The early signs were good. We heard from a few observers on the Early Detection and Diagnosis Committee that just being in the interview room was a valuable experience. And other funders we spoke to also offered smaller, early-career observer and peer reviewer opportunities, but none of them prioritized underrepresented groups.
So we were keen to provide all researchers with the opportunity to observe grant reviews, with priority given to potential applicants from underrepresented groups. We created a feedback loop to invite observers to provide anonymized feedback, “good and bad,” to improve the observer experience and the transparency and fairness of the funding process.
We launched the scheme in April 2022 without knowing how many people would apply.
Did it work?
Two months after launch, 150 people had already signed up, and now there are over 500 registered.
We had planned to start with a limited number of observers on some panels to test and learn, but due to the interest, we decided to open up capacity early. Now that the panels are online, it is possible to have many more “virtual” observers.
To date, over 220 people have had the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into our grantmaking process. We attract a more diverse set of researchers than typical grant applicants: 65% are women (compared to 35% of grant applicants), and 44% are from ethnic minorities (compared to 18% of grant applicants).
