Nominations
Nominations are solicited from a variety of sources each autumn - the Vice-Presidents of Research of universities, Deans of Faculties, Scientific Directors of CIHR, grant applicants (on the application form itself) and other stakeholder organizations.
Recommendations
A series of teleconference calls, one for each grants committee, takes place each year in early Spring. Participants in the teleconference include:
The Chairperson and Scientific Officer of the committee
At least three experts in the field chosen from among applicants whose applications were rated among the highest by that committee in the competitions of the previous year, and two persons holding salary support awards from CIHR who are grantees of that committee. Insofar as possible, these people are chosen to represent institutions and areas of expertise that complement each other and those represented by the Chairperson and Scientific Officer, and exclude other current committee members and recent teleconference participants.
Prior to the teleconference, participants receive a substantial amount of information to assist them in identifying potential new committee members, including a list of current committee members, a list of all past committee members, a list of current grantees reviewed by that committee, with the titles of their grants, and the list of nominees as described above.
During the teleconference, those leaving the committee are identified as well as the gaps that result, e.g., in terms of expertise, language, geography etc. A prioritized list of potential replacements is determined by the consensus of the teleconference participants.
Review and Ratification
Following the teleconference, secretariat staff make up the newly suggested committee lists, ensuring that all committee members have peer reviewed funding if applicable. These lists are then reviewed at a meeting of CIHR's Governing Council/Standing Committee on Oversight of Grants and Awards Competitions (SCOGAC). The overall statistics for the committees (e.g., representation of institutions, females, clinicians, French language reviewers etc.)are also reviewed at this time, and adjustments made as felt appropriate. Invitations are issued by early summer. In the case of refusals, alternates are contacted.
In the case of Awards Committees, the Heads of the Unit of the Capacity Development Branch confer with the Chairs of the committees as to who should be replaced, the needs of the committee etc. New members are then selected based on this information and recognizing the need for multidisciplinarity, institutional representation, and representation of male and female and bilingual reviewers. Particular attention is paid to the list of nominees obtained from the universities and the lists of alternates which emerge from the teleconferences.
The composition of the peer review committees is published on the WEB as soon as it is complete, in the summer of each year.
