Existing expert panels - one for Olympic and one for Paralympic sport - will be merged into one, with an increase in membership to cover the additional expertise required.

"Mission 2012 has changed the way we work with sports - but, equally fundamentally, the way in which we deliver support to the high performance community", said Peter Keen, UK Sport's director of performance.

"With this approach maturing, it is a good time to both increase the coverage of the process by extending it to the winter sports we support, but also to encourage the sports already part of the Mission to think about their plans for Rio."

UK Sport has effectively dissolved the existing Mission 2012 panels to create a new extended panel and has embarked on the process of seeking a minimum of six members from the high-performance community and beyond.

With the panel needing to identify world-leading practice within sports and respond to challenges facing the system, the recruitment of members with very specific expertise is critical.

UK Sport is particularly seeking individuals with expertise in the following areas:

Executive management of sustained World Class success (chief executive officer or PD level)

Coaching of sustained World Class success with teams and individuals

Operational experience at a minimum of five major multi-sport events

Delivery and management of high level sport science/sport medicine support for at least 10 years

Ten years of operational experience at World Class level in Paralympic sport

Ten years of operational experience at World Class level in winter sport

Winning medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games

"Our existing panels have served us extremely well," added Keen "but after three years of running the Mission 2012 process we know a lot more about the precise nature of insight that makes a difference when looking for ways to identify and tackle the themes that are emerging across sports - whether Olympic or Paralympic, summer or winter.

"Now that we have fully aligned all our sporting investments and judge each sport on its potential to deliver success regardless of whether they are competing on water, grass or ice, it is important that our Mission panel can have the same flexibility."

UK Sport has asked for 'letters of interest' from individuals who meet the levels of expertise being sought - including the former Olympic and Paralympic panel members - with a closing date for applications of tomorrow (January 7).

The new panel's first meeting will take place in March.

Full details can be found here.