Evaluate Applications Remotely (Prior to Committee Evaluation)

Peer Review Committees (PRCs) review all funding applications; their assessments are used as the basis for funding recommendations.

Evaluation of Grant Applications

All grant applications - new proposals, renewals of previously funded projects, and resubmissions of unsuccessful new or renewal applications - are treated equally for evaluation; the same criteria and funding cut-offs are applied to all.

The assigned reviewers review applications in reference to the evaluation criteria listed in the funding opportunity details, which vary by program and by funding opportunity. For all grant applications, a standard set of grants evaluation criteria are applied that can be further elaborated by additional factors, as appropriate to the funding opportunity. For additional information, please see Ratings of Grant Applications: Evaluation Criteria in the CIHR Peer Review Manual for Grant Applications.

All PRC members are expected to be familiar with all applications to be assessed by their PRC, as well as with any available external reviewer reports. In the case of renewal or resubmitted applications, PRC members are not provided with copies of previous reviews or applications.

Written evaluations include:

  • A brief synopsis of the proposal
  • An assessment of the proposal (strengths and weaknesses) in relation to the evaluation criteria
  • Comments on issues that should be flagged
  • Comments on the budget requested

Reviewers also provide a numerical rating of the application. To ensure consistency, all reviewers must adhere to a common rating scale. Reviewers rate applications between 0.0 and 4.9; applications with a rating of 3.5 or higher are considered for funding. For additional information, please see Ranking and Rating Scale Meaning and Use.

Prior to the committee meeting, internal reviewers must:

  • Conduct an assessment of overall quality (if applicable)
  • Where applicable, submit their written review, the application rating, and the assessment of overall quality to CIHR using ResearchNet

For more information about the Internal Reviewer Report, please see:

Evaluation of Awards Applications

All applications submitted to a funding opportunity are treated equally for evaluation; the same criteria and funding cut-offs are applied to all. Reviewers evaluate applications in reference to the evaluation criteria listed in the funding opportunity details, which vary by program and by funding opportunity. In most cases, the evaluation of applications is completed in two steps: a remote review followed by final review process to finalize the evaluations.

Please refer to the guide for reviewers specific to the funding opportunity for more information.