Abstract
The peer review method is widely utilized to select publicly funded research themes affecting society and the industrial world. This type of evaluation method has been employed in many overseas countries, and its use is also spreading in Japan as well. The peer review method is a very useful technique for theme selection, but it can be further developed as there is still room for improvement. In this paper, the present status and problems of the peer review method as well as its future direction are examined from a program management viewpoint based on the actual experience of utilizing peer reviews for theme selection in proposal-based R&D projects.
