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

Notice of call for expressions of interest

Scientific and Technical Support – Various Scientific and Communication Profiles

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

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.

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.

Fields of expertise sought & examples of typical expected tasks

The following list contains examples of tasks that EFSA can entrust to selected candidates:

• Provide preliminary completeness check of dossiers, in compliance with EFSA administrative and scientific guidance documents and guidance from other organisations (e.g. 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, data quality, data cleansing collation and processing, summarising and analysis)
• Methodological support in performing and/or appraising full or part(s) of literature reviews to support evidence-based scientific assessments
• 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 (e.g. 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, limited to the individual’s field of expertise
• Provide 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 EFSA project/process, contributing with expert knowledge to preparing presentations for internal and external stakeholders
• Provide expert advice/opinions on the EFSA project/process deliverables (intermediate/final), contributing with expert knowledge to preparing presentations for internal and external stakeholders
• Provide expert advice/opinions on the EFSA project/process close artefacts, contributing with expert knowledge to preparing the final EFSA project/process closure documentation 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
• Provide ad-hoc specific expert scientific advice in different phases of evolution of scientific opinions/assessments, excluding drafting of EFSA opinions and general management of life-cycle of EFSA opinions/assessments

Specifically in the area of social science, examples of tasks

• Support the design of social research and generation of insights to ensure quality throughout EFSA risk communication (audience-first approach)
• Provide expert advice and support in the design of social science research using qualitative and/or quantitative methods, and/or in the associated data collection and analysis, in view of informing risk communication and/or risk assessment in food safety areas
• 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

Conditions of appointment (summary)

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

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

Requirements

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.

Selection criteria

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

Professional experience & competencies

• At least 3 years of proven professional experience after their degree in at least one of the fields above. 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.
• Demonstrable experience in the relevant scientific areas, 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 (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).
• 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 (e.g. copy of university degree, and certificates of working experience, etc.) to demonstrate fulfilment of the selection criteria.