The European Commission wants to evaluate H2020 projects by an open public. The aim is to ensure openness and transparency of the selection process and to allow the public to comment on individual projects.

Up to March 31, 2016, the European Commission has collected opinions on whether to carry out this change and the Commission is considering different options for this process. Currently, the projects are evaluated by 2-3 evaluators. 

The Commission wanted to know: Do you think Open Public Reviews is a good idea for Horizon 2020 project reviews? Do you have experiences in open reviews? What do you think are the main advantages and disadvantages?  Would you agree for your research results to be reviewed openly?

The main negative of such public assessment is an extension of the evaluation process, failure to obtain constructive feedback, unfair comments that might affect the opinion of the evaluator. The problem may be the disclosure of sensitive information of firms dealing with research and development.

More info here.

Illustrative photo, source: flickr.com/ theirmind