Communication and dialogue
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A Mistra programme represents a major investment of resources. Millions of kronor will normally have been made available by Mistra alone, and additional large sums may have been provided by other sources of funding. Such a major undertaking needs to be wound up in a carefully planned manner. Preparations for programme closure need to be made a couple of years in advance. This process includes, on the one hand, steps to ensure that the results live on and are utilized after the programme has ended and, on the other, final reporting on the programme, identifying the lessons learnt from it.Transfer of results/baton change
During its lifetime, a Mistra programme should produce research results that are put to use in promoting sustainable development. While the programme is still in progress, intended users should be actively involved and should begin to use the results generated. When it comes to an end, there will in many cases be a ‘baton´ to be passed on to someone else, to ensure that the results continue to be used following completion of the programme. They may perhaps need to be transferred to a commercial market, or to public authorities or interest organizations, or perhaps another source of funding can take over. Mistra has experience of how earlier programmes have been brought to a close, and the Secretariat will be happy to discuss the winding up of your programme in the light of this experience.The process of ‘baton change´ must be planned well before the programme ends. A carefully considered plan needs to be put in place during the penultimate year of the programme, and reflected in the programme plan for the final year. Sufficient funds must be reserved for the necessary activities in the programme budget. The plan for baton change should include the following:
• How are the capabilities developed to be utilized?
• How can others carry the work forward?
• How are the results to be implemented?
Final reporting of the results
As a programme draws to a close, final reporting on the programme as a whole is required. The aim is to sum up and communicate to a wider audience what contribution the programme has made and what lessons have been learnt. FINAL REPORTING IS TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS Scientific results:• The programme must normally arrange a concluding international scientific conference to report on and sum up the results achieved.• A scholarly article summarizing the results should be published.Usefulness and applications of the results:
• The programme must normally arrange a concluding conference for users, to present the results of the programme and to document and describe experience of communicating results to users.
• A final, summarized report aimed at users must be published.
Capacity building:
• A list of PhD students must be drawn up, recording their profiles and where they have ended up after gaining their degrees.• Plans should be made for the researcher network to meet once a year, for example over the next two to three years. Mistra may possibly be able to finance one or two seminars for this network.Mistra also welcomes a more informal account by programme management of the lessons they have learnt from the programme. This will enable Mistra to learn from and develop on the basis of programme participants´ experiences, and also to pass them on to new Mistra programmes.
Final financial report to Mistra
On completion of the programme, a final financial report is to be submitted to Mistra. Any funds not spent during the life of the contract are to be repaid to the Foundation. The same guidelines apply to this final report as to the one to be submitted at the end of a phase of a programme. For further information, see the section on financial matters above.Post-programme evaluation
Mistra will undertake a separate evaluation of the programme after it has been completed, to learn lessons for future programmes.Maintaining the programme web site
When the programme ends, its web site is to be saved on a CD and sent to the Mistra Secretariat. It can subsequently be managed as part of Mistra´s web structure. The main contractor may also choose to keep the site within its web structure.Frequently asked questions
Is Mistra able to fund special measures to ensure ‘baton change´? Normally, all activities to pass on the baton to others are expected to be funded from the programme budget. There may, however, be exceptions, when Mistra chooses to co-finance a small part of the baton change process with other sources of funding. This will only happen when Mistra involvement in the process offers a unique opportunity to ensure broader use of the research results than would otherwise be achieved.We expect to have money left over when the programme ends. Do we have to pay it back to Mistra?
Yes. If a programme has funds left when it is concluded, the balance has to be repaid to Mistra.
We´re into the final phase of our programme. Can Mistra manage the programme´s web site when the programme has come to an end?
Yes. In the case of programmes started in 2005 or later, web sites will be hosted within Mistra´s web structure. Programmes launched prior to 2005 can also transfer their sites to this web structure. Reserve resources for this purpose.
