Research domains
This idea is relevant to research funders in particular, but it may be relevant to any type of assessment and application processes. These may include hiring and promotion processes, awards submission processes, funding or fellowship applications, etc.
Context and considerations
Application processes take time and resources, regardless of the outcome. In fact, several studies have shown that the costs of application to grant proposal is non negligible, and that their costs can even exceed the awarded funding that is redistributed in research (see Herbert et al., (2013); Gross and Bergstrom (2019); Schweiger (2025)).
While the calculation of funding value is complex and funding investments in research are believed to build value at much higher rates than initial investments (see Stafford (2026)), building application processes with a burden proportional to the success value would help shape more efficient assessment processes, enabling to free up time and resources for high quality assessment processes.
Challenges and mitigations
Evaluating success
Relevant resources and literature
This section includes resources, literature, and reports relevant to this specific experimental idea.
Templates from funders and institutions
Case examples and literature
Other resources
Fackrell K, Church H, Crane K, et al Online survey exploring researcher experiences of research funding processes in the UK: the effort and burden of applying for funding and fulfilling reporting requirements BMJ Open 2024;14:e079581. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-079581