1. Strength of the applicant -
Including training, research publication
record (relevance,
quality of journals) and recommendations.
2. Novelty of the research question -
Including societal and
scientific importance. This may
include plans to obtain data in
support of a future application
to a major granting institution.
Hypothesis testing
is preferred over empirical data collection.
Exploratory
research on particularly interesting ideas is
encouraged,
even if there is a risk of failure.
3. Quality of the research plan -
The plan should lead to a
clear answer to the question(s)
posed, within the time and
budget available. Projects that
are overly ambitious have to be avoided.
