Notice of call for expressions of interest - Scientific and Technical Support - Various Scientific and Communication Profiles

🔍 Italy, Emilia-Romagna, Parma

📁: Science Professionals

📅   : EOI/EFSA/2022/01 Requisition #

📅   : Oct 24, 2022 Post Date

Notice of Call for Expressions of Interest

Scientific and Technical Support in the area of the assessment of Animal Health and Animal Welfare, Biological Hazards and Chemical contaminants, Pesticides, Plant health, Genetically Modified Organisms for food and feed uses, Food Additives, Food Contact Materials, Food Enzymes, Food Flavourings, Feed additives, Novel Foods, Nutrition and Social Science

1. INTRODUCTION TO EFSA AS CONTRACTING AUTHORITY

CONTRACTING AUTHORITY:

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Via Carlo Magno 1A
Parma
43126

Italy
E-mail: EFSAProcurement@efsa.europa.eu

More information about EFSA can be found here: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/

2. LIST OF INDIVIDUALS FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT SCHEME

2.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE CALL

The objective of this call for expressions of interest is to establish a list of individuals (natural persons) with scientific expertise to assist EFSA in carrying out preparatory work (including data related activities) in support of EFSA’s scientific and risk communication activities with the main focus on the areas of generic risk assessments and the assessment of applications for the authorisation of regulated products, in particular in the areas of Animal Health and Animal Welfare, Biological hazards and Chemical contaminants, Pesticides, Plant health, Genetically Modified Organisms for food and feed uses, Food Additives, Food Contact Materials, Food Enzymes, Food Flavourings, Feed additives, Novel Foods, Nutrition and activities in the area of Social Sciences. The delivered preparatory work will be reviewed by EFSA staff and/or ad hoc experts for its use in EFSA scientific outputs and communications.

This call will replace the previously published calls (EOI/EFSA/NUTRI/2019/01) and (EOI/EFSA/SCIENCE/2020/01). Please refer to article 2.3 for further instructions.

Background Information

Many food and feed related products require a scientific assessment to evaluate their safety and/or efficacy before risk managers can authorise them for the EU market. EFSA carries out these assessments to support EU risk managers in their decision-making. These so-called regulated products include substances used in food and feed (such as additives, enzymes, flavourings, novel foods and nutrient sources), food contact materials and pesticides, genetically modified organisms for food and feed uses, food-related processes and processing aids.

EFSA also carries out hazard (biological and chemical) and risk assessments on non- regulated products and hazard monitoring activities in the area of food and feed safety/efficacy, animal health and welfare, plant health and human nutrition. A detailed description of all our activities can be found on EFSA’s website. Information on the data requirements and the activities performed in a risk assessment within each of the areas can be found in the various guidance documents on EFSA’s website (RESOURCES and APPLICATIONS). EFSA activities in the realm of social sciences for risk communication are summarised in its Social Science roadmap and the Future directions for risk communication editorial.

2.2 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE SOUGHT & EXAMPLES OF TYPICAL TYPES OF EXPECTED TASKS

Individuals are required to indicate their area of expertise using the list of knowledge areas in Annex V.

The following list contains examples of tasks that EFSA can entrust to selected candidates^[1]:

• Provide preliminary completeness check of dossiers, in compliance with EFSA administrative and scientific guidance documents and guidance from other organisations (eg OECD) that apply to EFSA risk assessment

• Perform specific activities to provide advice in relation to risk assessment (e.g. literature analysis, systematic review, supporting an expert knowledge elicitation, data validation, data extraction, data appraisal, collation and processing, summarising and analysis)

• Provide specific support on data collections from EU Member States (MSs) and other stakeholders via preparations for the annual opening of data collection and providing support during the data collections and after closure

• Prepare summaries and formulate key findings (uncertainties, preliminary conclusions, gaps,...) of submitted data/information

• Provide specific support in the preparation of drafts for specific parts of a risk assessment

• Perform specific activities in support of risk assessment (eg modelling, geospatial information analysis and processing, assessment of traceability data,...)

• Perform peer review activities on draft EFSA scientific outputs at different phases of risk assessment to adoption (focusing on the quality, completeness, consistency and accuracy)

• Support the preparation of public and/or targeted consultations and the preparation of related outcomes (e.g., technical reports)

• Provide ad-hoc support in specific cases (e.g. in relation to the preparation of input data to launch calls-for-data, in relation to specific meetings and/or scientific events).

• Provide expert advice in defining the project idea

• Provide expert advice on specific elements of the tender specifications

• Provide expert advice during the communication phase of the call, e.g. contribution at explanatory webinars, expert contribution to Q/As; prepare presentations and FAQ documents

• Provide an expert opinion about tenders or proposals received, but limiting the opinion to their field of expertise

• Providing expert opinion about the material submitted by the contractor/beneficiary for meetings; provide expert opinion/contribution during the contract/grant implementation meetings

• Provide expert advice/opinions during the reporting phase of the project, contributing with expert knowledge to preparing the presentations for internal and external stakeholders

• Provide expert advice/opinions on the project deliverables (intermediate/final), contributing with expert knowledge to preparing presentations for internal and external stakeholders

• Provide expert advice/opinions on the project close artefacts, contributing with expert knowledge to preparing the final project closure documentations for internal and external stakeholders

• Provide expert advice and support in developing training materials and/or training programmes and/or to deliver training courses as tutors, in scientific topics under the remit of EFSA.

Specifically in the area of social science the following are examples of tasks that EFSA can entrust to selected candidates:

• Support the design of social research and generation of insights to ensure quality throughout EFSA risk communication (audience-first approach)

• Participate in the design of EFSA communication activities based on insights gathered

• Support the development of didactic materials and targeted services for stakeholders (e.g. small and medium enterprises)

• Provide expert advice and support on the analysis of groups and organisations’ behaviour to propose effective community management and knowledge management initiatives

• Provide expert advice and support in the collection and analysis of data that can inform knowledge/change management processes

• Provide expert advice and support in the preparation of drafts for reports, toolkits, user guides and any relevant informative material in relation to knowledge management and community management.

[1] General tasks provided by way of example, the list is non exhaustive.

2.3 PROCEDURAL ASPECTS OF THE LIST

HOW THE LIST IS ESTABLISHED AND MAINTAINED

• The procedure has its legal basis in Art 237 of the EU Financial Regulation.

• Individuals submit an expression of interest in accordance with the rules set out in this notice.

• EFSA as the contracting authority will draw up a list of individuals who meet the criteria set out at point 3.

• Individuals included in the list do not act or speak on behalf of EFSA and EFSA cannot be held responsible for their actions and expressions.

• Staff in service at EFSA is not eligible for inclusion in the list and cannot be selected for appointment for specific assignments.

LIST DURATION

The list resulting from this call for expression of interests and any further updates are valid for maximum 5 years from the first publication of the open call for expressions of interest (CEI). The list is intended to cover the period of activity of the EFSA mandate in the areas of Animal Health and Animal Welfare, Biological Hazards, Chemical contaminants, Pesticides, Plant health, Genetically Modified Organisms for Food and Feed uses, Food Additives, Food Contact Materials, Food Enzymes, Food Flavourings, Feed additives, Novel Food and Nutrition as well as Social Sciences in the realm of EFSA’s risk communication mandate. EFSA retains the right to close the open call for expressions of interest (CEI) at any time.

The list resulting from this call for expression of interests will be used exclusively for execution of the tasks such as those described at point 2.2 above.

Inclusion on the list entails no obligation on the part of EFSA to award a contract.

With this new call EFSA envisages to classify all candidates according to knowledge areas that are aligned with the ones used for EFSA experts and staff. Therefore EFSA will invite (written communication within 2 months of the launch of this call) all candidates that have been deemed eligible for the two previous calls (EOI/EFSA/NUTR/2019/01) and (EOI/EFSA/SCIENCE/2020/01) to apply to this new call. To ensure continuity a six-month transition period (starting from the launch of this new call) will be granted to the eligible candidates of the previous calls to apply to this new call. A period during which they can still be contracted by EFSA under the previous calls. If a previous eligible candidate applies to the new call, he/she will automatically be deemed eligible. The valid lists with experts from calls EOI/EFSA/NUTRI/2019/1 and EOI/EFSA/SCIENCE/2020/01 will expire six months after the launch of this new call.

LIMITATION TO VOLUME PER INDIVIDUAL

Maximum amount that can be paid to an individual during the whole duration of the call (5 years) is 140.000 €, including remunerations and possible reimbursements.

HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE SELECTED FOR PARTICULAR ASSIGNMENTS

Where a particular task described at point 2.2 is to be performed by an individual, EFSA as the contracting authority will assign individuals to the task on the basis of the skills, experience and knowledge necessary and in accordance with the principles of non- discrimination, equal treatment and absence of conflict of interests.

The tasks will be formalised in a service request sent to the individual selected and via a specific contract. The specific contract will define the exact duration of the tasks.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST (DoI) AND DECLARATION ON PREVIOUS WORK IN EU INSTITUTIONS

EFSA will request an Individual DoI to be submitted prior to the signature of the contract. The requirement to submit an Individual DoI will be specified in the award letter. Individual DoI will be assessed by EFSA before and as a condition of the contract signature. Please refer to EFSA’s policy on independence, the Decision of the Executive Director on Competing Interest Management and Best practices in declaring interests for more detailed information.

The Individual DoI form is available here.

EFSA will also request a Declaration on previous work in EU institutions to be submitted prior to the signature of the contract, where applicable. The declaration of previous work in EU institutions is available as annex IV of this Notice of call for expressions of interest.

Current EFSA/EU staff member (statutory staff^[2]): should not be awarded contracts.

Former EFSA (statutory staff^[3]): should not be awarded ISA contracts if they are in receipt of unemployment allowance from the Union Budget.

Retired EFSA staff member (statutory staff^[4]): the value of signed contracts in a given year (i.e. the year in which new ISA contract will be signed) may not exceed the difference between the total annual gross income from the last full year of employment and the annual gross pension for the calendar year in which a new ISA contract will be signed.

2.4 CONDITIONS OF APPOINTMENT FOR A PARTICULAR ASSIGNMENT

REMUNERATION

Individuals shall be remunerated at a fixed fee of 360 euros per day worked.

The individuals shall commit to respect applicable national legislation, including taxation, social security and labour law with regard to any payment received from EFSA.

EXPENSES REIMBURSEMENT

Where applicable, the travel and subsistence expenses will be reimbursed under the conditions set out in the contract according to the conditions stipulated in Annex I.

PLACE OF WORK

Tasks will be carried out in most of the cases remotely and delivered using electronic communication tools. In certain cases, EFSA may request that specific tasks are carried out in EFSA premises or other sites that will be mentioned in the contract specifications.

^[2] Statutory staff (i.e. officials, temporary agents, contract agents). Interims, trainees, seconded national experts (SNEs), contractors and individuals awarded previous ISA contracts with EFSA do not fall within the category of statutory staff.

^[3]Statutory staff (i.e. officials, temporary agents, contract agents). Interims, trainees, seconded national experts (SNEs), contractors and individuals awarded previous ISA contracts with EFSA do not fall within the category of statutory staff.

^{^[4]}See previous footnote

2.5 EX POST TRANSPARENCY

A list of individuals who have concluded with EFSA a contract of more than 15.000 € following the procedure set out at point 2.3 shall be published on EFSA website, no later than 30 June of the year following the year in which the contract was awarded. Information published includes the name of the individual, the locality (region of origin), the amount, and the subject of the contract. The information shall be removed two years after the year of the contract award.

3. REQUIREMENTS

3.1 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Applicant must have citizenship of a Member State of the European Union (EU), of a country of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) or of an EU Candidate country. Experts from third countries may also apply and will be considered, if the required level of expertise may not be found among nationals of EU, EFTA or EU Candidate countries.

3.2 EXCLUSION CRITERIA

Individuals shall be excluded from participation in the award where they are in one or more of the following exclusion situations:

(a) the person or entity is bankrupt, subject to insolvency or winding-up procedures, its assets are being administered by a liquidator or by a court, it is in an arrangement with creditors, its business activities are suspended, or it is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for under Union or national law;

(b) it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the person or entity is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions in accordance with the applicable law;

(c) it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the person or entity is guilty of grave professional misconduct by having violated applicable laws or regulations or ethical standards of the profession to which the person or entity belongs, or by having engaged in any wrongful conduct which has an impact on its professional credibility where such conduct denotes wrongful intent or gross negligence, including, in particular, any of the following:

(i) fraudulently or negligently misrepresenting information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of eligibility or selection criteria or in the implementation of the legal commitment;

(ii) entering into agreement with other persons or entities with the aim of distorting competition;

(iii) violating intellectual property rights;

(iv) attempting to influence the decision-making of the authorising officer responsible during the award procedure;

(v) attempting to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the award procedure;

(d) it has been established by a final judgment that the person or entity is guilty of any of the following:

(i) fraud, within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹) and Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities’ financial interests, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995 (²);

(ii) corruption, as defined in Article 4(²) of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 or active corruption within the meaning of Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 May 1997 (³), or conduct referred to in Article 2(¹) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA (⁴), or corruption as defined in other applicable laws;

(iii) conduct related to a criminal organisation as referred to in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA (⁵);

(iv) money laundering or terrorist financing within the meaning of Article 1(³), (⁴) and (⁵) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹);

(v) terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA (²), respectively, or inciting, aiding, abetting or attempting to commit such offences, as referred to in Article 4 of that Decision;

(vi) child labour or other offences concerning trafficking in human beings as referred to in Article 2 of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (³);

(e) the person or entity has shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations in the implementation of a legal commitment financed by the budget which has:

(i) led to the early termination of a legal commitment;

(ii) led to the application of liquidated damages or other contractual penalties; or

(iii) been discovered by an authorising officer, OLAF or the Court of Auditors following checks, audits or investigations;

(f) it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that the person or entity has committed an irregularity within the meaning of Article 1(²) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 (4);

(g) it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that the person or entity has created an entity in a different jurisdiction with the intent to circumvent fiscal, social or any other legal obligations in the jurisdiction of its registered office, central administration or principal place of business;

(h) it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that an entity has been created with the intent referred to in point (g).

SUPPORTING EVIDENCE REQUESTED

In question 7 of the application form, applicants are requested to declare that they are in none of the situations listed in section I “SITUATION OF EXCLUSION CONCERNING THE PERSON” and section IV “GROUNDS FOR REJECTION FROM THIS PROCEDURE”. EFSA reserves the right to ask for further supporting evidence of non-exclusion.

In case applicants are in one or more of the situations of exclusion/ grounds for rejection, they must download, complete and send the declaration of honour on exclusion criteria and relevant documentation to EFSAProcurement@efsa.europa.eu

The declaration of honour on exclusion criteria is available here.

3.3 SELECTION CRITERIA

Applicants to be placed on the list shall be selected based on their professional and technical capacity to perform the tasks described in point 2.2. In particular, the applicants must meet these selection criteria to evidence their capacity:

(i) Education
A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least three (3) years attested by a diploma in one of the following fields:

• Agronomy, Crop Sciences, Forestry sciences

• Animal welfare/ethics

• Biochemistry

• Biology/Microbiology

• Chemistry

• Ecology/behaviour Ecology

• Epidemiology

• Exposure Assessment

• Food/Feed Science and Technology

• Genetics, Molecular Biology

• Human Medicine

• Human Nutrition

• Information Science/Data Science/Bioinformatics

• Mathematics/Statistics/Biostatistics

• Pharmacology/Pharmacy

• Plant/Animal Sciences

• Regulatory Science

• Social Science

• Toxicology

• Veterinary Science

• Zoology/Entomology

or related areas. (NB: for related/similar areas, the applicant should explain their relevance for the tasks)

(ii) Professional experience & Competencies

In addition to the above:

• at least 3 years of proven professional experience after their degree in at least one of the above fields in which the above qualifications (i) were obtained. A remunerated PhD degree acquired in a field relevant to the areas mentioned above can be counted as professional experience up to 3 years. Paid traineeships are counted as working experience;

and

• demonstrable experience in the scientific areas indicated in Annex V, as evidenced by:

the preparation and (contribution to) drafting of at least 2 relevant risk assessment reports and/or publications in peer-reviewed journals related to the above-mentioned scientific expertise, carried out in the last 5 years before the application date (the publications should be in EN language and the DOI number or weblink should be provided). For social sciences and communication, the reports may also cover social research analysis or communication reports published in scientific journals or on EU institution, MS authority, or international organisations’ websites;

and

• an excellent ability to communicate clearly and effectively in both spoken and written English, evidenced by either:

having written at least 2 reports or publications in English; or
a valid certificate demonstrating at least level B.2 of the Common European Framework of References for Languages; or
having worked for at least 2 years in a working environment where the day-to-day working language for meetings and communications is English.

SUPPORTING EVIDENCE REQUESTED:
CV evidencing the above requirements.
Before any contract of appointment, EFSA reserves the right to request the selected applicant to provide supporting documents relating to their education and professional experience (i.e. copy of university degree, and certificates of working experience, etc.) to demonstrate fulfilment of the selection criteria.

4. HOW TO APPLY

4.1 GENERAL INFORMATION

The call for expression of interests shall be read in conjunction with its annexes which contain essential additional information.

Submission of an application implies acceptance of the terms and conditions laid down in this Call for the Expression of Interest (EOI) and all relevant annexes.

Expenditures for preparing and submitting expressions of interest will not be reimbursed by EFSA.

Applications should be submitted in one of the official languages of the European Union.

Applications may be submitted at any time during the period of validity of the call for expression of interest, with the exception of the last three months of that period. However, we advise you to apply as early as possible, as assignments can arise at any point in time during the validity of the list.

Individuals may withdraw their application at any moment by written notice to EFSA.

Incoming applications received in response to this call will be evaluated on a need basis, where specific support under the terms of Article 237 of the EU Financial Regulation is necessary. Individuals will be notified of the outcome of their application as soon as possible after the evaluation is finished.

4.2 APPLICATION PROCESS

The application shall be submitted online on the EFSA careers page. Fill in and sign electronically the application form.

4.3 PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION and CONFIDENTIALITY

As an EU Agency, EFSA is subject to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, forming the primary legal basis for measuring the lawfulness of personal data processing. The applicability of this Regulation in the context of this call has the following implications:

- As data Controller, EFSA shall ensure that personal data contained in your application (e.g. names of individuals, their CVs, contact details, financial details , declarations of interest) is processed in compliance with the Regulation. More detailed information on the processing of personal data in the context of procurement procedures of EFSA is available in the Privacy Statement on our website^[5];

- The selected individual acts as a processor of EFSA in case any personal data should be handled under the contract in the sense of Article 29 of the Regulation. In such case and in accordance with this provision, the individual:

shall only process the personal data on documented instructions of EFSA as the data Controller,
shall commit him/herself to confidentiality,
shall undertake appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the confidential and secure processing of the personal data needed for the implementation of the contract,
shall delete or return to EFSA all personal data after the end of the provision of services,
shall make available to EFSA all information necessary to demonstrate compliance with the obligations pursuant to the Regulation and shall allow for or contribute to audits and inspections by or on behalf of EFSA,
shall notify any personal data breaches to EFSA.

The expert must comply with the confidentiality standards set out in the contract (Annex VI) and must include a completed and signed statement on confidentiality, provided in Annex to the draft contract.

[5] See in: https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/assets/procurementprivacystatement.pdf

Annex I - TRAVEL COSTS AND SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCES

Travel costs

These lump sums must be applied for travel costs:

Distance in road Km	Travel cost
up to 100	no allowance
between 100 - 400	200 €
Above 400	400 €

Daily subsistence allowances (DSA)

The DSA of 200 € applies if the distance between the place of residence of the individual and the agreed place of work is more than 50 km. Such DSA covers accommodation, meals, local transport to reach airport/train station etc. For each started day of a presence in the agreed place of work one DSA is granted.

Annex II – DECLARATION OF HONOUR ON EXCLUSION CRITERIA

https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2023-12/declaration-of-honour-exclusion-criteria.pdf

Annex III – INDIVIDUAL DECLARATION OF INTEREST FORM

https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/procurement/toolbox

Annex IV - DECLARATION OF PREVIOUS WORK IN EU INSTITUTIONS

Published with the call

Annex V - SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE

Published with the call