1. 19%
of
applica,ons
approved
for
funding
would
have
been
at
risk
of
being
ruled
ineligible
by
the
One
Check
Policy
Approved
for
funding
SubmiAed
What Applicant Behaviours Did We Observe?
Within
the
15
applica,ons,
three
behaviours
were
observed:
Impact
on
Success
Rate
If
the
15
applica,ons
were
ruled
ineligible
and
removed
from
assessment
by
the
NHMRC:
A
combined
loss
of
in
approved
budget
in
success
rate
Monash
University
ranked
3rd
instead
of
in
the
overall
ins,tu,onal
ranking
NO
Applicants
who
did
not
request
a
compliance
check
Is One Compliance Check for
Grant Applications Enough?
No
Dr
Anh
Chau
Monash
Research
Office,
Monash
University,
Clayton,
Victoria,
Australia
Anh.Chau@monash.edu
Impact
on
Applica:on
Eligibility
Solu:on
1:
Improve
Feedback
v Used
RED
eligibility
flags
to
assist
applicants
with
iden,fying
serious
eligibility
issues
quickly
v Eliminated
generic
comments
not
applicable
to
the
applica,on
v Provided
clear,
concise
and
SPECIFIC
feedback
v Changed
the
overall
look
of
the
feedback
form
to
aid
readability
Solu:on
2:
Increase
Applicant
Compliance
v Referred
to
the
relevant
sec,ons
of
the
funding
rules
at
every
opportunity
v Cer,fica,on
instruc,ons
to
applicants
contained
a
checklist
of
condi,ons
and
agreements
Figure
1.
2014
NHMRC
Project
Grant
Round
Flow
of
Applica,ons
Received
for
Checking
Solu:on:
Improve
Pre-­‐submission
Process
v Applicants
were
encouraged
to
seek
support
from
their
reviewer
just
prior
to
cer,fying
and
locking
down
their
applica,on
Solu:on
1:
Increase
Awareness
of
the
Check
Service
Offered
v Conducted
an
informa,on
session
to
target
new
applicants
and
research
administrators
Solu:on
2:
Accommodate
Experienced
Researchers
and
Re-­‐applicants
v Created
an
informa,on
sheet
to
list
every
change
in
the
funding
rules,
applica,on
form
and
peer
review
process
from
the
previous
grant
round
What Did We Do With This Information for the 2015 Grant Round?
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Before
Internal
Deadline
Week
1
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
No
Check
Requested
Check
Request
Feedback
Provided
Funded
Applica,ons
19%
of
successful
2014
NHMRC
Project
Grant
applica:ons
would
have
been
at
risk
of
being
ruled
ineligible
if
the
One
Check
Policy
was
strictly
enforced.
All
2015
applica:ons
were
re-­‐screened
for
eligibility
issues
before
submission
to
the
NHMRC.
Recommendations for Other Research Offices
v Define
what
a
review
ready
applica,on
is
for
compliance
checking
v Move
the
internal
deadline
closer
to
the
applica,on
close
date
to
review
more
complete
applica,ons
v Ensure
sufficient
,me
is
allocated
between
receiving
the
final
applica,on
and
the
applica,on
close
date
to
maintain
a
level
of
quality
control
v Change
in
culture
–
applicants
recognise
the
importance
of
a
compliance
check
Applicants
who
had
issues
arise
due
to
changes
made
aUer
the
first
check
405
78
15
Applicants
who
did
not
correct
the
eligibility
issue
iden:fied
in
the
first
check
One Check Policy
Applica:ons
received
by
the
Monash
Research
Office
(MRO)
by
the
internal
deadline
of
4
weeks
prior
to
the
Na:onal
Health
and
Medical
Research
Council
(NHMRC)
deadline
will
undergo
ONE
comprehensive
compliance
check.
Applicants
are
responsible
for
incorpora:ng
the
feedback
provided
by
the
MRO
and
for
the
eligibility
and
completeness
of
their
applica:on.