Who manages OPERATE operationally?

The team behind OPEARTE is located at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the DLR Projektträger (DLR-PT), a national project management agency. The methodology behind OPERATE is developed, managed and maintained by the DLR Projektträger team.

What is the purpose of OPERATE?

The aim of OPERATE is to provide a methodical framework to include scientists and researchers in the assessment of opportunities and risks when cooperating with international partners. This procedure is based on an online tool to collect the opinion of invited Panellists. The outcome of this assessment shall serve as basis for informed decision making, sensitization, and reveal of possible risks and opportunities in the context of international STI cooperation.

Where will I get support?

If you have questions regarding your OPERATE assessment, please contact your Operator. If you have general questions regarding the OPERATE application feel free to contact the OPERATE team at safeguarding-science@dlr.de.

What is an Operator?

Operators are key personnel at research centres or central agencies who plan, initiate and control the individual assessments. Operators are registered users of OPERATE.

How do I become an Operator?

Operators must register with OPERATE and receive permanent access to the OPERATE application. To register, candidates must provide details of their intended use of OPERATE:

• Information on the role of the organisation in the context of international STI cooperation
• Details of own function in the context of risk assessment
• Information on the envisioned target group
• Information on the planned or estimated number of OPERATE applications in the organisation

What is a Panellist?

Panellists are the participants in the assessments (mainly researchers or experts in a given field).

How do I get a login as Panellist?

The login/access data will be provided via mail. The mail is automatically sent by the OPERATE application and issued by the Operator.

Is OPERATE assessing individual research projects or thematic research topics/areas?

The OPERATE application can assess both OPERATE itself is a working aid and does not do any assessment. With OPERARE however, assessments can be carried out for both: research topics and projects.

How should the assessment panel be composed?

Generally, the Operator, usually together with the leading scientist for a specific cooperation question and assessment, is free to choose the composition of the assessment panel. The panel should cover relevant expertise on the research field or project in question and additional expertise if necessary.

How do you incorporate the problem of different TRLs in the methodology?

For the moment the following is proposed: If a testing group does not exactly know whether they talk about basic or applied science, they might do the exercise twice: once short-term (basic) and once long-term (applied).

How do you decide on the applied time horizon?

Normally the observed time horizon is following the assessments subject (project or program run time, long-term cooperation etc.). If a testing group does not exactly know what time horizon should be observed, it can be proposed to run the assessment twice: once for a short-term observation, once for a long-term observation.

How do I give my assessment as Panellist?

In order to give your assessment, you are asked by the OPERATE application to rate each question with numerical values from 1-5 (from 1 very unlikely to 5 probable respectively from 1 insignificant to 5 critical/highly beneficial).

As Panellist, do I have to answer every question?

No, it is possible to indicate “not applicable”.

What happens with my personal data?

Your personal data will be deleted automatically, once the specific assessment you have been involved in is finalized. For more information, please consult the OPERATE data protection policy.