The Call, entitled ‘Digitalisation and Innovation for Resilient Marine Ecosystems, Businesses, and Communities to Strengthen the EU Blue Economy Competitiveness’, encompasses the five priority areas as follows:

• Priority area 1: Digital Twins of the Ocean (DTOs) at sub-basin scale
• Priority area 2: Transitioning the blue economy sectors, and the development of the marine multi-use infrastructures
• Priority area 3: Climate-Smart Planning and managing sea-uses at the regional level
• Priority area 4: Blue Bioresources; sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and new bio-based products
• Priority area 5: Resilient Coastal Communities and Businesses
   

The Joint Call consists in a two-step process: a pre-proposal step and a full proposal step. Under the Call for Experts of the 2025 SBEP Joint Call, the Partnership is looking for experts to conduct the scientific evaluations of the proposals submitted under the first and second steps. The selected evaluators will form an International Evaluation Committee (IEC) and are expected to have a high level of expertise and experience in one or more of the Priority Areas of the Call.

What would be expected of you as an IEC member:

• Read the pre-proposal assigned to you and provide a written evaluation report using the set evaluation criteria (Excellence, Impact, and Quality and efficiency of implementation).
• Participate and present your pre-proposal evaluation reports in the IEC meeting in February 2026. Presence to the IEC meeting (online) is mandatory.
• Discuss pre-proposals with the IEC panel, according to the set evaluation criteria.
• Deliver a ranking of pre-proposals validated by the IEC on the last day of the IEC meeting.

Compensation:

Each IEC member will receive a fee of 50 EUR for each pre-proposal and 100 EUR for each full proposal reviewed. Each IEC member will receive a fee at each step that is fixed to a standard rate of 250 EUR for the attendance to meetings (online in Step 1 and possibly on-site in Step 2). Attendance to IEC meetings is mandatory for the selected experts. In addition, the travel costs, accommodation, and meals for attending the IEC meetings (if physical) will be covered by the Partnership.
Please note that the IEC panel composition can change between Step 1 and Step 2. 

To participate: 

Applicants must fulfil the following eligibility criteria. Applicants that don’t meet all the eligibility criteria will be declined without review by the CSC.

• Proficiency or fluency in written and spoken English
• Relevant expertise and experience in the fields related to the sustainable ocean economy
• Expertise and experience relevant to one or more priority areas of the Joint Call (see parapgraph 1.)
• Availability for the pre-proposal step IEC meeting (please note this is a two full-day meeting held in Central European Time and online in February 2026)
• No involvement in the pre- and full proposals in any capacity
  
   

To apply:

Applicants are requested to submit their application through the online survey which will be made available on the SBEP website when the call is launched. In the application, the area of expertise and experience should be clearly stated. 

For more information: We invite you to regularly consult our website and social media channels to be kept updated on funding and networking opportunities. 

Contact: Joint Call Secretariat: sbep.call-secretariat@uefiscdi.ro 

Please note that the information provided here is provisional. Changes may occur in the official call announcement.