Funding, News and Announcements

Hi all,

Following are very brief highlights from the August CIHR University Delegates teleconference:

Project Grant Update

Peer review recruitment for the upcoming Fall competition is proceeding nicely, according to CIHR. Chairs for all 54 committees have been confirmed, with 80 scientific officers having accepted thus far (the goal is 2 SOs per committee). As mentioned in my last communique, webinars are available for applicants (until September 8^th); webinars for Chairs and SOs are to take place mid-August, with peer reviewer webinars to follow in October. Note that an updated peer review manual should be available any day now. Registration closes August 15^th. UDs were reminded to encourage their colleagues to submit a complete and accurate summary at registration to ensure that the application can get appropriately assigned. Apparently it will be possible to add co-PIs and collaborators at the full application submission (deadline: September 15^th), but I would not recommend this strategy so as to not disrupt reviewer assignments that will begin shortly after the registration deadline.

A few UDs sought further clarification regarding the use of figures and tables in either the 10-page application or in attachments that are now being allowed. CIHR indicated that reviewers will be under no obligation to review attachments, and that any key figures and tables should be included in the 10 pages (i.e., the 10 pager should be considered a “stand-alone’). You should also be considering your reviewers when formatting these figures and tables; microscopic font that can only be viewed under magnification on a computer screen is probably not a good strategy for winning the reviewer over!

Foundation Grant Update

At the time of this teleconference, results from the Fall 2016 competition were to be released within the hour. These results, along with some demographic data, are now available here. Our congratulations go out to Dr. Robyn Urquhart on her successful application (unfortunately the only one in Atlantic Canada)!

The intake for this next competition has already begun (registration deadline August 8, 2017 and stage 1 application deadline September 12, 2017). Note that for this next competition, it is expected that only about 40 Foundation grants will be funded, with ~$125M available. (Note that the additional $75M being removed from this program will be shifting to the Project Grants scheme, meaning that ~78% of the overall [Foundation + Project] budget will now sit in Projects.) More details about further changes and considerations for this Foundation program can be found here. It is expected that, at least for this 2017-2018 competition, Stage 1 review will remain essentially unchanged (please see the most recent update concerning Foundation review process here). Note that Early Career Investigators will no longer be eligible to apply for this program.

College of Reviewers

CIHR is nearing completion of “Wave 1” enrollment, with approximately ~1,700 of the 2,100 researchers contacted thus far agreeing to join the College (135 have declined, with some follow-ups remaining). Invites from Wave 2 nominations will commence around the end of August; CIHR will be focusing initially on individuals who have been nominated PIs on CIHR grants in the last 5 years (this may extend to 7 years given the disruptions caused by reforms that past few years) and meet membership requirements. Note that I have now received nominations from your respective ADRs for inclusion in an institutional nominations list that has since gone to CIHR. CIHR will be accepting nominations, including self-nominations, on an ongoing basis so feel free to reach out to me or your ADRs directly if you wish to have your name put forward. Please keep in mind the requirements for acceptance into the College. Also, note that the ongoing enrollment in the College is separate from active recruitment currently underway for 2017 Project grant peer review (i.e., enrollment in the College does not necessarily mean you will be asked to review for the upcoming project competition); however, you can expect that the College will be working closely with Panel Chairs and SOs to populate the review panels.

I hope that you have managed to enjoy (or at least plan to enjoy in the near future) some down time this summer. As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Regards,

Mark Filiaggi
CIHR University Delegate
Associate Vice-President Research
filiaggi@dal.ca
(902) 494-7102