External review

It is always the research council or ad hoc committee that makes the final decision about funding based on its assessment of the applications and a prioritisation of the overall field of applicants. However, Independent Research Fund Denmark also makes use of external review as an extension of the basis for the research councils’ decision-making.

When is external review used?

When Independent Research Fund Denmark includes external evaluation, the applications are submitted for individual external peer review. Independent Research Fund Denmark always carries out an external review for all applications where:

• A member of the council or committee, is an applicant or scientific participant in an application, submitted to the member’s own council, the budget of which exceeds DKK 1 million (excluding overhead), or
• The council or commitee, on account of conflicts of interest or other reasons, does not possess the necessary scientific expertise to assess a given application.

Certain reservations are made in cases where it proves impossible to find qualified external reviewers within the assessment deadlines.

Identification of external reviewers

Independent Research Fund Denmark strives to find external reviewers who are accomplished researchers with a wide range of scientific competencies and who have previous experience as external reviewers. The research councils select potential external reviewers on the basis of an overall assessment of qualified reviewers and their availability within the applicable time limits. Certain reservations are made in cases where it proves impossible to find qualified external reviewers within the given time frames.

When Independent Research Fund Denmark approaches a researcher to enquire if the person will serve as an external reviewer, the fund’s rules concerning conflicts of interest are clarified to the person in question. At the same time, it is emphasised that the application material is confidential and that the applicant will be presented with the review and the reviewer’s identity as well as the offer to comment on any factual errors or misconceptions in the review (consultation procedure). This is done to ensure that the external review process complies with the administrative rules (“forvaltningsregler”) that apply to Independent Research Fund Denmark.

Individual external peer review is typically carried out by two researchers, who each complete an assessment independently of one another. 

Consultation procedure 

If your application has been submitted for external review, you will always receive a copy of the review for potential comment (consultation procedure). Independent Research Fund Denmark will make a decision about your application without waiting
for your comments, if the deadline for submitting your reply has passed. External reviews serve solely as an extension of the thematic committee’s or research council’s basis for decision and are simply indicative. The research council or the thematic committee makes its final decision based on the assessment criteria listed in
the call for proposals as well as a prioritisation of the pool of applications as a whole.