Das Evaluationsverfahren

Pre-proposals (July 6, 04)	Full proposals (June 05)	Start of research (Summer 05)
Submission of pre-proposals	Submission of full proposals	Projects approved
Statistics of submission	Evaluation of full proposals
Evaluation of pre-proposals	Selected full proposals and research topics
Selected pre-proposals and statistics	Statistics
	Further procedure

Submission of pre-proposals   ^up

215 pre-proposals requesting a total of CHF 61,7 Mio were submitted by July 6, 2004. Most of the pre-proposals dealt with inter- and/or transdisciplinary concepts covering a wide range of scientific disciplines. The majority of the projects were in the domain of urban and regional planning. The remainder could be attributed to the following domains with approximately equal shares: society, economy and geography, traffic and mobility, infrastructure, ecology, and resource issues.

Statistics of submission   ^up

215 pre-proposals requesting a total of CHF 61,7 Mio were submitted. The average request was CHF 287'000. 67 pre-proposals originated from private companies, 37 from universities, 34 from the ETH Zurich, 32 from EPF Lausanne, 19 from Universities of Applied Sciences and 26 from others. See illustration below.

7 % of the pre-proposals were submitted by women as project leaders.

Evaluation of pre-proposals   ^up

The pre-proposals have been evaluated by the Steering Committee with regard to their relevance and conformity to NRP goals and objectives and with regard to scientific quality. For external review of the pre-proposals there was an international panel of more than 120 scientific experts. Basing its judgement on the outcome of the pre-proposal screening and evaluation process, the Steering Committee selected the most promising projects. Pre-proposals that did not progress to this stage have been turned down by the Steering Committee.

Selected pre-proposals and statistics   ^up

The Steering Committee selected 40 pre-proposals (18 % / CHF 11,3 Mio) and invited their authors to submit full proposals (giving scientific recommendations and individual limits for the requested funding). 175 pre-proposals (82 % / CHF 50,4 Mio) have been rejected by the Steering Committee.

Submission of full proposals   ^up

40 full proposals (CHF 11.5 million) have been submitted. The total budget of the NRP 54 is CHF 13 million. According to an earlier decision of the Steering Committee there are CHF 7 million to be assigned for the first phase. Therefore, the applicants have been informed by the Steering Committee that only around two-thirds of the 40 projects could be granted.

Evaluation of full proposals   ^up

More than 50 foreign experts have been asked to evaluate the scientific quality of the submitted projects. This resulted in three foreign expert opinions per project. Additionally, two more reviews per project were composed by members of the Steering Committee. Based on this evaluation process the Steering Committee recommended 24 projects (CHF 6.7 million) to be approved and 16 to be rejected. 21 percent of the recommended projects were submitted by women as project leaders.

Selected full proposals and research topics   ^up

The 24 projects cover the following three research axes:

Focus of research I: Comprehensive assessment and evolution
13 projects / CHF 3'406'535

Focus of research II: Creative and integrated design and planning
7 projects / CHF 2'050'711

Focus of research III: Effective operation and management
4 projects / CHF 1'204'193

Statistics   ^up

Further procedure   ^up

Start of research is summer 2005. A "kick-off-meeting" for all the researchers will take place on October 4, 2005 in Berne.