NEH-BSF Research Grants: Evaluation & Selection Criteria

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    Evaluation & Selection Criteria

    1. NEH Conducts the Evaluation
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    2. NEH Notifies the US Scholar and the BSF
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    3. BSF notifies the Israeli Scholar
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    The processing of the application is carried out at the NEH, occasionally with some Israeli input, such as panel members or ad-hoc reviewers. The BSF may convene a small panel to examine the role of the Israelis in the applications, and ascertain that is it meaningful. This panel may also advise the BSF regarding the budget requests, but it will not evaluate the scientific merit of the applications.

    NEH will process the joint U.S.-Israeli proposals together with its regular proposals that are submitted in the same program.

    NEH uses a conventional peer review system with a panel of 4 or 5 experts reading all full proposals. However, unlike the practice in Israel, panel members serve in an advisory capacity and provide their recommendations to NEH staff.

    These post-panel review steps may introduce additional considerations such as whether the project is skewing too much into advocacy or activism (both ineligible for NEH funding), whether the applicant is remiss on previously-held NEH awards, etc. In almost all cases, however, the NEH Chair ultimately follows the recommendations of the peer reviewers in making final decisions.

    If an application is selected by the NEH for funding, the NEH will fund the U.S. applicant(s), while the BSF will fund the Israeli applicants(s).

    Be aware that the NEH process can take more than 6 months per program.

    Notification

    After the NEH notifies the BSF about the outcome of a specific application, an email will be sent to all relevant applicants and research authorities, notifying that the results are available online.

    The BSF does not forward to the Israeli applicants the reviews collected by the NEH and the summary of the panel’s evaluation. However, those are made available to the U.S. applicants, and they can forward them to their Israeli partners.

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