The draft version of the ResInfra@DR Registry of RI Reviewers was presented on four webinars on January 16 and 17 to policy-makers and other relevant stakeholders from the Danube-region countries. The webinars were attended by 9 policy-makers from the Ministries responsible for Science, Research and Education, by 7 representatives of various state agencies responsible for research infrastructures, and by 3 high-ranking members of different research organisations. Marko Hajdinjak from ARC Fund and Martin Felix Gajdusek from ZSI explained the purpose and intended benefits of the Registry, and briefly explained the process of recruitment and selection of reviewers for the Registry. The webinar participants asked numerous questions and made suggestions about how to finalise and further improve the database. Most participants also completed a feedback form, which was sent to them after the webinar, sharing further valuable comments and ideas.

Based on this important feedback, ARC Fund (partner responsible for development of the Registry) has now started the process of final revision and update of the reviewer’s profiles. By the end of February, all reviewers included in the Registry will receive their profiles with specific requirements and questions, and will be asked to make the necessary changes in order to make the information in their profiles as accurate, informative and concise as possible.

When ARC Fund receives the revised profiles, this information will be transferred back into the database and the ResInfra@DR Registry of RI Reviewers should become fully operational in April. It will then be officially handed over to the authorised representatives of the Ministries of Science and Research, or other equivalent ministries in all 14 Danube region countries. The Registry will be accessible only for a limited number of relevant public officials responsible for the RI evaluation and monitoring processes in their countries. These officials will sign a confidentiality agreement upon receiving the Registry in order to meet the EU General Data Protection Regulation.

Whenever the need arises for conducting an ex-ante assessment of research infrastructures in a certain Danube region country, the responsible authorities will be able to select a shortlist of suitable candidates from the Registry and send them an invitation to apply. Here we need to underline that inclusion in the Registry does not imply that a contract for evaluation of a research infrastructure will necessarily be activated. The Registry only provides an option for potential contract, but does not guarantee one. The final decision who to select and invite rests with the responsible authorities, and not with the ResInfra@DR project.

For further details please contact Mr Marko Hajdinajak, ARC Fund: marko.hajdinjak@online.bg
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