Research careers – seeing, is believing - Cancer Research UK

To make sure all researchers feel confident in applying to CRUK, it was clear that some demystification of our funding panels needed to go on. Here we learn how the Observer scheme is doing just that…

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series Research Careers

Even with our preparation guidance, grant interviews can seem daunting and mysterious – like being thrown into the dragon’s den…

In a world of scarce resource, applying for grants to any funder is competitive and stressful – not everyone can be successful. But at CRUK, we want everyone to feel they can go through the application process with enough confidence to put their best research ideas forward.

Back in 2020, when we published our first diversity data grant report, we saw lower proportions of applications from women and researchers from ethnic minority backgrounds, compared to UK Bioscience research staff benchmark; particularly Black backgrounds.

This was real motivation for us to find a way to demystify interviews, so everyone could bring their best application. This led to an observer scheme to allow early career researchers a chance to view our panel discussions and interviews.

A handful of observers to our Early Detection and Diagnosis Committee had told us that being in the interview room itself was an invaluable experience.

Early signs were good. A handful of observers to our Early Detection and Diagnosis Committee had told us that being in the interview room itself was an invaluable experience. And while other funders we spoke to did offer some small-scale, early-career observer or peer reviewer opportunities, none of them prioritised places for underrepresented groups.

So, we were keen to launch an opportunity for all researchers to observe a grant review, with prioritised places for potential applicants from underrepresented groups. We built in a feedback loop for you to give us “warts and all”, anonymised feedback to help us improve the observer experience and the transparency and fairness of our funding processes.

In April 2022, we launched our scheme, not knowing how many of you would apply.

Did it work?

Two months after the launch, 150 of you had already signed up; today, over 500 of you have registered!

We had planned to start with a limited number of observers on a couple of panels so we could test and learn. But with so many of you interested, we decided to increase capacity earlier. As our panels were now online, it was feasible to have more ‘virtual’ observers.

To date, more than 220 of you have had a peek behind the scenes of our funding process. We are attracting a more diverse range of researchers than would usually apply to us for funding – 65% of you were women (compared to 35% of grant applications being from women ) and 44% from an ethnic minority background (compared to 18% of grant applications).

To date, more than 220 of you have had a peek behind the scenes of our funding process. We are attracting a more diverse range of researchers than would usually apply to us for funding.

And, very pleasingly, it seems to be working. In our feedback survey, 98% of you said it helped you gain a better understanding of a successful application and 97% said it helped understand how our funding decisions are made. 70% felt it had built your confidence in applying, noting it “removed the imagined distance between ‘people who apply’ and ‘you’”.

Those of you who felt less confident said it had helped you realise that your ideas, preliminary data or skills needed further development before submitting an application.

Two years since the launch of the observer scheme, and many of you have used observer insights to go onto successfully apply for your own grants.

What did we change?

Your honest and useful feedback – from viewpoints we don’t always hear from directly – helped us to make some important changes to our funding processes.

For example, we’ve rolled out better accessibility guidance and we make sure that panels fully consider if applications are from early-career researchers. We also expanded the observer scheme’s priority places to non-binary applicants and researchers who are neurodivergent, disabled or with a long-term physical or mental health condition. It has been great to see that other funders are now considering offering a similar opportunity to their research community.

What’s next?

We’ll publish our refreshed EDI plan with exciting, new projects including to:

partner with EDI Caucus to undertake a research study on our Observer scheme to gather and share further evidence on how EDI could be embedded in the research process.
roll out inclusive decision-making training to our panels and staff.
review, expand and refresh our Competency Framework for Fellowships to ensure greater emphasis on quality of leadership, academic citizenship and fostering a positive research culture, and better recognition of other outputs.
review how we further embed Patient and Public Involvement in panels.

We’re working hard to ensure those of you still on our waiting list can make use of this opportunity – our funding rounds are typically twice a year. Please bear with us as we continue to prioritise places

See how the Observers Scheme made a difference for two early career researchers.

Explore the Observers Scheme

Authors:
Sue Russell, Marjolein Schaap and Eve Riley, from CRUK’s research operations and research careers team – with thanks to all CRUK colleagues who help make this scheme a reality.