President's Message
September 2002 Competition Results
Today CIHR is announcing the results of its September 2002 competition for funding.
It is clear from the number of outstanding research proposals we received that Canadian researchers are among the best in the world. It is something we should all take great pride in.
This year, as in previous years, CIHR's Governing Council have had to balance the dual commitments of funding as many outstanding and excellent grants as possible, while also continuing to increase the average value of funded grants to internationally competitive levels.
This year's results are an indication of the very success of CIHR and the resulting upsurge in activity in the research community. Since its creation in June 2000, the number of CIHR-funded researchers has climbed steadily, from 5,688 to over 7,800.
As well, not only are we funding more researchers, we are providing them with more support. Annual operating grant sizes have risen steadily from an annual average of $71,000 in 1997-98 to a projected annual average of $103,500 in this open competition.
But while the number of funded researchers has grown, the number of researchers applying for funding has grown even more. In our September 2000 operating grant competition, we received 1296 proposals. This year, in September 2002, we received 1561.
This is, in part, an expression of the broader mandate that CIHR has been given. The parameters of health research have expanded well beyond basic biomedical and clinical research, to encompass research in health services and systems, population health, and other areas of research where multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approaches are needed.
It is also an expression of the momentum and energy that the creation of CIHR has created in the research community - a momentum that we are committed to maintaining and building.
The result of this upsurge is that we need to develop a new metric for our competitions- the percentage of applicants funded is no longer an accurate measurement; the increased numbers of proposals have lowered success rates but not the absolute number of successful grantees.
In addition, the results of the September 2002 open competition do not take into account the researchers receiving funding through strategic initiatives funded by CIHR and its Institutes that were developed following broad consultation with the research community.
While the operating grants competition remains the mainstay of our funding programs, there is more to our mandate. Each of our Institutes has developed a Strategic Plan that identifies research priorities for that Institute, and each has issued Request For Applications (RFAs) to support researchers carrying out research in those areas.
Finally, the results reflect the inherent conflict between the nature of research and that of research funding. Research is, by definition, a long-term process. Recognizing that research is a long-term undertaking Governing Council strives, at the very minimum, to provide funding for three- to five-year periods. As a result, much of CIHR's budget is already allocated to research funded in previous years, leaving less than Governing Council would like for new funding each year.
The health research community in Canada overall is in a state of unprecedented vibrancy. More researchers are being funded than ever before, and receiving more funding. Together, our operating and strategic grants are supporting outstanding research programs, attracting the best and brightest to Canada, training the next generation of health researchers and - our ultimate goal - making a difference to the health of Canadians.
In closing, I would like to acknowledge and thank all of the individuals who gave so generously of their time to review the almost 2000 applications that were received in the last open and strategic competitions; the members of SCOGAC who deliberated long and hard on their recommendations to Governing Council; and the staff at CIHR who worked so tirelessly to make peer review seem like an effortless process. Their dedication and wisdom ensures that peer excellence based on peer review is at the core of all our programs.
Alan Bernstein, OC, PhD, FRSC
President, CIHR
