The ICES Secretariat will be responsive to requests from member states' institutions to support specific tasks of joint project proposals. ICES will work with any successful research project from within the ICES community, should the consortium so wish. ICES is not actively seeking to directly or indirectly become a project partner of consortia applying for research tenders.

The ICES secretariat will be transparent about its association with a particular applicant, so that other applicants have an equal opportunity to associate ICES with their applications. The Bureau will be informed of ICES participation in such projects at an early stage according to the project decision tree.

Project decision tree

(Click on the picture to enlarge)

Notes to decision tree:

The ICES Secretariat is in the position to develop projects on its own or to react on calls for proposals or tenders if ICES is in an outstanding position to fulfil the scientific tasks. The secretariat then approaches the task as a potential coordinator of a project. In the process of preparation the ICES
Secretariat approaches all member states through its Delegates, informs on the aims and process and gives all member states an equal opportunity to join.

More commonly, ICES is approached by member states' institutions to support specific tasks in a joint proposal as project partner. In principle ICES will work with any successful research project from within the ICES community, should the consortium so wish and the work fits well with ICESs
structures and workplan. However if it intends to become a project partner of consortia members should be asked if they have any objections.
A difficulty arises because as project partner ICES should respect the confidentiality expected from partners in the development of research proposals. In most cases the request will come from member country organisations that should not be prejudiced by ICES desire for transparency. In this case it is proposed that Bureau is asked to
evaluate if the request is consistent with the objectives of this guideline, and if ICES participation has an unfair influence in the funding process. If no agreement is achieved, ICES will refrain from taking part in the project.

In general, the ICES secretariat will be as transparent as possible in its association with a particular applicant, while taking care of the confidentiality issues raised above.

ICES Secretariat, March, 2011