Project Grant: Spring 2021 results

422 grants funded, $325M total investment, 0 bridge grants

The Project Grants: Spring 2021 competition has approved 422 research grants, plus 4 bridge grants, for a total investment of approximately $325MFootnote 1.

In addition, 59 priority announcement grants were funded for a total amount of $9,815,000 and 11 supplemental prizes were awarded for a total of $555,000.

The 422 grants approved were awarded to 416 individual nominated principal investigators (6 NPIs were awarded two grants). Of the 422 grants, 110 were awarded to early career researchers, and 14 were awarded for Indigenous health research projects.

The average grant size/duration is approximately $770,003 over 4.38 years.

Streamlining

Only a portion of the Project Grant applications submitted to a competition will ultimately be funded. It is therefore important for peer review committee members to focus their discussions on the most competitive applications to ensure an accurate comparative evaluation. To help support this goal, a streamlining process is used to remove applications that will not be funded from the discussion process, thereby allowing committee members more time to judge and discriminate between potentially successful applications.

A total of 1098 applications, representing 46.1% of all submitted applications, were streamlined in this competition. Additional details are provided in the tables below.

Province Number of applications submitted Number of applications streamlined Percent of applications streamlined Change from historical (% streamlined) Number of applications discussed Percent of applications discussed Change from historical (% discussed)
British Columbia 296 130 43.9% +7.0pp 166 56.1% -7.0pp
Alberta 255 124 48.6% +7.8pp 131 51.4% -7.8pp
Saskatchewan 36 20 55.6% +0.2pp 16 44.4% -0.2pp
Manitoba 70 38 54.3% +9.3pp 32 45.7% -9.3pp
Ontario 1008 468 46.4% +8.9pp 540 53.6% -8.9pp
Québec 656 285 43.4% +5.0pp 371 56.6% -5.0pp
New Brunswick 4 2 50.0% +3.4pp 2 50.0% -3.4pp
Nova Scotia 42 22 52.4% +11.5pp 20 47.6% -11.5pp
Prince Edward Island 1 1 100.0% +33.3pp 0 0.0% -33.3pp
Newfoundland and Labrador 13 8 61.5% +10.3pp 5 38.5% -10.3pp
Total 2381 1098 46.1% +7.4pp 1283 53.9% -7.4pp
Application Breakdown Number of applications submitted Number of applications streamlined Percent of applications streamlined Change from historical (% streamlined) Number of applications discussed Percent of applications discussed Change from historical (% discussed)
Early career researchers (ECRs) 614 297 48.4% +6.8pp 317 51.6% -6.8pp
Mid-career researchers 896 415 46.3% +9.0pp 481 53.7% -9.0pp
Senior researchers 865 385 44.5% +6.1pp 480 55.5% -6.1pp
Knowledge Users 4 0 0.0% -57.4pp 4 100.0% +57.4pp
Unknown career stage 2 1 50.0% -11.9pp 1 50.0% +11.9pp
Integrated KT 484 241 49.8% +13.3pp 243 50.2% -13.3pp
Researchers who identify as female 867 395 45.6% +8.5pp 472 54.4% -8.5pp
Indigenous Health 28 7 25.0% +21.8pp 21 75.0% -21.8pp
Submitted in French 40 23 57.5% +27.7pp 17 42.5% -27.7pp
Biomedical 1358 630 46.4% +3.9pp 728 53.6% -3.9pp
Clinical 528 236 44.7% +8.1pp 292 55.3% -8.1pp
Health systems/services 239 123 51.5% +14.5pp 116 48.5% -14.5pp
Social/Cultural/Environmental/Population Health 250 107 42.8% +6.2pp 143 57.2% -6.2pp

Geographic breakdown

Province Number of applications submitted Percent of total applications submitted Change from historical (% applications) Number of applications funded Percent of applications funded Change from historical (% funded) Province-specific success rate* Average grant amount Median grant amount
British Columbia 296 12.4% +1.8pp 59 14% +2.8pp 19.9% $775,936 $761,175
Alberta 255 10.7% +0.9pp 45 10.7% +0.3pp 17.6% $739,126 $799,425
Saskatchewan 36 1.5% +0.0pp 6 1.4% +0.5pp 16.7% $1,006,612 $1,028,925
Manitoba 70 2.9% +0.2pp 15 3.6% +0.4pp 21.4% $783,743 $742,050
Ontario 1008 42.3% -5.5pp 170 40.3% -6.5pp 16.9% $790,647 $765,000
Québec 656 27.6% +3.3pp 121 28.7% +4.4pp 18.4% $739,482 $761,175
New Brunswick 4 0.2% -0.1pp 1 0.2% +0.1pp 25% $776,475 $776,475
Nova Scotia 42 1.8% -0.5pp 4 0.9% -1.6pp 9.5% $630,742 $595,935
Prince Edward Island 1 0.0% +0.0pp 0 0.0% 0.0pp 0.0% $0 $0
Newfoundland and Labrador 13 0.5% -0.1pp 1 0.2% -0.4pp 7.7% $918,000 $918,000
Total 2381 100.0% 0.0pp 422 100.0% 0.0pp 17.7% $770,003 $765,000
*The success rate does not include priority announcements or bridge grants.

Note: The applications that were approved conditionally will not appear in the detailed funding decisions database until the conditions have been resolved.

Additional details

Competition results by category
Category Number of applications submitted Percent of total applications submitted Change from historical (% application) Number of applications funded Percent of applications funded Change from historical (% funded) Category-specific success rate* Average grant amount Median grant amount
Early career researchers (ECRs) 614 25.8% +0.8pp 110 26.1% -0.5pp 17.9% $654,996 $702,844
Mid-career investigators 896 37.6% -7.0pp 157 37.2% -7.6pp 17.5% $762,871 $749,700
Senior investigators 865 36.3% +6.2pp 153 36.3% +7.8pp 17.7% $863,629 $849,150
Knowledge Users 4 0.2% 0.0pp 1 0.2% +0.0pp 25% $110,000 $110,000
Unknown career stage 2 0.1% +0.1pp 1 0.2% +0.2pp 50% $875,925 $875,925
Integrated KT 484 20.3% -12.8pp 80 19% -17.6pp 16.5% $669,926 $652,162
Investigators who identify as female 867 36.4% -5.5pp 162 38.4% -5.8pp 18.7% $730,735 $721,012
Indigenous Health 28 1.2% -0.3pp 14 3.3% -1.7pp 50% $1,003,789 $895,050
Submitted in French 40 1.7% +0.1pp 8 1.9% +0.8pp 20% $394,559 $363,375
Biomedical 1358 57% +22.5pp 240 56.9% +25.3pp 17.7% $860,773 $864,450
Clinical 528 22.2% -10.9pp 91 21.6% -12.1pp 17.2% $686,042 $604,350
Health systems/services 239 10% -7.9pp 42 10% -8.2pp 17.6% $551,035 $543,150
Social / Cultural / Environmental / Population Health 250 10.5% -3.8pp 48 11.4% -5.0pp 19.2% $680,679 $529,762
*The success rate does not include priority announcements or bridge grants.
Foundation grant holders

Foundation grant holders

This was the first Project Grant competition to which Foundation Grant holders (specifically, grant holders from the 2014 Foundation Grant competition) were eligible to apply. There were 68 applications from Foundation Grant holders coming from 53 unique applicants. There were 15 funded grants awarded to 15 unique Foundation Grant holders.

Panel Number of unique Foundation Grant holders awarded grants
BCA 0
BMA 1
BMB 1
BME 0
BS2 0
BSA 0
BSB 0
BSC 0
C2 0
CA2 0
CB1 0
CB2 0
CBB 0
CBC 0
CBT 2
CD2 0
CHI 0
CIA 0
CIB 0
CIC 0
CID 0
CMZ 0
CPT 0
CSA 0
CSB 0
CSC 0
CT2 0
DEV 0
DOL 0
E 0
G 1
GMX 0
GSH 0
HDK 1
HLE 0
HPM 0
HS1 0
HS2 0
HS3 0
IHR 0
IT 2
KTR 0
MCC 1
MID 0
MOV 1
MPI 0
NSA 1
NSB 2
NUT 0
PB1 0
PB2 0
PH1 0
PH2 0
PH3 0
PS 0
PT 1
RC1 0
RC2 0
RS 1
SDA 0
VVP 0
Foundation grant holder application pressure

Foundation grant holder application pressure

Figure A: Proportion of applications

Figure A: Long description
PRC Proportion of Foundation applications (%) Number of Foundation applications
GMX 11.1 3
CBT 10.2 5
IT 9.7 6
BMA 9.5 2
BCA 8.9 4
MCC 8.7 4
NSB 8.5 4
DOL 8.1 3
RS 7.7 3
NSA 7.1 4
BMB 6.9 2
G 5.6 2
CSA 5.3 1
CA2 5.1 2
HDK 5.1 2
NUT 5 2
CBB 4.7 2
PH1 4.4 2
CPT 4.2 2
CB1 3 1
PT 2.8 1
BSA 2.6 1
PH3 2.6 1
BSC 2.4 1
BME 2.4 1
CT2 2.4 1
C2 2.3 1
VVP 2.2 1
MOV 2.1 1
MPI 1.8 1
MID 1.7 1
CIA 1.6 1
BS2 0 0
BSB 0 0
CB2 0 0
CBC 0 0
CD2 0 0
CHI 0 0
CIB 0 0
CIC 0 0
CID 0 0
CMZ 0 0
CSB 0 0
CSC 0 0
DEV 0 0
E 0 0
GSH 0 0
HLE 0 0
HPM 0 0
HS1 0 0
HS2 0 0
HS3 0 0
IHR 0 0
KTR 0 0
PB1 0 0
PB2 0 0
PH2 0 0
PS 0 0
RC1 0 0
RC2 0 0
SDA 0 0

Figure B: Proportion of fully funded grants

Figure B: Long description
PRC Proportion of fully funded Foundation grants (%) Number of fully funded Foundation grants
GMX 0 0
CBT 25 2
IT 18.2 2
BMA 25 1
BCA 0 0
MCC 11.1 1
NSB 22.2 2
DOL 0 0
RS 16.7 1
NSA 10 1
BMB 20 1
G 16.7 1
CSA 0 0
CA2 0 0
HDK 16.7 1
NUT 0 0
CBB 0 0
PH1 0 0
CPT 0 0
CB1 0 0
PT 14.3 1
BSA 0 0
PH3 0 0
BSC 0 0
BME 0 0
CT2 0 0
C2 0 0
VVP 0 0
MOV 12.5 1
MPI 0 0
MID 0 0
CIA 0 0
BS2 0 0
BSB 0 0
CB2 0 0
CBC 0 0
CD2 0 0
CHI 0 0
CIB 0 0
CIC 0 0
CID 0 0
CMZ 0 0
CSB 0 0
CSC 0 0
DEV 0 0
E 0 0
GSH 0 0
HLE 0 0
HPM 0 0
HS1 0 0
HS2 0 0
HS3 0 0
IHR 0 0
KTR 0 0
PB1 0 0
PB2 0 0
PH2 0 0
PS 0 0
RC1 0 0
RC2 0 0
SDA 0 0
Voting behaviour for foundation grantees

Voting behaviour for foundation grantees

i. Preliminary scores

Applications from foundation holders received significantly higher preliminary scores (p < 0.001).

Figure A: Preliminary scores (Histogram)
Figure A: Long description
FDN_holder bin count
non-FDN 0 2
non-FDN 0.257894736842105 0
non-FDN 0.515789474 0
non-FDN 0.773684211 0
non-FDN 1.031578947 3
non-FDN 1.289473684 0
non-FDN 1.547368421 5
non-FDN 1.805263158 1
non-FDN 2.063157895 21
non-FDN 2.321052632 5
non-FDN 2.578947368 46
non-FDN 2.836842105 73
non-FDN 3.094736842 261
non-FDN 3.352631579 352
non-FDN 3.610526316 943
non-FDN 3.868421053 1319
non-FDN 4.126315789 1767
non-FDN 4.384210526 1517
non-FDN 4.642105263 543
non-FDN 4.9 75
FDN 0 0
FDN 0.257894737 0
FDN 0.515789474 0
FDN 0.773684211 0
FDN 1.031578947 0
FDN 1.289473684 0
FDN 1.547368421 0
FDN 1.805263158 0
FDN 2.063157895 0
FDN 2.321052632 0
FDN 2.578947368 0
FDN 2.836842105 1
FDN 3.094736842 1
FDN 3.352631579 3
FDN 3.610526316 7
FDN 3.868421053 32
FDN 4.126315789 52
FDN 4.384210526 52
FDN 4.642105263 42
FDN 4.9 14
Figure B: Preliminary scores (B&W)
Figure B: Long description
FDN_holder median Q1 Q3 min_whisker max_whisker
FDN 4.3 4.1 4.6 3.8 4.8
non-FDN 4.2 4 4.4 3.4 4.8

ii. Consensus scores

Applications from foundation holders received significantly higher consensus scores (p < 0.001).

Note: Applications that did not receive a consensus score were not included in this analysis.

Figure C: Consensus scores (Histogram)
Figure C: Long description
FDN_holder bin count
non-FDN 2.9 1
non-FDN 3 0
non-FDN 3.1 0
non-FDN 3.2 4
non-FDN 3.3 2
non-FDN 3.4 15
non-FDN 3.5 13
non-FDN 3.6 11
non-FDN 3.7 29
non-FDN 3.8 54
non-FDN 3.9 138
non-FDN 4 127
non-FDN 4.1 122
non-FDN 4.2 140
non-FDN 4.3 156
non-FDN 4.4 144
non-FDN 4.5 125
non-FDN 4.6 98
non-FDN 4.7 45
non-FDN 4.8 10
FDN 2.9 0
FDN 3 0
FDN 3.1 0
FDN 3.2 0
FDN 3.3 0
FDN 3.4 0
FDN 3.5 0
FDN 3.6 0
FDN 3.7 0
FDN 3.8 2
FDN 3.9 1
FDN 4 3
FDN 4.1 9
FDN 4.2 2
FDN 4.3 9
FDN 4.4 7
FDN 4.5 3
FDN 4.6 2
FDN 4.7 6
FDN 4.8 5
Figure D: Consensus scores (B&W)
Figure D: Long description
FDN_holder median Q1 Q3 min_whisker max_whisker
FDN 4.3 4.1 4.6 3.8 4.8
non-FDN 4.2 4 4.4 3.4 4.8

iii. Vote: Voted scores

Applications from foundation holders received significantly higher voted scores (p < 0.001).

Figure E: Voted scores (Histogram)
Figure E: Long description
FDN_holder bin count
non-FDN 0 1
non-FDN 0.257894737 0
non-FDN 0.515789474 0
non-FDN 0.773684211 0
non-FDN 1.031578947 0
non-FDN 1.289473684 0
non-FDN 1.547368421 3
non-FDN 1.805263158 1
non-FDN 2.063157895 19
non-FDN 2.321052632 4
non-FDN 2.578947368 44
non-FDN 2.836842105 101
non-FDN 3.094736842 385
non-FDN 3.352631579 714
non-FDN 3.610526316 2269
non-FDN 3.868421053 3825
non-FDN 4.126315789 6349
non-FDN 4.384210526 5655
non-FDN 4.642105263 2184
non-FDN 4.9 538
FDN 0 0
FDN 0.257894737 0
FDN 0.515789474 0
FDN 0.773684211 0
FDN 1.031578947 0
FDN 1.289473684 0
FDN 1.547368421 0
FDN 1.805263158 0
FDN 2.063157895 0
FDN 2.321052632 0
FDN 2.578947368 0
FDN 2.836842105 1
FDN 3.094736842 1
FDN 3.352631579 10
FDN 3.610526316 23
FDN 3.868421053 89
FDN 4.126315789 271
FDN 4.384210526 229
FDN 4.642105263 125
FDN 4.9 80
Figure F: Voted scores (B&W)
Figure F: Long description
FDN_holder median Q1 Q3 min_whisker max_whisker
FDN 4.3 4.1 4.5 3.5 4.9
non-FDN 4.1 3.9 4.4 3.2 4.9

iii. Vote: Proportion of votes

Applications from foundation holders did not receive a significantly higher proportion of votes (i.e., individual scores > than the consensus.

Note: Applications that did not receive a consensus score were not included in this analysis.

Figure G: Proportion of votes (Histogram)
Figure G: Long description
FDN_holder bin count
non-FDN 9.56937799 2
non-FDN 14.35406699 4
non-FDN 19.13875598 5
non-FDN 23.92344498 4
non-FDN 28.70813397 11
non-FDN 33.49282297 24
non-FDN 38.27751196 29
non-FDN 43.06220096 43
non-FDN 47.84688995 68
non-FDN 52.63157895 47
non-FDN 57.41626794 66
non-FDN 62.20095694 111
non-FDN 66.98564593 134
non-FDN 71.77033493 129
non-FDN 76.55502392 136
non-FDN 81.33971292 121
non-FDN 86.12440191 110
non-FDN 90.90909091 80
non-FDN 95.6937799 58
non-FDN 100.4784689 52
FDN 9.56937799 0
FDN 14.35406699 0
FDN 19.13875598 0
FDN 23.92344498 0
FDN 28.70813397 1
FDN 33.49282297 3
FDN 38.27751196 2
FDN 43.06220096 1
FDN 47.84688995 0
FDN 52.63157895 1
FDN 57.41626794 1
FDN 62.20095694 6
FDN 66.98564593 6
FDN 71.77033493 7
FDN 76.55502392 5
FDN 81.33971292 3
FDN 86.12440191 1
FDN 90.90909091 4
FDN 95.6937799 3
FDN 100.4784689 5
Figure H: Proportion of votes (B&W)
Figure H: Long description
FDN_holder median Q1 Q3 min_whisker max_whisker
FDN 71.42857143 61.11111111 85.71428571 28.57142857 100
non-FDN 71.42857143 60 83.33333333 25 100

iii. Vote: Difference from consensus score

The difference between the consensus and voted scores was not different for applications from foundation holders (p > 0.05). 

Note: Applications that did not receive a consensus score were not included in this analysis.

Figure I: Difference from consensus score (Histogram)
Figure I: Long description
FDN_holder bin count
non-FDN -0.444444444 690
non-FDN -0.333333333 497
non-FDN -0.222222222 796
non-FDN -0.111111111 980
non-FDN 0 1230
non-FDN 0.111111111 801
non-FDN 0.222222222 532
non-FDN 0.333333333 294
non-FDN 0.444444444 315
FDN -0.444444444 23
FDN -0.333333333 17
FDN -0.222222222 29
FDN -0.111111111 40
FDN 0 49
FDN 0.111111111 36
FDN 0.222222222 14
FDN 0.333333333 6
FDN 0.444444444 4
Figure J: Difference from consensus score (B&W)
Figure J: Long description
FDN_holder median Q1 Q3 min_whisker max_whisker
FDN -0.05 -0.2 0.1 -0.5 0.5
non-FDN 0 -0.2 0.1 -0.5 0.5

iv. Final scores

Applications from foundation holders received significantly higher final scores (p < 0.01)

Figure K: Final scores (Histogram)
Figure K: Long description
FDN_holder bin count
non-FDN 1.652631579 1
non-FDN 1.817894737 0
non-FDN 1.983157895 1
non-FDN 2.148421053 0
non-FDN 2.313684211 0
non-FDN 2.478947368 7
non-FDN 2.644210526 4
non-FDN 2.809473684 16
non-FDN 2.974736842 13
non-FDN 3.14 42
non-FDN 3.305263158 94
non-FDN 3.470526316 147
non-FDN 3.635789474 244
non-FDN 3.801052632 419
non-FDN 3.966315789 429
non-FDN 4.131578947 306
non-FDN 4.296842105 235
non-FDN 4.462105263 204
non-FDN 4.627368421 132
non-FDN 4.792631579 19
FDN 1.652631579 0
FDN 1.817894737 0
FDN 1.983157895 0
FDN 2.148421053 0
FDN 2.313684211 0
FDN 2.478947368 0
FDN 2.644210526 0
FDN 2.809473684 0
FDN 2.974736842 0
FDN 3.14 0
FDN 3.305263158 0
FDN 3.470526316 1
FDN 3.635789474 3
FDN 3.801052632 5
FDN 3.966315789 16
FDN 4.131578947 11
FDN 4.296842105 12
FDN 4.462105263 7
FDN 4.627368421 7
FDN 4.792631579 6
Figure L: Final scores (B&W)
Figure L: Long description
FDN_holder median Q1 Q3 min_whisker max_whisker
FDN 4.125 4 4.39 3.43 4.81
non-FDN 3.94 3.73 4.23 3 4.8

Large grants awarded

Large grants are defined as being in the top 2% of total requested grant value within a competition. In this competition, the cutoff for large grants was $2,340,000. A total of 47 applications fell into this category. A budget of $16.25M was available to fund those applications that are not from the Indigenous Health Research (IHR) panel. Large grants from the IHR panel are funded by IHR funds.

Category Number of applications Percent of total applications submitted Number of applications funded Percent of applications funded Success rate* Average grant amount Maximum grant amount
All large grants 47 2% 7 1.7% 14.9% $2,819,571 $4,639,725
Non-IHR large grants 42 1.8% 5 1.2% 11.9% $3,178,575 $4,639,725
*The success rate does not include priority announcements or bridge grants.

Equalization

In order to ensure equal representation of certain demographics in the funded projects, we equalize the success rates for these groups. That means that the proportion of funded grants awarded to these groups is at least equal to the proportion of applications from these groups.

Early Career Researchers

The success rate for early career researchers (ECRs) is equalized. This means that the proportion of ECRs funded will not be less than the proportion of ECR applicants to the competition. This equalization is for the competition as a whole, not by committee.

The total number of fully funded projects for applicants in this career stage went from 90 (before equalization) to 110 (after equalization).

Indigenous Health Research

Based on the recommendation of the review committee, 14 Indigenous health research projects were awarded funding. CIHR is proud to support these projects as part of its commitment to invest 4.6% of its annual budget in Indigenous health research.

French applications

The success rate for applications submitted in French is equalized. This means that the proportion of French applications funded will not be less than the proportion of French applications to the competition. This equalization is for the competition as a whole, not by committee.

The total number of fully funded projects for applications in French went from 4 (before equalization) to 8 (after equalization).

Female applicants

The success rate for female applicants is equalized. This means that the proportion of female applicants funded will not be less than the proportion of female applicants to the competition. This equalization is for the competition as a whole, not by committee.

Female applicants did not require equalization in this competition so no direct action was taken to improve their success rate.

Bridge Grants and Priority Announcements

In addition to the 422 fully funded grants there were also 4 Bridge Grants totaling $400,000. There were 59 Priority Announcement grants funded for a total of $9,815,000 as well as 11 supplemental prizes for a total of $555,000.

Budget Size and Project Length

Category Average total budget Change from historical (total budget) Average duration (years) Change from historical (duration) Average annual amount Change from historical (annual amount)
All Requests $951,900 -$5,741 4.22 +0.22 $221,352 -$12,668
Funded applications (requested) $1,028,092 +$8,801 4.38 +0.31 $229,534 -$14,412
Funded applications (awarded) $770,003 +$17,205 4.38 +0.32 $172,332 -$8,625

Peer Review

Details about the Project Grant: Spring 2021 Peer review participants are available separately.

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