Supranational and cross-national research funding structures bring to the fore the differential importance of national location and gender in such decision-making fora. It shows how gender bias persists in an institutional context supportive of gender equality. The data is drawn from a case study of research funding ((sic)3 million), in a Swedish led, Nordic research consortium. Using documentary research, questionnaires and interviews, it shows that although 45 per cent of all research applications and roughly 40 per cent of those assessed as excellent were led by women, only 22 per cent were funded. Two critical intervention points are identified.