Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluation of research proposals for grant funding using interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets

  • Methodologies and Application
  • Published:
Soft Computing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that the most appealing external funding for a project is grant funding. Therefore, evaluation of research proposal task needs an elaborate approach so as not to finance inconvenient projects. It is indispensable to establish a detailed study for submitted research proposals to have a clearer picture of the grant funding candidates. This study has contributed to research proposal evaluation using a multicriteria approach based on interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets. An interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy preference relation matrix is initially constructed to determine the relative importance of criteria based on pairwise comparisons in the presence of insufficient information about the criteria. The proposed evaluation method for grand funding allocation problem is composed of six main criteria and 24 sub-criteria. A sensitivity analysis is applied to see the robustness of the decision made.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Atanassov K, Gargov G (1989) Interval valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets. Fuzzy Sets Syst 31(3):343–349

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Atanassova L (2008) On interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy versions of L. Zadeh’s extension principle. In: Atanassov K, Kacprzyk J, Krawczak M, Szmidt (eds) Issues in intuitionistic fuzzy sets and generalized nets, Warsaw, vol 7, pp 13–19

  • Bloch C, Sørensen MP, Graversen EK, Schneider JW, Schmidt EK, Aagaard K, Mejlgaard N (2014) Developing a methodology to assess the impact of research grant funding: a mixed methods approach. Eval Progr Plan 43:105–117

  • Chapin PG (2004) Research projects and research proposals. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen TY, Wang HP, Lu YY (2011) A multicriteria group decision-making approach based on interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets: a comparative perspective. Expert Syst Appl 38(6):7647–7658

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denscombe M (2013) The role of research proposals in business and management education. Int J Manag Educ 11(3):142–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fogelholm M, Leppinen S, Auvinen A, Raitanen J, Nuutinen A, Väänänen K (2012) Panel discussion does not improve reliability of peer review for medical research grant proposals. J Clin Epidemiol 65(1):47–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galbraith CS, McKinney BC, DeNoble AF, Ehrlich SB (2014) The impact of presentation form, entrepreneurial passion, and perceived preparedness on obtaining grant funding. J Bus Tech Commun 28(2):222–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geuna A, Martin BR (2003) University research evaluation and funding: an international comparison. Minerva 41(4):277–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hills PV, Dale AJ (1995) Research and technology evaluation in the United Kingdom. Res Eval 5(1):35–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hong LC, Fong S (2012) Presenting a research proposal: the examiners’ expectations. Proc Soc Behav Sci 66:537–543

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacob BA, Lefgren L (2011) The impact of research grant funding on scientific productivity. J Public Econ 95(9):1168–1177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahraman C, Ruan D, Dogan I (2003) Fuzzy group decision-making for facility location selection. Inf Sci 157:135–153

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Kasvi JJ, Vartiainen M, Hailikari M (2003) Managing knowledge and knowledge competences in projects and project organisations. Int J Proj Manag 21(8):571–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim S, Koo J, Lee YH (1999) Infrastructure and production efficiency: an analysis on the Korean manufacturing industry. Contemp Econ Policy 17(3):390–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kondolf GM (1995) Five elements for effective evaluation of stream restoration. Restor Ecol 3(2):133–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li DF (2011) Extension principles for interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets and algebraic operations. Fuzzy Optim Decis Mak 10(1):45–58

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Lichtenberg FR (1987) The effect of government funding on private industrial research and development: a re-assessment. J Ind Econ 36:97–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iutcovich JM, Iutcovich M (1987) The politics of evaluation research. A case study of community development block grant funding for human services. Eval Progr Plan 10(1):71–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ogden TE, Goldberg IA (eds) (2002) Research proposals: a guide to success. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Oral M, Kettani O, Ç\(\imath \)nar Ü (2001) Project evaluation and selection in a network of collaboration: a consensual disaggregation multi-criterion approach. Eur J Oper Res 130(2):332–346

  • Punch KF (2006) Developing effective research proposals. SAGE, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Santos-Vijande ML, Álvarez-González LI (2007) Innovativeness and organizational innovation in total quality oriented firms: the moderating role of market turbulence. Technovation 27(9):514–532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silyn-Roberts H (2013) A research proposal. In: Silyn-Roberts H (ed) Writing for science and engineering, 2nd edn. Elsevier, Oxford, pp 75–82. doi:10.1016/B978-0-08-098285-4.00005-4

  • Sugeno M, Kang GT (1986) Fuzzy modelling and control of multilayer incinerator. Fuzzy Sets Syst 18(3):329–345

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Tang SL (2003) Economic feasibility of projects: managerial and engineering practice. Chinese University Press, Hong Kong

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas D, Nedeva M (2012) Characterizing researchers to study research funding agency impacts: the case of the European Research Council’s Starting Grants. Res Eval 21(4):257–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward D (2010) Effective grants management. Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury

    Google Scholar 

  • Willcocks L, Lester S (1991) Information systems investments: evaluation at the feasibility stage of projects. Technovation 11(5):283–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu Z (2010) A method based on distance measure for interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy group decision making. Inf Sci 180(1):181–190

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Xu ZS, Chen J (2007) Approach to group decision making based on interval valued intuitionistic judgment matrices. Syst Eng Theory Pract 27(4):126–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmermann HJ (1992) Fuzzy set theory and its applications. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht (second revised edition)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu JJ, Wang HH, Ye C, Lang Q (2014) Project evaluation method using non-formatted text information based on multi-granular linguistic labels. Inf Fusion 24:93–107

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Macka, 34367, Istanbul, Turkey

    Basar Oztaysi, Sezi Cevik Onar & Cengiz Kahraman

  2. Department of Operations and Intelligence, Turkish Army War College, Levent, 34330, Istanbul, Turkey

    Kerim Goztepe

Authors
  1. Basar Oztaysi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sezi Cevik Onar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kerim Goztepe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Cengiz Kahraman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cengiz Kahraman.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Communicated by V. Loia.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Oztaysi, B., Onar, S.C., Goztepe, K. et al. Evaluation of research proposals for grant funding using interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets. Soft Comput 21, 1203–1218 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-015-1853-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-015-1853-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation