Posted September 3, 2025 by Tiffany Lee
As part of a wider restructuring of the Office of Research and Innovation’s internal funding opportunities, R&I is launching a standing webpage for University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty to volunteer to serve as peer reviewers for internal funding competitions.
Integrating peer review panels into R&I’s internal funding programs aims to benefit both faculty reviewers and applicants. The process provides reviewers with an opportunity to increase their understanding of scholarly expertise and activity across campus and help guide R&I investments in faculty work. At the same time, peer review panels provide applicants with meaningful, peer-informed feedback on their internal funding applications.
Several internal funding programs will utilize peer review panels to evaluate proposals, including the Research and Innovation Grants program, the Collaboration Grants program, and the Book Fellowship and Manuscript Workshop Program. R&I’s new Internal Funding Opportunities website provides complete details about these programs.
Faculty from all academic ranks, including those early in their careers, are encouraged to volunteer, and reviewers are needed from every discipline at the university. Reviewers will be needed soon for panels to be held in October and November, so interested faculty are encouraged to volunteer as soon as possible.
In general, reviewers will be expected to review assigned internal proposals, prepare written review comments for each assigned proposal using a provided review template, and attend a facilitated review panel to discuss the merits of the proposals with other peer reviewers. Faculty members will not be invited to serve on review panels of competitions to which they have submitted a proposal.
To learn more about the peer review process or to volunteer to serve as a reviewer, visit the new peer reviewer volunteer webpage. Contact Matthew Dwyer, senior research development program coordinator in R&I, at mdwyer4@unl.edu or 402-472-1661 with questions.
