Funding grant proposals for scientific research: retrospective analysis of scores by members of grant review panel.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To quantify randomness and cost when choosing health and medical research projects for funding.

Design

Retrospective analysis.

Setting

Grant review panels of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.

Participants

Panel members' scores for grant proposals submitted in 2009.

Main outcome measures

The proportion of grant proposals that were always, sometimes, and never funded after accounting for random variability arising from differences in panel members' scores, and the cost effectiveness of different size assessment panels.

Results

59% of 620 funded grants were sometimes not funded when random variability was taken into account. Only 9% (n = 255) of grant proposals were always funded, 61% (n = 1662) never funded, an

SUBMITTER: Graves N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3181233 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature