On May 9th, 2018, a workshop hosted by the NC3Rs about „Improving peer review of in vivo research proposals“ and included presentations by several of the most prominent figures in the field of preclinical data reproducibility and Good Research Practice. All talks can still be watched online!

The workshop was chaired by Mark Prescott who leads the Policy and Outreach Group at NC3R. One important aim was to raise awareness about the importance of good experimental design and reporting for in vivo research.
The speakers were: Dr. Fances Rawle, Prof Malcolm Macleod, Dr. Kate Button, Prof Hazel Inskip, Dr Nathalie Percie Du Sert and Prof Ulrich Dirnagl.
Frances Rawle gave an overview about the revised guidance for research proposals submitted to the MRC involving animal use. She pointed out the importance for proposals involving animal research to undergo a rigorous review process – especially regarding the numbers of animals used in the proposed experiments. This was picked up by Kate Button who explained the issue related to underpowered studies in much detail. Hazel Inskip continued to advocate the use of statistical matters by focusing on the effect size. Nathalie Percie Du Sert presented the ARRIVE guidelines and the Experimental Design Assistant (EDA), which was developed by the NC3Rs and provides very useful technical support for designing experimental studies.
Overall, these are all very informative presentations and worth watching!