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On behalf of Mark Filiaggi:

Hi everyone,

Following is a brief update from the November teleconference for CIHR University Delegates:

Transition Open Operating Grant Program (OOGP) Competition (March 2015)

The last OOGP in its 鈥渢raditional鈥� format (application; review system) will be taking place this Spring before this program transitions to the Project Scheme in subsequent years. Because there was no Fall 2014 competition, the application pressure is expected to be high (CIHR is currently forecasting 3,000-3,500 applications; previous competitions had been in the 2,500-2,900 range). They will be looking to fund 450-600, so the success rates will still be sitting at the lower levels we have unfortunately become accustomed to. You can likely expect as well the usual across the board budget cuts despite an additional influx of funds to this competition. It is important to note that the registration deadline is one month earlier this time around 鈥� January 9^th, 2015 鈥� with the application deadline set as March 2, 2015. Decision notices will likely not be available until ~July 15^th (with awards backdated to July 1^st) due to an extended peer review period (May 4 to June 25) to accommodate the greater number of applications. A decision as to whether the BioSketch will be used in place of the standard application CCV is expected in the next week or so.

2014 Foundation Pilot Update

In total, 1366 applications (including 552 new / early career researchers and 273 applicants who had never held Open funding) moved forward for Stage 1 review. There are currently 447 Stage 1 reviewers (from ~800 volunteers), with each assigned any where from 12 to 20 applications (average of 15 applications per reviewer). Asynchronous online discussions are commencing this week, and applicants / institutions will be notified of decisions regarding a Stage 2 invitation on December 1, 2014. Applicants will receive their reviews along with ratings and written strengths / weaknesses for each criterion along with a consolidated ranking (with standard deviation) in the competition. Stage 2 application requirements are available on the . Unsuccessful applicants will be eligible to submit to the transitional OOGP competition. University delegates currently serving as Stage 1 reviewers did express the need to have more guidance around evaluating the 鈥渓eadership鈥� category, and overall struggled with evaluating new / emerging researchers. CIHR noted that there will be a minimum number of new investigators funded in this Foundation Scheme competition, though what that number is remains anyone鈥檚 guess.

Opportunity: SPOR Networks in Chronic Disease

More information was provided regarding a new SPOR networks opportunity. Please see the following to the university delegates. (You can also visit the Funding Opportunity Database.) These new networks are to focus on 鈥渇irst-in-human鈥� and beyond research in non-communicable chronic diseases that have resulted in areas of high disease burden. Registration deadline is fast approaching (December 2, 2014). Note however that the letter of intent deadline has been moved a week later to January 13, 2015. CIHR is expecting to fund approximately 20 LOIs, with 4 distinct chromic disease networks to be funded (there is some expectation that some of the 20 LOIs will 鈥榡oin forces鈥�). Webinars to assist with LOI preparation are being planned for the first 2 weeks of December. There are 8 distinct evaluation criteria for these LOIs (see links), including the need to be 鈥減an-Canadian鈥� in scope; partnerships do not necessarily have to be fully developed at this stage. Note that the Development grants for approved LOIs are to a maximum of $50,000 and do not require partner funds. 1:1 matching funding will, however, be required for the Networks, with CIHR providing up to $12.45M over 5 years for each Network.

As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Regards,

Mark Filiaggi

CIHR University Delegate

Associate Vice-President Research

filiaggi@dal.ca

(902) 494-7102

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