To better understand the state of science research funding and improve the quality of both proposals and final reports, we analyzed the processes of application, review, and funding in the fourth division (i.e., Marine and Polar Sciences Division) of the Department of Earth Science. Problems that occurred during the peer review process in 2023 are identified and discussed, and the performance of completed and ongoing research projects in 2022 is assessed. Compared to 2022, in 2023, 36 more institutions submitted proposals to the General Program, Youth Science Fund, and Less Developed Regions Fund of the Marine and Polar Sciences Division. The total number of applications decreased by 6, with 56 in the general program, 33 in the Youth Science Fund, and 17 in the Less Developed Regions Fund. In addition, the final reports of the completed projects in 2022 had issues, such as a low ratio of first acknowledgement of funding and poor report writing.