Can video improve grant review quality and lead to more reliable ranking?

• Published in: Research Ideas and Outcomes Vol. 3; pp. e11931 - 21
• Main Authors: Doran, Michael, Barnett, Adrian, Leach, Joan, Lott, William, Page, Katie, Grant, Will
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sofia Pensoft Publishers 01.02.2017
• Subjects: grant r; grant writing; research funding; video
• ISSN: 2367-7163; 2367-7163
• DOI: 10.3897/rio.3.e11931

Multimedia video is rapidly becoming mainstream, and many studies indicate that it is a more effective communication medium than text. In this project we AIM to test if videos can be used, in place of text-based grant proposals, to improve communication and increase the reliability of grant ranking. We will test if video improves reviewer comprehension (AIM 1), if external reviewer grant scores are more consistent with video (AIM 2), and if mock Australian Research Council (ARC) panels award more consistent scores when grants are presented as videos (AIM 3). This will be the first study to evaluate the use of video in this application. The ARC reviewed over 3500 Discovery Project applications in 2015, awarding 635 Projects. Selecting the “best” projects is extremely challenging. This project will improve the selection process by facilitating the transition from text-based to video-based proposals. The impact could be profound: Improved video communication should streamline the grant preparation and review processes, enable more reliable ranking of applications, and more accurate identification of the “next big innovations”.