Formal announcement of EPSRC Peer Review Panel Process
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) have formally announced the changes to their peer review panel process, including the formal handling of National Importance and shaping capability.
EPSRC originally highlighted the planned changes in March 2012 along with their last round of Shaping Capability.
Since then EPSRC have trailed the new processes and will formally introduce them in panels from 1 October. A summary of the changes are:
- Panel members will receive a contextual briefing from EPSRC to help them consider the proposals on the day in the wider context of the EPSRC portfolio.
- The number of introducers (or speakers) will increase from 2 to 3 people to encourage more discussion.
- Introducers’ scores will be requested 2-3 days in advance of the meeting to enable EPSRC and the panel to reflect on the scores prior to the meeting, and help focus discussion during the meeting.
- National importance criterion which includes the consideration of how a proposal complements the current UK research landscape, including the EPSRC portfolio as published under ‘Our portfolio’ on their website, will now be considered at panels as a major secondary criterion.
The key change from before is with the last point of National Importance. From the 1 October, panels will also consider the context of the EPSRC portfolio when ranking proposals, meaning you must defend where your proposal fits within their currently funded landscape.
RDSO can help with the structure of proposals and in particular the content of the Pathways to Impact and the National Importance sections. Please do contact us for an informal appointment to talk about your proposal or arrange a time at one of our monthly Application Surgeries. We are happy to discuss proposals at any stage of the writing process.