Dear colleagues: Wanted to remind you all in New York and San Francisco that NIH is coming to a hotel near you to hear your comments about peer review. The NIH leadership is canvassing the scientific community for input about what changes are needed in the peer review system. There was a Request for Information to which some of you responded. There have been meetings in Washington that APA staff and other psychologists have attended, and, in addition, the meetings outside Washington in the notice below have been scheduled. We at APA encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities to sound off about peer review and contribute your ideas to improve the system.
Patricia Clem Kobor
Senior Science Policy Analyst
Science Government Relations Office
American Psychological Association
From: Messages from NIH Director to the Extramural Community
[mailto:EXZERHOUNIDIRECT@LIST.NIH.GOV] On Behalf Of ExZerhouniDirect (NIH/OD)
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2007 12:21 PM
To: EXZERHOUNIDIRECT@LIST.NIH.GOV
Subject: Invitation to NIH Regional Consultation Meetings on Peer Review
Dear Colleague:
As you probably know, NIH is undertaking a comprehensive look at our entire system of research support, including the peer review system, in order to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness. We are inviting you to participate in this discussion.
NIH has formed the Peer Review Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD), one of whose functions is to seek advice from the scientific community on all aspects of the peer review process. As one approach, the Working Group is hosting three 4-hour consultation meetings:
Chicago, September 12, 2007, at the Fairmont Princess;
New York City, October 8, 2007, at the Embassy Suites;
San Francisco, October 25, 2007, at the Renaissance Parc 55
We hope that you will join us at one of these meetings; a common agenda for all three is attached. To attend, please register at http://enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov/
In one segment of the meeting, participants will make brief presentations (less than 5 min each) offering specific strategies or tactics for enhancing NIH peer review and research support. In particular, we are seeking bold, unconventional approaches to perceived issues. Our goal is ambitious but important: craft a system with a minimum of bureaucratic burden that identifies and funds the best scientists to do the best science.
If you wish to make a presentation, please notify Drs. Vesna Kutlesic (kutlesicv@od.nih.gov) and/or Lawrence Tabak (tabakl@mail.nih.gov) by COB Friday, August 31, with a brief (<250 words) summary of your idea. Depending on the response, it may be necessary for us to select a subset of speakers, attempting to avoid redundancy and remain within time constraints. We shall notify those who will be speaking, and will post all germane written statements on the website. Moreover, as shown on the agenda, most of the meeting will be devoted to open discussion, so there will be substantial opportunity for direct input at the meeting.
These consultation meetings will be excellent opportunities for you to advise NIH on ways to meet the challenges of identifying and supporting outstanding, innovative science in the 21st century in the face of a sharply increased load on the peer review system. Should you be unable to attend, however, we hope you will contribute written comments on the peer review process through the Request for Information (RFI) link on the website above, or directly at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-074.html
We look forward to your suggestions, and hope to see you at one of the consultation meetings. Should you have questions, please contact Dr. Vesna Kutlesic at the NIH at 301-435-3670 (kutlesicv@od.nih.gov).
Best regards,
Lawrence Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D.
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, NIH
Co-Chair, Peer Review Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director
Keith R. Yamamoto, Ph.D.
University of California-San Francisco
Co-Chair, Peer Review Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director
