Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
An NIH R01 grant funded after standard study-section review is a competitive grant.
- Is an instance
An ERC Starting Grant funded after a multi-stage peer review is a competitive grant.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A directed contract or sole-source award is not competitive.
- Not an instance
An internal seed allocation by departmental decision is typically non-competitive.
Editorial commentary
Competitive grants are the dominant model in research funding. Applicants respond to a call for proposals, proposals are peer-reviewed (often externally), and decisions are made by a panel based on scientific merit and fit. Success rates vary widely (often 10 to 25 percent in leading schemes). The competitive model is widely seen as protective of scientific quality, though it carries critiques around effort burden, conservativeness, and inequity. Major examples include UKRI responsive-mode grants, NIH R-series, NSF programme grants, and ERC grants.
References
- UKRI peer review principles; US NIH Center for Scientific Review process.
Also known as
Peer-reviewed grant · Open-competition grant
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
<role vocab="credit"
vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
vocab-term="Competitive grant"
vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/competitive-grant" />{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "DefinedTerm",
"name": "Competitive grant",
"identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/competitive-grant",
"description": "A funding award made following a peer-reviewed, merit-based competition against other proposals, in which only a subset of applicants are funded.",
"inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/funding-lifecycle-and-financial-vocabulary/",
"url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/competitive-grant",
"sameAs": [
"Peer-reviewed grant",
"Open-competition grant"
],
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}
