I spent over 30 years as a grant-funded researcher and am well aware of the time and effort that goes into writing a good grant request. Therefore it is only right that we work hard to make sure the decision making process is fair and equitable.

For 2007 the trust has recruited a seven-person Assessment Committee comprising an oncologist, radiation oncologist, two biomedical researchers, a senior palliative care nursing specialist, a psychologist and a senior health administrator. About four weeks after receiving and reading all the applications this committee meets to discuss which should be entered into the second stage of the review process. This is decided by a majority vote. This "triage" is a necessary strategy employed by other funding bodies such as the HRC and Child Health Research Foundation.

Those applications that enter the second stage of the review are divided up amongst the Assessment Committee members according to their expertise and over the following six weeks they write reports on each of their assigned application. Where applicable (primarily research projects) two or three external reviews will also be obtained.

The second Assessment Committee meeting takes place in late November and the reports on each application are presented and debated. After the debate each member applies a confidential ranking to the application (1 to 10). At the end of the meeting a list of applications ranked from highest to lowest is produced and this is presented to the Genesis Oncology Trust Board in early December. A cut off for funding is suggested by the Assessment Committee, but the final decision is made by the Board.

My primary role in the grant round is to manage the process and meetings, and obtain external reviews. I do not vote at either the Assessment Committee or Board meetings.

So, whatever the final outcome of your application please be assured that we will treat your proposal with respect.



Douglas Ormrod PhD
Programme Manager