CIHR is transitioning to a new CV template
Message from the Vice-President and Associate Vice-President, Research Programs (Operations)

November 5, 2024

The Presidents of the granting councils recently announced that the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) will be gradually transitioning to a new narrative-style tri-agency CV for our competitions.

CIHR is pleased to share that we will begin gradually transitioning to this new CV format starting with some funding competitions in January 2025. The Spring 2025 Project Grant competition will not be included (CIHR will implement the new CV for the Project Grant program no earlier than the Fall 2025 Project Grant competition.)

We have heard the community loud and clear: Issues with usability meant that the CCV was not a viable long-term solution for applicants and funders. The CCV also includes many different templates depending on the program, which can be burdensome for applicants. The transition to a new CV format complements the work underway on the Tri-agency grants management solution (TGMS), a project to modernize the granting councils’ grants management systems to better support applicants, administrators and reviewers.

The new CV has been piloted by CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC in select funding opportunities. The feedback received from users following these pilots has helped to refine the new CV template to ensure that the data collected is what is needed for peer review and accommodates the diversity of applicants and their contributions. CIHR joins many other funders heading in this direction: Funding agencies such as the US National Institutes of Health and UK Research and Innovation have adopted narrative-style CVs.

The new CV format will allow users flexibility to contextualize the research contributions that best highlight their expertise and impact. With the narrative style, applicants will be able to highlight a wide range of research outputs and to describe their career trajectories in more detail, allowing peer reviewers to get a better sense of the breadth of their contributions. Once all funding opportunities have transitioned to this new CV, there will be only one template, reducing the burden on applicants.

As we begin to transition funding opportunities to the new CV template, which CV to use will be clearly noted in funding opportunities, and users will be provided with clear instructions and learning opportunities to understand how to navigate the new CV.

In December, CIHR will be holding Ask Me Anything webinar sessions, where you will have a chance to ask questions about this and other topics.

Sincerely,

Dr. Christian Baron
Vice-President, Research – Programs

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

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