For others, the results will not be so good: a record 1,833 applications were received, and there were over 600 applications rated "very good" or better that could not be funded. I would like to express CIHR's great regret that it is unable to support all the high-quality applications that deserve funding. CIHR's budget is just not keeping pace with the rapid growth in number of applications for operating grants: a 9% increase in one year, and 23% over two years. Comparing the September 2005 competition with CIHR's first competition in 2000, there has been an increase of 537 applications, with the greatest increase in biomedical applications (374), followed by population health applications (121). While CIHR's broadened mandate (compared to the former MRC) is one reason for the increase in number of applications, the greatest driver of the increased application pressure is the re-invigorated biomedical research community.
Not being funded, particularly when your application receives a high rating, is a blow to all applicants, but particularly discouraging for young investigators for whom this might have been their first experience of a CIHR competition. To those whose applications were favorably reviewed but could not be funded, I strongly recommend resubmission, after taking into account the reviewer's comments for improvement. Over the last seven competitions the success rate for resubmissions has been distinctly higher (29%) than the success rate for first-time submissions (20%). In fact, through one or two cycles of resubmission and improvement, about half of the applications entering the open grants competition are eventually funded.
The Open Operating Grants competition is CIHR's largest funding program. The number of operating grants funded by CIHR will continue to increase as a result of this competition, as will the amount that CIHR invests in this program. This has increased from $204M in CIHR's first year (fiscal 2000-2001) to $307M in the 2005-2006 fiscal year. At its November 2005 meeting, Governing Council approved an allocation of $354M for the Open Operating Grants program, an increase of $47M over the current fiscal year. This is a clear indication of CIHR's ongoing commitment to making the Open Operating Grants competition a top priority.
Mark A. Bisby, M.A., D. Phil.
Vice-President, Research Portfolio
