22
Are you wondering what happens a er you submit your grant application? It's important to understand the review
process and how best use this waiting period so you are prepared regardless of the outcome.
What happens after you submit your application?
The first review is conducted following the submission deadline. Late applications are usually not accepted.
Applications are scanned for missing critical information (e.g. signatures), formatting issues (e.g. font size, spacing,
and margins that don't adhere to guidelines), exceeding space limitations, missing sections, and eligibility of
applicant. Applications are also assessed for fit with the objectives outlined in the PA/RFA and mission of the grant
agency. This is sometimes done with an automated search for presence of keywords — so be sure to use keywords
and tie your proposal to the objectives.
Applications are then assigned to at least two primary reviewers who read and evaluate the entire proposal, and
then write a detailed review that is subsequently read by a larger review committee (who may or may not read the
whole grant application, but will likely read the abstract or summary).
The detailed review typically includes the following:
• Summary of the proposal with emphasis on the significance and novelty of the research proposed
• General assessment of the proposal's strengths and weaknesses that includes:
— Evaluation of the novelty of hypotheses and impact of the aims
— Assessment of the feasibility of the work proposed
— Judgement of the applicant's knowledge of the field and the appropriateness of the critical review
of the literature
Part 4: The grant review process: How are grant
applications evaluated?
