Carol Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carol Monaghan on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what mechanism exists to ensure that research proposals which have been judged to cross the boundary between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the UK Space Agency proceed to peer review.

Joseph Johnson

Staff in the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the other research councils and the UK Space Agency (UKSA) discuss research proposals on a case-by-case basis where there is cross-disciplinarity between organisational boundaries. The EPSRC operates a remit query service to assist applicants in establishing the best council for their submission. Where a proposal is received by EPSRC without using this remit service, EPSRC identify and discuss the proposal with the most relevant organisation to ensure that, where applicable, co-funding can be secured and that appropriate reviewers can be requested to cover the breadth of research disciplines covered in the proposal. Following supportive peer review the proposal would then, in the case of EPSRC, be tabled at an appropriate funding panel for authorisation or rejection in open competition with other proposals.