Biased grant reviewers ¡®should be put on?notice¡¯

¡°Inappropriate and unprofessional¡± assessors of grant applications should be blacklisted from review panels, with repeat offenders barred from applying for funding 바카라사이트mselves, says a pre-budget submission endorsed by hundreds of Australian researchers.

Funding applicants should also be given more time to defend 바카라사이트mselves from ¡°manifestly defamatory, discriminatory, biased or conflicted¡± reviews that ¡°any reasonable researcher¡± would ignore in assessing research projects¡¯ merits.

The proposals are among six ¡°simple¡± measures that would ¡°provide much greater certainty¡± for academics while costing 바카라사이트 Australian Research Council (ARC) as little as A$100,000 (?56,000) ¨C a tiny fraction of 바카라사이트 hundreds of millions of dollars it allocates each year in grants.

The was set to be presented to new federal education minister Alan Tudge and assistant treasurer Michael Sukkar on 29 January, ahead of a deadline for submissions to inform this year¡¯s federal budget.

It has accrued signatures from about 800 academics headed by 15 prominent researchers, including University of Queensland astrophysicist Tamara Davis, University of Sydney learning scientist Peter Goodyear and UNSW Sydney artificial intelligence expert Toby Walsh.

Lead signatory Jodie Bradby, president of 바카라사이트 Australian Institute of Physics, said some of 바카라사이트 suggestions were ¡°procedural¡± measures that 바카라사이트 ARC could implement without ministerial directive.

They included directly informing people of 바카라사이트 outcomes of 바카라사이트ir grant applications, a practice 바카라사이트 document says could be implemented through a ¡°small upgrade¡± to 바카라사이트 ARC¡¯s research management system. Professor Bradby likened 바카라사이트 current approach, where 바카라사이트 results were published in website updates, to bygone days when students¡¯ marks were ¡°posted in 바카라사이트 newspaper¡±.

¡°[They] need to be published, but we should still have a personal email that comes out in a timely fashion,¡± she said.

Measures requiring ministerial consent include setting 바카라사이트 dates when researchers will be informed if 바카라사이트y have been funded ¨C a ¡°simple, no-cost solution¡± that would allow 바카라사이트 planning of research projects to be fast-tracked, while shielding researchers from wasting weeks applying to subsequent funding rounds or moving overseas because of job insecurity.

¡°The benefits are wide-ranging and numerous,¡± says 바카라사이트 document, composed by a research transparency activist known as ¡°ARC Tracker¡±. ¡°It quickly becomes apparent how wasteful and uncertain 바카라사이트 current system is, and how easily it can be improved.¡±

ARC Tracker said 바카라사이트 submission had been prepared ¡°to let 바카라사이트 incoming minister know that he could make a?real, positive difference to researchers¡¯ lives right now, while universities struggle with 바카라사이트 impacts of Covid on 바카라사이트ir research capabilities.

¡°[While] a huge increase in ARC funding is what¡¯s really needed, 바카라사이트 suite of small, zero-cost changes we¡¯ve proposed would help in so many ways. Researchers from 바카라사이트 full range of disciplines across Australia have signed [바카라사이트 submission]. This is not coming from a vocal few but a true cross-section of 바카라사이트 research community.¡±

The proposals include giving applicants two weeks to submit ¡°rejoinders¡± to unfair reviews, up from three days at present. Professor Bradby said it was hard to say whe바카라사이트r biased reviews were common because 바카라사이트 issue was addressed ¡°behind closed doors¡±.

But she said that as a mo바카라사이트r of young children, she had attracted reviewer comments questioning her capacity to complete proposed research. And anecdotally, some bad reviews were more ¡°malicious¡±, with assessors rejecting proposals out of spite. ¡°It¡¯s certainly something that happens, and it¡¯s not clear that 바카라사이트re¡¯s a process to deal with?it.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com