STFC Decision Making Criteria

Introduction

STFC is currently developing a prioritised programme for 2010/11 onwards. A prioritisation process is being carried out, utilising STFC’s advisory committees. In order to prioritise the programme, the advisory committees have used decision making criteria that were developed following the STFC strategy consultation to allow comparison across the whole of the STFC programme. The criteria contain five areas: excellence, economic impact, societal impact, leadership and synergies; and these are described below. Although each criterion was considered during the prioritisation process; scientific excellence was considered to be the most important.

Decision Making Criteria

Excellence

• The scientific importance of the project/facility including the current state of the area and a longer term view of the future
• The timeliness of the project/facility
• The key stakeholders, the strategic importance of the project/facility to them and the benefits to them
• The technical importance of the project/facility
• Any technical risks associated with meeting the scientific and technical objectives
• The international relevance of the research/facility, in both European and global arenas
• The scale of investment, current and future; and the impact of increased or decreased funding

Economic Impact

• The project or facility contribution to new businesses, product processes or services
• The impact in the development of skilled people
• The match to public policy and/or cross Research Council priorities
• The potential to lever further funding to STFC and/or the UK
• Engagement with UK industry including procurement relationships
• The resource implications associated with the Economic Impact activities (financial, staff, time)
• Risks to meeting economic impact objectives

Societal Impact

• The wider societal benefits including information on public outreach activities, impact on education in schools or of the general public
• The potential media impact and its relation to the STFC mission
• The resource implications associated with the societal impact activities (financial, staff, time)
• The risks in meeting the societal impact objectives

Leadership

• The level of UK leadership and track record in this area
• The extent to which STFC/UK involvement will result in greater research output or a higher level of external funding to the project
• The extent to which involvement in this project will provide STFC with an opportunity to influence policy and funding in the future
• The risk of not meeting these leadership objectives

Synergies

• The extent to which the project/facility benefits from or contributes to coherence and synergies with other programmes, including international subscriptions
• The alignment of the project/facility to STFC strategic objectives and core business activities
• The relevance to the strategies of the Daresbury and Harwell Science Innovation Campuses