Open Access

I. General requirements

RINGEN offers a great extent of its capacity within the Open Access (OA) regime for public entities providing R&D and education. It follows basic principles provided by The European Research Council on Open Access to research data and scientific publications.

However, RINGEN provides not only scientific outputs but also scientific capacity in terms of experts and core facilities where both can be used for no or only operational costs. See definition of public entities - public law bodies here. 

Please note that final decision in case of uncertainty if the given applicant is eligible to use the services within OA regime falls fully within the competence of the research infrastructure Managing Board.

II. Categories of services

The applicants may choose from three basic categories or their combination:

1. consultations with RINGEN´s researchers & experts
2. use of data and other information sources
3. use of laboratories and other premises and technological equipment

The applicants are advised to consider carefully what services are really necessary for implementation of their own research as the RI´s capacity is limited.

We strongly recommend to brows RINGEN´s web site with supporting information on technological equipment and description of research activities and topics to better focus and tailor the project proposal. See also evaluation criteria below.

Please note that RINGEN does not provide any kind of direct financial support at the moment.

III. Application form

In order to undertake qualified evaluation process please provide us with relevant information using the application form in PDF.

IV. Evaluation process

We make our best effort to treat all applicants equally and transparent. Therefore, the evaluation process comprises of two stages.

Stage 1: internal assessment – the RI internal experts (usually heads of research sections) will undertake the first-stage assessment primarily focused on applicant´s eligibility, compliance with RI´s goals and research focus, etc.). During this stage, the applicants will obtain a short feedback and may be required to provide additional information and to make further improvements of their proposal.

The assessor will recommend the proposal for the second-stage assessment or will reject the proposal providing it will not meet the basic eligibility criteria.

The applicants should receive confirmation on receiving the proposal within a few days.

Stage 2 - external assessment – this assessment (project scientific quality, feasibility,  etc.) will be undertaken by members of the managing board and approved by members of the International Scientific Board (ISB) providing the proposal has an international implication; the ISB will evaluate also the international context of the proposals (if relevant) and their contribution to the RI´s overall scientific long-term goals and to the overall scientific challenges in the given field.  

The applicants will be informed in the course of the evaluation process and should receive final decision on approval or rejection of their project proposal within a month since submission date.

V. Evaluation criteria

• Relevance of the research topic (see section “research” and “services”)
• Quality and feasibility of the expected research outputs and results
• Appropriateness of the RI´s capacity required
• Research history and background of the proponent/s