The Norwegian Research Council of Norway has granted contract continuation to SFI Smart Maritime for the remaining period of the Centre's eight-year term (2015-2023).
Based on the recommendation from the external reviewers and concludes the mid-way evaluation of the Centre. Green light has been given the SFI Smart Maritime, meaning no changes in plans are required. Nevertheless, the evaluation has given the Centre the opportunity for self-assessment and strategic improvement. The review panel has suggested the following recommendations for improvement to the Centre:
The Centre thank the Research Council and the reviewers for a constructive dialog.
About the process of mid-term evaluation:
Under the auspices of the Research Council, roughly 3,5 years after the centres are established, an evaluation of each centre is carried out. The evaluation is based on a uniform scheme involving the Research Council's governing bodies. The purpose of the evaluation is to form the basis for a decision by the Research Council about whether to continue the individual centre for the remainder of the overall eight-year term, or to wind it up after five years.
On 14 December 2018, the Centre Management and all member of the SFI Smart Maritime consortium delivered own assessment reports to the Norwegian Research Council, as documentation for a review panel.
On 9 April 2019 the evaluation team met with the Chair of the Board, the Director, project leaders, industry representatives, postdocs, PhD students, and representatives of the host institution, SINTEF Ocean. In the morning the discussions focused on the research at the
Centre and included a laboratory visit. In the afternoon there was a meeting with students as well as discussions on industry involvement, management, organisation and the future of the Centre.
The members of the review panels were:
• Professor David Williams, Loughborough University, UK (panel leader)
• Dr. Mattias Lundberg, Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, Sweden
• Professor Johan Woxenius, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
• Professor Moustafa Abdel-Maksoud, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Germany