In research funding, the challenge is to determine which proposers are more likely to succeed. Assessments based on the research proposal merit, or bibliometrics, have been adopted by managers of science and technology. Criticisms to such methods question that the different purposes of assessments are not considered, for instance, the purposes of funding (research, scholarship and collaboration). Thus, this work presents a method to assess researcher quality oriented to specific purposes. The proposed approach is illustrated with data from the Curriculum Lattes in a scenario of research funding to research groups. The results demonstrate the value of the method, both in the understanding of the context of the group, and in the selection of collaborative candidates likely to succeed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]