FAQs

General

MSFHR-Specific

CIHR-Specific

General

Where can I find help with my grant proposal?
You can request grant development and/or internal review and you can refer to the documents in the grantsmanship section.

What is Grant Development (GD)?
GD is a service provided by the Faculty of Medicine to help researchers prepare their grant proposals. It is mandatory for new-new investigators and all personnel awards, and strongly encouraged for all investigators. Please see the grant development section for further information and contacts.

What is Internal Review (IR)? And who must use it?
IR is a service provided by SPARC that enables investigators to have their grant proposal reviewed by UBC experts prior to submission to the agency. For grant competitions, IR is mandatory for new-new investigators and strongly encouraged for all other investigators. For scholarship competitions, IR is mandatory for ALL applicants. Please see the Internal Review section for deadlines and contact information.

Why should I use IR and GD if I don’t have to?
When the suggested revisions are taken into consideration, both IR and GD can help to improve a proposal, thereby increasing the chance that your grant will be funded. It is important to ensure that the submitted grant is free of errors, is logical and clear, and is easy for the reviewer to read and understand – IR and GD are services in place to help you meet these objectives.

What is a "New-new" investigator?
Researchers in the Faculty of Medicine who have been appointed to the Assistant or Clinical Assistant Professor level within the past five years (or who are currently Research Associates or Fellows expecting to take up positions at the Assistant or Clinical Assistant Professor levels) and who do not currently hold peer-reviewed, full operating grant funds (i.e. not bridge funding) from a major provincial or federal granting agency are classified as "New-news".

What is peer-reviewed funding?
Funding from any major granting agency where committees of expert peers review proposals and decide which grants to fund.

What is Policy 87?
Holders of UBC research and trust accounts must be members of the permanent academic staff, normally those appointments at the rank of Assistant Professor or higher. Accounts may be opened for Lecturers or Research Associates at the specific request of the Dean, who confirms that the term of the member's appointment covers the full term of the grant or contract. Accounts will not be opened for Post Doctoral or other Fellows, students or visitors.

If I don’t have an academic appointment as Assistant Professor or higher, can I be a PI?
No, according to Policy 87, to hold a grant at UBC one must have a minimum rank of Assistant or Clinical Assistant Professor. You can however be a Co-Applicant or a Collaborator.

With a clinical rank, am I eligible to hold a grant at UBC?
Clinical Faculty are eligible to hold operating grants and contract awards but not salary-support/scholarship awards. To receive a salary award, your Department Head must commit to a Grant Tenure or Tenure Track appointment. The Request for Dean's Approval Form must be completed in full by your Department Head.

Do I need a grant application cover sheet?
The grant application cover sheet is a Faculty of Medicine requirement. Every grant submitted must have a cover sheet attached. ALL of the fields must be filled out correctly and the cover sheet must be signed appropriately. Grants submitted with incomplete or missing cover sheets will not be processed.

What signatures do I need on my grant application?
The PI, Department Head, and the Associate Dean, Research, in that order, must sign. Where appropriate, alternates may sign on behalf of your Department Head and/or the Associate Dean, Research (see Signing Authorities document.) After your application goes through the Faculty of Medicine, it must go to the Office of Research Services (ORS), or an ORS representative, to receive a final signature. Please note that all salary support applications must be signed by the Dean of Medicine.

Do I need to get signatures for a registration package or a Letter of Intent (LOI)?
You need to follow the same signatory procedures for LOIs that carry funds with them as for full applications, but registration packages do not require signatures.

Do I need IR or GD for a Letter of Intent or registration package?
A registration package does not require IR or GD. However, while an LOI does not need to go through IR, we may provide GD depending on our priorities and availability at the time. You can contact a grant development officer to inquire.

How do I transfer my grant funding to UBC?
Please refer to the FAQ at ORS' website, located here.

What and where is ORS?
ORS is the Office of Research Services, which deals with all grant administration for UBC. Any grants submitted through any faculty, must also go through ORS. When grants are submitted, they must first go through the Faculty of Medicine, Dean’s Office (or through the proper channels at the hospital sites) then to ORS. There is an ORS representative at VGH that will sign on behalf of ORS for off-campus applicants. ORS is located on Agronomy Rd and East Mall in the Technology Enterprise Facility.

If I am a Co-PI on a grant application at a different University, what process do I need to follow?
A Faculty of Medicine Cover Sheet is required to be completed by you (as though you were the PI) and attached to a signed copy of the original application that has been completed by the PI.

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MSFHR-Specific

What are the MSFHR funding programs?
MSFHR has Personnel Programs: the Career Investigator Program (Scholar and Senior Scholar levels); and the Research Trainee Program, and Infrastructure Programs: the Research Unit and Team Infrastructure Program; the Networking Infrastructure Program; and the Institutional Infrastructure Program. The programs have different requirements. For further details, visit www.msfhr.org.

What is the Career Investigator Program and how much funding can I receive?
The Career Investigator Program provides partial salary contributions and Establishment Grants to eligible researchers. There are two award categories: Scholars receive $80,000 per year for six years, inclusive of benefits; and Senior Scholars receive $100,000 per year for five years, inclusive of benefits.

What are the requirements for a Scholar Award versus a Senior Scholar Award?
For the Scholar Award, applicants must have less than five years of independent research experience and for the Senior Scholar Award, applicants must have less than ten years of independent research experience. For other requirements see www.msfhr.org.

What if I already have a salary award from another major funding agency?
Recipients of other peer-reviewed salary awards are eligible to receive top-up and incentive funding for the duration of the MSFHR Award or to the end of the other peer-reviewed award, whichever comes first. If the value of the other peer-reviewed award is less than the value of the MSFHR award, the award recipient is eligible for a top-up to the MSFHR award category in which they are funded. Award recipients are also eligible to receive an incentive award which is 30% of the value of the other peer-reviewed award to a maximum of $15,000 per year, inclusive of benefits.

What is the Career Investigator Program LOI and why must I submit one?
For the Career Investigator Program, a letter of intent must be submitted one month before the full application. This allows MSFHR to confirm applicant eligibility. If you miss this deadline, you cannot submit a grant application for that competition.

What is an Establishment Grant?
An Establishment Grant is a one-time, non-renewable grant linked to the Career Investigator awards and supplemental to the host institution's commitment to provide appropriate start-up funds and infrastructure support for the researchers.

What is a Common CV?
There are two types of MSFHR Common CVs: Abbreviated and Full. See www.msfhr.org for details.

What are the major formatting rules for MSFHR?
The margins should be 1" all around and the text should be single-spaced, Arial (regular), 11 point. The page limit is ten for Scholars and five for Senior Scholars and one appendix is allowed. All references, figures, charts, tables, photos, list of your publications, consent forms, questionnaires, and letters of collaboration must be combined into a single file, converted into a PDF, and attached to your MSFHR ApplyNet account as Appendix 1.

Can I insert figures, tables, charts, and photos in the text section of my grant proposal?
You should include these items in the appendix.

What should go in the header and footer?
In the header include your name and your ApplyNet email address. In the footer include the page number.

When is the Career Investigator Awarded? Funding start?
Scholar and Senior Scholar awards must be taken up within twelve (12) months of the date of offer, July 1.

What goes in the Dean’s Letter?
For Scholar and Senior Scholar applicants, the Dean's letter should offer the following appraisal:

  • potential for innovative independent research
  • major research accomplishments
  • ability to contribute collaboratively to multi-disciplinary or ongoing departmental research
  • leadership qualities exhibited locally, nationally and internationally
  • involvement, potential or demonstrated, in training of researchers
  • use of funds that will be freed up due to a MSFHR Career award

For Senior Scholar applicants only, a statement is required confirming commitment of an additional five years of salary support, comparable to a MSFHR Senior Scholar award, after the completion of the Senior Scholar award.

How does my Dean's letter get submitted to MSFHR?
As of 2011, a member of the Research Office will upload your Dean's Letter as part of your application on ApplyNet before the deadline. Keep in mind that the Dean cannot approve your application until both you and your Department Head have approved your respective sections.

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CIHR-Specific

What font type and size can I use for my attachment pages?
Times New Roman, 12 point, is the preferred font and type. You cannot use a condensed type, nor should you use condensed line spacing. You must use a minimum of six lines per inch.

What margins can I use for my attachment pages?
A minimum margin of 2 cm (3/4 inch) margins, all the way around, is mandatory.

Can I add extra pages if I run out of space?
No, pages beyond the maximum will be removed from the package and thrown away. For Operating Grants the maximum is 11 pages for one or two applicants and 13 pages for three or more applicants. Programs other than the Operating Grant Program often have different requirements, so please check the CIHR guidelines.

What do I put in my headers/footers?
On each page, your header must include the PI’s name, the project title, the amount requested for year one, and the section title (e.g. research proposal). At the bottom, you must have your pages numbered with the attachment page number and letters to represent each page (e.g. the research module is numbered as 12a, 12b, 12c, etc).

What is an RFA or a Priority Announcement?
RFAs and Priority Announcements are CIHR Strategic Initiatives. RFAs are Request for Applications, which are funding opportunities launched twice per year (with additional opportunities often announced at other times) that are separate from the regular competitions. RFAs are generally not repeated annually, but are unique funding opportunities that relate to the CIHR priorities. Priority Announcements are additional funding opportunities that are available when applying for an Operating Grant. If a proposal is not funded through the OG competition, but falls within the fundable range, it may be funded by the institutes when extra funds are available. An applicant is able to choose up to three PA’s (which are announced prior to the competition) when submitting their OG proposal that they could be considered for if the OG is not awarded.

What are the CIHR Pillars?
CIHR maintains a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses research over four general themes, or pillars. The four pillars are biomedical, clinical, health systems and services, and population and public health.

What are the CIHR institutes?
There are 13 virtual institutes that make up the structure of CIHR. These are not buildings or physical structures, but networks of researchers grouped into specific areas of concern to the health of Canadians. The individual institutes often fund grants through RFAs and Priority Announcements.

If I am collaborating with an investigator at another institution, but I am the PI, does the representative of the other institution need to register with CIHR as well?
No, only the PI needs to send in the registration package. The other investigator is listed on the grant and a CV is generally required at some stage of the application process.

What is the best format for my research module?
Make sure to use clear headings and subheadings, with important points emphasized (e.g. by using bold or italics). Make sure to keep space between paragraphs and be consistent. Your background should not be too long (two pages is usually sufficient) and your hypothesis(es) and specific aim(s) should be on the first (ideally) or second page, and emphasized somehow. Please refer to the grantsmanship section for documents with additional information.

If I am applying for a CIHR New Investigator Award, what do I need to do?
You need to make sure you go through Internal Review – contact SPARC for this (see internal review section) - and Grant Development - contact Elizabeth Cheur (see grant development section). You will need to submit all required documents for salary awards. You must follow the New Investigator Application Timeline set forth on the website. Researchers who fail to submit their grants for internal review and grant development may be denied sign-off approval by the Faculty of Medicine.

Can I submit the same application to two different CIHR competitions simultaneously?
No, you cannot have two applications in at the same time because two different review committees cannot be reviewing the same application. You must have an application back from the review committee before you can submit it to another competition.

Where do I submit my CIHR Response to an Offer of Award form for signature?
All CIHR Response to an Offer of Award forms should be submitted to the Research Secretary in the Dean’s Office for the Dean’s signature. Please also include the Offer of an Award and Awards Notice of Decision documents.

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