The NIH has called for comments by April 24 on a proposed policy that would streamline peer review of grant proposals. Here’s a graphic of the proposed changes: Thanks for reading The Good Science Project! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
The basic problems with grant peer-review at the NIH are two-fold (having served on many a study section): First, the turn-around is 10 months. It was once 6 months, and it should go back to 6 months. Second, the science that is favored is fairly conservative. This would be fine if the NIH intramural programs took a more high-risk approach, but they do not.
New Thinking on Peer Review at NIH
The basic problems with grant peer-review at the NIH are two-fold (having served on many a study section): First, the turn-around is 10 months. It was once 6 months, and it should go back to 6 months. Second, the science that is favored is fairly conservative. This would be fine if the NIH intramural programs took a more high-risk approach, but they do not.