CIHR Workshop University of Toronto January 15 th, 2014

Reinhart Reithmeier & Cindi Morshead, CIHR University Delegates Dale Dempsey, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Research - Knowledge Creation Programs at the CIHR

Design elements Part 1: a) Foundation and Project Scheme b) Application-focused, multi- stage, structured review c) College of Reviewers Part 2: Eligibility Scenarios Part 3: Q&A

So long open grant competitions So long panels There will be no Open Operating Grant competition in the Fall of 2014 or Fall of 2015! There will be a final “transitional” open operating grant competition March The new Foundation and Project Schemes mean the elimination of grant panels as we know (and love or loath) them. Strategies? Questions?

How to get a CIHR Foundation Grant 1.Am I eligible? 2.What are the deadlines? 3.Am I a Program Leader? 4.Am I competitive? 5.What form will the application take? 6.How will it be assessed? 7.Who will assess my application? 8.How much, how long? 9.What about my other grants? 10. What about back-up plans?

Am I eligible for the first pilot? You’re PI or Co-PI on an open operating grant that ends March 31, 2015 or Sept. 30, 2015, or an open KT grant (KS, KtA, PoP etc.) that ends Oct to Sept You’re a new investigator (<5 years in 1 st appt) You’ve never (ever) held CIHR open funding as a PI or Co-PI

What are the deadlines? June 23, 2014 Registration via ResearchNet September 15, 2014 Stage 1 deadline, Dec 2014 notification February 5, 2015 Stage 2 deadline, May 2015 notification July 2015 Stage 3 (face-to-face discussion, with focus on grey-zone applications) Funding release date will be October 2015 (Mind the Gap!)

Am I a Program Leader? I hold multiple grants (Foundation grants provide the opportunity to consolidate multiple existing operating grants into a single funding scheme). I am the lead PI on a grant that involves a number of collaborators. I am an established investigator with an ongoing program of research. I am a new investigator (<5 years) or have never held a CIHR open grant as a PI.

Program Leaders… Are widely recognized in their field and community, demonstrating a history of influential roles Have the ability to establish, resource, and direct major projects or programs of research Have significantly advanced knowledge and/or its translation into improved health care, health systems, and/or health outcomes Have engaged, trained, and/or launched the career paths of promising individuals in research and/or other health-related non-academic fields Can demonstrate an outstanding level of research outputs based on prior work Am I a Program Leader?

Am I competitive? Criteria (Stage 1) Stage 1 Criterion 1 – Calibre of the Applicant(s) (75%) Leadership Significance of Contributions Productivity Criterion 2 – Vision and Program Direction (25%)

Am I competitive? Criteria (Stage 2) Stage 2 Criterion 1 – Quality of the Program (40%) Research Concept Research Approach Criterion 2 – Quality of the Expertise, Experience and Resources (60%) Expertise Mentorship Support Environment

Stage 1 Stage 2 Program Leader(s) CV Summary (~1 page) Caliber of the Applicant(s) 1. Leadership (~ ½ page) 2. Significance of Contributions (~ ½ page) 3. Productivity (~ ½ page) Vision and Program Direction (~1 page) Quality of the Program 1. Research Concept (~ 1 ½ pages) 2. Research Approach (~ 1 ½ pages) Quality of the Expertise, Experience, and Resources 1. Expertise (~ 3 pages) 2. Mentorship and Training (~ 2 pages) 3. Quality of Support Environment (~ 1 page) Summary (~1 page) Budget (~ ½ page) Program Leader(s) CV What form will the application take?

How will I be assessed? Staged Review

How will I be assessed? Structured Review

Who will review my application? College of Reviewers Your peers Existing panel members and reviewers New reviewers targeted to fill gaps Current and new grant holders New nominated reviewers International reviewers Assess and rank applications in area of expertise (competency declared!) Training and evaluation

How much, how long? Most Foundation grant budgets are expected to fall within a range of $120K - $ 250K pa but $50K to $1.5M pa is the expected range (no cap) Established investigators will be awarded 7- year grants, and new/early career investigators will be awarded 5-year grants

How much, how long? There is a combined budget of ~$500M for the 1 st Foundation pilot and the Transitional OOGP competitions Approximately Foundation Grants in 1 st competition (~114 awarded annually once the scheme is fully implemented)

What about my other grants? Successful Foundation Grant Program Leaders will have existing operating grants on which they are PI or Co-PI cancelled. Budget of Foundation Grant should be close to the applicant's CIHR open grant research funding history. Funding from other agencies that fund part of program of research?

Back-up plans? Renew your existing CIHR grant Apply early in March 2014 OOGP competition (can keep existing grant(s) if not successful, but likely increased application pressure, >2,500 applications for 400 grants) Skip Foundation application in Fall 2014, apply in March 2015 transitional OOGP competition (~600 grants to be funded, increased application pressure due to double cohort of renewals, 6 month funding gap!) Apply to any of the Open KT programs (KS, KtA, PoP etc.) or CIHR Strategic competitions

Back-up plans? Become a Program Expert Join a number of Foundation Grants as a Program Expert Being a Program Expert and receiving funds from a Program Leader’s Foundation grant does NOT prohibit you from having your own Foundation Grant.

Now what? Update common cv ** a new CV template will be created for the Foundation Scheme. Any information relevant to the CV that is already in the Common CV system will be automatically uploaded to the new template. Write draft of stage 1 application: Summary (1 page) Leadership (1/2 page) Significance of Contributions (1/2 page) Productivity (1/2 page) Vision and Program Direction (1 page)

22 Eligibility Scenarios Purpose: The following scenarios are hypothetical and intended to illustrate the diversity of career stages, track records and programs of research that the Foundation Scheme will support.

23 New Investigator Scenario Dr. S. is new investigator who has never applied to CIHR. She is eligible to apply for the 2014 competition. Foundation or Project Scheme? She has held a modest research grant of $50,000 per year for 2 years from a research foundation that has allowed her to establish pilot work for her research program. She has published her pilot work in one of the top journals in her research area. While she has collaborated with more senior researchers, she is ready to build on her pilot work and pursue an independent program of research. Dr. S. decides to apply to the Foundation Scheme as a Program Leader on her own.

24 New Investigator Scenario Dr. T. is a new investigator who is completing a CIHR-funded project with a budget of $100,000 per year for 3 years with an end-date of March He thinks that program of research will ramp up considerably over the next year or two and rather than applying to the Foundation Scheme has decided to apply to the Project Scheme in order to have a few projects underway before he applies for the Foundation Scheme. He does this because he realizes that if he applies to the Foundation Scheme, it is unlikely that he will be able to justify a significantly larger budget than the one he presently has. (1)He can apply (with no penalty) for a renewal of his current grant in the March 2014 competition. If successful, this will stop him from having a gap in funding. (2)He can apply for an new Operating Grant in the March 2014 competition and/or in the March 2015 competition.

25 Mid-career Investigator Scenario Dr. L. is a mid-career researcher who for the past eight years has consistently held CIHR strategic grants of, on average, $150,000 per year. Because she has never held Open CIHR Funding, she is eligible to apply to the Foundation Scheme pilot. She decides to apply the CIHR Foundation Scheme with a budget of $150,000 per year. She realizes that if she is successful in the Foundation Scheme, as a Program Leader she will be ineligible to apply to the Project Scheme but recognizes that there will be opportunities to supplement her Foundation grant with strategic funding opportunities at CIHR in the future.

26 Mid-career/Senior Investigator Scenario Drs. Mary and Jane have worked together over the past seven years on a number of multi-year project grants in the same thematic area, building a shared program of research. They have demonstrated shared leadership and together have made significant contributions to their field. Dr. Mary is eligible for the 2014 Foundation Scheme live pilot but Dr. Jane is not because her current grant does not expire in the required timeframe. (1) Because Dr. Mary is eligible, they are eligible to apply together. If they obtain a Foundation Grant together as Program Leaders, they are both ineligible to apply for Project Grants. (2) Dr. Mary can apply for a Foundation grant and Dr. Jane can be a “program expert” to facilitate the research. In this way Dr. Jane can apply for a Foundation Grant when she is eligible. Dr. Jane can receive funds from Dr. Mary at Dr. Mary’s discretion.

27 Mid-career/senior Investigator Scenario Drs. Andy and Jim are mid-career researchers who have worked together over the past nine years on a several Partnerships for Health System Improvement grants. Dr. Andy was also the Nominated Principal Investigator on an Emerging Team Grant. They would like to continue working together, but decide that Dr. Andy will apply as Program Leader for a Foundation Scheme grant and Dr. Jim will be a Program Expert so that Dr. Jim is eligible to apply for grants in the Project Scheme. Dr. Jim can receive funds from Dr. Andy at his discretion.

28 Mid-career/Senior Investigator Scenario Dr. X is an investigator who has held a number of CIHR grants through her career. Over the last 10 years she has established a joint program of research with another senior scientist. In partnership they have made significant contributions and have a strong vision for a shared program of research going forward. They plan to continue to do their work together and so they plan to jointly apply for a Foundation grant as Program Leaders. Should their application be successful, neither Dr. X nor her colleague will be able (or required!) to apply for any other Project Scheme grants for the seven-year duration of their research program.

29 Team Researcher/Collaborator Scenario Dr. N is a researcher who always works in large teams and is having trouble with the notion of the programmatic grant. He conducts community-based research and wants to find ways to acknowledge his community collaborators when he applies for research grants. He also has consistently brought New Investigators onto his applications as co- investigators. He decides that the best way to proceed is to apply for a Foundation grant as a single Program Leader. In his applications he highlights the collaborative nature of his work and names a number of partners as collaborators as Program Experts. Money can flow to the partners at the discretion of Dr. N. He ensures he develops a budget that will support these collaborations. He then works with a number of new investigators to assist them with developing strong applications to the Project Scheme.

30 Eligibility Scenario The “can” and “cannots” Joe holds a CIHR grant that ends in MARCH Joe submits an application for an early renewal in the MARCH 2014 OGC competition. Joe also registers for the FOUNDATION GRANT competition. If Joe is SUCCESSFUL in the March 2014 OGC, he will no longer be eligible to apply for the Foundation Scheme Pilot as he no longer has an open grant that ends during the eligible timeframe. If Joe is UNSUCCESSFUL in the March 2014 OGC, he remains eligible to apply to the Foundation Scheme pilot and will keep his current OGP grant funding. Joe will be informed of the stage 1 results of the Foundation Scheme pilot before the registration deadline for the March 2015 OGC. If he is successful in stage 1 of the Foundation Scheme, he must decide at this point to either continue with his application to the Foundation Scheme or apply to the March 2015 OGC (he cannot apply to both at this point).

31 Questions and Answers: According to the CIHR website, the Foundation Scheme will fund projects that are innovative and high-impact. What criteria is used to determine if a project is innovative and high-impact?

32 Questions and Answers: Is there bridge funding for those that are applying for the Foundation scheme as the funding decision is ~16months after the start of the application process?

33 Is everyone eligible for the Foundation Scheme Competition in 2016? Questions and Answers:

34 If you have a Foundation grant, can you apply for a project grant and agree to give up the Foundation grant? If you apply and receive a foundation grant can you turn it down and keep your combined projects grants if you are not satisfied with the total funds? Questions and Answers:

35 What is the predicted success rate for each of the competitions? (March OGC’s (2014, 2015) and Foundation Scheme) Questions and Answers:

36 What is the difference between the Transitional OOGP competition and a regular OOGP competition? Will the transitional OOGP March 2015 competition have panels? It seems to be similar to March 2014 in adjudication? Questions and Answers:

37 How many competitions will there be per year for the Project Scheme? How many Project Scheme applications can one PI make per competition/year? Questions and Answers:

38 Will there be across the board cuts to Foundation Scheme budgets as there are in the current operating grant competitions? Questions and Answers:

39 For more information.. Please visit the CIHR website for further information about the Reforms of Open Programs and peer review: For more information about Open Operating Grant Program statistics and funding trends, please see: To check your eligibility for the live pilot Foundation Scheme, irsc.gc.ca Contact for CIHR University Delegate: Cindi Morshead,