An advisory committee consists of a (non-voting) chair and at least 3 members. Members of the advisory committees work for the Mondriaan Fund on a contract basis. They are appointed and discharged by the board of the Mondriaan Fund. The period of appointment is determined in the letter of appointment and the protocol. The Mondriaan Fund designates a chairman.
The advisory committee advises about the substantive/qualitative value of the current applications in light of the grants and objectives of the Mondriaan Fund. The scores and therefore the ranking are determined based on the average of the advisors’ individual scores. The chairman has no say in the assessment process.
The advisory committee is objective and impartial in its judgment. Committee members are expected to look beyond their own preferences in their formation of a judgment. The basic principle in the assessment of all applications is an inclusive concept of quality that takes into account the context within which each application is submitted or carried out.
The information that is submitted to members of the advisory committee will be kept strictly confidential by them. The discussion at the meeting is also confidential. The same applies of course to digital documentation of the applicants, which cannot be shared with a third party. The committee always speaks with one voice, although an advice does not have to be reached unanimously. Consequently, advisors refrain from giving any information to applicants or third parties about the content of the deliberations, and refer to the Mondriaan Fund for information.
When an advisor has submitted an application, or the organisation that the advisor works for, or when the advisor has a private or professional interest in an application by others, this advisor cannot participate in the advisory meeting in question. In such cases the advisor will not be invited for this meeting, or the invitation will be withdrawn. An advisor cannot temporarily withdraw from the meeting while one or more applications are being processed. If there is any involvement with a particular application, the advisor should inform the Mondriaan Fund about this as soon as possible. During their period of appointment, advisors are also not permitted to write personal letters of recommendation for potential applicants to the Mondriaan Fund.
The advisory committee meets at the invitation of the Mondriaan Fund. The meetings take place both online (via Teams) and physically on location at the Mondriaan Fund in Amsterdam. The members of the advisory committee are supposed to have read the applications well beforehand, and, if applicable, to have gone through the accompanying documentation materials. Normally, financial aspects are excluded from the assessment. The Mondriaan Fund can, if it considers it appropriate, request the committee to evaluate these aspects of an application.
An employee of the Mondriaan Fund is secretary of the committee and in that position is responsible for the substantive preparation and the reporting of the meetings. The committee deliberates on the basis of assessment criteria that have been drawn up by the Mondriaan Fund. The secretary monitors the evaluation process, in consultation with the chair.
Version July 2024