The research community supports the introduction of lottery funding to Horizon Europe, provided that the European Commission ensures the “best” proposals still have the highest chance of receiving funds.
Kamila Kozirog, deputy director for research and innovation at the European University Association, highlighted the potential benefits of this approach. “The idea of introducing an element of randomisation in the allocation of research funding is worth exploring, as it has shown positive results in reducing bias and easing selection bottlenecks in some national systems,” she said.
However, Kozirog emphasized that this method should be carefully applied. “This should take the form of tie-breaker lotteries, used only when equally excellent proposals receive the same evaluation at the funding threshold,” she added.
Lotteries as a means for breaking ties are the first approach the Commission plans to test. Additionally, it “is also considering other use cases that have been trialled by other funders,” indicating that further experimentation with randomisation methods may be on the horizon.
https://sciencebusiness.net/news/r-d-funding/horizon-europe/research-community-welcomes-plan-lottery-awards-horizon-europe-if-done