Funding, News and Announcements

Hello everyone,

The May CIHR-UD meeting was held by webcast on May 2, 2019. Here are the highlights.

CIHR Updates

Pierre Côté chaired the meeting. The Annual University Delegates’ meeting will be held in Ottawa on June 21. The community is asked to submit agenda items to be considered at that meeting. Currently on the agenda are discussion of the sunset of the Foundation funding scheme, Project grant peer review and strategic plan. Feedback on the strategic plan will be requested from the CIHR community in a survey to be launched next week.

CIHR staff will be present at 2019 CARA (Canadian Association of Research Administrators) Annual conference (May 26-29). This event will include a 3 hour workshop on the strategic plan, and a discussion of the Canadian Common CV.

Project Grant Competition

Natalie Gendron provided an update on the Spring 2019 competition. Peer review of application is in progress with committee meetings held from May 14 to June 11. The anticipated Notice of Decision for this competition will be available on July 10.

The next Project Scheme Funding Opportunity to be launched in July 2019 for the Fall 2019 Competition. Registration deadline is August 14, 2019 for the application deadline on September 11, 2019. Note that going forward the application deadline for the Fall competitions will be the second Wednesday of September. There were questions regarding this change, which staff answered effectively, indicating that the mid-week deadline, allowed for time to respond to any issues more rapidly than if the deadline was later in the week. Applicants should not have difficulty making this change. The anticipated Notice of Decision for the Fall 2019 competition is January 22, 2020 with a funding Start Date of April 1, 2020.

The Spring 2020 Competition will have a registration deadline of February 5, 2020 and application deadline of March 4, 2020. These are again on Wednesdays, the first week of the month. The anticipated Notice of Decision date is July 8, 2020 for a funding Start Date of October 1, 2020.

Strategic Grant Update

Chair: Indigenous Research Chairs in Nursing – Deadline 2019-06-05

New Investigator Salary Award: Stars Career Development Award – Registration 2019-05-22; Deadline 2019-06-26

Operating Grant: 9th Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) – Deadline 2019-06-17

Operating Grant: Active and Assisted Living Program – Deadline 2019-05-24

Operating Grant: ECIs in Maternal, Reproductive, Child & Youth Health – Deadline 2019-05-14

Operating Grant: Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) – Deadline 2019-06-25

Canada Graduate Scholarships – Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement –Deadline 2019-06-10

ME Network Catalyst Grant – Deadline 2019-05-09

Network for Global Governance Research on Infectious Diseases – Deadline 2019-06-06

Team Grant: CCS/CIHR Cancer Survivorship Team Grants – Deadline 2019-05-29

Team Grant: Cannabis Research in Priority Areas – Deadline 2019-05-15

Team Grant: E-Rare-3 Joint Transnational Call – Deadline 2019-06-11

Team Grant: ERA-Net PerMed – Deadline 2019-06-17

Team Grant: Human Immunology Initiative: Research Teams – Deadline 2019-06-04

Team Grant: NEURON – Deadline 2019-06-27

Team Grant: Next Generation Networks for Neuroscience (NeuroNex) – Deadline 2019-06-14

Strategic Grant Results

Undergraduate: Summer Studentship Award –Institute Community Support (201901SIP) – 30/105 proposals funded ($150k investment over 1 year)

Prize: IHSPR Article of the Year Award (201902AOY) – 1/1 funded ($12k over 1 year)

Prize: IHSPR Rising Star Award (201902HRS) – 3/24 funded ($7.5k over 1 year)

Travel Awards -Institute Community Support (201901ISU) – 207/354 proposals funded ($254k invested over 1 year)

Lindau Prize (201810LPR) – 5/5 funded ($25k over 1 year)

Team Grant: Canadian Microbiome Initiative 2: Research Teams – LOI (201811MOT) – 18/40 proposals funded ($446k invested over 1 year)

Team Gr: Canadian Microbiome Initiative 2: Research Teams -LOI -CIHR-JDRF Pool (201811MO3) – 1/2 proposals funded ($25k over 1 year)

Canada Research Chairs -CIHR Funded (201804CRC) – 31/33 funded ($15.5M investment over 7 years)

Canada Research Chairs -CIHR Funded (201804T1C) – 9/32 funded ($44.8M investment over 9 years)

Foundation Grant Update

The 2018-2019 competition Foundation Grants will be the last competition for this program. The Stage 2 review process is complete and the Final Assessment Stage (FAS) review activities will begin in early May. Stage 2 decisions should now be in the research offices and applicants will have been notified. FAS face-to-face meetings will be taking place in Ottawa on June 20-21, 2019. The anticipated Notice of Decision date for FAS will be July 16, 2019.

Sunsetting the Foundation Grant Program – CIHR released a message from Dr. Strong on April 15th regarding the decision to sunset the Foundation Grant program. The rationale for this decision is that after four completed Foundation Grant competitions, data analysis has revealed significant issues with the program. These are highlighted in the President’s message. CIHR has concluded after extensive consultation that making adjustments to the program design would not be sufficient to address these concerns. There will be several impacts on the research environment that need to be managed. In the current Foundation competition successful applicants will still receive their Foundation Grants in full. In addition, current grantees of Foundation Grants will continue as planned, with no reductions in funding levels.

CIHR hosted two “Ask Me Anything” webinars very shortly after the announcement was made. An overview of the key questions and answers will be posted on CIHR’s website. Grantees and research administrators will receive additional transition planning information soon. The reactions to the announcement have varied. While many see the sunset as a positive step, a number of people have also indicated their disappointment in the decision. CIHR wants the community to know that the decision to sunset Foundation Grants is not related to the quality of research that was supported through the program. Outstanding research has been funded, but the program was not serving the overall grant funding system in the way it was originally intended.

CIHR will work with Foundation Grant holders as they transition back into the Project Grant program towards the end of their Foundation Grant. Many UDs have expressed concerns that the transition must be carefully planned in order to reduce the negative impact of the changes on both the existing Project Scheme and on the Foundation grant holders. Excellent scientists with programs supported by 2-4 CIHR grants before the Foundation Scheme was developed, will need funding to maintain large programs. As mentioned in Dr. Strong’s message, the current plan is to reinvest the majority of the Foundation Grant budget into the Project Grant program in future fiscal years. The funds will not be used for Institute-led funding opportunities or for CIHR’s operation support (administration). Other investments or priorities may be identified through the strategic planning process.

Some UDs suggested that extending the term of Foundation funding could allow the transition to occur gradually to reduce the impact on Project funding. Stayed tuned as to how this will be managed!

Next CIHR-UD meeting is on June 6, 2019. Bye for now!!

Roger McLeod
CIHR University Delegate
Associate Dean (Research)
Faculty of Medicine