible for all our users and stakeholders. And what I really see as an advantage of AQUARIUS is that access to different research infrastructures from different countries is managed centrally. Researchers can therefore receive financial and logistical support for their research projects, as well as support with research permits, via a single programme. This eliminates the need to obtain multiple approvals and applications from national organisations.
About Anneli
Anneli Strobel is a project manager at the International Cooperation unit at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar Marine Research, located in Bremerhaven in Germany, where she is focused on coordinating activities in large EU projects to improve research coordination in Europe or managing transnational access calls such as in AQUARIUS, and previously Eurofleets.
