Update to Notice of Recommendation and Notice of Decision templates for the Project Grant competition
Message from the Vice-President and Associate Vice-President, Research Programs (Operations)

November 12, 2024

Dear colleagues,

  • With this updated template, applicants will be able to see the zone in which their application ranks, rather than their specific ranking. This NOD is a sample document for demonstration purposes only and does not represent the actual results of any application submitted to CIHR.

Notices of Recommendation (NORs) and Notices of Decision (NODs) will be released in January for the Fall 2024 Project Grant competition, and, starting with this competition, CIHR is updating the way we present application results.

With this updated template for NORs and NODs, applicants will be able to see the zone in which their application ranks (e.g., in the bottom 25%, between 25% and 50%, between 50% and 75%, between 75% and 90%, or 90% and above), rather than their specific ranking.

Providing an application’s individual rank has led to some confusion when applicants are deciphering their results, such as the perception that some applications are skipped when other grants are equalized – that is, the process that ensures that grants funded are proportional to applications received from groups known to experience barriers within the health research funding system.

As we continue to enhance our processes, CIHR has taken the opportunity to revisit the information that is presented in NORs and NODs. The intent is to remove elements that have sometimes created confusion and improve the overall readability of our documentation. In doing so, CIHR is also able to better protect the privacy and self-identification information of investigators, particularly in instances where the committee sizes are smaller.

We understand that some applicants will want to know their exact ranking, but we believe that peer review notes coupled with their percent rank zone will provide investigators with sufficient feedback on the relative strength of their applications while eliminating the potential to discern the self-identification information of their peers.

CIHR is hosting webinars on December 4 and 5, 2024, to answer your questions about this change.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, we invite you to reach out to CIHR’s Contact Centre.

Sincerely,

Dr. Christian Baron
Vice-President, Research – Programs

Adrian Mota
Associate Vice-President, Research – Programs (Operations)

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