What is the Fellowships pilot?
CIHR will use the spring 2013 Fellowships competition to pilot design elements related to the reforms of the open suite of programs and peer review process. The pilot will involve testing the functionality and processes proposed for remote review and asynchronous on-line discussion of applications.
For more information on the reforms to CIHR's open suite of programs, please see Designing for the Future, The New Open Suite of Programs and Peer Review Process.
Why is CIHR conducting this pilot?
CIHR is committed to ensuring that the transition to the new open suite of programs occurs with minimum disruption. The transition will be a multi-year process that will include a number of pilots that will test the key design elements. Given the scope and scale of the proposed changes, and the intention to learn from the results of the pilots, course corrections and adjustments to design details and timelines may be required along the way. As part of this transition, CIHR will pilot key open reforms design elements in the spring 2013 Fellowships competition and in future competitions of other programs.
Why is CIHR conducting this pilot in the Fellowships program instead of a grants program?
Since October 2005, the CIHR open Fellowships program has used review elements that are similar to those of the proposed new open suite of programs (e.g., structured evaluation criteria and remote review). CIHR will build upon these elements currently in place for the Fellowships program to allow appropriate testing and validation to inform the new program design with minimal disruption to competition mechanics.
Future pilots are planned to be conducted with grants programs.
Which modifications will be made to the current review process for the Fellowships program?
An on-line discussion tool will be introduced to allow reviewers to discuss the applications. Furthermore, three reviewers will be assigned to each application instead of two. These enhancements eliminate the need to re-review applications with significant discrepancy between scores at the end of the peer review process.
How will this pilot impact the outcome of my Fellowships application?
All applications to the competition will receive the same high quality review and the pilot will not compromise the fairness and transparency of the review process.
Will the results of the pilot be shared with the research community?
Yes. CIHR is committed to sharing the knowledge gained from this and future pilots with the research community.
