In opdracht van NWO voerde Dialogic een tussentijdse evaluatie uit van het Joint Scientific Thematic Research Program (JSTP). JSTP is een gezamenlijk onderzoeksprogramma van China en Nederland. Aan Nederlandse kant nemen KNAW en NWO deel (met op de achtergrond het Ministerie van OCW), aan Chinese zijde gaat het om de ministeries van wetenschap en technologie (MoST), en onderwijs (MoE) en de academies voor de bèta wetenschappen (CAS) en sociale wetenschappen (CASS). Doelstelling van het programma is het bevorderen van duurzame samenwerking tussen onderzoekers uit beide landen. Dat gebeurt enerzijds door financiering van gezamenlijke onderzoeksprojecten, rond een jaarlijks wisselend thema. Anderzijds door de financiering van meer vrij in te richten seminars.

At the request of the program´s project partners, Dialogic innovatie & interactie conducted a mid-term evaluation of the China-Netherlands Joint Scientific Thematic Research Program (JSTP). This evaluation took place from December 2010 until March 2011.
JSTP kicked off in 2009 with a three-year pilot. The JSTP implementation plan stipulated that the pilot was to be evaluated after two years. Based on the outcome of the evaluation, a decision will be made on the continuation of the program. Also, modifications may possibly be introduced to improve the program format.
The aim of this evaluation study is threefold:
1. Analyse the early development and actual implementation of the program´s process, and how this implementation is viewed by different stakeholders;
2. Analyse to what extent the objectives of JSTP (sustainable research collaboration, high visibility, low administrative burden) have been/are being met;
3. Compare JSTP to other research programs that include China.
The overall view on JSTP, of both project partners and researcher applicants, is a quite positive one. Project partners praise the friendly, flexible and non-bureaucratic cooperation and view the program as a joint learning process and an example for bilateral research cooperation with other European countries. JSTP is seen by researcher applicants as a welcome addition to existing programs, enabling real research collaboration when compared to several exchange-focused programs (e.g. CEP), and more flexible and less bureaucratic when compared to other research-focused programs (e.g. PSA and EU). That being said, there are widespread complaints from researcher applicants on the assessment process. Also, the timeline is criticized: there have been considerable delays between the decision of the Assessment Committee, and the funding by project partners, mainly MoST. When it comes to addressing these problems, the Program Committee might not be functioning properly.
Recommendations: the assessment process should be improved, focusing on more transparency as well as the timeline. Both issues call for better communication between project partners (within the Program Committee), and for better communication towards the researcher applicants.