EMBO is supported by several expert committees in the evaluation of applications or nominations submitted to any of its programmes and activities. The task of the evaluator is to ensure the confidential, fair and equitable peer review of the submissions. In this capacity he/she shall work independently and not represent any organization. The evaluator commits himself/herself to strict confidentiality and impartiality for this task and shall not discuss the proposal with anyone not directly involved with the peer review of the candidate/proposal.
Persons who are involved in the evaluation of applications or nominations submitted to any of the EMBO Programmes and activities shall declare to the EMBO Office any conflict of interest in relation to any candidate or proposal prior to their involvement in an evaluation. Persons with a conflict of interest will be exempted from the review, evaluation and decision-making process for the evaluation in question.
Conflicts of interest include:
- Having a personal relationship with the candidate or proposer, or, in the case of a fellowship applicant, with the future supervisor/host
- Having supervised the candidate for a PhD degree or as a postdoctoral researcher
- Having a significant academic relationship with the candidate, or in the case of a fellowship applicant, with the future supervisor/host; this includes having jointly published a research paper in the last five years
- Being a member of the candidate’s institution
- Having a current or planned close scientific cooperation
- Having commercial/financial interests in relation to the candidate/proposal
- Having been involved in the preparation of the proposal
- Benefitting directly or indirectly from the acceptance or rejection of the proposal/candidate
- Being in any other situation that could cast doubt on the evaluator’s ability to evaluate the proposal impartially, or that could reasonably appear to do so in the eyes of an external third party.
