Bridging the Gap between Academia and Policy Makers

Call for Proposals from members

The Network offers support to events involving both academics and policy makers aiming at bridging the gap between academia and political stakeholders.

Background

The Scientific Committee of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies decided at its last meeting in September 2013 to allocate a part of the resources of the Network to support actions organised by Network members with the aim of building bridges between the world of academics and that of policy makers. (For the full list of decisions please read the Report http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/culture/romastudies/Report_5th_SC_Meeting_25Sept2013_final.pdf). This decision is in line with the main purpose of the Network project, which aims to raise the visibility of the existing scientific resources on Roma related issues in order to ultimately assist and improve the planning, implementation and monitoring/evaluation of public policies for the social inclusion of the European Roma population.

We therefore call for proposals for the organisation of thematic meetings and workshops involving both academics and policy makers.

Call 1: Thematic meetings on issues which are relevant for policy makers

These meetings should focus on a particular topic which is highly relevant for the policy making community and to which the input from academics can be beneficial and valuable. The involvement and active participation of policy makers are crucial criteria. Proposals should demonstrate how the exchange between academics and policy makers on that particular topic could be used in the policy planning / implementation / evaluation process.

Call 2: Workshops with the objective of raising the profile of Romani Studies, also involving policy makers

These workshops would serve to raise the awareness of existing results, research in progress, and ongoing debates within Romani Studies among non-academics, with particular focus on policy makers and political stakeholders. These events should promote the ideas and results from high quality research in this domain in order to engage stakeholders in exchanges between the spheres of academics and policy makers.

Eligibility

Members of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies are eligible to submit proposals. Non-members can be co-opted as participants in the organising teams and their contribution (as presented in their CVs) will also be evaluated. All events should include policy makers as participants in active roles (not only as audience). Priority is given to proposals which have an explicit involvement of policy makers and political stakeholders. Forms of involvement can include: partnership agreements with local, regional or national authorities / active participation of the policy makers in the event organised /  the event produces a policy paper as an outcome which will be used/implemented by the authorities.

Time frame and location of the events

Meetings should be planned not earlier than 15 May 2014 and not later than 30 April 2015. Events can be proposed in any of the Council of Europe member states.

Eligible expenses

  • Travel costs
  • Accommodation
  • Meals for the participants (including coffee breaks)
  • Fees for the main speakers
  • Workshop materials
  • Meeting room
  • Translation

Procedure for evaluation

The proposals should be submitted to the Secretary. They will be registered and applicants notified. Proposals submitted before 24 March 2014 will be evaluated by the Scientific Committee at the forthcoming meeting on 6-7 April 2014. There will subsequent rounds of the call (the next deadline will be in the autumn of 2014) proposals received will be evaluated during the future meetings of the Scientific Committee. Evaluations are based on the Criteria of evaluation (see next section). All applicants will receive a notification regarding the results and the list of supported proposals will be published on the website.

Criteria for evaluation

The proposals will be evaluated based on:

  1. academic quality of the proposal (argumentation, methodology, references and data sources),
  2. relevance of the proposed topic for policy making (how the research discussed is connected to the work of the practitioners),
  3. proposed outcome of the workshop (the benefit for the participants for attending this particular event)
  4. ability of the applicants to engage in critical discussion regarding the broader issues of Romani Studies (demonstrated by published work on the topic of the workshops and related issues),
  5. experience of the applicant in organising events involving a non-academic audience (in particular working with stakeholders or policy makers).

Deadline for submitting proposals: 24 March 2014

All proposals and related materials should be sent to the Secretary rsnet.secretary@gmail.com by 24 March 20014.

Checklist:

  • Completed application form
  • CVs of the organising team
  • Proposal (describing the event, number of participants, proposed budget, outcomes)
  • Preliminary programme of the event
  • Proof of participation / endorsement letter from the policy makers involved

Download the application form.

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