Objectives: To trial a simplified, time and cost-saving method for remote evaluation of fellowship applications and compare this with existing panel review processes by analysing concordance between funding decisions, and the use of a lottery-based decision method for proposals of similar quality.
Design: The study involved 134 junior fellowship proposals for postdoctoral research ('Postdoc.Mobility'). The official method used two panel reviewers who independently scored the application, followed by triage and discussion of selected applications in a panel. Very competitive/uncompetitive proposals were directly funded/rejected without discussion. The simplified procedure used the scores of the two panel members, with or without the score of an additional, third expert. Both methods could further use a lottery to decide on applications of similar quality close to the funding threshold. The same funding rate was applied, and the agreement between the two methods analysed.
Setting: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
Participants: Postdoc.Mobility panel reviewers and additional expert reviewers.
Primary Outcome Measure: Per cent agreement between the simplified and official evaluation method with 95% CIs.
Results: The simplified procedure based on three reviews agreed in 80.6% (95% CI: 73.9% to 87.3%) of applicants with the official funding outcome. The agreement was 86.6% (95% CI: 80.6% to 91.8%) when using the two reviews of the panel members. The agreement between the two methods was lower for the group of applications discussed in the panel (64.2% and 73.1%, respectively), and higher for directly funded/rejected applications (range: 96.7%-100%). The lottery was used in 8 (6.0%) of 134 applications (official method), 19 (14.2%) applications (simplified, three reviewers) and 23 (17.2%) applications (simplified, two reviewers). With the simplified procedure, evaluation costs could have been halved and 31 hours of meeting time saved for the two 2019 calls.
Conclusion: Agreement between the two methods was high. The simplified procedure could represent a viable evaluation method for the Postdoc.Mobility early career instrument at the SNSF.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-047386 | DOI Listing |
Nat Commun
December 2024
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have recently garnered considerable concerns regarding their impacts on human and ecological health. Despite the important roles of polyamide membranes in remediating PFASs-contaminated water, the governing factors influencing PFAS transport across these membranes remain elusive. In this study, we investigate PFAS rejection by polyamide membranes using two machine learning (ML) models, namely XGBoost and multimodal transformer models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCureus
November 2024
Urogynecology, Yokosuka Urogynecology and Urology Clinic, Yokosuka, JPN.
Background Ninjin'yoeito (NYT), a traditional Japanese Kampo medicine, has shown potential in treating frailty and overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms. However, its effects are multifaceted and vary among individuals. This pilot study explored the use of topological data analysis (TDA) and natural language processing (NLP) to evaluate the effect of NYT on frailty in patients with OAB.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pain Res
December 2024
Department of Pain Medicine, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200072, People's Republic of China.
Background: The best tool for the management of pain associated with distal symmetric peripheral neuropathy (DSPN) is a matter of debate. Therefore, the study aimed to explore whether ultrasound-guided pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) therapy of the stellate ganglion (SG) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with painful DSPN could decrease pain severity and the need for analgesics.
Methods: Fifty-six T2DM patients with refractory painful DSPN were enrolled in this study, who then received bilateral ultrasound-guided PRF therapy of SG.
Stem Cell Res Ther
December 2024
Centre for Stem Cell Research (CSCR), A Unit of InStem Bengaluru, Christian Medical College Campus, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632002, India.
Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) and β-thalassemia patients with elevated gamma globin (HBG1/G2) levels exhibit mild or no symptoms. To recapitulate this natural phenomenon, the most coveted gene therapy approach is to edit the regulatory sequences of HBG1/G2 to reactivate them. By editing more than one regulatory sequence in the HBG promoter, the production of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) can be significantly increased.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJAMIA Open
February 2025
Medical Oncology, IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, 37024 Negrar di Valpolicella, Verona, Italy.
Objectives: In recent years, the rise of big data and artificial intelligence has led to an increasing expansion of databases and web services in biomedical research. cBioPortal is one of the most widely used platforms for accessing cancer genomic and clinical data. The primary objective of this study was to develop a tool that simplifies programmatic interaction with cBioPortal's web service.
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