2019 Annual Meeting
The 8th GRC Annual Meeting was held from 1 - 3 May 2019 in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The meeting was jointly hosted by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina (CONICET). About 140 delegates attended the Annual Meeting with 49 Heads of Research Councils participating from 45 countries to share good practices and discuss research funding policy issues.
This year's Annual Meeting addressed the increased expectations of funding organisations to deliver research which has societal and economic impact. Peter Strohschneider (DFG) set the scene by reflecting on the origins of these expectations and on ways of how to respond to them in his speech at the beginning of the Annual Meeting. The GRC participants then discussed in more detail the implications of relying on societal and economic impact as funding criteria (transcript of Peter Strohschneider's Session Keynote). Another set of discussions focused on how funding organisations can assess and demonstrate the impact of funded projects after their completion.
The GRC participants endorsed the GRC 2019 Statement of Principles on Expectations of Societal and Economic Impact. The statement lists 18 key principles in addressing impact expectations and assessing and evaluating the impact of research from the perspective of funding organisations. It is the outcome of a year of extensive discussions among the Annual Meeting hosts, participants of the GRC Regional Meetings, the GRC Executive Support Group and the GRC Governing Board.
GRC Statements of Principles are central to the GRC Annual Meetings and very much add to the value of the GRC. Please look here for access to all GRC publications.
The GRC stresses the gender dimension of research impact and discussed this topic both in the plenary and in a dedicated side event. Instrumental for this ongoing discussion is the work of the Gender Working Group which was formed in 2017 in order to promote the implementation of the 2016 GRC Statement of Principles and Actions Promoting the Equality and Status of Women in Research. As a significant contribution in furthering mutual learning amongst GRC participants, the Gender Working Group presented a Case Study Booklet which showcases 53 actions in 28 countries to promote the equality and status of women in research.
Further information:
Annual Meeting Website: http://fapesp.br/eventos/grc/