The Center for Scientific Review (CSR) is the portal for

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the lat ...

(NIH) grant applications and their review for scientific merit. The CSR organizes the peer review groups or study sections that evaluate the majority (70%) of the

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

grant applications sent to NIH. It also receives all grant applications for NIH, as well as for some other components of the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

(DHHS). Since 1946, its mission has remained clear and timely: to see that NIH grant applications receive fair, independent, expert, and timely reviews—free from inappropriate influences—so NIH can fund the most promising research. CSR receives nearly 80,000 applications a year and recruits over 18,000 external

expert An expert is somebody who has a broad and deep understanding and competence in terms of knowledge, skill and experience through practice and education in a particular field. Informally, an expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable so ...

s to review its portion of them in its study sections, which often meet three times during the year. Additional

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosop ...

s serve on other NIH advisory councils, which provide a second level of

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer revie ...

and make funding recommendations based on priorities set by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

, DHHS, and the public. From 1946 to 1997, the CSR was known as the Division of Research Grants (DRG).

Current initiatives

*Shorten the review process so applicants can revise and resubmit their applications in the next review round if necessary and NIH can more timely fund the best research. Shortening the review process by 45 days could thus reduce the time to resubmit by four months. *Recruit and retain the best reviewers so NIH and applicants receive the best advice. *Foster a culture more favorable to innovative applications, so that NIH can fund research that promises larger advances in science and health. *Address the concern that clinical research is not properly evaluated, so this important research is well represented in the NIH program. *Increase the transparency, accountability, and uniformity of NIH peer review.

References

External links

CSR Website

NIH Website
{{authority control National Institutes of Health

Current initiatives

See also

References

External links