As noted in previous posts, the FT program requires a minimum of 7 proposals in any month for the program to run during that month. We have now had 2 proposal deadlines at which that threshold wasn’t met, leading to the cycle being cancelled and probably to some disappointment on the part of the PIs. To avoid this happening again, we are in the process of convening a standing panel of “external” reviewers. In future months when we receive <7 proposals, the submitters will still review each other’s proposals but we will also request extra reviews from this standing panel.
Please note that this only applies to months in which proposals are sparse. When we receive 7 or more proposals, the peer review process will continue as usual.