5. CONSIDERATION OF THE RECOMMENDATION
The institution shall send the appraisal committee’s recommendation to the candidate as soon as possible. The candidate should be given at least one week to submit any written comments on the recommendation.
If the candidate’s comments can have a bearing on the question of whether or not the project can be approved, the comments should be presented to the appraisal committee before the case is sent to the Steering Committee.
The Steering Committee shall – on the basis of the appraisal committee’s final recommendation – make a recommendation to the institution with respect to the approval or non-approval of the project. The Steering Committee can request the appraisal committee to elaborate on its appraisal before making its recommendation or, if applicable, require that a new appraisal committee be appointed.
The institution makes the final decision concerning approval. A decision on approval may not be made that is not in accordance with the Steering Committee’s recommendation. The candidate and the Steering Committee shall be informed about the institution’s decision as soon as possible.
In the case of non-approval of a project, the candidate can apply to present him/herself for a new appraisal six months at the earliest after the final decision was made not to approve the project. Only one new appraisal is permitted, and the final deadline for submitting application for renewed appraisal is 2 years after the final decision of non-approval was first taken.