Reviewers and funders tend to get all the blame for unsuccessful proposals. There is a standard litany of complaints: The funder picked reviewers from the wrong research areas. The reviewers didn’t understand the project. Were names picked from a hat? And so on. This brings us to the penultimate myth of this series.
For the expert peer review process followed by the UKRI research councils, reviewer selection is based on what is written in the proposal. To be more precise, it’s based on the portfolio manager’s interpretation of what was written in the proposal. Not only does this mean you need to ensure that your proposal is written clearly, but it should also be understandable to an intelligent non-expert (see Myth #10 re: not cutting and pasting from a technical section for your summary).
Myth #9 has to be kept in mind as well: grand proclamations or trying to make your project seem more impactful than it might be in reality can backfire. For example, let’s say a PI writes that the results of their project will have an impact on the research areas of acoustics, robotics, energy storage, spintronics, and control engineering. These areas are now fair game for potential reviewers … even if 99% of the proposal is focusing on acoustics.
Before writing your proposal, consider what areas you would like reviewers to be drawn from. What type of researchers would be able to fairly evaluate your proposal? Be as precise as you can in your brainstorming: think of the specific people who would be ideal as well as the general fields or communities that would make the most sense. For example, this could be something like acoustics for health care purposes or acoustics for non-destructive evaluation.
Keep these categories in mind while writing and cast a critical eye over your proposal before hitting submit. Does what you’ve written clearly express that these are the areas you’re working in? If you’re uncertain, ask for the thoughts of those who are providing feedback for you: based on what you’ve written, what type of reviewers would they select?
Although it can feel like reviewer selection is completely out of the applicant’s hands, it’s worth remembering that there may be more you can influence than you think.