CIHR COVID-19 Update As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, CIHR has made the decision to cancel the Spring 2020 Project Grant Competition: "CIHR made the decision to cancel the spring competition following consultations with Governing Council, Science Council, partners at the U-15, Universities Canada, HealthCareCAN, and the University Delegates Network, among others. While the decision to cancel the competition was a difficult one, our priority right now is to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the health and safety of our staff and the research community." Read the full message from CIHR To support researchers effected by the cancellation, CIHR has made the following commitments:
- Financially extend all existing investigator-initiated research grants (Project Grants, Foundation Grants and Open Operating Grants) scheduled to expire between June 30, 2020 and March 30, 2021, for one year, should the grantee forgo applying to the Fall 2020 competition.
- Financially extend all bridge grants provided to Nominated Principal Investigators (NPIs) in the Fall 2019 Project Grant competition, if they applied to the Spring 2020 competition. Researchers are permitted to take the extension and still apply this fall.
- NPAs from the Spring 2020 Project Grant competition will be given the option to bring their submission forward automatically to the Fall 2020 Project Grant competition, including the ability to provide a one-page supplement for additional support data or publications. NPAs will also have the option to withdraw their application and resubmit a new or updated application to the Fall competition.
More broadly, CIHR is considering measures to help the health research community weather the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic. The following measures will be implemented immediately:
- An automatic one-year extension to the authority-to-use-funds date for all active grants. This will give researchers an additional full year to use any residual funds not yet spent to compensate for disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- CIHR will place a moratorium on all existing and any new strategic/institute-driven funding opportunities during the next three months. The exception is that any funding competitions related to COVID-19 will continue to go forward.
CIHR will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves, and stands ready to take more action as needed to help mitigate any impacts and delays caused by COVID-19. Read the full FAQ on the CIHR website The University of Calgary recognizes the disruption and challenges that will arise as a result of this decision. Research Services is working with CIHR on extensions being offered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and further information on these accommodations will be upcoming. The Office of the Vice-President (Research) and Research Services are in frequent contact with CIHR, and will continue to update our researchers as announcements are made. Additional information for UCalgary researchers is available on the COVID-19 Response: Guidance for Researchers webpage. If you have questions on how to manage your research program following this announcement, please contact Anna LeMarquand, Senior Research Grants Officer. |
