Opportunity for Early Career Researchers: Call for expressions of interest
Faculty, Research
By
CIHR
CIHR is pleased to continue to offer an Observer program for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to participate as an observer in the peer review process of the Project Grant: Spring 2019 competition. This program is designed as an opportunity for Early Career Researchers to observe face-to-face peer review committee meetings and gain valuable insights on the review process.
The role of the ECR
Selected ECRs will be invited to observe committee meetings taking place in Ottawa as part of the review process for the Project Grant competition. There will be two ECRs per committee. As observers, the ECRs will not participate in review discussions.
Important dates
The face-to-face meetings will be held in Ottawa in May and June 2019. Exact dates will be confirmed with each selected ECR once they are assigned to a committee. CIHR will cover the travel and hospitality costs for the ECR to attend the committee meeting.
Eligibility
To be eligible to participate in this Observer program, the ECR must be within 60 months of their first independent appointment, as of the application deadline of the Project Grant competition, March 6, 2019.
Candidates who are submitting applications as Nominated Principal Applicant or Principal Applicant in the current Project Grant competition are eligible for this opportunity, but cannot observe the committee that is adjudicating their submission.
ECRs who previously participated in the Observer program for a Project Grant competition are not eligible to participate. ECRs who have submitted an application to the Fall 2018 Observer program are not required to re-submit an application to be considered in Spring 2019. Applicants from the Fall 2018 Observer program will automatically be considered for the Spring 2019 Observer program, if they continue to meet the eligibility criteria.
Please note that participation in this program is not a prerequisite to becoming a reviewer in the future (nor is it a guarantee that an individual will meet the eligibility criteria to become a reviewer at a later date). Also note that this program will help to shape peer review training and mentoring strategies and as such a survey will be issued to all participants at the end of this process.
How to apply
To express your interest in participating in this Observer program, please send an e-mail to support@cihr-irsc.gc.caby February 20, 2019.
In this e-mail, you must include:
Email subject line: Observer program Spring 2019
a PDF of your biosketch Common CV (draft CCVs are not accepted)
a letter from your institution attesting that you meet the criteria to be considered as an early career researcher
the names of two peer review committees—in order of preference—that you would like to observe.
All ECRs expressing interest will be required to complete a CIHR Reviewer Profile. The Reviewer Profile has been developed by the College of Reviewers as a tool to build and support reviewer expertise management.
If there are more than two candidates for a single committee, a lottery approach will be used to select the final candidates.
All individuals who express their interest will be informed of the results on April 15, 2019. Selected candidates will be introduced to the Chair of their committee and given details regarding the peer review meeting they will observe.
Note that application information submitted for this opportunity may be shared with other areas of CIHR for consideration in similar opportunities.
