(1) In its decision to fund or to deny funding of an application, the board will take into consideration the number of, and the degree to which statutory criteria are met.   In addition, the board will take into consideration the stated statutory purpose, the goals and objectives of the proposal, the applicant's presentation and the staff report.   Based on these factors, the board may vote to:

(a) make the grant or loan to the research and commercialization project as requested;

(b) make the grant or loan to the research and commercialization project provided certain conditions are met;

(c) make the grant or loan to the research and commercialization project for a larger or smaller amount than requested;

(d) refer the application back to the applicant for revision; or

(e) reject the application.

(2) In the case where the board is satisfied with the quality of the application but the required external peer review has not been conducted, the board may fund its own external peer review of the application.   Upon completion of external peer review, the application will be returned to staff for completion of the evaluation and review process.