Fairness in funding: Insights from an international study

23 October 2025

A graphic that conists of logos of the following organizations: Research on Research Institute (RoRI), Health Research BC, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Luxembourg National Research Fund, FWF Austrian Science Fund, CIHR, and Wellcome.

What happens when a researcher’s first funding application is successful — or not? Could that first outcome shape the rest of their career?

These questions are at the heart of a new international study led by the Research on Research Institute (RoRI), which aims to transform the way that research is funded, communicated, and evaluated. As one of RoRI’s core partners, Michael Smith Health Research BC joined five other organizations across four countries to explore this issue.

The study focused on cumulative advantage, often called the Matthew effect (coined by sociologist Robert Merton in reference to a Bible verse). It’s the idea that researchers who get an early career boost — such as securing funding — often continue to advance, while those who miss out can find it harder to catch up.

Health Research BC shared de-identified data from our funding programs, adding to data of more than 100,000 applications from 14 programs worldwide. We also took part in ongoing discussions with international peers to explore what the findings could mean in practice.

What the study found

The results confirmed that the Matthew effect is real: researchers funded early in their careers were more likely to receive funding later on.

The study revealed that this pattern wasn’t because review committees gave higher scores to previously funded researchers. It was because those researchers kept applying for funding more often. In contrast, those who weren’t funded early were less likely to reapply — meaning some promising talent may have stepped away from research or lost momentum.

The findings also challenge another common belief: that early setbacks build resilience and push researchers to succeed later on. The study showed that this wasn’t true in most cases.

A stronger system for all researchers

The study highlights opportunities for funders and institutions to support talented researchers who narrowly miss out early in their careers — for example, by offering feedback, training, or mentorship.

Through this project, Health Research BC is learning alongside international peers about how to strengthen research funding.

“We’re building a strong, equitable research system in BC that helps people thrive at every stage of their career,” says Stirling Bryan, Chief Scientific Officer at Health Research BC. “It’s important to understand career paths and build programs that support the evolving needs of health researchers.”