Volume 11, No. 2, 2000

Projects and the INQUA Commissions

During the last five years scientific projects have been the most vital part of INQUA's activities. Details of all INQUA-approved and -granted projects in 1995-2000 are found on the INQUA web: http://inqua.nlh.no under "Projects." The lists give a good overview of the great span and scientific value of INQUA activities, and the large number of scientists involved throughout world .

Before the XIV International INQUA Congress in Berlin in 1995, the INQUA Executive Committee allocated a certain amount of money to each Commission to cover its general activities. Normally no detailed plans were required from the Commissions, but the Executive Committee reviewed and evaluated the activities at the end of an inter-congress period, and presented this review to the INQUA International Council. The review formed the basis for decisions about the termination or continuation of the Commissions.

The International Council in Berlin in 1995 discussed this procedure in detail. In particular the following points were addressed:

1. It would be very difficult to decide about the grant to the commissions when no detailed plans were required. There was a risk that Commissions with only modest activity would be given the same amount of money as Commissions with high activity and many good scientific projects.
2. A majority of the members of the International Council was of the opinion that the Executive Committee should play a more active role in decisions about the scientific activities during the inter-congress periods. It was decided that the Vice-Presidents of the Executive Committee should liase with the Commissions, and that they play an active role in the review and evaluation of the commission activities. The activities in the Commissions should be more project-oriented, to make sure that the modest INQUA money available would be allocated to activities for which good plans and goals were defined. This gave the Executive Committee a tool to review the Commissions' activities during the inter-congress period, to reject poorly planned projects, and to terminate activities that did not prove successful.

After Berlin the Executive Committee invited the Commissions to submit project proposals. More than 50 scientific projects were approved by the Executive Committee of INQUA in the period 1995-99 and the presentations at the XV International INQUA Congress in Durban in August 1999 showed that many of these had been very successful. The Executive Committee applied the following guidelines for the review of the project proposals:

1. The aim should fit the overall scope of INQUA
2. The plans should be realistic concerning the goal, the schedule time and the grant available.
3. There should be a confirmed and broad international participation.
4. Young people and scientists from third world countries should be included if possible. The project leaders were in particular encouraged to apply for money to cover travel grants for young scientists to the project meetings.

INQUA project support is, in the majority of cases, seed money only and is given to projects adjudged capable of attracting additional funding. INQUA's limited contribution is, in fact, directed principally to the facilitation of international participation by young scientists in projects of a type that involve such broadly based collaborative research. Around 50 % of the INQUA money was spent on projects in the inter-congress period 1995-1999. This is probably the highest allocation to scientific work in INQUA's history.  

The International Council in Durban recommended a continuation of the project-oriented work, along the same format as during the inter-congress period 1995-1999. In 1999, 36 new project proposals were submitted, and 24 of these were approved. This is very promising for the activities in the present inter-congress period.  

Further development of the project-oriented activity of INQUA should comprise a more intensive co-operation between the Commissions or working groups in different Commissions. And last but not least, common projects with other international unions are highly recommended. 

Further information about the current projects in the Commissions can be obtained by making direct contact with the project leader, or the Commission Presidents whose names and addresses can be found in Quaternary Perspectives 10 (2), 1999.

Sylvi Haldorsen
INQUA Secretary General