At the close of the call, the ExpeER Coordination Team had received 93 full applications and 29 “fast track” applications, of which 12/13 were deemed ineligible to receive financial support following the review process. As a result, 107 TA proposals were accepted during the entire time in which the call was open (45-months).
At the launch of the call, the TA network comprised 33 state-of-the-art research infrastructures across Europe. During the course of the project, 4 sites withdrew from the program for varying reasons, thus leaving 29 sites on offer to TA users.
The most visited sites were: Negev, Israel (11 visits; 214 TA days), Hyytiala, Finland (10 visits; 180 TA days), Whim, UK (9 visits; 99 TA days), and Montpellier Ecotron, France (8 visits; 151 TA days). Conversely, three TA sites had no applications/visits take place.
A total of 1687 TA days were used, with the average length of TA visits being 15 days, and the average TA user reimbursement was 2388€. The rate at which TA applications were received grew steadily as the project progressed. In the first twelve months (June 2011 > June 2012) of the call being opened, just 14 visits took place (totaling 167 TA days). As the projects visibility grew, so did the number of applications and TA visits, with 31 TA visits (511 TA days) between July 2012 > June 2013, 27 TA visits (473 TA days) between July 2013 > June 2014, and 36 TA visits (614 TA days) between July 2014 > March 2015.
Projects by research topics:
23 GLOBAL CHANGE & CLIMATE OBSERVATION
18 ECOSYSTEMS & BIODIVERSITY
9 OTHER - ENVIRONMENT
6 OTHER - EARTH SCIENCES
10 OTHER - LIFE SCIENCES & BIOTECHNOLOGY
6 WATER SCIENCES/HYDROLOGY
TA visitor's age:
< 30: 22%
31-50: 58%
> 50: 20%
Type of visitor's institution:
University: 73%
Public research organisation: 26%
Industrial and/or profit private organisation: 1%
TA visitor's status:
Technician: 1%
Post-graduate: 27%
Post-doctoral: 26%
Experienced researcher: 45%
TA visitor's origin:
18% GERMANY
14% NETHERLANDS
08% SPAIN
07% DENMARK
07% ISRAEL
07% UK
04% PORTUGAL
04% AUSTRIA
04% CZECH REPUBLIC
04% ESTONIA
03% ITALY
03% FINLAND
03% BELGIUM
03% POLAND
03% GREECE
01% TURKEY
01% ROMANIA
01% NORWAY
01% FRANCE
01% NEW ZEALAND
01% SWITZERLAND