ASA Committee for Funded Research Issues Call for Volunteers

The ASA Committee for Funded Research (CFR) is urging the statistical community to volunteer to serve on NIH study sections. As CFR Chair Ming-Wen An said in a February Amstat News article, “We consistently hear from NIH officials about their desire to have more statisticians on study sections and the challenges in identifying qualified statisticians, most recently by CSR Director Richard Nakamura during his presentation at JSM. We’re honored to be asked to help NIH study section officers better connect with the statistical community and are convinced better science will result.”

Those interested in volunteering should have their name added to this sign-up form, preferably by a respected colleague, but self-nominations are accepted.

To help first-time panelists, the committee created a guidance document, “Serving Effectively on Funding Review Panels: Advice for Statisticians New to the Process.” Committee Vice Chair Sujit Ghosh noted, “Just as it is important to have more statisticians with subject-area expertise on study sections, it’s critical the statisticians are seen as vital and constructive study section members. We hope new panelists and potential panelists will benefit from this document and the experience of their colleagues.”

The committee asks readers to share both the call and the document with colleagues and urges the statistical community to volunteer to also serve on NSF proposal funding panels using the guidance provided on their website.

Earlier in 2017, the CFR released “Statistical Issues Seen in Non-Statistics Proposals” to help nonstatisticians improve their funding proposals.

For more information, see “Committee for Funded Research Calls for Grant Review Panel Volunteers.”