AI-Generated Proposals Surge, Driving Research Grant Acceptance Rates to Record Lows
Researchers face record-low chances of getting a grant partly due to rise of AI
AI-assisted proposal writing has triggered a surge in research grant applications across Europe, driving acceptance rates to historic lows amid fixed quotas. The European Research Council's (ERC) 2027 Starting Grant acceptance rate dropped below 5%, while applications for the EU's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions reached 21,627, up nearly 27% year-on-year. Reviewers noted that AI-powered polishing masks underlying flaws in proposals, allowing some applicants who cannot thoroughly defend their research designs to take up interview slots.
AI-assisted generation has made the quality of grant proposals superficially uniform, flooding funding agencies with submissions and driving actual success rates to record lows.
Source:Hacker News · AI · nltimes.nl