Project Grant: Overview
The Project Grant program is designed to capture ideas with the greatest potential to advance health-related fundamental or applied knowledge, health research, health care, health systems, and/or health outcomes. It supports research projects proposed and conducted by individual researchers or groups of researchers in all areas of health. The best ideas may stem from new, incremental, innovative, and/or high-risk lines of inquiry or knowledge translation approaches.
The Project Grant program will:
- Support a diverse portfolio of health-related research and knowledge translation projects at any stage, from discovery to application, including commercialization;
- Promote relevant collaborations across disciplines, professions, and sectors; and,
- Contribute to the creation and use of health-related knowledge.
The Project Grant program recognizes the importance of specialized research areas and welcomes and encourages applications:
- focused on global health, or which include international collaborations,
- with a central focus on carrying out meaningful and culturally safe research involving, Indigenous Peoples with the intent to promote health through research that is in keeping with Indigenous values and traditions and follows the TCPS 2 - Chapter 9 Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada guidelines,
- involving a randomized controlled trial (RCT) where appropriate based on scientific and methodological grounds,
- related to commercialization,
- involving interdisciplinary research,
- aligning with specific research areas as outlined in competition-specific Priority Announcements.
There are two Project Grant competitions a year. Refer to the funding opportunity found on ResearchNet for competition deadlines.
Project Grant applications follow a committee-based peer review evaluation process:
- Prior to the committee meeting, expert reviewers will review their assigned applications remotely by focusing on the concept (i.e., significance and impact of the research) and the feasibility (i.e., approaches and methods, and expertise, experience and resources) of the project. For each application assigned to them, reviewers will provide a numerical rating using a common 0-4.9 adjudication scale (4.9 being the highest possible rating).
- At the committee meeting, the same expert reviewers meet to streamline, discuss and rate applications. Their assessments are used as the basis for funding recommendations.
A Notice of Recommendation (NOR), individual reviewer assessments and Scientific Officer notes (if available) will be provided to applicants after the committee meetings. The final results will be provided via the Notice of Decision (NOD). For more information see the Project Grant program funding decision process and Project Grant Notice of Decisions: What do my results mean?
Grant values are proportionate to the requirements of the research proposed and vary depending on the research field, research approach, and scope of project activities.
Within the overall competition budget, a portion will be reserved to ensure that the proportion of grants funded is at least equal to the proportion of applications submitted by early career researchers (ECRs), female applicants and for applicants submitting applications written in French. Should the full amount set aside not be required, all remaining funds will be returned to the Project grant competition to further increase the number of grants funded. Competition processes and peer review for these cohorts will be fully integrated within the competition as a whole with no additional steps being required on the part of the applicant.
Detailed instructions on how to apply are available through the Registration and Application Instructions.
Additional grant information can also be accessed through the following resources:
- CIHR Funding Policies
- Peer Review Manual – Project
- CIHR Application and Administration Guide
- Project Grant Competition FAQs
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