Follow-up report on CIHR’s Implementation of new 8 p.m. cut-off for e-Submission applications to CIHR

(2011-03-24) On January 3, 2011, CIHR implemented an earlier cut-off time of 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) for all ResearchNet e Submission funding opportunities. This change was implemented to provide more sustainable helpdesk support to the research community and to harmonize with other Canadian research funding agencies.

The change in deadline was widely communicated to the research community in advance, using a variety of communications methods, in an effort to reach the largest possible audience and to prevent last minute surprises for applicants.

We are pleased to report that our communications efforts were successful. February 1, 2011 was the first deadline date for two of CIHR's major competitions since the implementation of the new cut-off time - the registration deadline for the Open Operating Grant Program, and the application deadline for the Fellowships Program. For these two competitions, more than 3,300 submissions were received on February 1 (Fellowships applications and Open Operating Grant registrations). Following the deadline cut-off time, CIHR received a total of seven requests to submit late by applicants who had not been aware of the change. All seven requests were approved. These requests were approved on an exceptional basis only, in order to minimize the impact for applicants during implementation of a major process change. No requests were received to submit late to the Open Operating Grant full application deadline because of lack of awareness of the new cut-off time.

In the future, applicants should not expect that their submissions will be accepted after the deadline because of their lack of awareness of the 8:00 pm ET cut-off time.

CIHR continues to seek feedback from the research community on its operations and the impact of changes it makes to its programs, policies and processes as it pursues its mandate. We invite you to send us your questions and comments at Research-News@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.

Pierre Chartrand, PhD
Vice-President, Research Portfolio