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Research grants

apply for external research funding

Below, you will find a selection of funders of particular interest for researchers at Lund University School of Economics and Management.

Bankforskningsinsitutet/The Swedish Bank Research Foundation

Scholarships for PhD students and post-doctoral researchers, carrying out research on financial institutions and markets.

Read more

The Crafoord Foundation

The main purpose of the Crafoord Foundation is to promote scientific research and education. Other goals include promoting not-for-profit Swedish scientific education and research by supporting individuals or organizations. The Foundation primarily grants one-year funding of, in general, up to SEK 500,000. Higher grants to support 2–4 year projects are also available.

Read more

European Research Council (ERC)

ERC grants support individual researchers of any nationality and age who wish to pursue their frontier research. The ERC encourages in particular proposals that cross disciplinary boundaries, pioneering ideas that address new and emerging fields and applications that introduce unconventional, innovative approaches.

ERC calls 2021 (please note that the deadlines are preliminary):
Starting Grants: 9 March 2021
Consolidator Grants: 20 April 2021
Advanced Grants: 31 August 2021
Proof of Concept: 16 March, 17 June and 20 October 2021

Special rules apply for applications to the ERC as these require a commitment of the host institution signed by the vice-chancellor – please contact Research Services.

Formas/The Swedish Research Council Formas

Formas, the Swedish research council for sustainable development, promotes and supports research within the areas of Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning. The research comprises basic research, needs-driven research and innovation. Formas may also fund development projects to a limited extent.

Read more

Forte/Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare

Forte is a government agency financing research in the areas of health, labour and welfare. Forte distributes around 550 million Swedish kronor every year to both basic and needs-driven research. This ranges from individual project grants to larger efforts to build world-class research environments.

Read more

Försäkringskassan announces project grants within social insurance.

Read more (in Swedish)

Gunvor och Josef Anérs stiftelse

The foundation grants support for all types of scientific research, particularly within humanities.

Read more (in Swedish)

Handelsrådet/The Swedish Retail and Wholesale Development Council

One of Sweden’s largest financiers of research in the area of wholesale and retail, the council annually pays approximately 20 million SEK to various research projects. The main purpose is developing and strengthening the academic retail and wholesale research. The aim is also to increase the knowledge of wholesale and retail, for the benefit of companies, employees, customers and society.

Stipends for postdocs and PhD students are announced every spring.

Application deadline: 28 April every year

Hans Werthén Fonden/Hans Werthén Foundation

The foundation annually awards 15 stipends of 100,000–200,000 SEK to postdocs or PhD students for one year of scientific work abroad. Applicants are to be 25–35 years old and hold an academic degree (at least master), preferably in science, business/economics or law. Preferably, the applicant has post-degree experience from research or business.

Read more (in Swedish)

Jan Wallanders och Tom Hedelius Foundation – Programmes (Handelsbanken)

The foundation supports social science research in primarily business adminsitration, economics and economic history with diffent types of grants: programmes, postdoctoral fellowships (Wallander scholarships), grants for research exchange and dissemination of research results, scholarships for research training abroad (Hedelius scholarships).

Application periods: 1 Dec 2020–31 Jan 2021 and 10 Aug–15 Sep 2021

Read more (in Swedish)

Konkurrensverket/The Swedish Competition Authority

The Swedish Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket), together with the Council for Research Issues, works to stimulate research within competition and public procurement and to contribute towards the qualitative and quantitative development of research in this area. For this reason, they provide funding for research projects, commissioned research, seminars and the like.

Application deadline: 1 February each year

Kronofogdemyndigheten/Swedish Enforcement Authority

The Swedish Enforcement Authority conducts research in order to promote research at universities and university colleges within areas that relate to the Authority's activity. Individual researchers or groups of researchers from different scientific disciplines can apply.

Read more (in Swedish)

The Lars Erik Lundberg Foundation for Research and Education

The Foundation supports research and studies in the fields of economics, business administration, and technology. Support may be granted to either senior researchers or doctoral students, and is normally granted for a project period of one to three years.

Read more

Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap, MSB/Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency

MSB primarily supports applied, needs-oriented research. The aim is to generate practical applicable research findings that will lead to an increased ability to solve societal problems.

Read more

Ragnar Söderberg Foundation – Ragnar Söderberg Project in Economic Sciences or Law

The foundation supports junior researchers with a PhD that have innovative ideas, proven scientific excellence and high ambitions to develop economic sciences.

Currently, no project calls are expected.

Read more

Riksbankens Jubileumsfond

Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) supports research in Humanities and Social Sciences. Support is provided in several forms: programmes, projects, infrastructure for research, and also for research initiation.

Support to Research initiation in Social Sciences and Humanities
This funding may be used for setting up a consortia preparing for a Horizon 2020 proposal – organising e.g. conferences, seminars, workshops and for the creation of new research networks. Grants for research initiation may be applied for at any time during the year. Read more

RJ's regular funding call

Sten K Johnson Foundation

The foundation wants to reach out to individuals, organizations and companies (with a link to Skåne) who have vision and drive to develop projects in education, culture, technology, medicine, entrepreneurship, literature and music.

Read more

Stiftelsen för främjande av ekonomisk forskning vid Lunds universitet

The purpose of the foundation is to promote such economic research at Lund University that is of interest to industry and trade. For the autumn of 2020, the foundation has decided to assign SEK 200,000 for stipends and research grants.

Read more

Stiftelsen Lantbruksforskning/EH Hügoths foundation

Grants for higher studies in agricultural economy, marketing and administration. The foundation also promotes experimental work of importance for agriculture.

Application deadline: 31 December each year

Stiftelsen Svenska Revisionsakademin

The foundation supports research mainly in accounting and auditing.

Read more (in Swedish)

Torsten Söderberg Foundation

The foundation supports research in the areas of medicine, business and economics, and law.

Read more (in Swedish)

The Wallenberg Foundations

The Wallenberg Foundations is the collective name for the public and private foundations funded by individual members of the Wallenberg family. The Foundations grant funding to excellent researchers and research projects beneficial to Sweden, and have since 1917 granted over 25 billion SEK.

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– Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation

Grants for research projects with high research potential, usually of a basic research nature and focused on a single research issue. Projects within new research fields, above all of a boundary-crossing nature, are prioritised. The project should preferably be within science, engineering and medicine.

No project funding for 2021. Postdoc call is delayed bacause of travel restrictions.

Read more

Requires central management of applications and accounting – please contact LU Research Services.

– Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation

The Foundation primarily grants funding for the humanities and learning. Individual scientists or research groups affiliated with a Swedish university or other academic and non-profit organizations may apply for grants. All applications to the Foundation must first pass the internal prioritization process of the relevant university or institution.

Application deadline: 1 April every year

Requires central management of applications and accounting – please contact LU Research Services.

– Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation

The Foundation primarily grants funding for projects related to law, social science and other social sciences together with fellowships in clinical medicine. The Foundation mainly funds research projects of high scientific potential and provides individual support to outstanding scientists. From time to time, the Foundation also initiates strategic projects and scholarship programs.

Application deadline: 1 April every year

Requires central management of applications and accounting – please contact LU Research Services.

– Peter Wallenberg Foundation

The Foundation supports projects related to economics and technology, preferably projects involving collaboration between Swedish and Finnish scientists.

Application deadline: 1 April and 1 October every year

Wenner-Gren Foundations

The Wenner-Gren Foundations (The Wenner-Gren Center Foundation for Scientific Research, The Axel Wenner-Gren Foundation for International Exchange of Scientists and The Foundation Wenner-Grenska Samfundet) support international scientific exchange. Several different scholarships are available:

Wenner-Gren Fellows: 3 year post doc scholarships
Application deadline: 31 January 2021
Further information (in Swedish)

Post doc scholarship, non-Swedish applicants, for 2-year stay in Sweden
Application deadline: 1 October 2021
Further information (in Swedish)

Guest researcher scholarships to facilitate non-Swedish senior researcher’s stay in Sweden
Application deadline: 1 October 2021
Further information (in Swedish)

Sabbatical scholarships to facilitate Swedish senior researcher’s stay at a university abroad
Application deadline: 1 October 2021
Further information (in Swedish)

Travelling grants, for shorter stays abroad and active participation in international congresses, symposia, workshops and courses
Application deadline: 1 October 2021
Further information (in Swedish)

Vetenskapsrådet (VR)/The Swedish Research Council

The Swedish Research Council allocates around SEK 6,4 billion in funding for basic research of the highest scientific quality in all areas of research each year. All applications for funding are subject to rigorous quality testing, known as peer review.

Both those who are early in their research careers and those who are more established may apply for grants from the Swedish Research Council. They have a specific mandate from the government to support young researchers and to encourage research to be renewed.

Read more

Vinnova develops a number of programmes and activities within strategic areas. Most programmes involve active cooperation between the private business sector, universities and/or research institutes as well as the public sector.

Read more at Vinnova’s webpage

Last published: 2020-10-08


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The Might of Milk

With such a powerful arsenal of benefits packed into its seemingly mild demeanour, milk is undoubtedly one of the most nutrient-packed beverages around. Whether you slurp it down icy cold, dunk cereal into it, or warm it up for a relaxing pre-bedtime drink, drink up now to load up on all its goodness!

Milk: Nutritional benefits

Milk is a complex, nutritious liquid secreted by the mammary glands of female mammals. It contains about 88 percent water and more than 100 compounds, such as fat-soluble vitamins, protein and mineral salts. In fact, milk is known popularly as ‘an almost complete food’ because of the vast range of nutrients it contains.

  • One of the major nutrients in milk
  • Helps build strong bones that support and boost physical activity throughout one’s life. Substantial bone mass also helps to reduce the risk of bone fractures, which may lead to permanent disability.
  • Calcium is also needed for muscle contraction and proper functioning of the nervous system, as well as for building strong and healthy teeth. A glass about 200ml serving of F&N MAGNOLIA fresh milk provides you with 240mg of calcium.

Vitamin D

  • This fat-soluble vitamin is an essential complement to calcium, as it promotes absorption of the latter and enhances bone formation.
  • Deficiency of vitamin D can lead to rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, both bone softening diseases that can impair movement severely.

  • The protein found in milk is often said to be of high quality, as it contains all the essential amino acids required by the body for optimum growth and development.
  • Protein helps to build and repair muscle tissue and also serves as a source of energy during intensive endurance or resistance exercises.
  • Inadequate intake of protein can lead to reduced intelligence, impaired ability to fight off diseases, and retarded growth.

Vitamin B

  • Milk is particularly rich in two of the B-group vitamins – vitamin B12 and B2 (or riboflavin).
  • Vitamin B12 is required for the formation of healthy red blood cells and maintenance of a healthy nervous system, while riboflavin is essential to the metabolism of fats, carbohydrates and proteins.

To buy online, select a retailer.

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Free Shipping on Orders over $1600*

Covid-19 Notice: We are still open and shipping orders. There may be minor stock issues on some items. Email:

Your Cart is Empty

December 31, 2015 2 min read

In most cases, a broken post can’t be completely fixed and the post must be replaced. Depending on the age and style of your staircase, you may be able to find exactly what you need or you may have to custom order a post. If you have experience or enjoy DIY projects, replacing your broken post can be done relatively easily with these instructions.

Start by cutting the broken post into two sections with a handsaw. Moving the upper portion side to side, you should be able to pry it from the underside of the banister. Remove any nails left behind. At the base of the post are the lag screws. You will want to loosen and remove these; this will allow you to remove the bottom section of the post. Save all of the screws and washers.

With a power or cordless drill with a ¾ inch bit, bore a ½ inch deep hole cleaning out the dowel port on the underside of the bannister. Be careful not to drill through the railing as you do this. Follow by drilling a ¾ inch hole 3 inches deep at the center of the top end of the post for a wooden dowel.

Apply wood glue into the ¾ inch hole at the top of the post and use a hammer to drive a ¾ inch dowel into the hole. You should have ½ an inch of dowel sticking up from the top of the post. Cut off any excess.

Measure from the top of the tread where the old post was installed to the underside of the banister where it will attach. Make any adjustments needed to the length of the post.
Once the proper length, apply wood glue to the top of the post and the wooden dowel.

Position post into place and fit dowel into hole on the underside of the banister. Use lag screws and washers from the previous post to attach the lower end of the new post into place.

And voila, your new post is installed!

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Lovely as A Tree

The Lovely as a Tree Stamp Set is the flagship stamp set of Stampin' UP! (that's my opinion).  Although I have used it many times, this is the first time I have used it in a stamp camp.  It makes a great masculine card.  Another inspiration by Sandy Mathis.  What would I do without her.

Lovely as a Tree

Stamp Sets: Lovely as a Tree
Ink: Versamark, Basic Black, Pear Pizzazz
Paper: Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black, Gingham Garden Designer Paper Series

Tools & Accessories:  Sizzix Big Shot, Square Lattice and Modern Mosaic Embossing Folders, Ovals Framelits, Basic Black ⅛" Taffeta Ribbon, Heat Tool, Black Embossing Powder, Stampin' Sponge

Posted on : Aug 02 2013
Posted under Birthdays, Masuline |


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Level 3 Digital Marketer Apprenticeship at Stanmore College

Course Content

The Digital Marketer Apprenticeship will equip students to define, design, build and implement digital campaigns across a variety of on line and social media platforms to drive customer acquisition, customer engagement and customer retention.

This professional apprenticeship allows access to join as an Affiliate (Professional) member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and as an associate member of the Chartered Institute of IT (BCS).

The number of organisations with an online presence is increasing, creating a surge of job prospects in the marketing industry. A digital marketer will typically be working as part of a team, which they will have responsibility for some of the straightforward elements of the overall marketing plan or campaign.

The course covers the following main areas:

  • Search Engine optimisation, Email Marketing and Search Marketing
  • Principles of Coding
  • Written Communication
  • Social Media Platforms
  • Customer Service
  • Building and Delivering Digital Marketing Campaigns
  • Website Analytics and Google Analytics
  • Research, Problem-Solving and Analysis

Course Outcomes

An apprentice completing this qualification will develop marketing skills through an understanding of social media platforms, customer service, as well as search engine optimisation, email marketing and web analytics. In addition to this, apprentices will develop their written communication skills, problem-solving and analytical skills and research skills all of which are covered by this qualification.

Apprentices will achieve:

  • Principles of Coding (knowledge module1)
  • Marketing Principles (knowledge module2)
  • Digital Marketing Business Principles (knowledge module3)

Apprentices can to on to secure employment in the Marketing industry; typical roles include Digital Marketing Assistant, Digital Marketing Executive, Digital Marketing Coordinator, Campaign Executive, Social Media Executive, Email Marketing Assistant, SEO Executive and Digital Marketing Executive. Apprentices may also transition into further study.

Entry Requirements

GCSE's at grade 9-4 (A*-C)


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Sex Advice from D&D players

Recently I stumbled upon an article that gives sex advice written by D&D gamers. The article is a bit unclear on who has asked the questions and who were the person (or persons) answering, but it’s a funny read nevertheless. But I would have loved to read more about the background to that post. Here’s one of my favorite pieces of advice:

My girlfriend and I have been together five years, and things are getting a little boring. We’ve been thinking about role-playing to spice things up. Is this a good idea?
If we’re talking about the intersection of D&D and sex, it is my firm opinion that that kind of role-playing has no place in the bedroom. Leave Arakos the Dragonslayer at the table. Also, dice in bed would probably be a bit like walking on legos; those d4s are basically caltrops. On the other hand, if you leave the DM’s Guide on the shelf and break out the skimpy costumes, you could be in for a good time. If you play D&D, you have great experience for getting in character — but you can’t rely on rolling a twenty for a good performance. Sorry. You have to do the work yourself.

To get more advice, head over to nerve and check out “Sex Advice From Dungeons & Dragons Players”.

This reminds me of a running gag in Phil Foglio’s “What’s New?” comic:

By the way, you can read all about the adventures of Phil and Dixie online now. Check this site out! Enjoy!

Michael Wolf is a German games designer and enthusiast best known for his English language role-playing games blog, Stargazer's World, and for creating the free rules-light medieval fantasy adventure game Warrior, Rogue & Mage. He has also worked as an English translator on the German-language Dungeonslayers role-playing game and was part of its editorial team. In addition to his work on Warrior, Rogue & Mage and Dungeonslayers, he has created several self-published games and also performed layout services and published other independent role-playing games such as A Wanderer's Romance, Badass, and the Wyrm System derivative Resolute, Adventurer & Genius, all released through his imprint Stargazer Games. Professionally, he works as a video technician and information technologies specialist. Stargazer's World was started by Michael in August 2008.

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Communications Minister Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful
Communications Minister Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful

Communications Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has asked all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to consult the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) before deploying ICT infrastructure and applications.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful gave the directive last Wednesday when she spoke at the formal launch of the Judicial Service’s e-Justice Project at the auditorium of the Law Court Complex in Accra.

The e-Justice Project was launched by President Akufo-Addo and it is part of the Government of Ghana’s e-Transform Programme that seeks to automate the existing manual filing systems within the Court’s Registry.

It also interfaces with the Digital Transcription Systems (DTS) for the digitization of courtroom proceedings and transcriptions.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said from her prepared speech that the Communications Ministry is aware of the need to continuously improve on ICT infrastructure, develop the necessary human resource and business processes by taking into account the entire operations of MMDAs and their interactions with the public and other government agencies.

That notwithstanding, they are encouraged to use applicable minimum ICT standards, protocols, guidelines and procedures spelt out by NITA and the e-Government Interoperability Framework and Ghana Government Enterprise Architecture to ensure the reliability of shared services.

“All MDAs are advised to consult NITA before deploying ICT infrastructure and applications,” she cautioned.

Era of missing dockets over

Touching on the e-Justice Project, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful expressed in the fact that Ghana’s justice sytem is witnessing a remarkable transformation under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo.

“Indeed, as a lawyer myself, I am confident that the era of missing dockets, misplaced legal documents, poor record keeping and resource management are now things of the past, as the Judicial Service of Ghana has been assisted with an e-Justice System in 43 High Courts to improve on the effectiveness and efficiency of justice delivery in Ghana,” she said.

The project, she continued, marks an important event in the cycle of justice delivery in the country saying: “Today, our justice system has also benefited from the increasing use of digitization in the delivery of services to citizens as is being promoted by the government of the NPP under H.E the President.”

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said from the filing of processes to final delivery of judgement, the impact of digitisation in faster services, prompt notification, and efficiency of delivery will be the user experience of all, from the parties in the case, registry staff, lawyers and judges.

Congratulating the Chief Justice for demonstration strong leadership to ensure the implementation of the e-Justice Project went smoothly during the period, Mrs Owusu Ekuful warned that digitization alone will not bring the necessary benefits if the beneficiaries do not show ownership of the processes.

“I commend the Judicial Service for its exemplary attitude during the project design and implementation phase. It led the active training and capacity building of all users, judges, lawyers and judicial service staff and hopefully, will continue with the operations and management of the infrastructure provided.  This exemplary conduct is worth emulating by all other eTransform beneficiary agencies. The 43 high courts in the Law Court Complex in Accra are the beneficiaries of this phase of the eJustice implementation,” she said.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful also spoke of the commencement of phase two of the Projected as soon as the funds are ready as “We are currently seeking additional financing from the World Bank to scale up this e-Justice program as requested and are hopeful of a positive outcome to these negotiations.”

Source: Ghana/


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People in Beirut have expressed anger at the government over what they say was negligence that led to Tuesday’s huge explosion.

President Michel Aoun said the blast was caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse.

Many have accused the authorities of corruption, neglect and mismanagement.

The blast killed at least 137 people and injured about 5,000 others, while dozens are still missing. A two-week state of emergency has begun.

“Beirut is crying, Beirut is screaming, people are hysterical and people are tired,” filmmaker Jude Chehab told the BBC, calling for the people responsible to face justice.

Chadia Elmeouchi Noun, a Beirut resident currently in hospital, said: “I’ve known all the time that we are led by incompetent people, incompetent government […] But I tell you something – what they have done now is absolutely criminal.”

On Wednesday, the government announced that a number of Beirut port officials were placed under house arrest pending an investigation into the explosion.

The country’s Supreme Defence Council insisted that those found responsible would face the “maximum punishment”.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called for an independent investigation into the blast. In a statement, HRW said it had “serious concerns about the ability of the Lebanese judiciary to conduct a credible and transparent investigation on its own”.

What triggered the explosion?

The ammonium nitrate – which is used as a fertiliser in agriculture and as an explosive – had reportedly been in a warehouse in Beirut port for six years after it was unloaded from a ship impounded in 2013.

The head of Beirut port and the head of the customs authority both told local media that they had written to the judiciary several times asking that the chemical be exported or sold on to ensure port safety.

Port General Manager Hassan Koraytem told OTV they had been aware that the material was dangerous when a court first ordered it stored in the warehouse, “but not to this degree”.

House arrest would apply for all port officials “who have handled the affairs of storing [the] ammonium nitrate, guarding it and handling its paperwork” since June 2014, according to Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad.

The ammonium nitrate arrived on a Moldovan-flagged ship, the Rhosus, which entered Beirut port after suffering technical problems during its voyage from Georgia to Mozambique, according to, which deals with shipping-related legal cases.

The Rhosus was inspected, banned from leaving and was shortly afterwards abandoned by its owners, sparking several legal claims. Its cargo was stored in a port warehouse for safety reasons, the report said.

Source: BBC


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Supporters of the former president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, say they will file his candidacy for October’s election even though a court has ruled he is not eligible to stand due to a previous conviction.

The country descended into civil war after the 2010 election, when Mr Gbagbo refused to step down and hand over to the victor Alassane Ouattara.

Last year he was acquitted by the International Criminal Court of crimes against humanity and currently lives in Belgium pending a possible appeal by the prosecution.

He was sentenced in absentia by an Ivorian court to a 20-year term for looting a regional bank during the 2010 post-election crisis.

Source: BBC


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Digital Marketing for Medical Education Industry

To identify benchmarks for assessing the success and reach of digital marketing ads in the medical education industry. Illustrate the use of benchmarks with a relevant case-study.

Early Findings

This research strategy outlines an introduction to the digital marketing assessment framework. Our exhaustive research indicated that there is no direct information available on assessment metrics related to 'digital marketing for medical education.' However, various blog posts and articles indicate that the metrics for digital marketing assessment of healthcare industry is no different than any other industry. Except, the target population changes and with that the research strategy, while, the assessment metrics remain the same.

Metrics for Assessment of Digital Marketing for Healthcare and Medical Education Industry

Like any other industry, the benchmark metrics for the healthcare and medical education industry are pretty similar. The success of the digital ad is based on the following benchmarks:
(i) Click-through rate (CTR): the percentage of users, who click on an ad.
(ii) Cost-per-click (CPC): the cost that advertisers incur to pay for click-throughs.
(iii) Conversion rate (CVR): the percentage of users who take the desired action (conversion), after clicking through to your site. It can be calculated using the following formula = (conversions / total visitors) * 100%
(iv) Cost-per-action (CPA): the actual cost advertisers incur for each desired user action

Metrics for the Assessment of Digital Healthcare Marketing - Case Study

Case Study: In a health-care setting, a new physician liaison has been hired. Social media, Email engagement, and Online Marketing tools have been used to attract new patients in the facility. The research objective is to:
1. compare the cost of hiring a physician liaison against the number of new patient referrals (as a result of marketing).
2. evaluate the time involved in social media activity, versus the addition of new patients in the healthcare facility.
3. balance the efforts involved in training patient-centric staff, versus positive improvement in online reviews.

Following metrics shall be required to assess the outcome of digital healthcare marketing: (a) Patient Acquisition Cost (PAC), (b) Click-Through Rate (CTR), and (c) Website Visitor Traffic.

(a) Patient Acquisition Cost (PAC): In this instance, where the aim of the digital ad was to gain the attention of patients, and invite newer patients to the healthcare facility. Hence, for this healthcare marketing assessment, the "who/what to measure" are the new patients coming to the facility. This can be assessed through the different marketing tools that have been employed, for instance in this case, through email campaign. Evaluating new patients versus the services of a physician liaison, versus a PPC (pay per click) ad - that leads to a landing page conversion. Tracking the outcome of each source, will give an idea of what "tool (or type of advertisment)" generates the greatest 'return on investments (ROI).'

(b) Click-Through Rate (CTR): The CTR measures the success of a specific online advertisment, which the user actually wants to click on it. The CTR can vary according to SmartInsights.
-For overall display ads, the CTR averages around 0.05%.
-Whereas for rich media, the CTR is around 0.10%.
-For a facebook ad, the CTR for healthcare industry is around 0.83%.
-For email engagement, the response statistics are based on open rate (35.54% ), Click-Through Rate (5.69% ), Click-to-Open Rate (16.01% ), Unsubscribe Rate (0.36% ), and Spam Rate (0.02%).

(c) Website Visitor Traffic: Marketing metrics can also be obtained by tracking the following data on the advertisement page or website.
(i) Overall traffic - number of unique visitors on the website.
(ii) Page views - number of pages accessed before the visitor leaves the webpage, and how long a visitor stays on the webpage.
(iii) Bounce rate - number of visitors who leave after viewing just one page.
(iv) Conversion rate - percentage of visitors that fulfil the required task such as signup for newsletter, or download a brochure or health tip.

Determinants for the increasing the digital marketing reach in the medical education industry:

1. Know the audience: target ads should be directed towards a specified population such as undergraduates, students giving MCAT exams, staff in the medical fraternity, students in the medical school, medical conference attendees, employees in the pharmaceutical industry, staff in the hospital or healthcare setting.
2. Mobile versus Desktop: mobile devices have surpassed desktop in website traffic. Ads should be directed to mobile devices as well as desktop users to increase the chances of visibility.
3. Use of Social Media: Based upon age and content preference, using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram shall broaden the reach of the marketing campaign.
4. Pages per session: Based on the audience preference, pages should be self-guiding, self-explanatory, engaging, and concise.
The physician audience desires a focused experience that allows them to be easily guided to the content that they are seeking.

For further reading.

Proposed next steps:

You need to be the project owner to select a next step.


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Gaussian Naive Bayes, Clearly Explained

NOTE: This StatQuest was supported by these awesome people who support StatQuest at the Double BAM level: D. Sharma, H-M Chang, J. Horn, S Cahyawijaya, S. Özdemir, F. Prado, and N. Fleming.

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NFL Draft

A 3-Way Discussion: Do The Steelers Use Or Need A “Nose Tackle”?

Every once in a while an exchange happens in the Comments to an article that is more valuable than almost any other part of a football blog. Those exchanges often inspire me to write an article on the point. Today I would like to go further, and actually quote a recent back-and-forth I had with posters Jeff Burton and HinesWardFan on Matthew Marczi’s article, Buy Or Sell: Daniel McCullers Will Be Steelers’ Primary Nose Tackle. I have edited only for clarity, and invite you to revisit the source if you want to double check.

The discussion took place because we differed on whether the team has a hole at the Nose Tackle (“NT”) position that needs to be addressed in the draft – the position taken by Jeff and HWF – versus my belief that the team has only the everyday want for superior talent that exists in every draft for every position. As you will see, the discussion branched into the “why” behind both of those sides. That is what made it so interesting.

Before letting you just read it all I want to include some description of the terms we’re using for those who aren’t as up on the X’s and O’s that we took for granted.

These “techniques” [red numbers] and “gaps” [blue letters] are what underlie the whole debate. They get at what the defensive linemen are actually asked to do. For purposes of this article we can summarize it by saying that half these techniques call for the defender to one-gap; i.e., to dart between two offensive linemen. A 1-tech like Javon Hargrave attacks the space between the Center and a Guard, a 3-tech attacks between a Guard and a Tackle etc. two-gap defenders like Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith, and Brett Keisel would essentially pin the offensive line in place so the rest of the defense could flow freely toward the ball. They played 0-tech and 5-tech roles.

Simplistic [read, “traditional”] descriptions say that this is the core difference between a 3-4 and a 4-3 approach. 3-4 systems require a trio of interior two-gap players plus two standing Edge Rushers, while the 4-3 calls for only a pair of interior penetrators, plus two Edge Rushers who start with a hand on the ground. Not anymore. Modern “hybrid” defenses like Pittsburgh’s use penetration as a weapon from 3-4 formations, and/or 2-gap concepts from a 4-3 formation (Seattle does this a lot).

Note that this shows up in the depth charts accordingly. 4-3 teams need fewer backups on the DL because they play fewer starters. So what happens from a depth perspective when your nominal 3-4 plays like a 4-3, and vice versa? Debates like the one under discussion.

  • Next, serious confusion can happen because the term Defensive End (“DE”) has very different meanings for different defenses.

In a classic 4-3 that term means the two Edge Rushers who attack with a one-gap, 7- or 9-technique from outside the Offensive Tackles. The two interior defensive linemen inside the tackles (“IDL’s”) are called Defensive Tackles (“DT’s”) even though one will be more of a 1-tech and the other a 3-tech.

In Dick LeBeau’s classic Okie 3-4, “DE” meant interior defensive linemen assigned a two-gap, 5-tech role directly over the Offensive Tackle. NOTE: The 5-tech in that illustration may look like he’s shaded to the outside of the opposing OT, but that is an illusion. Once play starts the pocket turns into an arc with the ball at it’s center in the QB’s hands. A two-gap defender controlling the Offensive Tackle wants to place that opponent on a direct line between him and the QB, which means he must form up on the Tackle’s outside shoulder (from a line perspective) to be straight on against the Tackle when that line convert to an arc.

In the modern Steelers 3-4, “DE” is a geographic term rather than a position. As you’ll see us discuss, the Steelers play with three defensive linemen around a third of the time and, when they do, still use the term “end” to describe the two men outside the “nose”.

Confused? That is why the discussion keeps coming back to the underlying techniques rather than the geographic name. Modern Steeler IDL’s play the 1-, 2i, 3-, and 4i-techniques that are typically associated with 4-3 DT’s even when three are on the field together. They do not play the 7- and 9-tech roles assigned to DE’s in a classic 4-3, nor the 5-tech roles assigned to DE’s in a classic 3-4. So… are we looking at two 3-4 DE’s and a Nose, or three DT’s?

You will see that a lot of the exchange comes down to how senior posters ought to describe that confusion when the definitions get muddled and fans worry about the lack of a 0-tech specialist, which is a role (position?) the team no longer uses from any formation but the goal line defense.

  • Third, the terms “inside” and “outside” cause confusion too.

Consider: a classic 5-tech DE from a 3-4 defense (lAaron Smith) was an “interior” lineman, while a classic 7-tech DE from a 4-3 (Reggie White) was not. He was an Edge Rusher; but still considered a “Defensive Lineman” because he started with his hand in the dirt. 3-4 Edge Rushers are considered Outside Linebackers because they start out standing up. My advice? Use words like “inside” and “outside” Only as geographic descriptions, and focus on what the players actually do.

That was kind of my point all along… But perhaps it would be best to let the discussion stand on its own. No cheating Scott! Arguing through an introduction is as bad as calling a 3-tech an “end” just because the team has an extra one on the field. [Okay. Maybe I just can’t help it. Time to quit while I’m behind.] Let’s get on with what this article is actually about.

Remember: the conversation started with the premise of Marczi’s article, that Dan McCullers is the only NT on the roster because Heyward, Tuitt, Alualu, Wormley, and Buggs all get labeled as “ends.” I started the debate by saying this (two comments have been merged):

There is no such thing as a “nose tackle” position anymore, just a question of which DT plays where when the team chooses to employ a 3-DT package. It is a geographic description, not a position. Cam Heyward seems to offer the best upside at 1-tech, so I would expect him to be the primary inside DT for the heavy look.

P.S. In the context of this article that also means that “Nose Tackle” is not a starter role in the first place. No one can be the “starting NT” if it isn’t a starting role. But that is nitpicking, I admit. The real point is the one above: the Steelers play interchangeable DT’s with overlapping skill sets, and it is wrong to separate them into different positions just because they use three on one play and two on another.

Jeff Burton replied (again, two merged):

You keep saying there is no NT position anymore but there definitely is. Anytime a D-Lineman lines up as a zero or one technique he is playing the NT position. It’s still primarily run stuffing duty so you still need your stoutest D-Lineman. So it is exactly the same play calling and personnel wise as it ever was.

What has changed is the Steelers (and other 3-4 teams) only use the set about 1/3 of the time which makes it a much less important position than it was in Casey Hampton’s day.

Yes, it is nitpicking but Nose Tackle is still a ‘starting role’. It’s the same as Slot Back on defense and Full Back on offense. Both aren’t used all the time but they are still starting roles. [NOTE: I defined “starter” as the top 11 players on offense or defense. Jeff is arguing that each side of the ball may have as many as 13-14 “starters because of the sub-package and specialty roles. Add “role” versus “position” to the list of confused definitions.]

And yes I agree that there are three D-Line sets where the team uses a more conventional DT for NT. I think Wormley can be used in this way for a better interior pass rush. If you watch his film he’s plenty athletic and very active. Heck, I think he’s stout enough at the point of attack to be used as a conventional NT. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Steelers didn’t take someone like Bravvion Roy in the 6th Rd rather than going to the position with one of the first four picks.

I followed Jeff’s thoughts as follows:

Yes, as a geographic matter there has to be someone in the center when you play with three DT’s, so the middle person is the “Nose” by definition. What I keep saying is that good 4-3 DT’s all have the ability to play both 1-tech and 3-tech. It is just a matter of shading when it comes to which one they are better at.

The old “3-4 Nose Tackle” played 0-tech, which required a different animal. The Steelers still play with three DT’s [it would have been clearer if I’d said IDL’s] on the field 30-35% of the time, but they ask the guy in the middle to play 1-tech or 2i, not 0-tech. Thus he is the equivalent of a 4-3 DT, not a 3-4 NT.

It matters because the Steelers do NOT have depth for 0-tech, but are overflowing with depth for 1- and 2i-tech. Since they only play the latter and not the former, they are overflowing with depth… for the current definition of a player at the “nose” position.

I keep going on about it because people keep demanding a 0-tech; which is what I meant by “no longer exists.”

If you are talking about a depth guy who is better than McCullers and Buggs, younger than Alualu, and without the 2021 contract questions of Wormley, fine. I can get on board with that. But this would be pure depth, and thus way down the priority list.

Are there any sets where you see them using the old Okie 3-4, where the front three two-gap and the one in the middle has to be a 0-tech colossus? Excluding, of course, the once-in-a-blue-moon formations that are done more for the sake of showing something to keep offenses honest. I’m trying to confirm that we agree this is a one-gap defensive line philosophy now, and the team therefore wants classic “4-3 DT’s” rather than the old prototypes for “5-tech DE’s and a 0-tech NT”.

Nice discussion, btw. It’s always good when we end up digging down instead of tossing things back and forth.

Does that clarify what I mean?

Jeff bowed out of that point, probably because HinesWardFan stepped up to expand on the arguments he’d been making:

There’s value in you reminding people that the Steelers now one gap instead of two gap. But regardless of technique, no one in the NFL is on board with the way you refer to these players.

Matt Feiler has position flexibility. Most experts say he’s equally good at guard and tackle. But when he plays next to the center, they refer to the guard Feiler, and when he plays two spots from center, they refer to him as a tackle. The same goes for Tuitt. When he plays at the end of the 3 man front, he’s playing defensive end. When he moves inside the 4 man front, he’s playing DT.

All defensive linemen are not equivalent. Slower, stouter players are generally used towards the middle of the line, and faster players are generally used towards the end of the line.

With your nomenclature, there’s no such thing as a defensive end or NT on the Steelers. They clearly disagree with that.

I understand that many players are so versatile that they shouldn’t be pigeon-holed, but the positions of NT and DE definitely still exist.

DIGRESSION TO PREACH: Take notes if you want to be the best possible poster on a football blog! This is an exchange where everyone is getting better and clearer, conducted politely and with mutual respect. It improves both the participants and the observers. Praise the mods and amen.

[Ahem]. Getting back to the discussion, I answered HWF’s comment with this:

Okay, I think we are together on the analytical part. So let me ask your advice – not being snide; I mean it.

My button keeps getting pushed because I seem some variant of this: “The Steelers have all these Defensive Ends, but the only Nose Tackle on the team is Dan McCullers! We can’t have McCullers start, so the team needs to draft a NT…”

I believe we have now agreed that the statement is false, because “Nose Tackle” does not mean what they think it does. It is a geographic term, but in the current Steelers defense one that can be occupied by Heyward, Tuitt, Alualu, Wormley, and possibly Buggs every bit as ably as it can be manned by McCullers (unless you think more highly of him than most). What is the proper way to *politely* correct that mistake? If I have gotten too shrill, what is the way to make the point? Perhaps this? “Any DT can play NT in addition to DE in the current Steelers 3-4, so we actually have five or six players that can handle the position…”?

Again, I am *not* being snide about that. I’m not that subtle.

HWF responded the next morning:

Sorry for the delay. We were enjoying world class craft beer… [That was more than enough explanation in my book, my friend!] But I digress.

I get where you are coming from with this. Can I assume that Hargrave was the perfect player for your vision of what the Steelers could use to complete their current DL? Tuitt and Heyward are very similar body types, basically a well-balanced hybrid of a traditional end and tackle, such that they can bounce back and forth between those positions effortlessly. Hargrave is built differently. He is shorter, and his weight is all in his butt, to exaggerate. He’s built like the traditional nose tackle you’ve described. They didn’t nickname him J Wobble for no reason! But he also had the mindset and skill set to get penetration, which made him a perfect hybrid NT/DT. He played almost all of our NT snaps, plus spelled Heyward and Tuitt inside the 4 man front when they needed a breather. He sounds like a perfect fit in that regard.

But the Steelers couldn’t even come close to keeping him. [Digression into points about other players omitted. Go to the original if you want to see HWF’s unfiltered thoughts]. … Hargrave is a Jack of all trades, master of none, at least in a 3-4 defense. He’s best suited to a 4-3 defense, where he can be very effective on every play from the DT position. With his body type, he’s not going to be very effective at defensive end. I loved the guy, and I’m going to miss him, but there just aren’t enough snaps for him in this defense.

I find myself wanting a specialist. A true NT, who knows that he should come off the field on passing downs. One who isn’t going to get $13MM per season and leave. … I’d be happy with adding an anchor, an immovable force with excellent leverage to our run defense. Someone we could afford when his rookie contract is up. Like you suggested, we have plenty of hybrids already.

I answered by going back to the underlying point:

I do not think Hargrave was all that different from Heyward and Tuitt. Like them, he was an interior defensive lineman who could play 1-, 2i-, 3-, and 4i-tech while holding up to double teams. He was very good at it too; just not as good as the two starters. The reason he came in for the big packages was not body type, it was quality. He’s better than Alualu, McCullers and Buggs. Just that simple.

Could Hargrave manage to hold up as a 0-tech too? I agree that he looks like he might, but we never found out because they never asked him too. Could Wormley or our other DT’s play 0-tech? The odds seem worse, but we will never find out because they won’t be asked to either. This is why I keep saying that Hargrave’s departure leaves a quality gap (he was a superb #3) but not a lineup gap, since they replaced him with a good #3.

[Answer to the digression omitted]. The question is whether Pittsburgh has a hole in the roster after Hargrave’s departure and Wormley’s arrival. The answer is no. How do I get that point across without repeating every time that “3-4 nose tackle” and “3-4 defensive end” now require identical skills in the Pittsburgh defense, even though they required starkly different ones 10-15 years ago? I have been trying to do it by saying those position titles are antiquated, and people should think of them all as “modern defensive tackles”. Sometimes you have two on the field, sometimes three, and occasionally one, but they all can play each other’s spot if asked to. You object to that approach. What would work better?

Apologies for the length. I hope you enjoyed the night with the family.

At this point HWF explained his thoughts from a different slant:

An offensive line rarely changes its size, weight, power or skill set throughout the game. The Steelers are constantly switching between a 3 man and 4 man front. Don’t you agree that there’s at least a slight need to for the NT to offset the weight lost at the point of attack by the 2 OLB dropping back off the line? On presumed running plays, teams put either 2 DT and 2 DE on the line, or 2 DT/DE hybrids and an anchor in the middle.

I disagree that the 3-4 NT and DE are now equivalent players in general, and that Wormley and Hargrave are equivalent in skill set. First, the end has to be quicker in space, so they tend to be more slender. In general, they also tend to be taller. [] Wormley is very much that compared to Hargrave. He’s taller AND lighter, with a much higher center of gravity. He’s better off outside, just as Hargrave is inside.

I think Wormley spells Heyward and Tuitt, as Hargrave did at times. But they don’t have a guy to replace the many Hargrave snaps at NT. Sure, they can ask one of their more-slender-than-a-NT DL to do their best imitation, but I’m in the group calling for someone predisposed to the NT position. I believe the Steelers would have drafted one in the 4th round if Hargrave hadn’t been underrated and a steal in the 3rd. Let’s just see what presents this time.

No worries on length [Grin]

Again, note that this is phenomenal poster technique. We are exchanging thoughts and questions rather than ‘merely bouncing back and forth with “my way good, your way bad.” All parties are digging, not poking, and I daresay that we (and all the observers) enjoyed the exchange much more because of that.

I followed HWF with this reply:

No, I do not think there is “at least a slight need to for the NT to offset the weight…” He does that in the current defense by getting a better jump and achieving penetration, with the ILB’s behind him having 2-gap duties to scrape and fill.

But that may be misleading. There are times when the player also has to withstand a double team. Some players are better at handling this than others, whether by splitting the double team or having the knack to stay in place even when it happens. Size helps with that, but more as a proxy for length and strength than in terms of simple tonnage. Remember that the model 0-tech from Hampton’s day was a bit shorter and typically very heavy, but he also had exceptionally long arms and had to be renowned for his country strength. If you could shrink Dan McCullers from 6’7″ down to 6’2″ while keeping his arms and his power, you’d have a perfect specimen. [What is the opposite of a medieval rack…? LOL].

Bottom line: it isn’t about size per se, it is about the ability to handle the double teams that get ever more common as you move closer to the Center. I just checked Alex Kozora’s article on Wormley being “A Run Stuffer’s Run Stuffer.” What are the primary physical and play-style assets? Excellent length, tremendous strength, ability to hold up to double teams, and short-area penetration. That skill set is everything we ever ask a “nose tackle” to do in the modern defense. He would have gotten worn down over time in Hampton’s day, but I’m not worried about that for someone playing less than half of Hampton’s snaps; and even less worried because the players behind him have the same assets to do this job.

BTW, I would like to spend some time on definitions. *All* of the Steelers’ defensive linemen are “interior” guys from the analytical point of view. The dividing line is whether a lineman plays outside the tackle box… “Outside defensive linemen” are your edge rushers; 4-3 DE’s and 3-4 OLB’s. Calling Cam Heyward or Stephon Tuitt and “outside” player is as misleading as saying they play the same position as Jadeveon Clowney. Both are called “defensive ends” on their respective roster, but the duties are totally different. This is why I keep trying to say the Steelers use “Defensive Tackles”; in order to avoid the misleading nomenclature.

Or to put it another way (you did say length was okay, LOL!)… Everyone will agree that the Steelers now play a hybrid defense. What does that mean? The classic way of describing it is a mix of 3-4 concepts with 4-3 personnel, and 4-3 concepts with 3-4 personnel. This is why our OLB’s have grown a little larger and longer, while the IDL’s have merged into a single DT category.

At this point I decided the exchange was so good that it deserved to be posted as it’s own, freestanding article. Which has now been done. My very sincere compliments go out to both of my unwitting fellow authors, along with thanks for making this author’s life that much easier!

Do you have thoughts to add? This is a conversation that ought to continue! Please share in the comments below. Just remember that we are all united in wanting to make the Steelers as good as possible, and the only disagreement in all this comes down to whether prioritizing the Defensive Line would be an optimal way to accomplish that. No one is knocking any of the prospects who might be available at DL, and no one is being accused of ignoring that or any other position/role on the team.

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text: TY - JOUR T1 - An Unexpected Partner JF - Science Signaling JO - Sci. Signal. SP - ec412 LP - ec412 DO - 10.1126/scisignal.148ec412 VL - 1 IS - 48 AU - Adler, Elizabeth M. Y1 - 2008/12/02 UR - http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/1/48/ec412.abstract N2 - Signaling from adenosine A2A receptors (A2ARs) on medium spiny neurons (MSNs) projecting from the striatum to the globus pallidus antagonizes signaling from dopamine D2 receptors present in the same MSNs. Thus, D2 receptor signaling promotes motor activity, whereas A2AR signaling inhibits it; indeed, antagonism of A2AR signaling may provide an approach to treating Parkinson’s disease. Interested in exploring mechanisms of A2AR regulation, Flajolet et al. used a yeast two-hybrid screen to uncover proteins interacting with the A2AR intracellular C-terminal tail and identified the cytoplasmic tail of fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1). After confirming this interaction with a pull-down assay and by coimmunoprecipitation of tagged A2AR and endogenous FGFR from COS-7 cells, the authors implicated amino acids 278 to 315 of A2AR and 666 to 788 of FGFR in A2AR-FGFR binding. A2AR and FGFR agonists (CGS21680 and acidic FGF, respectively) synergistically stimulated ERK1/2 (extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase) phosphorylation and neurite extension in PC12 cells, and formation of dendritic protrusions in cultured hippocampal neurons. MEK1/2 (mitogen-activated or extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase kinase) was synergistically phosphorylated as well, whereas the upstream kinase c-Raf was not. Furthermore, there was no potentiation of CGS21680-dependent cAMP production or FGF-dependent phosphorylation of FGFR. A penetrating peptide corresponding to the minimal A2AR interaction domain inhibited the synergistic phosphorylation of ERK1/2 (in PC-12 cells), as did a ligand-insensitive A2AR mutant (in COS-7 cells). In brain slices, combined stimulation of A2AR and FGFR enhanced long-term potentiation of corticostriatal synapses onto striatopallidal MSNs, an effect that depended on MEK signaling. Thus, FGF and adenosine synergistically activate ERK signaling and modulate corticostriatal plasticity, an interaction with potential therapeutic implications that appears to depend on the physical association of their receptors. M. Flajolet, Z. Wang, M. Futter, W. Shen, N. Nuangchamnong, J. Bendor, I. Wallach, A. C. Nairn, D. J. Surmeier, P. Greengard, FGF acts as a co-transmitter through adenosine A2A receptor to regulate synaptic plasticity. Nat. Neurosci. 11, 1402–1409 (2008). [PubMed] ER -


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Alvis Xiong

This draw shows that "being put on the blacklist, a dishonest person who refuse to pay salaries to workers, is denied for applying "government's fund, government purchasing, bigding qualification, production licence, qualification examination, bank loans, market license, tax priority, honors"

(This drawing shows that “being put on the blacklist, a dishonest person who refuse to pay salaries to workers, is denied for applying for”government’s fund, government purchasing, biding for government project, production license, qualification examination, bank loans, market license, tax priority, honors”, copyrighted at

In China, interagency coordination at the level of the central government is a great challenge. A modern government faces complicated social issues and must divide the responsibility and create agencies for specific things. The government ordinarily creates related agencies to deal with the same or similar issues, while the task for each agency is part of a larger whole.[1]

This way, however, produces redundancy, inefficiency, gaps, and profound coordination challenges.[2] Nowadays, many social challenges like air pollution or food safety, involve multiple areas.  A single agency with a specific regulation has trouble systematically dealing with those issues. Different agencies must coordinate to achieve a policy goal. Without a good coordination mechanism, on the one hand, agencies cannot provide systematic public service, leading to a vacuum of regulation. On the other hand, the need of reality would cause agencies to expand regulated areas, leading to redundancy and inefficiency.

There must be some ways to coordinate those agencies that directly exert national power. How could China improve the performance of interagency coordination? Generally, one way is to set up new agencies or adjust the responsibilities of old agencies in a new situation. In another way, interagency coordination, requiring no involvement of the legislature, different agencies negotiate and make joint policies or decisions to clarify overlapping responsibilities or achieve some common policy goals. In China, for the second way, there are generally three mechanisms to resolve problems involving different agencies[3]. This blogpost will focus on one of those three mechanisms–the “interagency agreement.”

An interagency agreement (部门协议) is usually signed by two or more agencies that are not affiliated with each other, for the purpose of managing common jurisdictional affairs or achieving common policy objectives. Those agencies achieve some common consensus and agree to take joint actions.[4]

This blogpost sets out observations and analysis concerning recent memoranda of understanding（MOUs) on joint disciplinary-incentive measures （JDIM) in the social credit system. [Translations of many of these measures are available at].  These are types of interagency agreements that the government uses to solve varied social problems. The 2nd section discusses the background of the MOUs and the 3rd section uses one example to illustrate the contents and purpose of the MOUs. The 4th section, using information from public news, observes how the Chinese interagency coordination actually works in practice. The 5th section analyzes the legality of these JDIM MOUs.

This analysis is based on a series of recent interagency MOUs on joint disciplinary-incentive measures (JDIM). Since 2016, more than 35 national-level interagency MOUs on JDIM have been signed and published. [See the list found on the website]. These documents are the Chinese government’s efforts to promote the interagency information exchange and the sharing of administrative power. By measures of those MOUs, multiple agencies coordinate and take joint measures to punish a particular set of people, who are described as “dishonest失信”. However, although the word used is “dishonest”, those who are punished are not ordinarily regarded as “dishonest”. The documents are actually for punishing those who violate laws or regulations but under the name of “punishing those who are dishonest.”

The JDIM measures are set under the background of the Chinese government’s ambition to build a “social credit system社会信用系统.” The State Council issued a plan to build a system with big data technologies, in order to “constantly monitor and evaluate companies’ economic as well as non-economic behavior.”[5]

In 2014, the State Council issued the outline for building the social credit system[6], emphasizing the importance of punishment and awards and setting the goal of building a JDIM mechanism. Two years later, the State Council issued another “Guiding Opinion”[7]stating that the government agencies should establish information sharing system, and “on the basis of evaluation and decision for the dishonest made by the government agencies, other agencies should take joint disciplinary measures according to related rules.”

According to this 2016 guiding opinion, many MOUs on JDIM were published, involving four important aspects: 1) Matters that seriously endanger the health and safety of the people, including food and drug, ecological environment, and engineering quality, etc.; 2) Acts that seriously undermine the fair competition of the market and the normal order of the society, including bribery, tax evasion, tax evasion, malicious avoidance of debt, etc.; 3) Avoiding performance duties of a valid judicial judgment or administrative decisions; 4) refusing to fulfill the obligation of national defense.

Generally, each MOU includes the following elements: 1) the targeted actions which are set by a specific agency (the “main agency” in this MOU), 2) the disciplinary measures, 3) the responsible agencies who acquire the list of names of the “dishonest” from the “main agency” and apply disciplinary measures according to the MOU, 4) an information exchange method, 5) when and how to renew the list of names, 6) the legal or administrative authority for each disciplinary measure. As for the correction mechanism and the relief of rights, some MOUs have a specific chapter and more detailed regulations (e.g., the MOU on Airline Prohibition for Specific Serious Credit Loser[8]), but many MOUs just mention “establishing an exit mechanism and complaint system” (e.g., the MOU On JDIM For Serious Credit Losers in The Area of Social Security[9]) or “renewing the name list in time.” (e.g., the MOU on default judgments[10])

To illustrate the purposes and contents of an MOU in a more detailed and vivid way, I will take the MOU on default judgments as an example (“JDIM for those who refuse to enforce an effective judgment”, 2016), which is signed by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Supreme People’s Court of China (SPC) and 42 other national agencies

The MOU was aimed to integrate multiple agencies’ power to solve the SPCC’s long-term problem of “Laolai (deadbeats) 老赖.” In the past, the courts have no effective ways to punish “Laolai,” those who refuse to execute a judgment obligation even though they have the capacity to do so.  Unlike in the USA, Chinese courts have the responsibility to enforce their decisions. Every court has its own enforcement division. In China, the authority of the courts is a challenging issue. Without people’s constant respect to judicial authority, even though the courts have issued a decision, sometimes the parties will not fulfill their duties set by the courts. On the other hand, for improving the judicial authority, the decisions must be obeyed. This MOU aims to equip the courts with “teeth” to enhance its capacity to enforce the decision by coordinating the resources within the whole public sector.

This MOU is specifically designed for “Laolai”, referred as “the untrustworthy judgment performer announced by the SPC.” Accordingly, the SPC is the “main agency” who identifies the people committing the wrong, and other agencies are responsible for taking disciplinary measures against the people determined by the SPC. These agencies exchange information by “Chinese social credit system”, which is an online platform that records those who commit the wrong and are therefore defined as “dishonest.” The SPC will provide and renew the list of names to other agencies while other agencies take joint disciplinary measures listed in this MOU. For example, the courts can now provide the “Laolai” list to the transportation agency, who will then limit Laolai’s rights of using public transportation. Until now, the court system has cooperated with 60 national agencies to set 150 joint disciplinary measures and published over 11 million cases of Laolai since 2013.[11]

It is worth noting that the MOU not only lists each disciplinary measure and its responsible agency, but also lists each disciplinary measure’s legal authority, which will be discussed in detail in the 4th section.

As for how to protect the rights of individuals or entities if the government agencies made an error and how to remove a legal or natural person from the blacklist, the MOU on default judgment lacks detailed requirements. It just emphasizes that the agencies should “stop enforcing the disciplinary measure according to this MOU and related regulations.”

In comparison, a 2018 document on restricting people from taking civil airlines [12] ” has a chapter on “the issue of enforced people’s list of names and right relief.” This chapter indicates the specific website where the list of names will be issued. Within 7 days after the issue of the list of names, people could raise an objection. After the list of names was enforced, “those who think they are wrongly included in the list of may file to the related agencies to apply for a review.” This provision lacks additional details.

After having discussed the theoretical interagency coordination mechanisms in the 1st section, I used information from the media about the JDIM to illustrate the actual performance of the procedures–the “interagency joint conference” and the “interagency agreement” as well as how these two mechanisms are combined to achieve those MOUs.

Firstly, the joint conference was established by an order of the State Council. In 2012, the State Council designated the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the People’s Bank of China (PBC) to lead the interagency joint conference for the construction of social credit systems, requiring all agencies to communicate in a timely fashion and coordinate different opinions in order to promote the implementation of the JDIM mechanism and accelerate the construction of a social credit system.[13]

A 2012 State Council decision on the latest adjustment of the “social credit system joint conference” helped me observe the working process. It indicates:

  1. main function of a conference, like promoting governments’ sharing of citizens’ credit information;
  2. conference members;
  3. working procedures (the conference should be presided by the convener, the meeting should be recorded and issues should be clarified by meeting minutes);
  4. working office and its duties (the joint conference office is located in the NDRC and the People’s Bank of China, responsible for the organization, liaison and coordination of the joint meeting and other issues);
  5. working requirements (improving negotiation and information exchange of different agencies).[14]

I found that although the conference was authorized by the State Council, it was the main agencies that were holding the meetings and manage regular work. Even the working office was located in the main agencies.

Then I observed how the “interagency agreement” was signed based on this joint conference. These agencies could improve their negotiation and communication by utilizing meetings and other negotiation mechanisms. For example, the leading agency, NDRC (the National Development and Reform Commission), coordinated different agencies to sign the interagency MOUs to deal with a single agency’s specific problems.

Take the draft process of one MOU (JDIM in the field of bidding, 2016) as an example, the blacklist provider is the SPC. In a press conference for publication of the MOU, the SPC’s enforcement bureau said, “the drafting and issuance of the MOU received strong support from the State Council and relevant departments.” This indicates that the SPC is the initial drafter of this MOU.[15] The “NDRC did a lot of coordination work”, and “the relevant departments put forward a number of suggestions for improvement” in the course of “opinion solicitation.”[16]

Therefore, the joint conference is based on one higher policy goal (“building the social credit system”), and this conference serves as a platform for different agencies to negotiate and communicate. Within the platform’s coordination mechanisms, the agencies drafted and signed many interagency agreements, and these agreements contributed to the building of the higher policy goal. This was how the joint conference and interagency agreements were combined systematically to solve practical problems and improve interagency coordination.

Although these MOUs indicate the Chinese government’s efforts to establish a society ruled by law, there is some room for improvement.

At first glance, the MOU is within a legal framework. Those MOUs are based on several State Council documents. The contents of the MOUs are full of legal terms, articles and detailed enforcement procedures, which indicates the government is notifying the public of its governance rules. Moreover, at least part of the MOUs has a chapter about the relief of rights and avoidance of disciplinary measures. Finally, the attachment of each MOU lists the legal authority of every disciplinary measure.

However, these MOUs on JDIM have some legal flaws. Firstly, some punitive measures lack a legal basis. Secondly, even if the measures have legal authority, the application of the measures on some targeted actions is not legal. Thirdly, there is at least one case where the government just took punitive measure for one action and claimed it could be used to punish other actions.

Firstly, the authority supporting the MOUs sometimes lacks the legality to set some punitive measures The cited articles to support the punitive measures’ legality are usually from varied kinds of documents with different levels of authority, while the MOUs simply combine them together and do not review every article’s effectiveness to establish a disciplinary measure.

For example, in an MOU for “actions threatening hospital order,” one disciplinary measure is a restriction on applying for an Internet information service license. The MOU indicates this measure is delegated by “Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services (Order No. 292 of the State Council)” and the “Notice on Establishing a Blacklist Management System for Domestic Illegal Internet Stations (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology [2009] No. 371).” The first is a State Council issued document, the second is one order from a State Council department. The distinction is very important because the State Council rules can regulate everything except those are reserved by the law made by the National People’s Congress.[17] But it is questionable whether a low-level regulation (the State Council departmental rules) could set such a disciplinary measure because Article 80 of the Legislation Law indicates that the State Council departmental rules shall not impair the rights of citizens.

Secondly, the measures and products are sometimes mismatched. Whether the punitive measure is legal or illegal, the application of the measure for the MOU targeted actions is sometimes illegal. For example, even in practice it is common for a State Council departmental rule to regulate and put burden on citizens or businesses, a departmental measure is at least targeted to the department’s specific regulatory area, like the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology regulating the Internet industry and deciding who can apply to provide Internet services. The cited articles indicate that the measure is to for those “blacklisted as providing illegal Internet websites.” The MOU expanded the ban of Internet managing service to those whose conduct threatens hospital order. This expansion is arbitrary and capricious, and does not have a  legal basis,

Thirdly, in some cases, the cited articles are sometimes textually ambiguous on whether it authorizes such disciplinary measures. Another disciplinary measure for “persons who impair hospital order” is to publicize the information of these people. The cited authority is the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Government Information, the 9th article of which states that “The governments shall disclose the information when (1) it involves the vital interests of citizens, (2) It needs to be widely known or participated by the public; (3) it reflects the establishment, functions, procedures, etc. of the governments; or (4) it shall be open to the public in accordance with the relevant laws or regulations.” We could see no article indicating unambiguously that the person shall be publicized on the Internet. It is potentially dangerous that the government could interpret a law aimed to promote government transparency so broadly that the law is used as a punitive measure for a citizen.

Therefore, although the government tries to put the JDIM mechanisms into a legal framework, the legal basis is questionable. It seems that the government is just trying to find any related articles, regardless of whether it is clear, whether it has the authority to set the disciplinary measure, or whether the law or statute actually covers the targeted actions or disciplinary measures.

Yan Weilan, official of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Industry and Commerce wrote that “it is recommended that the government departments use the legal framework as a basis to scientifically define the behavior of dishonesty, and the governments should clarify the relationship between disciplinary measures and other legal sanctions.”[18] In other words, although the JDIM mechanism is effective in solving some social problems like default judgments, as the sanctions for our citizens, the legality of those punitive measures must be examined more carefully.

Improving interagency coordination is an important challenge for Chinese government. The cross-agency issues will emerge more often in the future due to the accelerating development of high technology such as artificial intelligence. The new social organization, for example, huge Internet companies, also put challenges on the government’s ability to coordinate limited resources to achieve better supervision on the super private power.

In this blogpost, I used those MOUs on JDIM to illustrate one effective way of the Chinese government’s improving interagency coordination and solving important social problems like “Laolai”. Then I focused on the legal flaws of the authority of the disciplinary measures. However effective the measures are for solving social problems, it should be done under the framework of law. The JDMI mechanism combined with the social credit system would influence every natural and legal person in China. If the agencies could set punitive measures on citizens without the limitation of law, the JDMI itself would become a serious problem. The punitive measures must be examined more carefully.

[1] See Jody Freeman & Jim Rossi, Improving Coordination of Related Agency Responsibilities 3 (2012), at 4.

[2] Id.

[3] Zhu Chunkui & Mao Wanlei (朱春奎 & 毛万磊), Research on the Horizontal Coordination Mechanism of Chinese Government Departments (议事协调机构、部际联席会议和部门协议: 中国政府部门横向协调机制研究), 6 Xing Zheng Gai Ge (行政改革) [Administrative Reformation] 40 (2015).

[4] Zhu Chunkui, at 42.

[5] Meissner Mirjam, “China’s Social Credit System: A big-data enabled approach to market regulation with broad implications for doing business in China”, MERICS CHINA MONITOR 2017. available at

[6] Outline of the Construction Plan for Social Credit System (2014-2020) (Guo Fa [2014] No. 21) ( 关于印发社会信用体系建设规划纲要[2014—2020年]的通知，国发[2014]21号)

[7] Guiding Opinion on Establishing the Joint Incentives for Trustworthiness and the Joint Disciplinary System for Untrustworthiness and Accelerating the Construction of Social Integrity (Guo Fa [2016] No. 33) (国务院关于建立完善守信联合激励和失信联合惩戒制度\加快推进社会诚信建设的指导意见，国发[2016]33号)

[8] Airline Prohibition for Specific Serious Credit Losers (关于在一定期限内适当限制特定严重失信人乘坐火车 推动社会信用体系建设的意见), available at

[9] MOUs On JDMI For Serious Credit Losers in The Area of Social Security (关于对社会保险领域严重失信企业及其有关人员实施联合惩戒的合作备忘), available at

[10] “JDMI for Those Who Refuse to Enforce an Effective Judgment” (关于对失信被执行人实施联合惩戒的合作备忘), available at

[11] The JDMI mechanism achieved great progress (最高法不断完善执行信息化系统建设 联合信用惩戒取得重大突破), available at

[12] “Opinions on appropriately restricting certain serious untrustworthy persons from using civil aircraft to promote the construction of social credit system within a certain period of time”(“关于在一定期限内适当限制特定严重失信人乘坐民用航空器 推动社会信用体系建设的意见发改财金〔2018〕385号”), available at

[13] 九部门发文惩戒招标投标领域失信被执行人, available at

[14] The Approval on the Adjustment of the Interagency Joint Conference on Credit Social System(国务院关于同意调整社会信用体系建设部际联席会议职责和成员单位的批复 国函(2012) 88号), available at

[15] 关于九部门在招标投标领域对失信被执行人实施联合惩戒新闻发布会, available at

[16] Id.

[17] Legislation Law  (2015 amended) Article 65.

[18] Researches on some problems of JDMI MOUs (失信联合惩戒合作备忘录若干问题研究), available at

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Visiting New York City and you guess what camera I took

Share First of all I need to give you a huge apology on not posting for such a long time. There have been some major changes in my life which I had to settle too. The first is me starting a new day time job which encountered a lot of … Continue reading

Budapest, a city trip with the X100T Part I

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Woman finds 'glass bits' in smoothie ordered from Slappy Cakes at Plaza Singapura: SFA investigating

Submitted by Stomper Catherine

This story was submitted via Stomp App contribution.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) told Stomp it is investigating an incident where a diner found 'glass bits' in a smoothie she had ordered from Slappy Cakes at Plaza Singapura on Sunday (Nov 17).

Stomper Catherine told Stomp about her horrific experience and shared photos and videos she had taken at the eatery.

"I was having a meal with my family at Slappy Cakes when I ordered a smoothie at about 4.23pm," she said.

"After sipping the smoothie, I felt some hard bits in my mouth.

"I quickly spit them out and was horrified to see what resembled glass bits.

"I found more of them as I manually emptied the tumbler."

Catherine added that she had swallowed some of the pieces as well.

She had ordered the drink for her children who are aged five, seven and eight.

"One of my children had a sip but thankfully I drank it before the others otherwise I wouldn't know what would happen to them," she said.

After finding the 'glass pieces', Catherine alerted the restaurant's staff to the matter.

"They simply asked me if I wanted to exchange my glass for another smoothie," she said.

"I told them that this could have killed someone and asked to speak to a manager, which took a while.

"They told me that the supplier of the puree used in the smoothie should be responsible for the matter.

"They added that they didn't know there was any glass in it but I feel they are the ones handling the food sp they should be screening it.

"I felt that they had no sympathy or care for my children and me."

Catherine said she offered to pay for the meal but the staff did not accept her money.

"It's not about the money.

"I want to make others aware of this issue because it is life-threatening and can cause death.

"Those glass bits are a choking hazard and cannot be digested."

In response to a Stomp query, a spokesman from SFA said they are investigating the matter.

Slappy Cakes did not respond to Stomp's queries by press time.

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Kai and the Monkey King: Joe Todd-Stanton

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Author Joe Todd-Stanton Published by Flying Eye Books ISBN 1912497441 EAN 9781912497447 BIC Code Cover Paperback

When Kai grows tired of her bookish mum not being adventurous enough for a Brownstone, she decides to seek out the mischievous and rebellious Monkey King – who she’s always been told to stay away from. Will he bring her the adventure she craves, or will he cause her more trouble than he’s worth? Read the latest story from the mythical Brownstone’s family vault where we venture to China and learn about the story of the Monkey King, meet magical gods, taste powerful peaches and see that maybe our heroes aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be. Winner of the 2018 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, longlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, and most recently nominated for an Eisner for Arthur and the Golden Rope, Joe Todd-Stanton is a master at storytelling and illustration, and this time he takes his history loving adventurer deep into Chinese mythology.

Location 49 North Street, Bristol, BS3 1EN Phone 0117 279 1751 E-mail storysmithbooks@gmail.com Hours Tuesday-Saturday: 10am-5pm | Sunday: 11am-4pm | Monday: closed
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