The Grant Advisory Committee has been established to provide information and feedback to School of Medicine colleagues who are preparing grant proposals.
We are now accepting applications from Post Doctoral Researchers in the school of medicine who are preparing fellowship and grant applications.
The Committee will assess grant applications at an early-stage, and provide independent, constructive advice on the development of your proposal. This review process is designed to complement existing UCD Research supports ( https://www.ucd.ie/research/ ) and as always, all applicants are encouraged to engage fully with UCD Research.
Public Engagement and Engaged Research
Funding agencies including the Irish Research Council, Science Foundation Ireland, the Health Research Board, and Horizon Europe all place significant weight on the need for greater engagement with public research stakeholders.
UCD Research offers a range of supports that allow you to plan for the involvement of stakeholders throughout all stages of research, including the grant application stage. For more information on these supports, please go to: https://www.ucd.ie/research/portal/outcomesandimpacts/publicengagementandengagedresearch/
How will the Grant Advisory Committee Process Work?
| STEP 1 | Applicants submit draft grant proposals that are at any stage of development using the following Google form (opens in a new window)here. |
| STEP 2 | Committee members will review the applications and nominate up to three expert reviewers from the University for each application. |
| STEP 3 | Nominated reviewers will be invited by the committee to participate and applications will be shared upon their agreement to review. |
| STEP 4 | Reviewers and applicants will be advised to discuss reviewer comments in a format that works best for them. |
| STEP 5 | The Committee will follow-up with the applicant and reviewers to seek feedback on the process. |
Grant Development Committee proposal submission deadlines:
To allow sufficient time for review and incorporation of reviewer feedback
submissions to the committee should be a minimum of 1 month prior to the
final grant deadline.
Our next submission deadline is Monday December 1st 2025, 11pm.
Upcoming deadlines are as follows:
- Monday January 5th 2026
- Monday February 2nd 2026
If you would like further information or would like to volunteer to be a committee member, please contact us at: (opens in a new window)grantdevelopment@ucd.ie.
Additional notes with regard to process
Who is eligible to submit a draft proposal to the committee?
All School of Medicine staff including academic faculty, adjunct faculty, research fellows and postdoctoral research fellows are eligible to submit a grant proposal.
Does my proposal need to be finalised?
We encourage potential applicants to engage with this committee as early as possible and submit an initial draft or an early-stage outline of their proposal to allow you to develop your research plan and consider feedback.
What details do I provide when submitting my early-stage grant document?
To ensure detailed, high-quality feedback, applicants are encouraged to provide as much detail as possible to the Grant Advisory Committee. These include
- Applicant name
- Call details/deadline
- Funding requested
- Draft research plan (including specific aims of research, impact statements, Collaborator details and preferred reviewers. A fully completed draft can also be considered and accepted)
- Note: If you are a Post doctoral fellow/Research Fellow - please confirm with your supervisor/ PI that you are submitting your application to the Grant Advisory Committee.
Will an applicant know who reviewed their proposal or can you request specific reviewers?
If you have preferred reviewers, please provide this information and we will endeavour to facilitate this. You will be informed on who your reviewers are.
Can the applicant engage with the reviewers on specific feedback?
Yes. This is an open and transparent review process designed to support and encourage colleagues at the early stages of Grant writing.
We are pleased that colleagues who have availed of this review process have been successful in their grant applications.
TESTIMONIAL:
| Dr Carol Aherne |
|---|
| SFI Frontiers for the Future project recipient |
| “The input I got from experienced colleagues highlighted key areas that I worked on to improve the understanding and impact of my proposal. I am very grateful for the comments I received which directly contributed to the success of my proposal”. |