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Become an assessor yourself
Give back to your research community and be at the forefront of funding cutting-edge research
The best way to learn how funding applications are assessed, and therefore how to write them better, is to become an assessor yourself.
Read time: 2 min
The act of reading other people’s applications, determining how well they address the assessment criteria, and having to score them, will give you fantastic insights into what works well and what fails miserably. If you’re on an assessment panel, you will also meet other assessors, some of whom will have many years of experience, from whom you can learn.
Being an assessor can require a considerable time commitment, but it does look good on your CV. In fact, as your career progresses it will become an essential part of your track record.
How to become an assessor
With some schemes (e.g. ARC), you are required to become an assessor as a condition of being funded by that scheme – in other words, you have to ‘give back’. This process is automatic; just wait to hear from the funding body. In all other cases:
- Email the Pipeline and Pre-Award team in the Research Portfolio
- Approach the funding body yourself – check its website for information
- Use your contacts and networks for advice.
Here are some quick links for the ARC and NHMRC:
- Learn about the ARC peer-review system
- Apply to become an ARC ‘detailed assessor’ by emailing your current CV, top 10 publications and top three for codes to the ARC Peer Review Team.
- Joining the ARC’s College of Experts involves a competitive application process that is conducted annually and typically prioritises certain ‘areas of interest’. You have to be nominated by the University, so email the Pipeline and Pre-Award team in the Research Portfolio.
- Learn about the NHMRC peer-review system
- Find out about self-nominating to become an NHMRC assessor.