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· 25 de September de 2026
Evaluation of competitive funding calls: rigour, independence and traceability for public bodies
Public authorities and organisations that fund grants, projects and awards through competitive calls face a challenge that goes beyond publishing a call: ensuring that the proposals received are assessed objectively, rigorously, consistently and transparently.
Provincial councils, local authorities, universities, research centres, health research institutes and other public bodies launch programmes every year to promote research, innovation, knowledge transfer or entrepreneurship. Having well-defined evaluation criteria and appropriate experts is essential to ensuring the quality of decisions.
Evaluation as a key element of competitive calls
In competitive selection procedures, applications must be compared according to the criteria established in each call. Depending on their characteristics, these processes may involve a large number of proposals, different fields of knowledge, specific technical criteria, several evaluation stages, scoring thresholds or ranking systems.
High-quality evaluation therefore needs to combine expert knowledge, clear criteria and a structured procedure that makes it possible to justify and document the decisions made.
Experts and procedures: two inseparable elements
Having a network of experts is not enough. The selection of the panel must reflect the characteristics of each call and be accompanied by evaluation instructions and criteria that enable everyone to work within a common framework.
The research assessment ecosystem itself is moving towards models in which qualitative judgement and peer review play a central role, complemented by the responsible use of quantitative indicators. This is one of the principles set out by the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) in its proposal to reform research assessment.
Although each call requires its own evaluation model, this evolution reinforces an idea applicable to any competitive process: the quality of the decision also depends on the quality of the system designed to reach it.
The challenge for public bodies
For many public authorities and organisations, developing all the resources needed to manage these processes internally can be complex, particularly when calls require specialised knowledge, several expert profiles or a high volume of applications. In these cases, external technical support makes it possible to bring in specific capabilities and adapt the process to the characteristics of each call, while the body issuing the call retains control and responsibility.
Effectia’s experience in competitive evaluation
In a context where competitive calls require increasingly rigorous evaluation processes, having an independent, consistent and traceable system helps strengthen the quality and transparency of funding decisions.
At Effectia, we support public bodies so they can focus on their objective: promoting projects, research and innovation through robust evaluation processes tailored to each call. To this end, we provide independent technical support to public bodies that fund grants, projects and awards through competitive calls. We have our own panel of evaluators organised by field, with the capacity to bring in ad hoc experts according to the requirements of each process.