Standards of Service
During your time as a Peer Review College Member, you will be required to abide by the AHRC Standards of Service. These Standards of Service describe what we expect of you as a college member and what you can expect of the AHRC.
The AHRC expects you to:
- Attend an AHRC induction event for college members.
- Keep your contact details in your Je-S account up to date at all times, including your primary email address, where we’ll send review requests, in accordance with the Je-S reviewer protocols that you as a reviewer must accept before completing your first review for the AHRC.
- Add and maintain details of your research expertise by selecting research classifications and entering free text keywords, to enable the AHRC to match you with grant applications submitted via Je-S.
- Provide the AHRC, when requested, with a review by the due date specified and in accordance with the reviewer guidance in the Je-S Helptext.
- Review up to 8 proposals during a 12 month period (normally no more than 4 in any quarter); in exceptional circumstances, you may be asked to review more proposals.
- Notify the AHRC when you are unable to meet a review request by declining via Je-S within 5 working days of the request, so that an alternative reviewer can be sought without delay.
- Be aware, that to ensure the efficient running of the College, if you decline 2 review requests in succession because you are too busy, we may terminate your College membership.
- Record any periods when you are unavailable to accept review requests in your Je-S account; this will ensure that you won’t be sent review requests while you are on leave, working as a panel member or busy with other commitments; if the period is for longer than 6 months, please also email the PRC team at peerreviewcollege@ahrc.ukri.org
- Keep up to date with developments that may affect your role as a College member, for example, by referring to the Peer Review Handbook and reading the PRC e-Newsletters; you are also encouraged to attend AHRC organised events and to visit the AHRC website regularly for updates that may impact your role.
- Agree to membership for a period of up to 4 years; continuation beyond this period or earlier withdrawals of membership are at the AHRC’s discretion; you may also resign your College Membership at any time.
The AHRC will:
- Ask you to review up to 8 proposals to its funding schemes or programmes during each 12-month period (normally no more than 4 in any quarter), although exceptionally you may be asked to review more.
- Reimburse your travel and subsistence expenses if you take part in a panel meeting, in accordance with the AHRC’s Non-Employee Travel and Subsistence Policy.
- Email you the PRC e-Newsletter four times a year, to update you on developments which may affect your role and responsibilities as a PRC member, including generic feedback from panel meetings.
- Invite you, if selected, to serve on its panels, which make grading and ranking decisions on grant proposals submitted to the AHRC.
- On occasion, forward your contact and subject expertise details to bodies with which the AHRC has:
- A formal funding agreement or collaborative arrangement, for example, the UK Research Councils.
- A formal agreement that has been drawn up as part of its international strategy, so that they may contact you to request a review.
- Publish your name, research or other organisation (where appropriate) and College group(s) on the AHRC website, including any panel meetings which you attend.
- Monitor the performance of all of its PRC members; the AHRC reserves the right to discontinue the membership of members who fail to observe these standards of service.