Recent Press Releases
Amendment to EPSRC’s policy for repeatedly unsuccessful applicants
Institute of Physics
PR16 (09)
Wed, 6 May 2009
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has amended its policy for repeatedly unsuccessful applicants. Implementation of the new policy has been delayed until April 2010 and Principal Investigators or Co-investigators who have submitted unsuccessful applications will still be allowed to submit one application for a research grant in the 12-month period. The amendment was made after EPSRC received constructive feedback from its research community and stakeholders.
Peter Main, the Institute of Physics (IOP)'s Director of Education and Science, said “IOP recognises that EPSRC has a difficult situation to manage. The continuing increase in the number of grant applications, combined with a real-term reduction in the volume of funding, is threatening to overwhelm the peer review system. IOP supports EPSRC’s underlying aim of safeguarding peer review, which has proved its value over many years as the most effective mechanism for evaluating research proposals.
“But EPSRC’s initial policy for dealing with the problem by excluding repeatedly unsuccessful applicants from making any further applications for a year was seen by many of our members as punitive and unfair, particularly because it was introduced with no notice following little or no consultation from 1 April this year. We welcome EPSRC's decision to amend at least some aspects of that policy to take account of views expressed by the science and engineering community. Too often 'stakeholder consultation' makes no difference at all to existing plans. In this case, EPSRC has listened to criticism, and shown flexibility.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Contact
1. For further information, a full draft of the journal paper or contact with one of the authors, contact IOP Press Officer, Joe Winters:
Tel: 020 7470 4815
Mobile: 07946 321473
E-mail: joseph.winters@iop.org
The Institute of Physics
2. The Institute of Physics is a scientific charity devoted to increasing the practice, understanding and application of physics. It has a worldwide membership of more than 36 000 and is a leading communicator of physics-related science to all audiences, from specialists through to government and the general public. Its publishing company, IOP Publishing, is a world leader in scientific publishing and the electronic dissemination of physics. Go to www.iop.org.
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