Call for Policy Papers and participation at the EU-India Experts’ Workshop

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Please carefully examine the Eligibility criteria given on page 4 and 6 of the Call document and apply only if you meet the criteria.

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Please carefully examine the Eligibility criteria given on page 4 and 6 of the Call document (attached) and apply only if you meet the criteria.

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While one could consider the core sectoral areas as the ones listed in the document “EU-India strategic partnership: roadmap to 2025” that was issued at the recent EU-India Summit held on 15 July 2020, however, we would prefer that the applicants limit their papers to one or more of the sectoral areas listed in the Call document, relevant extract copied below:

EU-India cooperation on one of the core sectoral issues (e.g. addressing challenges related to climate change, or health, or digitalization, or connectivity, etc.)

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Yes, indeed, a few lines from the head of the institute that the institute is aware of your application and supports and endorses your contribution would be adequate.

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While the Call envisages individual applications but an application for co-authored paper would not be disqualified, with the application of the following qualifications:

1. All the authors must individually meet the given eligibility criteria including support letters from the heads of their respective organisations.
2. The cover letter in the application needs to be signed by all the authors.
3. In case a co-authored paper gets selected, the authors must agree to divide the awarded amount of EUR 1000 equally amongst all the co-authors – this should be stated in the cover letter.
4. In case a co-authored paper gets selected for participation in the Experts’ Workshop, all the co-authors will be invited to participate and will be together given the same amount of time for speaking as a team as is given to other (individual) authors.

Answer

While the Call envisages individual applications but an application for co-authored paper would not
be disqualified, with the application of the following qualifications:

1. All the authors must individually meet the given eligibility criteria including support letters from the heads of their respective organisations.
2. The cover letter in the application needs to be signed by all the authors.
3. In case a co-authored paper gets selected, the authors must agree to divide the awarded amount of EUR 1000 equally amongst all the co-authors – this should be stated in the cover letter.
4. In case a co-authored paper gets selected for participation in the Experts’ Workshop, all the co-authors will be invited to participate and will be together given the same amount of time for speaking as a team as is given to other (individual) authors.
5. Please note that this call is open to individual experts representing think tanks, universities, or political foundations etc. registered and based in one of the EU 27 Member States or in India, and is not aimed at employees of international organizations.

Answer

We attach the Call document for your reference and invite you to examine pages 4 & 6 of the same carefully. You will see that your application will not meet the eligibility criteria as this Call is aimed at attracting papers from working professionals with minimum three years of relevant work experience.

Sorry to disappoint you on this occasion but we encourage you to maintain your interest in following the EU and EU-India relations. We would even say that you should still go ahead and write the paper you were planning to write – we’re sure you’ll also be able to find an outlet or channel for publishing it online/offline.

Answer

1. In the eligibility criteria given on page 6 of the Call document there are 7 points given in the table and it is mentioned below the table that “Only the applicants who score Yes in all rows from 1 to 5 above will move to the next stage.” This means the applicant may score either Yes or No in row 6 and/or 7 but the application will still move to the next stage as long as the answer is Yes for points raised in row 1-5. However, the answer given in row 6 (related to gender) or row 7 (related to age) will have an impact on the evaluation grid given on page 7 (see points d & e)
2. For your point (b), please note that row 2 of the eligibility criteria on page 6 of the Call document will apply and applicants not meeting this will not move to the next stage.

Answer

We attach a copy of the Call document and invite you to look carefully at the eligibility criteria given on page 4 & 6 of the Call document.  As you would see the application will not move from eligibility (page 6 of the Call) to evaluation stage (page 7) unless the first five items on the eligibility criteria (page 6) are met.

At the EUPOP project team it is our objective to promote the maximisation of research and writing on the EU and EU-India relations, therefore we would strongly encourage you to continue your work in this area.

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We attach a copy of the current TTTI Call document (along with the Q&A compilation) and invite you to go through the eligibility criteria (page 4 & 6) and evaluation criteria (page 7) in the Call and decide on your participation accordingly.

We at the EUPOP project team would like to promote the maximation of research and writing on topics related to the EU and EU-India relations and would therefore encourage all interested experts from the EU and India to take part in this call, subject to the fulfilment of the eligibility and evaluation criteria cited above.

Please feel free to share these documents also with others who might be interested and are eligible.

Answer

Thanks for your mail below. While the Call envisages individual applications but an application for co-authored paper would not be disqualified, with the application of the following qualifications:

1. All the authors must individually meet the given eligibility criteria including support letters from the heads of their respective organisations.
2. The cover letter in the application needs to be signed by all the authors.
3. In case a co-authored paper gets selected, the authors must agree to divide the awarded amount of EUR 1000 equally amongst all the co-authors – this should be stated in the cover letter.
4. In case a co-authored paper gets selected for participation in the Experts’ Workshop, all the co-authors will be invited to participate and will be together given the same amount of time for speaking as a team as is given to other (individual) authors.

Answer

Thank you for your mail below. The answers to your queries are given below in serial order.

1. No, it is not required to use your letter head for this purpose.
2. For the format, please follow the instructions given under the section titled “Format and Methodology”  on page 5 of the Call document (copy attached for ready reference).

Answer

Thanks for your mail. Please find below the answers to your questions, in serial order

1. While the Call envisages individual applications, submission of co-authored paper would not be disqualified provided that the following criteria are met:
   1. All authors must individually meet the given eligibility criteria, including support letters from the heads of their respective organisations.
   2. The cover letter in the application needs to be signed by all the authors.
   3. In case a co-authored paper gets selected, the authors must agree to divide the awarded amount of EUR 1000 equally amongst all the co-authors – this should be stated in the cover letter.
   4. In case a co-authored paper gets selected for participation in the Experts’ Workshop, all the co-authors will be invited to participate and will be together given the same amount of time for speaking as a team as is given to other (individual) authors.
2. Please read the Eligibility criteria given on page 4 and 6 of the Call document (copy attached for reference). Minimum of three years’ work experience is needed which may be cumulative over different organisations or with the same / current organisation.

Answer

Thanks for your mail below. We take note of your remark on ageism. Please note that it was agreed in discussion with the EU Delegation to try to expand in this round of the twinning initiative the circle of researchers and writers on the EU and EU-India relations, and offer an additional incentive to younger and/or female researchers. But while the criteria of age and gender count for 5 points each in the evaluation score total of 100, they do not in themselves constitute reasons for ineligibility of applicants (please see page 6 & 7 of the Call, attached).

On the paper that you have shared, three remarks:

1. It was not clear to us if you meant to say that you would submit the same paper as part of your proposed submission? If so, please note that the Call intends to invite fresh new papers and the already published papers would not be considered eligible. Moreover, the submitted papers should tackle one of the following topics
   1. Opportunities for enhanced cooperation between the EU and India in the international fora (e.g. in WTO/UN/WHO/etc.);
   2. EU-India cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region; or
   3. EU-India cooperation on one of the core sectoral issues (e.g. addressing challenges related to climate change, or health, or digitalization, or connectivity, etc.)
2. Or did you mean to ask
   only whether the paper you shared would qualify to meet the Eligibility criteria as per point 2 in the table given on page 6 of the Call (“Has the applicant published at least one scholarly paper or article on EU – India relations or on the technical issue being addressed in the paper?”). In this case, please note that applicants have to submit as proof either a previously published paper on any aspect of EU-India relations or any other scholarly paper previously written by them and published which is on the same technical issue that is being addressed in the paper submitted for this application.
3. You will understand that we cannot give advance feedback on specific papers shared except to draw your attention to the “Format and Methodology” (see page 5 of the Call, attached), in particular in relation to the word limit of 1500 words, and to Eligibility Criteria on page 4.

Answer

Thanks for your mail and find below the answers in serial order:

1. We have not specified the exact time in the Call for the deadline to submit the papers on 01 October. So it may be taken till the end of the day in New Delhi on 01 October, corresponding to 8.30 PM CET on 01 October 2020.
2. Footnotes or end-notes or bibliography etc. do not count towards the word limit of 1500 words for the paper being submitted.

Answer

The answer to your question is that footnotes or end-notes or bibliography etc. do not count towards the word limit of 1500 words for the paper being submitted.

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Thanks for your mail below. We attach the Call document along with two sets of compilations of all the questions received from various prospective applicants so far and the answers provided by the project team. All these questions and answers are also given on the website of the think tanks twinning initiative at this link below:

https://euindiathinktanks.in/2020/calls/call-for-policy-papers-and-participation-at-the-eu-india-experts-workshop

We advise you to kindly go through the Call document and all the questions and answers. If you still have any questions please send us an email and we will be pleased to answer the same. The project team is not answering individual telephone calls on this for reasons of transparency to all prospective applicants.

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We would like to clarify that as per the eligibility criteria given in the Call document (row 2 of the eligibility criteria table on page 6) the applicant needs to have “published at least one scholarly paper or article on EU – India relations or on the technical issue being addressed in the paper.” (emphasis added).  This means that even if the applicant has not yet published a scholarly paper or article on EU-India relations but if he/she has published a scholarly paper or article on the technical issue being addressed in the paper to be submitted, then he/she would qualify.

But if the applicant has neither published a scholarly paper or article on EU-India relations nor on the technical issue being addressed in the paper, then, unfortunately he/she will not qualify.

Answer

Thanks for your mail below.  As the objective of the EU public diplomacy project and the EU India Think Tanks Twinning Initiative to promote and maximise research and writing on the EU and EU- India relations, the focus of papers should indeed be EU-India and not bilateral EU MS - India.

As per the eligibility criteria given in the Call document (row 2 of the eligibility criteria table on page 6) the applicant needs to have “published at least one scholarly paper or article on EU – India relations or on the technical issue being addressed in the paper.” This means that even if you have not yet published a scholarly paper or article on EU-India relations, but if you published a scholarly paper or article on the same technical issue as the one in the paper to be submitted under this Call, then you would qualify. But if you have neither published a scholarly paper or article on EU-India relations nor on the technical issue being addressed in the paper, then, unfortunately, you would not qualify.

Answer

Thanks for your mail below.  While it is the objective of the EU public diplomacy project and the EU India Think Tanks Twinning Initiative to promote and maximise research and writing on the EU and EU-India relations, it is not possible for the project team to give any waivers to any potential applicant as suggested in your mail below. As you will understand and appreciate the eligibility criteria has to be the same for each and every potential applicant.

Having said that, we would like to clarify that as per the eligibility criteria given in the Call document (row 2 of the eligibility criteria table on page 6) the applicant needs to have “published at least one scholarly paper or article on EU – India relations or on the technical issue being addressed in the paper.”  (emphasis added).  This means that even if you have not yet published a scholarly paper or article on EU-India relations but if you have published a scholarly paper or article on the technical issue being addressed in your paper to be submitted, then you would qualify.

But if you have neither published a scholarly paper or article on EU-India relations nor on the technical issue being addressed in the paper, then, unfortunately you will not qualify.

Answer

Thanks for your mail below. In terms of the topics to be addressed by the papers, while the core sectoral areas can be considered the ones listed in the document “EU-India strategic partnership: Roadmap to 2025” that was issued at the recent EU-India Summit held on 15 July 2020, we would prefer that the applicants limit their papers to one or more of the sectoral areas listed in the Call document: ‘EU-India cooperation on one of the core sectoral issues (e.g. addressing challenges related to climate change, or health, or digitalization, or connectivity, etc.)’

Answer

Thanks for your mail below. Our responses are given below in order:

1. In terms of the topics to be addressed by the papers, while the core sectoral areas can be considered the ones listed in the document “EU-India strategic partnership: Roadmap to 2025” that was issued at the recent EU-India Summit held on 15 July 2020, we would prefer that the applicants limit their papers to one or more of the sectoral areas listed in the Call document, relevant extract copied below: EU-India cooperation on one of the core sectoral issues (e.g. addressing challenges related to climate change, or health, or digitalization, or connectivity, etc.)
   
   
2. In terms of institutional affiliation, please check the Eligibility criteria given on page 4 which specifies that ‘The call is open to individual experts representing think tanks, universities, or political foundations etc. registered and based in one of the EU 27 Member States or in India.’ , as well as that ‘Experts will be required to provide their Organisation’s support letter for participating in this initiative.’
   
   
3. As for the third point regarding proof of previous publication, please also see the eligibility criteria given on page 4: ‘Each expert participating must have published at least one scholarly paper or article on EU – India relations or on the technical issue being addressed in the paper.’ Such paper must have been published prior to the submission of the application under this Call.