Republic of Moldova

National Consultant to strengthen the capacities of the project cycle management procedures at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova

Vacancy Number: Pr12/00132

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	30 Jun 2012, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	16 Jul 2012, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	01 Aug 2012
Reference to the project:	Transitional Capacity Support for the Public Administration of Moldova
Expected Duration of Assignment:	6 months
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted by email to vacancies-moldova@undp.org , no later than 30 June 2012 Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: marin.eladi@undp.org. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

The project “Transitional Capacity Support for the Public Administration of Moldova” was designed upon the request of the Government of Moldova to enhance capacities of the Moldovan Central Public Administration in order to accelerate the reform process and achieve Moldova’s short-and medium term development goals. The project seeks to address urgent short-term capacity needs of the public administration at a time when Moldovan central government institutions face serious financial and human resources gaps. In addition to helping the Government pursue critical reform priorities, the intervention is designed to catalyze the on-going implementation of central public administration reform by engaging national consultants for a short and medium term. It is coordinated and managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and State Chancellery of Moldova and will complement on-going work by other donors. The Moldovan Diaspora and non-governmental sector, including the private and civil society sectors, would be the main source for such consultants. They would not be expected to become permanent staff of the civil service, but based on a competitive process, would be hired for a defined period. Capacity building consultants (CBC) would be engaged and their ToRs defined in a way that would protect the integrity of the civil service work to strengthen its intrinsic capacity. One of the main goals of the TCS project is the transfer of knowledge from consultants to civil servants. In this respect the engaged consultants will provide advice, coaching and skills transfer to the civil service on a permanent basis. Also, the involvement of officials of the beneficiary institutions in monitoring process of the consultants will facilitate direct interchange of knowledge and will ensure closer cooperation between officials of the Ministry and the experts engaged.

The Government’s Activity Program „European Integration: Freedom, Democracy, Welfare” which lays out a framework of Moldovan Government policies for the period 2011-2014 highlights the importance of the academic science and innovation policies on building the competitiveness capacity of the research and innovation system in line with the principle of the knowledge-driven economy.

The Academy of Science of Moldova (ASM) represents the only public institution of national interest responsible for policy development and implementation in the sphere of science and innovation. Within the framework of the ASM there are institutions that carry out fundamental, applicative scientific researches and activities of innovation and technologic transfer, which results are materialized in new scientific knowledge, technological and technical elaborations, capitalization of the national patrimony, promotion of scientific and cultural values on a national and world level, training of scientific personnel of high qualification.

Following the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7),  the improvement of the project cycle management procedures of the research projects in line with the EU and international best practice has become a priority for the ASM. Through several activities implemented in 2011 such as the establishing of the Public Center for Fundamental and Applied Research Funding, the creation of the Public Institution of the Expertise Consultative Council and the launching of the first phase of the Foresight Exercise that has as a major goal the elaboration of a long and medium term Strategy for the development of research and innovation sector in Moldova, ASM has already initiated the process of its’ institutional modernisation and transformation. These activities represent an effort in the process of the continuous development of public research institutions, research capacities of the universities, non-profit research organizations and business enterprise sector in order to foster the innovation base of the national economy and promotion of the research and innovation activities throughout all areas of social and economic live of the society.

In this context, the ASM is seeking to engage a National Consultant in order to provide assistance to the Public Center for the Financing of Basic and Applied Research, which is the key body of the ASM responsible of the project cycle management in the research field, in order to strengthen the existing project cycle management systems and capacities, in line with best EU and international standards.  This will be achieved through the provision of consultancy services, technical assistance and capacity building activities.

Scope of work

The Consultant will have a primary objective to increase the capacity of the Public Center for Fundamental and Applied Research Funding to develop management procedures of the research projects, throughout the full project management cycle, according to the best EU and international practices and offer the required technical assistance to implement the subsequent adjustments of the national research system setup. In order to achieve the stated objectives, the National Consultant will have the following responsibilities:

• Coordinate a joint working group within the ASM, which would steer the process of analysis of the existing project management procedures, and the development of the new systems; the working groups will include the following departments: the General Department on Policies; the Public Center for the Financing of Basic and Applied Research; the Department of Finances and Accounting; as well as representatives of civil society, universities, business community, potential donors and other relevant parties;
• Elaborate an analysis of the existing project cycle management systems within the ASM, starting with the identification of needs, implementation, evaluation and impact analysis, highlighting key strengths and weaknesses, and areas which would require further improvement; 
• Identify best EU practices in the area of research project cycle management, in line with the previously identified strengths and weaknesses;
• Provide assistance with the elaboration of a draft Strategic Concept for the implementation of a Research Project Cycle Management system, in line with the above findings and recommendations, and in correspondence with the “programme-based” approach. The draft Concept will also recommend the re-structuring of the project activity around some key thematic programmes of relevance for the ASM, and will describe the financing mechanisms to be applied  in line with the EU best practices;
• Provide support with the development of a respective Action Plan, as follows:
• The Plan will aim at restructuring the existing procedures, at encouraging initiative and increase the quality of the selected projects in order to contribute to a more prominent role of science to both the social and the economic development of the country; 
• The Plan will aim at targeting the management procedures based on existing needs, but also on the existing development potential in the framework of FP7 program and other potential funding pools; 
• The Plan will include an impact analysis of the key proposed actions, and a costing exercise. The Plan elaboration process will benefit of ongoing activities as the implementing Foresight exercise and S&T Policy Mix Peer Review exercise launched in the framework of FP7 IncoNet EECA project.
• Support with the organization of the public consultation on the draft Plan;
• Facilitate the identification of the resources required for the implementation of the proposed activities, including support with the identification of potential donors, from country and abroad;
• Preparing monthly progress reports of the component activities;
• Performing any other related activities which may emerge during the course of time..

For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

(I) Academic Qualifications:

• University degree in natural, social or applied sciences, science/research policy management or other related fields;

(II) Years of experience:

• Minimum 3 years professional experience in the area of science management or other related fields;

(III) Competencies:

• Proven work experience with research organizations will be considered an advantage; 
• Knowledge of research related  issues in Moldova and UE, in particular research policies and research management would be considered an advantage; 
• Proven experience in qualitative and quantitative policy elaboration, including impact analysis;
• Proven abilities to elaborate technical documentation, normative acts and or/strategy documents;
• Fluent in Romanian; English and Russian.
• Computer proficiency, including knowledge of MS Office products (Word, Excel, Power Point).

Documents to be included

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

 

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