NHMRC pauses grant over gender equity concerns

Investigator Grant funding delayed after study finds that women’s health research is skewed

Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council has announced a five-month delay to a grant programme, in order to investigate whether women’s health proposals are fairly evaluated.

In an announcement on 11 April, the council said it was “exploring options to address the gender disparity in funding outcomes in the Investigator Grant scheme.” In the announcement, the NHMRC said it had received feedback from its Women in Health Science Committee and its Research Committee, which had raised concerns that women were less likely to win funding.