UCD iSchool and School of Sociology Staff Receive €375K Science Foundation Ireland Grant
Peer review is widely regarded as the most trusted mechanism available to select grant proposals with the highest potential for contributing to scientific and technological progress and innovation. However, many aspects of grant application review processes have been criticised by researchers and policy makers for lack of reliability, potential for bias, lack of transparency, and heavy reliance on overworked researcherss
Professor Kalpana Shankar has received a €375,000, four year grant from Science Foundation Ireland to study peer review process and outcomes at the agency. Collaborators include Dr Lai Ma from UCD’s School of Information and Communication Studies, Dr Pablo Lucas from UCD’s School of Sociology, and Drs Shane McLoughlin and Clare Thornley from Maynooth University. The aim of the project will be to examine peer review decision- making processes, stakeholder concerns, and outcomes of the SFI Investigators Programme and Industry Fellowship Programme with the goal of improving the efficiency, transparency, and equity of scientific funding processes in Irish science. The project will be the first of its kind in its use of mixed methods and agent-based modeling to study peer review over time.
The study also addresses related topics, such as transparency of process, implications for gender equity and early career researchers, the role of interdisciplinarity in peer review, the evaluation of economic and social impacts in grant proposals, and overall, what constitutes research excellence in Irish science.
For more about the Science Policy call: http://www.sfi.ie/research-news/news/minister-halligan-announc-3/
