The authorising department (IPTS) has published a notice in the S series of the OJ (2012/S 45-072741 for studies dated 06/03/2012), calling for expressions of interest. The notices invite applications from anyone with the necessary experience and qualifications. Please read carefully the notice and follow its indications if you wish to be included in the list of potential contractors. Applications are assessed in strict accordance with point 8 of the notice, following which they are either rejected or accepted and entered in a list of potential contractors. When a specific contract is to be concluded, the authorising department (IPTS) invites to tender (send letter of invitation plus technical specifications) all or some of those entered on the list. Where only some of those entered on the list are invited to tender, the choice is made by the authorising department on the basis of preliminary selection criteria specific to the contract in question, and the information given by the applicant in the Reply Form.

The aim of the project is to conduct a series of experiments in a computer laboratory following an experimental design provided by the European Commission. The Contractor will be asked to translate such a design into a fully-functional computer software pilot it, recruit and pay experimental subjects, execute the experiment in a computer laboratory, clean the collected dataset and deliver it to the European Commission.

The Institute for Health and Consumer Protection of the Directorate General Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission is supporting the Directorate General for Employment (DG EMPL) for the implementation of the SCOEL (a Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits to Chemical Agents ) project, in the frame of Council directive 98/24/EC on the protection of the health and safety of workers from the risks related to chemical agents at work. This directive provides that the Commission shall evaluate the relationship between the health effects of hazardous chemical agents and the level of occupational exposure by means of an independent scientific assessment of the latest available scientific data. Commission decision 95/320/EC setting up a Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits to Chemical Agents (SCOEL) establishes that the task of the Committee shall be to supply the Commission with opinions at the latter's request on any matter relating to the toxicological examination of chemicals for their effects on the health of workers. Decision 95/320/EC states that SCOEL shall in particular give advice on the setting of Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) based on scientific data and where appropriate shall propose values which may include: - the eight-hour time weighted average (TWA), - short-term limits/excursion limits (STEL), - biological limit values. The OELs may be supplemented, as appropriate, by further notations. Similarly, the Decision indicates that any recommendation shall be supported and explained by information on the basic data, a description of the critical effects, the extrapolation techniques used, and any data on possible risks to human health. The feasibility of monitoring exposure at any proposed limit value(s) shall also be noted.