Important Dates

QHS Internal Review Process for CIHR Project Grant (Fall 2022)

Improving CIHR success rates is a priority for Queen’s Health Sciences, and requires a proactive and iterative approach.  The QHS Internal Review Process is a faculty-wide initiative that leverages the expertise of internal and external reviewers to provide high quality feedback on new applications and resubmissions. 

Registration is open for the CIHR Project Grant (Fall 2022) competition.  Principal Investigators can suggest internal and external reviewers for this 2-stage process:

Phase 1 Project Pitch Session: PI pitches the grant idea and preliminary data in a virtual meeting (May/June)

Phase 2 Full Application Review: PI receives written feedback on a draft of the grant, and meets virtually with reviewers to discuss feedback (July/Aug)

The registration deadline is May 10, 2022: click to register

Please see the attached flowchart for guidance on where grants should begin in the review process, and Terms of Reference for full details.

Please note:

• On average, grants reviewed in the process have higher success rates for receiving CIHR funding. See testimonials from recent participants below.
• Everyone submitting a Project Grant is encouraged to register, including those awaiting results from the Spring competition. PIs within the first 10 years of their academic appointment are expected to participate.
• Faculty members who do not participate will be ineligible for any available bridge funding.

Thank you for your engagement with this process.

Sincerely,

Stephen Scott, Stephen Vanner, Andrew Craig, Jenny Robinson

Testimonials from Past Participants

“The internal review process dramatically accelerated the timeline for my grant getting funded. The Phase I meeting was the most critical step in this process and prompted a major restructuring of my grant, which was critical to the ultimate success of my proposal. I am certain that my grant would not have been successful without my participation in the internal review process.”

“The internal grant review process was highly beneficial to us. The initial feedback we got indicated that we didn't have the right pitch to our grant. So we took that feedback and made some changes to our pitch. This really helped frame the overall theme of our grant and was highly important to us being successful.” ~Ranked #1 in Panel

“Prior to the QHS internal grant review process my CIHR applications were just not hitting the bar. I’ll admit the internal review process was difficult to stomach and hard on the ego, but getting honest feedback from supportive colleagues made all the difference in my application….which was finally funded after too many tries to mention” ~Ranked #2 in Panel

Vice Principal (Research) information & resources: 

Visit the Queen’s University Vice-Principal (Research) website for additional information and resources on the CIHR Project Grant Competitions.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant Program information: 

Visit the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant Program for up-to-date information from CIHR. 

Mihran and Mary Basmajian Award for Excellence in Health Research

Congratulations to Dr. Kerstin de Wit, recipient of the 2021/2022 Basmajian Award!

Nominations and Applications for the 2022/2023 Basmajian Award will be accepted in the spring of 2023.

At the beginning of each calendar year nominations are invited from Department Heads, Schools Directors and Health Sciences faculty members for the Mihran and Mary Basmajian Award for Excellence in Biomedical/Health Research (the “Basmajian Award”).

The Basmajian Award was established by Dr. John Basmajian, former Head of the Department of Anatomy at Queen’s University, over four decades ago in honour and memory of his parents, Mihran and Mary Basmajian. The Award is given to full-time member or members of the Faculty of Health Sciences with a maximum of eight years of independent research experience, and who are judged to have made the most meritorious contributions to health research during the previous year or several years.

The Basmajian Award is the only award given by the Faculty of Health Sciences faculty that recognizes colleagues for their excellence in health research. The award consists of a bronze medal, an inscribed piece of silver plate, and a contribution to the recipient’s research funding in the amount of $5,000.  In addition to the above, an award presentation, public lecture and reception will be organized in the Fall for the recipient(s).

Terms of Reference

The Basmajian Award is made annually according to the following terms of reference:

1. The award shall be made to a full-time faculty member (or two working as a team) of the Faculty of Health Sciences who as of December 31 of the previous year has a maximum of eight years of independent research experience (this could be eight consecutive years from the time of first academic appointment or eight years of total independent research) and who has made the most meritorious contributions to health research during the previous year or several years.
2. The person (or persons) shall be selected by the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences on the recommendation of the Research Advisory Committee of the Faculty of Health Sciences.
3. If no suitable candidate should qualify in any year, the income shall be added to the capital.

Evaluation and Adjudication

Basmajian Award nominations are reviewed by the Research Advisory Committee and adjudicated on the following criteria:

1. Novelty and quality of the research program.
2. Research productivity, based on the quality of original research articles published in reputable peer-reviewed journals.
3. National/international recognition of the research program:
   a) peer-reviewed funding by external granting agencies;
   b) invited scientific presentations/review articles;
   c) collaborative research.
4. Quality of the research training program.

Nomination Package

Nominations may be made by any Department Head or any member of the Faculty of Health Sciences. It is recommended that the nomination come with the knowledge and support of the Department Head. The nomination package should include:

1. nomination letter.
2. an up-to-date cv:  Submit either the Common CV, using the CIHR Academic template (preferred), or the attached CVForm.docx
3. no more than three letters of support: at least one external letter from someone knowledgeable in the nominee’s field of work, and no letters from former supervisors.
4. no more than three of the nominee's publications.

Additional Information will be removed from the package.

The nomination packages are to be addressed to:

Faculty of Health Sciences Research Office
Queen’s University
Suite 300-CRI, 10 Stuart Street
Kingston, ON K7L 3N6

Send documents in electronic format (pdf/word) by email to QHS_Research@queensu.ca.

Questions or concerns can be addressed to qhs_research@queensu.ca, or by phone 613-533-6627.

The School of Medicine offers eligible new faculty members one-time research start-up funding of $30,000, referred to as a Research Initiation Grant (RIG).  RIGs are available to new faculty who have a minimum 40% protected time for research with the following types of appointments:

• Tenure-track or renewable term appointments,
• Appointments with Tenure,
• Special Geographically Full-time appointments of three (3) years or longer,
• Special Appointments (as defined in the prevailing Collective Agreement; currently Article 25.1.4.3 Collective Agreement 2019-2022) of three (3) years or longer.

The RIG program is not intended to replace applications to internal or external research granting agencies but rather, is intended to provide funding at the start of an appointment when grant monies have typically not begun to flow. 

Clinical Department heads make the request for a RIG on the Hospital Impact Form for new clinical appointees meeting the protected time criteria.  Heads of basic science and health services departments make their request on the QUFA/Adjunct Appointment Routing Sheet.  Individual departments within the School of Medicine may wish to increase the value of the RIG using their own departmental operating funds. 

RIG eligibility and the amount available will be communicated in the offer of appointment from the Provost/Vice-Principal Academic.  New faculty members who are eligible must apply for the funding within the first year of an appointment or the offer of the RIG will be withdrawn.  The new faculty member will be provided with the guidelines and instructions for submitting a RIG proposal shortly after the appointment starts. 

Once a RIG project is approved all expenditures must be in support of the proposed research project, and are subject to all relevant Queen's University policies, regulations and guidelines (Research Administration Policy; Queen’s Travel and Expense Reimbursement Policy; Hospitality Policy; Policy on Approval and Execution of Contracts and Invoices (Signing Authority); Procurement Policy). 

Revenue transfers into the RIG project account will be limited to the funding contributions communicated in the employee’s letter of offer, or as negotiated and approved at the time of the project proposal.

RIG holders will be responsible for regularly monitoring the balance of their RIG project account to prevent any overspending.  If circumstances require, RIG holders may apply in writing for an extension on the project end date to the Vice-Dean of Research in the Faculty of Health Sciences Research office.  Extension requests must be submitted at least two months in advance of the project’s end date, and should include an explanation for why the RIG funds were not used within the specified time, what they have been used for, what the plans are for the use of the remaining funds, and the timelines for use of the remaining funds. 

The RIG project will be closed on the earlier of one of the following three occasions unless an extension has been granted: four years after the date that the RIG project was approved;

change in employment status that would deem the faculty member ineligible according to the eligibility section above; or the faculty member leaves the employ of the University.  Upon closure of the RIG project, any remaining fund balances will be returned to the original source of funding, in proportion to the original financial contributions.

(Policy updated 20 April 2021 by Gladys Smith, FHS Research Office)

Queen’s University’s Research Day will take place June 28, 2022 at Queen’s School of Medicine and Biosciences Complex.  The abstract/registration deadline is June 3^rd, 2022.

This meeting has been organized in order to provide a forum for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research project students, medical students, and clinical residents of the Queen’s Health Sciences and related Schools/Faculties at Queen's University to discuss their recent research findings. Individuals interested in presenting should submit their abstract(s) according to the instructions outlined in the attached form. All presentations will be made by trainees only. There will be a limited number of oral presentations. There will be no limit on the number of poster presentation submissions.

Registration and abstract forms can be accessed via this link