Evaluation of the panel reorganisation in the Scientific Council for Medicine

The Swedish Research Council’s Subject Council for Medicine reviews, assesses and prioritises applications based on scientific competence via peer review by active researchers. A new evaluation organisation for assessing applications was introduced in 2006. The evaluation panels were grouped in the new organisation primarily on the basis of disease fields, covering everything from molecular studies to cohort studies.

This evaluation, which was conducted by external experts, aims to describe what effect the new evaluation organisation has had for the applicants, the evaluators, the scientific council and the administrative staff of the Swedish Research Council. The results show that the new organisation has clear advantages, but the evaluation panel recommends a number of changes as well.