Institute colleague appointed to join AHRC Peer Review College
Dr Anna Chiumento, Research Associate with Primary Care and Mental Health, was recently appointed to join the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council Peer Review College (AHRC PRC).
The AHRC Peer Review College has around 970 members from higher education institutions and independent research organisations in the United Kingdom (and overseas) and appoint following an open recruitment process that aims to increase the diversity of PRC members (the AHRC is the only Research Council to use this open recruitment process).
Part of what they were looking to diversify was the career stages of PRC members, notably seeking to recruit more Early Career Researchers; as well as broadening the disciplinary expertise of PRC members, recognising the breadth of research that they fund.
Joining the Peer Review College is a voluntary role where you commit to reviewing applications for AHRC funding, and/or attending funding panel meetings. Your input is requested based on the applications received and their fit with your expertise, although due to the nature of open calls you will also be reviewing applications outside of your area(s) of specialism. In both roles, you are informing funding decisions based either on a submitted application (for the review process), or on a synthesis of the views of 3-4 reviewers per application (for panel discussions), supporting the AHRC to identify high quality and impactful research to fund. It is also an opportunity to better understand what makes an outstanding application stand out from the crowd, and to network with researchers from other institutions and research fields.
To view an introductory video on the PRC, click here.
To support Anna to undertake this role, she attended a half-day induction training in Manchester. This training provided an overview of the strategic direction of the AHRC (a new strategy document is due to be published in the summer 2022), and the role of the PRC in the wider UKRI/AHRC organisational context. The next session provided guidance on constructive peer review to support panel meeting procedures, and the final session involved a mock panel facilitated by an experienced AHRC Chair and AHRC staff to directly experience the process of assessing applications based on peer reviewers’ comments.
This induction was informative and enjoyable, providing an overview of the expectations of PRC members and the various roles they may be asked to undertake.
You can learn more about the AHRC PRC here: https://www.ukri.org/councils/ahrc/guidance-for-reviewers/peer-review-college/