Get Funded

• Submitted applications are screened for eligibility prior to being assigned for review 
• Since SIR Foundation offers a variety of grants for researchers of different levels (students, residents, faculty), we have varying eligibility criteria. One criterion that remains the same is all applicants must be SIR members.  

• Grant Review Study Section Chair meets with SIR Foundation staff to assign reviewers 
• SIR Foundation staff screens reviewers for potential conflicts of interest (COIs) and identifies reviewer area of expertise through a cv review (interventional oncology, renal, women’s health, etc.) to provide the Grant Study Review Section Chair with the needed information to assign reviewers with the appropriate expertise.  
• Application is assigned to reviewers for initial review  
• The reviewers assess applications and score them on the following criteria:  
  • Significance  
  • Investigator qualifications  
  • Innovation  
  • Approach  
  • Environment 
  • Budget 
• Based on these criteria, the reviewers are then asked to provide an overall score on the application.  
• Scores and comments provided by each reviewer are blinded from one another. This prevents influence or bias during the review process.  

• Grant Review Study Section meet to review applications for final review 
  • For Dr. Ernest J. Ring Academic Development Grant and Funding Source Development Grant (FSDG), all applications are discussed. 
  • For other grants, if the reviewers were not unanimous in their scoring, the applications are discussed. 
• Before each grant is reviewed, all reviewers with COIs are asked to identify themselves and be excused from the room when the conflicted application is up for review. They cannot provide a score and are not told of the voting outcome.  
• After the reviewers with COIs are removed, each reviewer presents their comments and scores. The group then discusses the application.  
• Once the group discusses the application, each member gets to score blindly and the mean score is used as the application’s final score.

Note: All committee members are given access to all applications prior to the meeting. This allows an in-depth discussion and all concerns to be brought up.