Confidentiality of the application review process

We ask experts to provide written expert reviews to help us decide which activities to fund.

To get the best quality expert review, these reviews remain confidential. This allows reviewers to comment freely in the knowledge that we’ll only reveal their identity to people directly involved in the decision making process. We usually share unattributed comments with applicants. If the applicants are being interviewed, the unattributed reviews are shared to help them prepare for the interview. We may also share reviews with applicants who haven't been successful and were not interviewed, which helps them to understand:

• why their application wasn't supported
• how they can improve any future applications

The discussions, recommendations and paperwork related to all committee meetings are confidential. Wellcome staff contact applicants about the outcome of their application and if the application was unsuccessful, provide them with the reasons for the decision.

Applicants should not contact committee members about their application. We expect committee members to forward any requests for information directly to Wellcome staff.