Internal Peer Review

All applications for grants, fellowships, studentships and equipment above £15k are subject to internal peer review in the College of Physical Sciences.

Near final or final proposals should be submitted to Heads of School at least 4 weeks before any published deadline or intended submission. The Head of School will forward the proposal to an appropriate reviewer, who will comment on the scientific case and, where appropriate, letters of support. This feedback will be returned to the Head of School within 10 days and the reviewer will sign the peer review coversheet. The PI will then have an opportunity to respond to and revise the proposal in the light of these comments. Once the Head of School is satisfied that the application has been reviewed and amended as appropriate, the application will be forwarded to R&I within their deadlines for submission. The standard cover sheet for applications has been amended to allow the Head of School to confirm that peer review has taken place.

The Heads of School will retain discretion over matters relating to peer review, as there may be occasional circumstances where it is not appropriate.

Peer review relies on colleagues giving up time to review and provide feedback on others' grant proposals. However the procedures should bring about an increase in quality of proposals, and with it higher success rates. The impact of the internal peer review procedures will be monitored and changes made where appropriate.

Further information is available at: www.abdn.ac.uk/finance/staff/research-funding/cover-sheets (requires login)