Criteria used in assessing the research to be funded Research funds allocated by the Research Institute are mostly grants-in-aid and post-doctoral fellowships. Proposals should indicate that appropriate research infrastructure is available to support the proposed research. Proposals will be assessed according to the following criteria: 1) The research proposal must describe research of a very high standard 2) The Principal Investigator must have a history of successful, high quality research 3) The research must be broadly relevant to the causes, treatments and cures of MND. Since funds are limited, there is also an element of competition in the allocation of funds.   The Institute looks favourably on applications from innovative researchers and, in the case of grants-in-aid, expects that funds may be used to supplement under-funded NH&MRC project funding or to support pilot studies as preparation for more comprehensive proposals that will be submitted to other bodies such as the NH&MRC.