What really goes on when your application is discussed?
When it comes to research funding, I’ve been poacher and gamekeeper. I’m a research development manager, but I’ve also served two terms as a public member of a research funding panel, and I still review the odd proposal. I’m going to draw upon that experience to try to explain how funding panels tend to work. They obviously vary depending on funder and scheme. So treat this article as based on a true story, but with certain scenes invented for dramatic purposes.
Once upon a time, in a hotel conference room