Update on the volumes for HDEC
The Secretariat wish to provide several updates to researchers regarding expected turnaround times and volumes.
Firstly, we apologise for the delay in updates as website upgrades caused a short period of being unable to make changes to the website. Normal business has now been able to resume in regards to updates.
Backlog of Full Applications
The HDECs are receiving more applications a week than there is capacity for, receiving a new all-time high for January submissions than previous years, and with the backlog from those submitted before the mandatory shut down over the Summer, this created a significant backlog. In response, an ad-hoc meeting was held in February on the 20th, and another will be held on 20 March. Based on the current queues, provided we trend downwards on receiving more applications than we have space for every week (which we still are), we are hopeful we will be returning to usual assignment for April. If the trend continues, this is something that will be assessed and further meetings may be required.
A reminder for those who select a specific Committee instead of 'as soon as possible' for their review choice, if there are enough applications ahead of that submission in the queue for a particular Committee, it will wait until the following month's meeting for that Committee. This is not a good strategic option for picking a specific date, as this can and will result in an application waiting until the next available meeting of that Committee. If an applicant has selected this and is still waiting but did not intend for this to happen and would like to be reviewed as soon as possible, please get in touch with the Secretariat.
Increase in Email Queries
Along with more submissions that normal, we are also experiencing higher ERM correspondences and emails than normal. The Secretariat are responding as soon as they are able, and appreciate that some things may take longer than previously stated. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this and are working to maintain responsiveness during this time.