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Research Resource Grant (2006-2007) (Archived)

Please note: The Research Resource Grant Program has been suspended as of Fiscal Year 2007-2008.

Request for Applications

Important Dates
Opportunity Launched	June 2006
Content Last Updated	(No updates since launch)
August 14, 2006	Registration packages must be courier stamped by this date.
October 2, 2006	Full applications must be courier stamped by this date.
March 31, 2007	Notification of decision.
April 1, 2007	Anticipated funding start date.
Funds Available
CIHR's contribution to the amount available for this competition is subject to availability of funds voted annually to CIHR by parliamentary appropriations, and the conditions that may be attached to them. Due to severely limited funding available for this competition, the 2006-2007 Research Resource Grant Program is restricted to renewal applications of currently funded maintenance grants. CIHR anticipates the next launch of a full scale Research Resource Grant competition in June 2007. Funds Available for Research in All Areas: Funds available for this competition for applications in all areas of research that address any important health problem or issue: A maximum of $200,000 per grant per year for five years for maintenance or other eligible activities. A minimum of $ 1 Million per annum for 5 years will be available for this competition. Funds Available for Research in specific areas: No funds are available for a strategic component of this competition. Future year competitions may include targeted components. Duration of Support: Maintenance and other eligible activities - Up to five years subject to satisfactory review of progress before the end of the third year. Maintenance grants are renewable, subject to competition and peer review.
Summary
"A skillful and energetic cadre of accomplished researchers, working in state-of-the-art facilities with the best equipment and data, and outstanding trainees, is the best strategy to ensure that Canada has the capacity and expertise to mobilize in order to address important health issues." (Investing in Canada's Future: CIHR's Blueprint For Health Research and Innovation.) Through this program, it is the intent of CIHR to support research-enabling environments by providing funding for core resources for research conducted by an individual, a team or consortia of productive researcher(s). The specific objectives of the program are to ensure that research resources are deployed in a cost-effective manner, to increase researcher(s) productivity, to increase effectiveness of federal research funding and to enhance collaboration among researchers. To be eligible for funding, the Principal Applicant must be a Principal Investigator funded through a CIHR grant or a grant administered by another federal funding agency. Individual Co-Applicants must hold a peer-reviewed research grant from a national or an international research funding agency. Funds can be requested to support activities such as acquisition and maintenance of equipment or facilities, development, enhancement, linkage or securing of databases, and/or development or refinement of research tools (frameworks for interpreting relevant phenomena, approaches for analysis, measurement and reporting of data and information, approaches to policy/program evaluation and knowledge translation etc.). The 2006-2007 Research Resource Grant competition is restricted to renewal applications of currently funded maintenance grants. CIHR anticipates the next launch of a full scale Research Resource Grant competition in June 2007.

Background
Objectives
Eligibility
Allowable Costs
Review Process and Evaluation Criteria
General CIHR Guidelines
Conditions of Funding
Communication Requirements
Monitoring, Performance Measurement and Evaluation
How to Apply
Contact Information
Appendix

Background

"Blueprint", CIHR strategic directions through 2008, "Committed to strengthening Canada's health research communities by continuing to broaden, deepen and sustain health research excellence. A skillful and energetic cadre of accomplished researchers, working in state-of-the-art facilities with the best equipment and data, and outstanding trainees, is the best strategy to ensure that Canada has the capacity and expertise to mobilize in order to address important health issues."

The Research Resource Grant Program represents one component of CIHR's strategy for putting this commitment into action. Core resources and research tools are crucial to the attainment of research/scientific objectives, improvement of researcher competitiveness for national and international funding, and the strengthening and enhancement of collaboration among researchers.

CIHR intends to simplify its program offerings while retaining sufficient flexibility to accommodate all desirable aspects of collaborative research. This includes the importance of ensuring meaningful participation by collaborators and partner organizations¹, which play a vital role in the planning, execution, dissemination and application of health research.

CIHR encourages applicants to develop partnerships, including those with the applicants' institutions, to share the costs of the resource. Funding from other sources, such as federal/provincial and other granting agencies is welcome.

Objectives

The 2006-2007 Research Resource Grant competition is restricted to renewal applications of currently funded maintenance grants. CIHR anticipates the next launch of a full scale Research Resource Grant competition in June 2007.

CIHR collaborative programs are designed to facilitate and provide support for collaborative research. The programs are designed to provide sufficient flexibility to accommodate all area of health research. While the CIHR Team grant and the Emerging Team grant focus on support of research teams and a problem-based research culture, the Research Resource Grant program puts emphasis on support for research enabling environments.

Through this program, it is the intent of CIHR to support research-enabling environments by providing funding for the development, acquisition, operation and maintenance of core resources (equipment and facilities, databases, research tools) for research conducted by an individual and/or a team or consortia of productive researcher(s) whose research programs or project costs are supported through individual or joint operating grants funded through CIHR or other federal funding agencies. The specific objectives of this program are to:

ensure the cost effective use of research resources;
increase researcher(s) productivity;
increase effectiveness of federal research funding;
facilitate collaboration and strengthen teams or consortia of productive researchers.

Eligibility

Eligibility criteria for all CIHR research funding (grant) programs apply. The business office of the institution of an eligible Nominated Principal Applicant generally administers CIHR funds. Please refer to Eligibility Requirements for CIHR Grants and Awards regarding the eligibility requirements for individuals and institutions.

Specific Eligibility Requirements

Applications will be accepted from both individual researchers and teams/groups of researchers.

Nominated Principal Applicant and Principal Applicants must meet one of the 2 following conditions at the time of the application:
- Be a holder, in the role of Principal Applicant, of an active CIHR grant.
- Be a holder, in the role of Principal Applicant or equivalent, of an active research grant administered by another federal granting agency. The subject matter of the grant must be clearly relevant to health as judged by CIHR.
Each individual Co-Applicant must be a holder, in the role of Principal Applicant or equivalent, of an active, peer-reviewed, research grant administered by a national or international funding agency. The subject matter of the grant must be clearly relevant to health as judged by CIHR.
A maximum of ten applicants per application will be accepted.

Where the use of the resources requested involves the management of personal information (e.g. database), or tissue/organ collection/banking or equipment used for human studies, the applicants will be required to formally acknowledge responsibility for addressing any ethical and legal issues relating to the privacy, confidentiality, and security of the information/collection and to provide copies of appropriate institutional approvals as necessary before funds will be released.

Allowable Costs

Applicants should review the Tri-Agency (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) financial administration guidelines Use of Grant Funds for a complete listing and description of allowable costs and activities.

The full application must provide a detailed justification of all costs. The costs can be used to support resources in these categories:

Equipment and Facilities
CIHR will support the acquisition and/or maintenance of equipment and facilities such as: banked biological specimens, tissue banks, animal colonies, electron and confocal microscopes, flow cytometers/cell sorters, ultracentrifuges, shared computer workstations, facilities for imaging, spectroscopy, and DNA/protein sequencing, synthesis facility and simulation/computational software for simulation experiments.

Databases
CIHR will support the design, development, acquisition, enhancement, linkage or securing of databases as well as the indirect, operational costs related to archiving and data documentation (for example archiving of publicly funded data or maintenance of cohort data/collections), where there is demonstrated potential for secondary use for excellent research by multiple research teams.

Research Tools
Successful researchers work within supportive research environments where they apply conceptual frameworks, theories, measurement tools, or empirical methods to the best available research data, whether these data are: collected through survey instruments or interview approaches, located in administrative databases, drawn from documents, or developed from other sources. The best available empirical data, for example, are only useful to the extent that they correspond to constructs, variables, or instruments that have been developed, tested and validated. CIHR will support the development or maintenance of research tools such as:

frameworks for interpreting relevant phenomena;
approaches for analysis, measurement and reporting of data and information;
approaches to measurement validation, policy/program evaluation, and knowledge translation.

CIHR particularly encourages the development of such methods and tools with potential for broad applicability to health research. It must be clear that the proposal for core research resources is not, itself, a research proposal.

Review Process and Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be reviewed by specifically-constituted, multidisciplinary peer review committee(s) designed for the review of Research Resource grants. For information on CIHR 's peer review process in general, see Peer Review.

Chairpersons and Scientific Officers may suggest that extra members be added to their committee for a certain competition or to review one or more specific applications if there is not appropriate expertise among the members of the committee or if the application pressure is too great. Depending on the number and the diversity of the proposals received, CIHR may establish differentiated committees to ensure the best possible review for all applications. CIHR is also prepared to seek external reviews to ensure that there is relevant expertise.

Peer review will generally be conducted in accordance with the CIHR Peer Review Process: Policies and Responsibilities of Grants Committee Members, however a unique set of "Factors for Assessment" (section 6.2) will apply (see below).

All personal information collected by CIHR about applicants is used to review applications, to administer and monitor grants and awards, to compile statistics, and to promote and support health research in Canada . Consistent with these purposes, applicants should also expect that information collected by CIHR may be shared as described in Use and Disclosure of Personal Information Provided to CIHR for Peer Review.

Factors for Assessment for the Research Resource Grant Program

General criteria for assessing applications are listed below. CIHR recognizes that applicants will emphasize different approaches to research, thus it is understood that reviewers and committees will give weight to criteria such as these differently from one application to another.

The Applicant's Productivity, Experience and Training

How important and original is the recent productivity of the applicant(s)?

Impact

How critical is the resource requested to the continued productivity of health researcher(s), who may be working collaboratively on a common problem, or who may be working on different problems, but with a common requirement for the resource?
How important and original are the contributions expected from being able to have access to the resource proposed?
What is the potential for impact on researchers' productivity and on the research environment?

Innovation

Does the proposed resource challenge current research thinking and paradigms and/or address unexplored areas?
How important, novel and/or original are the hypotheses or the questions to be addressed as a result of the support from this competition, and how clearly are they formulated?

Efficiency

In cases where the proposed resource or tool is shared, is there a well-structured plan that will allow the views of all potential users and other stakeholders to be represented?
Does the resource or the research tool proposed represent the most cost-effective approach to the needs of the applicant(s)?
If applicable, how will a Research Resource Grant add value by bringing together researchers, in a meaningful collaboration to advance our understanding of health or health system problems or issues?

Appropriateness of the Resource

Does the resource provide the optimum approach to the research problem(s) in terms of technology, safety, environmental issues and ethics in research?
In the case of a shared resource or tool, how will the research programs/projects benefit from the resource? How will it add value in terms of increased production, knowledge, etc.?
Is the acquisition and/or maintenance of the resource relevant to, and likely to further the research priorities of the host institution?
Does the application bring together the necessary expertise and mix of skills to accomplish the work proposed?

If applicable

Is there a plan for adequate recovery of costs for consumables and technical support for specimen preparation and routine instrument operation, via user fees recovery or other approaches?
Do the financial arrangements for the resource, including user fee structure where appropriate, ensure stability of operations?
Does the proposed application have a clear plan to ensure the availability and accessibility of the resource to others?
Is there a clearly articulated plan for sustainability in the period after funding from this competition?

General CIHR Guidelines

CIHR's General Guidelines for Grant Programs will be followed.

Conditions of Funding

All conditions identified CIHR CIHR General Grants and Awards Policies shall apply to applications funded through this competition. Conditions cover areas such as Applicant and Institutional Responsibilities, Ethics, Official Language Policy, Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Acknowledgement of CIHR Support. Successful applicants will be informed of any special financial conditions prior to the release of funds or when they receive CIHR 's Authorization for Funding (AFF) document.

Communication Requirements

Grant recipients are required to acknowledge CIHR in any communication or publication related to the project. See CIHR General Grants and Awards Policies, Acknowledgement of CIHR's Support for details on CIHR's communication requirements.

Monitoring, Performance Measurement and Evaluation

CIHR is committed to demonstrating results to Canadians for the money invested in health research. Therefore, processes for monitoring progress and appropriate use of funds, as well as for performance measurement and program evaluation are in place. As a result, grant recipients must:

Adhere to CIHR 's reporting requirements and provide required information in a timely fashion. For Research Resource Grants, a progress report will be required in year 3 of five-year grants. Grantees are required to submit a "Progress Report for 5-year grant holder (Form 44)" describing the progress made and the publications issued since the start of the grant. CIHR will cancel the last 12 months of the grant if the progress is unacceptable and will cancel the final two years of the grant if it does not receive a report by the date requested. The Progress Report for 5 Year Grant Holder (Form 44) can be found under List of Forms and Guidelines for Completion;
Contribute to the monitoring, review and evaluation of CIHR 's programs, policies and processes by participating in evaluation studies, surveys, workshops, audits and providing data or reports as required for the purpose of collecting information to assess progress and results;
Encourage their associates, trainees and administration to participate in the monitoring, review and evaluation of CIHR 's programs, policies and processes as required.

How to Apply

The application process is comprised of two steps: Registration and Full Application.

Review the application instructions provided in How to Apply for Funding.

Select "CIHR Research Resource Grant Program" (Registration and Application) from the list of Grant Programs Application Packages.

Send Registration and Full Application by Courier to:

RE: Research Resource Grant Program
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Room 97, 160 Elgin Street
Address locator: 4809A
Ottawa , Ontario K1A 0W9

Contact Information

For further information on the Research Resource Grant Program please contact:

Éric Bergeron
Program Delivery Coordinator, Knowledge Creation Programs
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Telephone: (613) 941-0847
Fax: (613) 954-1800
Email: mailto:ebergeron@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

¹ Can include decision-makers, program administrators, care givers, policy makers and practitioners working in health-oriented community organizations, community-based foundations and organizations, local, provincial/territorial and national health charities and non-profit organizations, hospital and research institute foundations, municipal and regional health authorities, public health departments, district health councils, and provincial/territorial government agencies.

Created: 2006-06-15
Modified: 2006-06-15
Reviewed: 2006-06-15
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