Gov/en/Portal:R&D/Open-Calls:Commissions

💡 In simple words: Every open call is managed by a small team called a commission. This page explains who they are, what they do, and how they decide.

🎯 In 20 seconds (scientific summary): This page details the composition, roles, and processes of Open Call Commissions. Each call is managed by a dedicated commission led by a Chair/President, supported by a Facilitator, and composed of Evaluators. The commission evaluates proposals, seeks consensus, and conducts a post-funding follow-up to assess the maturity of the implemented ideas.

Composition of a Commission

Each Open Call is managed by a dedicated commission, typically composed of an odd number of members (usually 3, up to 5, 7, or 9 for complex or highly funded calls). The commission includes three main roles:

• The Chair (President): Appointed by the Steering Committee, the Chair (gender-neutral) leads the commission. They are responsible for forming their team of evaluators, framing the call, setting meeting dates, and ensuring decisions are justified.
• The Facilitator: Currently the Foundation Director (and later project assistants), the Facilitator assists the Chair. They handle formal communication: acknowledging receipt of contributions, explaining the rules of the game, and answering questions related to form (but not content).
• The Evaluators (Members): Selected by the Steering Committee or the Chair, these members are experts in the relevant field. They are ideally sensitive to open source culture, the commons, project management, and fair funding distribution.

Roles and Responsibilities

The Chair

The Chair has a small dedicated budget to communicate about the call within relevant networks. They can participate in defining the call and have the authority to reframe, complete, specify, and document the call to make it clearer. They propose and accept commission members.

The Chair has the obligation to justify the commission's choices. Their primary (though not exclusive) objective is to reach a consensus or consent among the evaluators, reducing polarized approaches as much as possible. If a consensus cannot be reached, the Chair must explicitly mention opposing views in the final decision.

The Facilitator

The Facilitator ensures the smooth administrative running of the call. They maintain databases of potential experts with the required sensitivities (free culture, commons, project engineering) to invite them to future open call commissions.

Evaluation and Follow-up Process

During the Call

The commission meets at predefined dates to evaluate proposals. During the entire duration of the call, the Chair and the Facilitator (and optionally the other members) conduct a minimum of one check-in (pointage) every 15 days to monitor progress and discussions.

Post-Funding Follow-up

The commission remains active even after the initial funds are released, although with reduced activity. Only half of the allocated reward is distributed immediately upon selection.

A mandatory check-in occurs one year (or sometimes two years) later to assess the maturity of the idea:

• If the idea was successfully implemented and maintained, the second half of the reward is distributed to the same beneficiary.
• If the idea was not implemented, or if it was countered or replaced by better approaches, the remaining funds may be distributed to other beneficiaries, or a mix of the original and new contributors.

See also: Open Call Main · Open Call FAQ