NIH Reviews Review.
The current issue of Nature has an article on efforts at the National Institutes of Health to revise the current system for reviewing grant applications, and deciding which ones are to be funded. The NIH Director, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, has been leading efforts to reform the fifty-year old system now used, and to streamline the process. Comments were invited from research and scientific organizations outside the government, and response has apparently been enthusiastic. Many people have a lot to say about the current system. Shorter application cycles, mandatory service on review committees by senior scientists, a limit on one grant application in the system per investigator at any one time are all suggestions that have been made and been greeted with considerable warmth. Final versions of suggested reforms are due this winter, with the launch of some pilot programs slated for March. Today, 18,000 reviewers handle submissions to the NIH. Twenty years ago, one tenth that number handled the load. NIH has asked for unusual and even radical suggestions to help meet the goal of getting the best science done with the least administrative complications.
NIH
