ecsafeseafood

Project Operational Management

The ECsafeSEAFOOD project is structured around six technical Work Packages (WPs), which directly meet the project’s goals, and address the ethical, training, and dissemination issues of the project. The WPs are coordinated by WP8, which is fully dedicated to project and intellectual property management.

The ambitious objectives of ECsafeSEAFOOD, the diversity of the partners’ backgrounds, and the large number of participants within the consortium, require a highly structured and excellence-oriented management system. In order to guarantee that the risks will be monitored and minimised, the management structure is divided into two levels:

- The strategic management level entails formulating, choosing, prioritising and evaluating cross functional strategies that will enable the project to succeed. The strategic management level includes three decision-making committees that represent the governance bodies: the Governing Board (GB), the Project Coordinator (CO) and the Management Team (MT). It is assisted by an Administrative Team (AT) and by five advisory committees: the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), the Intellectual Property Committee (IPC), the Industrial Advisory Committee (IAC), the Communication Committee (CC) and the Ethical Advisory Committee (EAC).

- The operational management level involves integrative administration and WP management. It is based on the processes and procedures developed and implemented by the MT. All activities are coordinated and managed at WP level by Work Package Leaders (WPLs) and have specific Task Leaders (TLs).

 The Governing Board (GB)

The GB is the ultimate decision-making level within the project. This committee represents the interests of all partners and consists of one high-level representative from each partner organisation.

The Management Team (MT)

The MT represents the functional decision level within the project management organisation, at the interface between WP activities and the GB. It involves the CO and the WP leaders.

The Administrative Team (AT)

The AT comprises staff members of the administrative office in Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA).

The Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC)

The SAC is composed of three experts in the project’s field of research. Other members will be invited by the GB to join the committee when the need arises. The SAC (i) assists and advises the GB on project orientation and/or on specific issues related to the project, such as the extension of business sector applications of the findings; (ii) performs market, scientific and technological studies to keep the consortium aware of opportunities and threats for the fast screening methods and tools for risk assessment being developed; and (iii) makes proposals and transmits any information relevant to the project.

The Intellectual Property Committee (IPC)

The IPC will be consulted by the GB on any Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues relevant to the project. The IPC is an advisory committee and the final decisions will be made by the partners owning the Foreground. The IPC’s role is (i) to assist partners in identifying Foreground and innovative tools which could be subject matter for protection, use and dissemination through publications and activity reports; (ii) to provide advice on the determination of Foreground ownership; (iii) to establish and adapt the exploitation plan of the project while taking into account the new industrial and market opportunities; (iv) to update the Background of the project; and (v) to monitor and make recommendations on the dissemination activities proposed by all partners.

The Industrial Advisory Committee (IAC)

The IAC is composed of two large companies with strong interests in the activities conducted within the project. Its function is to relate to the business sectors specifically targeted in the project. The IAC is dedicated to the promotion of research to guarantee industrial development, and will be updated according to requests from the GB.

The Communication Committee (CC)

The CC aims to establish close links with European and national agencies and authorities responsible for food risk communication (e.g. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)), and to collaborate with those authorities to develop strategies of risk management and risk communication for the output of the project that The GB considers as relevant information for stakeholders involved in food safety (e.g. industry representatives, policy makers and consumers).

The Ethical Advisory Committee (EAC)

The EAC comprises five experts on ethical issues. Other members will be invited by the GB to join the committee when the need arises. The EAC’s role in the project is (i) to assist and advise the GB on project’s ethical orientation and/or on specific ethical issues related to the project; (ii) to participate in the general meetings and submit reports to be included with the periodic reporting to the European Commission; and (iii) to collect copies of ethical approvals, opinions and notifications by competent legal local and national ethics boards from the partners before the commencement of each relevant WP.