CoARA Launches its Second Call for Cascade Funding
CoARA, the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment, has launched a second call for cascade funding. Funded within the CoARA Boost Project it aims to support institutional reform of research assessment at various stages.
The Second Call will fund +20 projects that facilitate piloting new initiatives within institutions, transferring knowledge between organisations, and enabling lasting institutional change.
The call is open from 21 February until 21 April 2025 (closing at 17:00 CET).
Funding for the Second Call: €1.22m to be released in the second round
Projects to be funded
Three project types available:
Institutional Pilot Projects: Experiment with and evaluate new assessment approaches, frameworks, and tools.
Teaming Projects: Transfer expertise and lessons learned from experienced organisations to less experienced ones.
Institutional Change Projects: Accelerate organisational change in processes and procedures on an institutional level.
As a facilitator of institutional changes in research assessment, the Second Call invites applications that address practical solutions for implementing the reform of research assessment practices within a given organisation. The Cascade Funding programme aims to support a variety of projects focused on developing innovative pilot projects, knowledge transfer and exchange, and lasting institutional reform.
Pilot projects offer an opportunity for institutions to experiment with and evaluate new assessment approaches by exploring new modes of operation that address issues relevant for an institution’s assessment mechanisms and pave the way towards lasting change
Teaming projects facilitate the transfer and adaptation of experience and practices from a more advanced organisation to organisations with less experience, involving projects such as capacity-building or enhancing open infrastructure relevant for responsible research assessment. These projects involve multiple organisations for co-piloting innovations between institutions of the same type or between organisations of different types, such as universities and national academies.
Institutional Change projects aim to establish sustainable changes within an organisation’s institutional policies for lasting change. These projects serve as scaled-up versions of Pilot projects aimed at organisations that already have a reform policy in place, but require additional resources for implementing reforms through documentation or knowledge-sharing systems
In the First Call, a maximum of 25 projects were selected and are currently underway. The selected projects from the First Call included 13 Pilot Projects, 3 Teaming Projects, and 9 Institutional Change Projects.
The Second Call is expected to add to the diverse portfolio of projects, taking into account geographical diversity among other evaluation criteria outlined in the Evaluation Criteria Document. The overall portfolio of selected projects will aim to transform the shared vision outlined in the Agreement into concrete, lasting institutional changes in research assessment practices.
As the call is meant to support institutions from across the European Research Area (ERA), eligible applications are limited to legal entities based in the EU Member States and countries associated to the Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.
How to apply?
Organisations are invited to apply on the Funding Call Application platform: https://lnkd.in/eBgT7Gcp
Apply today and find important resources for the Second Call below:
1. Call text: https://lnkd.in/eSir2SfN
2. Evaluation Guidelines: https://lnkd.in/etuCBsdG
3. Guidelines for Applicants: https://lnkd.in/eGUwhNf3
4. Guidelines for Reviewers: https://lnkd.in/ewUa8ag7
5. Application Template: https://lnkd.in/eNCPGHrB
6. Evaluation Criteria & Scoring Sheet: https://lnkd.in/e7sAqiCn
7. Budget Template for Unique Parnters: https://lnkd.in/ebawqctB
8. Budget Template for Partnering Projects: https://lnkd.in/esHe-daR
9. Template Sub-Grant Agreement Call 2: https://lnkd.in/eyxcbCgT
For best practices and lesson learned, please find the presentation slides from the latest Cascade Funding information hosted on 30 January 2025 here.