The ANR participates in the first global summit on merit review in the USA

On May 14-15, 2012, the ANR participated in the first « Global Summit on Merit Review » hosted by the National Science Foundation in Arlington, USA. The summit gathered heads of research councils from about 50 countries members from G20 and OECD. For the first time the heads of the world’s major research funding agencies from developed and developing countries have met to explore new methods to strengthen international cooperation.

They have established a Global Research Council (GRC), which will provide a forum for 50 heads of research councils from around the world to meet regularly and address issues of common interest. It will be governed by a board with equal numbers from developing and developed countries. The next global summit will be hosted by Brazil and Germany in Berlin on May 27-29, 2013.

The leaders of research councils moreover released a Statement of Principles of Scientific Merit Review. The merit review principles crafted by the summit leaders include: transparency, peer review, impartiality, confidentiality, integrity and ethical consideration.  The merit review process, as practiced by leading funding agencies, is therefore recognized as an essential tool for evaluating scientific research.