ResearchNet - RechercheNet

Table of Contents

• Description
• Objectives
• Eligibility
• Guidelines
• Performance Measurement
• Review Process and Evaluation
• How to Apply
• Contact Information
• Additional Information

Description

The Clinician Scientist program has two phases. Phase 1 provided stipends for up to six years of training support and is no longer being launched. Phase 2 provides a contribution to the salary of the recipient for up to six years (initial three-year award followed by a possible three-year renewal award).

This opportunity provides funding for the Phase 2 component of the program and is designed to provide outstanding Clinician Scientists the opportunity to develop and demonstrate their independence in initiating and conducting health research through provision of a contribution to their salary.

Applications to this funding opportunity are restricted to recipients of Clinician Scientist awards. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the renewal application is submitted at the appropriate time to avoid a gap in the funding period.

Funds Available

CIHR and partner(s) financial contributions for this initiative are subject to availability of funds. Should CIHR or partner(s) funding levels not be available or are decreased due to unforeseen circumstances, CIHR and partner(s) reserve the right to reduce, defer or suspend financial contributions to grants received as a result of this funding opportunity.

The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $900,000 over three years, enough to fund approximately three awards.

The maximum amount per award is $100,000 for up to three years.

• Salary contribution: $60,000 per annum, including fringe benefits.
• Research allowance: $40,000 per annum (for the first three years only, not available for renewal awards)

The applicant will receive three years of support, renewable once for a total of six years.

Objectives

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are:

• To provide salary support for up to six years to clinician scientists.
• To provide a reliable supply of highly skilled and qualified clinician scientists.

Eligibility

Eligibility criteria for all CIHR research funding programs apply. The business office of the institution of an eligible Nominated Principal Applicant generally administers CIHR funds. Refer to the Individual Eligibility Requirements regarding the eligibility requirements for individuals and institutions.

Eligibility to Apply

For your application to be eligible:

1. The Nominated Principal Applicant must be an independent researcher
2. The Nominated Principal Applicant must be registered at an eligible institution (See Institutional Eligibility Requirements for eligibility process and associated timelines).
3. At the time of application, applicants must:
   • hold or have held a Clinician Scientist Training Award (Phase 1) in the last three years or be seeking renewal of their current Clinician Scientist Salary Award (Phase 2).
   • have completed a minimum of two years of post-PhD research training if they hold a PhD or a minimum of three years of post-health professional degree research training if they do not hold a PhD.
   • hold the award in a Canadian medical or dental school or affiliated institution.
   • hold an active Canadian license to practice as a health professional.
   • have a written commitment from the Institution, via the letter from the Dean of Faculty or Research Director which accompanies the application, that includes:
     • A commitment that the applicant will hold a full-time faculty or equivalent position as a clinician-scientist at the start of the Phase 2 award. This commitment is required at the time of the initial application and with each request of renewal.
     • A commitment to protect a minimum of 75% of the applicant's time for research for the duration of the award.
   • hold peer-reviewed operating funds as a Nominated Principal Applicant or Principal Applicant as of the earliest possible start date for the Clinician Scientist Salary Award (i.e., April 1 following the application deadline). If the applicant does not meet this condition, it is mandatory to seek competitive peer-reviewed operating support from CIHR or another research funding organization as a Nominated Principal Applicant or Principal Applicant. This must be demonstrated in the Funds Requested section of the Common CV.

Randomized Controlled Trials

Applications involving Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) are accepted and encouraged where appropriate based on scientific and methodological grounds.

Guidelines

General CIHR Guidelines

This funding opportunity will comply fully with the policies and guidelines as outlined in the CIHR Grants and Awards Guide. Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate the use of Gender and Sex-Based Analysis in applications. CIHR also recognizes the importance of engaging citizens in its funding opportunities. CIHR encourages researchers to involve citizens where appropriate, and to provide in their research proposal a brief description of how they intend to involve them when applicable. Please see CIHR’s Citizen Engagement Framework for more information.

CIHR’s mandate states that our commitment to excellence applies equally to research and knowledge translation, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that the results of research are transformed into policies, practices, procedures, products and services. For more information about incorporating knowledge translation in your proposal, please see Guide to Knowledge Translation Planning at CIHR: Integrated and End-of-Grant Approaches.

Official Languages

CIHR is committed to promotion of and compliance to the applicable parts of the Official Languages Act. As such, CIHR encourages applicants to submit proposals in the Official Language of their choice and commits to ensuring high quality review of applications submitted in either Official Language. In addition, applicants are encouraged to consider the inclusion of Official Languages and Official Language Minority Communities in their research where appropriate. Please see Official Languages at CIHR for more information.

Allowable Costs

Recipients should review the Use of Grant Funds section of the Tri-Agency (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) Financial Administration Guide for a complete listing and description of allowable costs and activities.

Global Health Research and International Collaborations

As outlined in the CIHR Grants and Awards Guide Global Health Research Section and the International Collaborations Section, applicants who are eligible for CIHR funding may apply to CIHR’s funding opportunities for funds to support research to be carried out in, or in direct collaboration with researchers and/or knowledge users based in, other countries. CIHR contributes to, and supports international research projects and international collaborations to address a range of research areas, including but not limited to established priorities in global health research and contributes to the development of health-research capacity both internationally and at home.

Conditions of Funding

Successful applicants funded through this funding opportunity and any other persons working on the project must comply fully with the CIHR Funding Policies. Policies and guidelines cover areas such as Applicant Responsibilities, Official Languages policy, Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Acknowledgement of CIHR's Support. Successful applicants will be informed of any special financial requirements prior to the release of funds or when they receive CIHR's Authorization for Funding document.

In addition to CIHR standard guidelines and requirements, the following special requirements shall apply:

• This award must be accepted within 15 working days of the date of offer or the award will be cancelled and could be offered to the next fundable applicant.
• Award recipients must commence the award on the first day of any month between April 1 following the application deadline and March 1 of the following year.
• Award recipients must devote at least 75 percent of their time to research. This represents no less than 30 hours per week. They may engage in teaching and/or clinical practice to a limited extent, and there is no restriction on the time they spend in the supervision of research trainees. Time spent within the 75% of protected time on clinical practice must be related to the award recipient's research and be undertaken with the agreement of the Head of the Department and the Dean of Faculty or Research Director. Note that the award recipient may receive local remuneration for clinical work in amounts consistent with institutional policies.
• Award recipients must maintain an active Canadian license during the tenure of the award.

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

All personal information collected by CIHR about applicants is used to review applications, to recruit reviewers, 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 the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy of the Federal Research Funding Organizations.

CIHR as a federal entity is subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, therefore the requirements of these two statutes will apply to all information located in CIHR’s premises including, without limitation, cost-sharing agreements related to this funding opportunity and all matters pertaining thereto.

While respecting the application of the Privacy Act to federal entities, all signing parties involved in a collaborative agreement will also be bound by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). All personal information (as identified by the PIPEDA) collected, used or disclosed in the course of any commercial activity under collaborative agreements related to the Funding opportunity will be collected, used and disclosed in compliance with the PIPEDA.

Tri-Council Guidelines for Health Research Involving Aboriginal People

Applicants, whose proposed research will involve Aboriginal People, please consult Ethics of Health Research Involving First Nations, Inuit and Métis People.

Communication Requirements

Recipients are required to acknowledge CIHR, its institutes and partners in any communication or publication related to the project. See Communication of Competition Results for details on CIHR’s communication requirements. The contributing internal collaborators/partners will be identified on the Authorization for Funding and decision letter.

Performance Measurement

CIHR is committed to collecting and disseminating information on the outputs and impacts of the research it funds. This information is an important part of CIHR accountability within the Federal Government and to Canadians:

• The Nominated Principal Applicant must 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;
• The Nominated Principal Applicant must also encourage their associates, trainees and administration to participate in the monitoring, review and evaluation of CIHR’s programs, policies and processes as required.

Review Process and Evaluation

Review Committee

A CIHR review committee will evaluate the full applications. The committee may be drawn from one of CIHR’s pre-existing committees or may be created specifically for this funding opportunity. Committee members are selected based on suggestions from many sources including the institute(s)/ branch(es) and partner(s), following the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy of the Federal Research Funding Organizations.

Evaluation Criteria

Peer Review will be conducted in accordance with CIHR Peer Review Manual for Clinician Scientist Award Applications.

The adjudication criteria for evaluating applications can be found in the above guide.

Funding Decision

Upon completion of peer review, CIHR will receive the ranking list, ratings and recommendations on funding level and award term for the applications that fall in the fundable range and have been determined to be relevant to the specific research areas and objectives of the initiative. The list will be used for funding decision-making purposes and will remain anonymous unless applicants have provided written consent to share nominative information.

Applications will be funded from the top down in order of ranking as far as the budget will allow.

Applications that receive a rating below 3.5 will not be funded.

How to Apply

Important: Please read all instructions to familiarize yourself with the application process before applying. For new applicants or for those wanting a reminder of the main application procedures, an overview of CIHR's application processes can be found under Apply for Funding. Note that these are general instructions only as the specific application instructions for this funding opportunity are located below.

• The application process for this funding opportunity is comprised of one step: Application.
• To complete your Application, follow the instructions in the Salary Awards – Application instructions along with any additional instructions found below under “Specific Instructions”.
• Reminder to applicants: Please ensure that your application is complete (includes all required signatures) and is submitted on time to CIHR.
• In order to ensure fairness in the evaluation of applications, equivalent time must be guaranteed for the assessment of each complete application. As a result, CIHR will not accept updates to applications after the application deadline.

Submission Requirements

• Your Application must be submitted using ResearchNet. Scan and upload the signed signature pages including the routing slip in the Print/Upload Signature Pages task in ResearchNet prior to submitting your application.

Specific Instructions

In addition to the Salary Awards – Application instructions, the applicant must adhere to the following instructions:

Task: Identify Participants

• Proof of Licensure
  • Proof of a current and valid Canadian licensure with an expiry date (if available) is required.
  • This document must be scanned, saved in a PDF format and uploaded onto the subtask Attachments.

Task: Enter Proposal Information

• Title
  • Enter a project title that refers to your 5-year Research Plan.
• Lay Abstract
  • The Lay abstract should refer to your 5-year Research Plan
• Research Proposal (limit to 13 pages)
  • The research proposal submitted for the peer-reviewed operating funds that you currently hold or have requested, as a Nominated Principal Applicant or Principal Applicant, must be included in this section of your application.
  • Note: The research proposal will not be assessed by the Clinician Scientist Salary Award peer review committee. It will be viewed as a reference to the 5-year Research Plan.

Please also review the CIHR Clinician Scientist Salary Award – Frequently Asked Questions.

Contact Information

For all inquiries please contact:

Additional Information

Transfer of an Award

The award must be held in the nominating university or in one of its affiliated institutions for at least the first three years.

During the final three years of support, CIHR will consider a transfer of award. Please refer to the policies and guidelines related to the Relocation of a Nominated Principal Applicant to an Eligible Canadian Institution as outlined in the CIHR Grants and Awards Guide.