Share your thoughts

on remote study sections

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced federal agencies that fund scientific research to move their grant-application review panels online. The National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation have used remote study sections in the past, and the ASBMB public affairs office heard mixed reviews about those endeavors. Now that the need for social distancing has resulted in widespread adoption of remote grant-application review, we feel it’s important to record reviewers’ experiences contemporaneously and then, at a later date, share those comments with funding agencies so that the remote-review process can be optimized.

We invite you to use this simple form to share your thoughts on your remote study section experience. 

Here are some of the questions we have, but don’t feel bound to them. We welcome any and all comments about your experiences.

• Do you think the quality of review will change as a result of remote interactions?  How so?
• Do you think remote participants are more or less likely to contribute to discussions?  Why?
• What is lost by not having face-to-face interactions? 
• What is gained?

We intend to share your comments with both the scientific community and federal agencies. We also hope to develop recommendations for improving remote grant review.

We hope you will take a few minutes to share your thoughts, and we strongly encourage you to share this platform with your colleagues of all disciplines.

Together, we can help the community in a time of need.