The European Science Foundation (ESF) was established in 1974 to create a common European platform for cross-border collaborative research cooperation and to act as a coordinating body for Europe’s main research funding and performing organisations. In its 42 years of experience, ESF has supported over 2,000 programmes and networks, gathering more than 300,000 scientists from 186 countries, through funding from 80 Member Organisations in 30 countries.

Now ESF and its new expert services division, Science Connect, still support the conduct of scientific research across Europe, but more as a service provider, rather than a member-owned organisation. Via Science Connect ESF has launched a series of services to the scientific and academic communities: peer review, project management, programme evaluation and career tracking, and aims to support the future of a globally competitive European Research Area while maintaining the strong track-record of successful research programmes for its members.

ESF has a considerable background in acting as ‘Project Office’ for EC projects, having coordinated a wide range of pan-European scientific initiatives, numerous scientific programmes (Research Networking/ Collaborative Research Programmes EUROCORES, COST Office management), and participating in several FP7 (THESEUS, MEGAHIT, CAREX, ASTROMAP, MASE, MERIL, Europlanet) and H2020 projects (DEMOCRITOS, BIOWYSE, PPOSS, GRAPHENE Flagship, SCOPE and MERIL-2, RI PATHs, GoJelly, PRO-RES).

A key pillar of ESF’s success has been its strong scientific network spanning across disciplines. This, together with the intimate knowledge of the European scientific landscape, has contributed to the success of the consultation exercises it has pursued, and helped to arrive to coherent scientific targets and recommendations to support European decision making.

ESF has been gradually addressing key issues of the ‘Science with and for Society’ programme via dedicated policy briefs, ‘Forward Looks’ and reports that are now instrumental in facing European societal challenges tackled by Horizon 2020, building capacities and developing innovative ways of connecting science to society.

ESF is GRACE project coordinator with the following specific involvements:

• WP1 and WP2: Ethics and Project Management. ESF as coordinator will be responsible for the smooth management of all the administrative and financial issue, will monitor the work done in all of the work packages both to ensure that 1, it conforms to the work plan and 2, is delivered with respect to budget and time: moreover, ensures that consortium partners are utilizing the correct communication channels and interferes where and when necessary.
• WP3 – WP7: ESF will participate as an implementing organization along with the 5 other implementing organization of the project.
• WP8: Work package leader responsible for the proper execution of communication and dissemination activities.

Knowledge and Innovation (K&I) is a social research organization established in 2016. Its members have been working professionally in different research institutions carrying out, among others, around 30 projects in the frame of the EU DG research FP6, FP7 and H2020 on issues such as the socialisation of scientific research; gender and science; public engagement and responsible research and innovation (RRI); environmental sustainability and energy transition; privacy and security.

The mission of K&I is to increase the relevance and effectiveness of the social sciences to interpret the profound processes of change that are affecting contemporary societies, understanding how they are evolving over time, identifying connected societal stress and investigating available options and tools for their effective management.

One of the main focuses of K&I is the emergence of new forms of science governance, due to increasingly complex interactions with ever broader sectors of society (public sector, industry/enterprises, civil society organizations/citizens, etc.), which affect science and technology research organizations’ functioning and role. In this frame, K&I has, among others, a specific expertise in supporting gender equality in professional fields related to science and technology.

K&I will be involved in all the work packages of GRACE, except for W4.
K&I is the leader of WP3 and will have a significant role in WP6 Grounding Actions on gender and ethics.
K&I has demonstrated expertise in RRI, and is involved in the FIT4RRI project on the revision and improvement of RRI training tools.

Aarhus University (AU) is a leading European research university with education and research activities across all scholarly disciplines. It was founded in 1928 and currently has 42,500 students and 14,500 members of staff. AU has participated in 286 FP7 and 119 H2020 projects and has hosted 39 ERC projects. AU has a very successful track record of participating in and managing international projects. Internationalisation is part of the University’s mission and it continuously works to strengthen its international profile.

The Danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy (CFA), an interdisciplinary centre at the Department of Political Science at AU, will be the entity involved in the project. CFA’s research is focused on research-, innovation-, and university policy. It is an internationally recognised environment for research evaluation and RRI, and it contributes to both the theoretical and empirical developments within these fields. CFA has been responsible for the Danish national R&D&I statistics, and has had extensive involvement as coordinator and participant in Nordic, European, and OECD projects relating to ‘Science in Society’, development of R&D&I indicators, and Responsible Research and Innovation.

CFA will lead WP5 and WP7. With expertise in studies of scholarly communication, including issues around open access as well as science education and literacy, CFA is able to take responsibility for WP5. The Evaluation and Impact Assessment WP builds in part on indicators developed in the MoRRI project. As an environment focused on research evaluation and as core partner with responsibility for indicator development in the MoRRI project, CFA is also well positioned to lead WP7.

South-East European Research Center (SEERC) is an overseas research centre of the University of Sheffield, established as a non-profit legal entity in Thessaloniki, Greece. The centre was founded by The University of Sheffield International Faculty, CITY College, in 2003. It is conducting multidisciplinary research in the fields of Enterprise, Innovation & Development, Information & Communication Technologies, and Society & Human Development. SEERC’s mission is to support the stable and peaceful development of South- East Europe by conducting pure and applied research in and for the region. To accomplish this, SEERC employs the existing research capacities of the University of Sheffield and CITY College by facilitating collaborations between their research staff and by developing multi- disciplinary networks of researchers from across South-East Europe.Within each of its research areas, SEERC has developed multiple research groups focusing their expertise on specific sets of questions. In line with the international vision established for the centre, each research group is composed at its base of researchers from the University of Sheffield and from CITY College, and is open to additional members coming from universities, research centres, and think tanks throughout Europe.

Since its establishment in 2003, SEERC has consolidated its structures and has put in place procedures – administrative and strategic for the planning of its key activities, which include: Collaborative Research; Doctoral Programme (towards a PhD degree from the University of Sheffield under joint supervision); Networking / Events; and Publications.

SEERC has recently been awarded as the BEST THINK TANK in South East Europe for its efforts in promoting knowledge exchange and entrepreneurial support (under quadruple helix endeavours). The award was given at the World Business Angels Investment Forum during 21-23 February 2016, Istanbul, Turkey.

Finally, SEERC is the supporter and founder of the Triple Helix Association Chapter of Greece (local independent chapter of the global Triple Helix Association which was initiated by the University of Stanford, USA). Prof Henry Etzkowitz (the pioneer of the triple helix model worldwide) is a SEERC Research Fellow.

SEERC will be the leader of WP4 Grounding actions related to citizen engagement in science. SEERC will use its experience working within the wider network of the Triple Helix Association and ‘quadruple-helix’ partners to develop the necessary tools and provide guidance to the project’s implementing organisations. Of particular relevance is their involvement with citizen science associations at the level of research and innovation (i.e. organisations like the Greek Computer Society, the Young Entrepreneurs of Thessaloniki, the Hellenic Business Angels and various IT practitioners groups) as well as the experience gained by the implementation of relevant projects (FIT4RRI’s experience on coordinating experiments regarding RRI infusion to research performing organisations and SEE-Science experience in setting up and delivering citizen science and science education events).

The European Network of Science Centres and Museums (ECSITE) is the only Europe-wide network organisation that links science centres and museums, natural history museums, zoos, aquariums, universities and research organisations in Europe as active members. The common thread uniting these institutions is a commitment to public engagement, communicating science through accessible, interactive exhibits and programmes. ECSITE counts 350 member institutions located in 30 different European countries. It facilitates co-operation among Europe’s science centres and museums – establishing standards, sharing GRACE Project website content 6 expertise, disseminating best practices, encouraging collaboration and developing training programmes. The organisation has extensive experience in projects funded by Community programmes including several in a coordinating role. The network is the hub of European science communication professionals, and therefore a strong partner for science education. ECSITE has been involved in a number of RRI oriented projects including but not only RRI tools, HEIRRI and Sparks. Through this involvement it has developed a great expertise in implementing RRI principles in a number of ways, including exhibitions. Through the years the organization has developed a number of innovative initiatives involving citizens. ECSITE coordinated the VOICES project, an EU funded project that engaged citizens and gathered their opinions and ideas about research and innovation in the then 27 EU countries through consultations.

The VOICES public consultations were run by Science Centres and Museums as the natural interface between science and society and coordinated by ECSITE. ECSITE is currently coordinating SPARKS, building on the experiences gained from integrating ideas from citizens into policy making to make Science Centres and Museums efficient RRI hubs.

ECSITE will participate in all the GRACE WPs except for WP6. The main involvement will be in WP5 Grounding Actions related to citizen engagement in science. As already stated, ECSITE is the hub of European science communication professionals, and therefore a strong partner for science education.

The Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen (RUG) is one of the largest faculties in the Netherlands and has a strong research tradition in a number of fields including European law, information technology law, constitutional law, international law, public law, civil law and a variety of interdisciplinary fields.

STeP, the ‘Security, Technology and e-Privacy Research Group’, is an interdisciplinary team of researchers organised within the Department of Transboundary Legal Studies. The team covers many areas of information policy and technology law including privacy, data protection, security science, cybercrime, self-regulation, ethics, and health informatics. The STeP Research Group is the largest such group in any Dutch university and has to date built up the largest portfolio of participation in SEC research projects out of all universities in the Netherlands.

STeP has a lot of experience with European funded projects, both as a co-ordinator and as a participant. STeP currently co-ordinates ESSENTIAL, a European Joint PhD programme in Security Science through Networked Technologies, Information Policy and Law and co-ordinates work packages and otherwise participates in several other European funded projects, including TREIO, TReSPAsS-ETN, KnowGraphs, INSPECTr, MIRROR, and GRACE.

RUG will be involved in GRACE primarily in the following work packages:

• WP3 Governance and Mutual Learning; WP4 Grounding actions related to citizen engagement in science.
• WP5 Grounding actions related to science education and open access to research results.
• WP6 Grounding Actions related to gender equality in science, ethics and integrity (Leader). RUG has a long-established involvement in setting up gender equality policies and the setting up of ethics and integrity structures.

The University of Siena (UNISI) is one of the oldest universities in Europe. UNISI ranked as first among the medium-sized Italian Universities for structures, study grants and services for students according to the CENSIS Research Institute classification 2015. Over the years, USiena has enhanced its strategy of internationalization, aiming at attracting students and researchers from all parts of the world and to establish long-term partnerships with universities, public and private institutions in various areas of the Globe. To this end, it has become a member of many important national, regional and international networks: Coimbra Group, ESoA, EUA, EURAXESS, IAU, ISCN, IRUN, MAGNA CHARTA OBSERVATORY, TUNE, UNIMED and COPERNICUS Alliance.

The Department of Business and Law is mainly involved in the analysis and evaluation of accounting systems, principles and tools of management and control, with reference to the economic and business implications of the innovations that involve both private sector and public administration. The themes that define these areas of study are examined with particular attention to their cultural, social and institutional profiles. A large group of scholars and researchers focuses specifically on public sector: accounting systems and accountability, management control systems, performance measurements, public policies evaluation, public governance are investigated both in a national perspective and in an international one.

UNISI will be involved in GRACE in the following work packages: WP1 Project management and coordination, WP2 Governance and mutual learning (Tailoring GAs and roadmap, development of GAs and roadmap), WP3 Grounding actions related to citizen engagement in science (supporting activities and tools, implementation of selected Gas, and setting up of a permanent mechanism for collecting data on researchers’ attitudes on citizens’ engagement in science, sustainability plan for the GAs), WP4 Grounding actions related to science education and open access to research results (supporting activities and tools, implementation of GAs, permanent general plan, sustainability plan), WP5 Grounding actions related to gender equality in science, ethics and integrity (supporting activities and tools, permanent mechanism for the collection of gender data, sustainability plan), WP6 Grounding actions’ evaluation and impact assessment, and WP7 Outreach, communication, dissemination, and exploitation.

UNISI suits the aims and the tasks of the project first of all for its interest in the topic. Moreover, it traditionally focuses on RRI aspects, even without identifying them as a whole set of policies, thus needing for self-assessment and improvements.

The Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL) is an independent non-profit research institute with a broad environmental profile. IVL combines applied research and development with close collaboration between industry, authorities and academia. Our consultancy is evidence-based, and their research is characterized by interdisciplinary science and systems thinking. IVL was founded in 1966 by the Swedish government and national business interests. Common to all of our assignments is the interaction between ecological, economic and social perspectives. We employ around 300 engineers, behavioural scientists, chemists, marine biologists, biologists, political scientists, journalists, business developers and economists.

IVL also possess exceptional specialist skills — almost a third of their employees have doctorates. IVL’s vision is a sustainable society and their research aims to support the transition to this sustainable society by transforming science into reality, environmental problems into opportunities and linear processes into a circular economy.

IVL will be involved in all the GRACE WPs, but as one of the GRACE implementing organizations (RPFOs) its focus will be on the work packages related to the design and preparation (WP3) and implementation (WP4, WP5 and WP6) of the grounding actions and its communication to its network of actors. IVL has not previously formally implemented RRI but is actively working with organisational development related to several of the grounding actions in focus in this project.

The Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) is a public Research Funding Organisation (RFO) located in Barcelona, established in 2001 under the Secretariat of Universities and Research of the Government of Catalonia. AGAUR supports the Government university’ and scientific policy, based on competitiveness in RTD with excellence at the core, by funding people and capacity building.

AGAUR manages over EUR 170 million Euro per year within 35 different scholarships and grants. Its main objectives is to develop tools and instruments for policy and governance towards talent attraction and mobility, researcher’s professional development, support of scientific groups and networks, university-industry collaborations, transfer of RTD results to market and research valorisation and international cooperation. AGAUR runs competitive grants from the EU Framework Programmes and national funds, as well as structural funds from different European programmes, such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). AGAUR has also expertise in coordinating and participating in several FP6, FP7 and Horizon projects ( 6 MSCA and 3 INCO projects).

AGAUR hosts regional contact points of some Horizon 2020 programmes (Excellent Science, SC6 and SWAFS). It is also the Euraxess service centre in Catalonia, which coordinates more than 50 research institutions and acts as a helpdesk for researchers looking for opportunities or mobility advice on legal and practical issues. AGAUR has obtained the following international quality certification seals: Quality Management System ISO-9001:2008; Environment Management System (14001:2004) and the Occupational Health and Safety (OHSAS18001:2007).

WP3 -WP7: AGAUR will participate as an implementing partner of the RRI grounding actions of the project. AGAUR is highly interested in all the RRI GAs but less compromise will be given to science education issues. AGAUR has no direct competences on science education as another entity from the Secretariat of Universities and Research is in charge of this area.

An overall institutional strategy on RRI has not been implemented yet. Some RRI elements are already included in some of our calls and initiatives but not in a structural and systemic manner. The RRI concept is becoming more relevant for the calls management but we are still in the ground level and there is still a lack of acknowledgement on its assessment by the entity’s staff.

The participation of AGAUR in the project will be developed around two dimensions: a structural change within the organisation and towards the regional research and innovation institutions and research staff involved. As a funding organisation, we are a significant driving force for stimulating and enacting structural change in the Catalan research and innovation system.

The Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) is the leading Slovenian research centre in the humanities and a cutting-edge academic institution in GRACE Project website content 9 central, eastern, and south-eastern Europe. ZRC SAZU’s mission is to study basic humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and multidisciplinary topics that cover natural, social, and cultural elements and processes, giving priority to those related to Slovenian natural and cultural heritage. In applied research, ZRC SAZU participate in inventorying, developing protection measures and management plans, in developing strategies, regional development plans, participatory approaches in planning, environmental and vulnerability assessment plans, expert bases for planning and protection, water resource management, tourism development, and other areas.

ZRC SAZU activities are incorporated into global research circles, thanks not only to their knowledge, experience, and skills, but also to high-quality and modern technical equipment. The variety of research fields and activities demonstrates the high level of skill in financial and organizational management at ZRC SAZU. The staff has experience in international cooperation, including H2020, LIFE+, and transnational cooperation projects. In addition to its main tasks of basic and applied research, ZRC SAZU is becoming increasingly involved in higher education and in conducting educational seminars and international courses.

The role of ZRC SAZU in the GRACE consortium is being an implementing organisation with the main task of designing and implementing grounding actions (GAs) in the institution ZRC SAZU. Building on the extensive experience with international projects, especially SATORI, GARCIA, ZRC SAZU will contribute to all WPs, but the involvement into WP3 to WP6 is the most important.