UPM Scientific Review Council (UPM-SRC)

The NIH-UPM Scientific Review System

 OBJECTIVES

  • To provide objective expert assessment of scientific merit of research proposals applying for intramural and extramural research grants managed by the NIH-UPM

FUNCTIONS

  • Review the technical aspects and evaluate the scientific merit of all researches applying for intramural or extramural grants managed by NIH-UPM
  • Maintain a roster of experts within the University who are willing and capable of providing expert opinion on a variety of subject matters
  • Determine which researches are eligible to receive funding based on their technical and scientific merit
  • Recommend revisions of research proposals based on available evidence and expert consensus
  • Evaluate the terminal reports of NIH-UPM managed researches
  • Provide sound evaluation of applications for Study Group registration

COMPOSITION OF THE SYSTEM

Scientific Review Council (SRC)

  • Composed of a Chair and four (4) University Scientists representing different research areas, and a Secretariat who serves as the Council Secretary.
  • The Deputy Executive Director of NIH also sits in the Council as non-voting ex officio member.
  • The Chair and SRC members may serve a two-year term, which can be renewed upon the recommendation of the NIH Executive Director.

 Scientific Review Group (SRG)

  • Composed of a group of professionals with similar core expertise and at least one (1) clinical epidemiologist or biostatistician.

 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

SRC Chair

  • Is responsible for convening the meetings together with the NIH Deputy Executive Director;
  • Assigns reviewers for proposed research protocols;
  • Gives final decision on resubmitted protocols, amendments and documents that have been reviewed by the members and elevated to the Chair.

 SRC Members

  • Evaluate all grant applications, conduct the final deliberation and recommend researches for funding approval of the Chancellor.
  • Evaluate and approve the terminal reports of the funded researches.
  • Are in charge of evaluating the applications for registration of new Study Groups of the NIH-UPM.

 SRC Secretariat

  • Prepares and distributes the study protocol to assigned SRGs;
  • Tracks the progress of the review of each submitted protocol;
  • Organizes regular SRC meetings;
  • Retrieves reviewed applications from the SRGs and summarizes the comments, recommendations and scores;
  • Maintains a database of all applications, scores and outcomes of the review;
  • Prepares and processes all administrative documents of SRC;
  • Prepares and processes all documents for the compensation of the SRG reviewers and SRC members and chair; and
  • Coordinates closely with RGAO and the Office of the Deputy Executive Director for the proper tracking and management of funds.

LEVELS OF EVALUATION

 First level of review (initial peer review)

  • An assessment of scientific and technical merit, and is conducted by a Scientific Review Group (SRG) composed primarily of scientific investigators who have expertise in relevant scientific disciplines and current research areas.
  • Each application must be reviewed by 3 members of the SRG, preferably one of them is an external member (non-UPM affiliated).
  • The SRC Chair identifies the SRG members who will review a particular application assigned to their SRG. The SRGs may come from different NIH institutes and study groups, and College research groups.

 Second level of review (Council review)

  • The second level of review is performed by the Scientific Review Council, an ad hoc committee of the University.
  • The SRC makes recommendations on priority areas of research, research policy, and funding of particular applications.

 Core Values of NIH-UPM Scientific Review System

  • Expert Assessment
  • Impartiality
  • Fairness
  • Confidentiality
  • Integrity
  • Efficiency

Review Process

Call for Proposals

Proponents submit full protocol through RGAO-GAPDU

RGAO-GAPDU checks for completeness including budgetary requirements

RGAO-GAPDU endorses the submissions to

Scientific Review Council (SRC) Secretariat

SRC identifies appropriate SRG to review the proposal

(3 reviewers per proposal – 2 expert reviewer and 1 epidemiology/biostatistician)

SRC Secretariat distributes the proposals to the appropriate

Scientific Review Group (SRG)

SRG reviews the technical merit and relevance of the study

SRC Secretariat summarizes the recommendations and scores

for final ranking of the SRC

SRC endorses the final ranking to DED for recommending approval of the

NIH Executive Committee (NEC)

NIH Executive Director endorses the approval of shortlisted protocols with ERB and IACUC (if applicable) clearance

Chancellor approves the recommended research proposals