Early Reviewer Programs

Research Advancement offers two types of early review programs available to faculty. These programs are intended to improve applications and increase the likelihood of proposal success. If you are interested in participating in these review programs, contact Research Advancement for more information. 

External Review 

The External Reviewer Program allows faculty members to identify an experienced researcher in her field, previously funded by the program she is applying to, to provide a formal review, edits and feedback on a grant application. The Division of Research and Innovation (DRI) can help identify and evaluate potential reviewers, make the connection and describe the process. DRI will compensate the reviewer for their contribution. In order to take advantage of this program, faculty should have a complete draft of the narrative and a draft budget prepared 6 weeks ahead of the submission deadline

Rapid Critical Review 

The Rapid Critical Review program can provide a quick look by campus or regional colleagues immediately before proposal submission. In this program, a panel of peers, collaboratively recruited by the faculty member and DRI staff, will assess the strengths and weaknesses of the application.

Principal Investigators should submit a full proposal draft and budget to SDSU Research Advancement two weeks ahead of the agency submission date. Then a panel of researchers and faculty at SDSU will discuss the proposal, score it with comments, and provide a video or audio recording of the discussion that the principal investigator might use to improve the proposal.

This comprehensive review process is designed for projects that seek at least $250,000 in funding.