El IIS La Fe activa la Comisión Ciudadana para la evaluación de los proyectos de la convocatoria de Ayudas María Jordá Sanz

The La Fe Health Research Institute (IIS La Fe) has launched a pioneering initiative for citizen participation that aims to bring society closer to the world of biomedical research through the evaluation of scientific projects.

To this end, the IIS La Fe Citizen Commission (CCiu IIS La Fe) has been created, which is made up of representatives of patient associations, business, social groups, healthcare managers and the non-university education sector. This group of 5 citizens will evaluate the proposals that have been submitted to the internal call for María Jordá Sanz Grants for research in cardiology and oncology at IIS La Fe.

The involvement of patient associations in the evaluation of projects is a common practice in research entities, but the IIS La Fe Citizen Commission goes a step further and incorporates different groups unrelated to biomedical research, as key non-scientific agents. The aim is to have a diverse and representative commission from all areas of society.

This project proposes that citizen participation should be active, continuous and relevant in a format that serves to improve the science-society relationship. The aim is also to increase citizens' knowledge of the reality of science and its processes, to listen to and involve non-scientific agents, to facilitate transparency and to generate new spaces for citizen participation.

  

Research in citizen participation

The composition, operation and procedure of the CCiu IIS La Fe are based on the 'Delphi study on the creation of a citizen commission for the evaluation of research projects' developed by the IIS La Fe and the Institute of Science and Technology Studies of the University of Salamanca (ECYT-USAL). This work has gathered and agreed the opinion of a panel of experts about their attitudes towards citizen participation, as well as specific aspects related to the operation and characteristics of an eventual commission.

The information gathered through this work has been used to draft the terms and conditions of the 1st Call for María Jordá Grants in its section related to the creation of a citizen commission for the evaluation of the proposals presented. According to these rules, the Citizen Commission will evaluate a specific report focused on the communication and dissemination of the project and the explanation of the social impact.

The total weight of the citizen evaluation will be 15% of the total score and the projects evaluated by the commission will have to pass a minimum technical score that guarantees the quality of the proposal.

With this experience, IIS La Fe will develop a manual that establishes recommendations on citizen participation in the evaluation of research projects, which can be used both internally, within IIS La Fe itself, and in other institutes that wish to implement similar initiatives.

Call with citizen participation

The first intervention of the Citizen Commission as project evaluator will take place on the occasion of the María Jordá Sanz Grants for research in cardiology and oncology. These aids are born from the solidarity legacy of María Jordá Sanz, a Valencian seamstress who expressly left in her will the wish that her legacy be destined to the promotion of research in the fields of oncology and cardiology.

Leaving a legacy of solidarity to a non-profit institution such as IIS La Fe, whose purpose is biomedical research for the benefit of society, is an act of generosity that contributes to improving people's lives in the medium and long term. Under this premise, IIS La Fe wants to go a step further in the collaboration between science and society. Taking into account that the legacy of María Jordá is a boost to research directly from society, IIS La Fe has decided to involve citizens in the evaluation process of these internal grants.