Commonwealth funding formulae have caused Australian universities to become obsessed with maximising external research funding. Considerable pressure is applied to faculties, departments and scholars to apply for funding, and relative success in attracting it is given excessive weight in evaluating research performance. This may be productive in…

A survey investigated the Australian federal research grant process from the perspectives of unsuccessful 1991 applicants (n=222) from four universities. Findings include a number of limitations in the peer review process and information dissemination by the funding agency and raise questions about external evaluator selection. (Author/MSE)