CIHR grants, other than Project Grant, identify a specific topic or health challenge for researchers to address.
These strategic (i.e., targeted) grants are launched by CIHR’s 13 Institutes and, to some extent, by CIHR’s priority-driven initiatives. They are sponsored by any of the following (in full or combination):
- One or more Institute;
- The Roadmap Accelerator Fund (an internal CIHR fund);
- External non-government organizations (e.g., Kidney Foundation of Canada); and/or
- Federal and provincial government agencies/departments (e.g., Public Health Agency of Canada).
The Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) is an exception; it launches and funds its own competitions relatively independently of other CIHR initiatives.
Each month, multiple strategic grants are launched through ResearchNet and award amounts can range from a few thousand to millions of dollars. Strategic grants are sometimes launched quickly in response to a national or international crisis, while other grants are planned well in advance as large multi-year initiatives and still others recur on an annual basis. In addition to the Operating Grants and Team Grants program categories supported by Sharon Marsh and Flora To-Miles, respectively, other typical strategic grant competitions include Catalyst Grants, Planning and Dissemination Grants and the Health Research Training Platform.
- Catalyst Grants provide 'seed' money to kickstart a new research initiative. Each Catalyst competition focuses on a different research area, with few recurring competitions. They are typically worth $100,000 for a one-year period.
- Planning and Dissemination Grants (listed in ResearchNet’s “Other” category) support pre-project planning or knowledge dissemination activities. They are typically worth $10-25k, and usually run twice per year (Spring and Fall).
- The Health Research Training Platform supports the development of interdisciplinary, inter-jurisdictional, and intersectoral research training and mentoring platforms to build capacity in established or emerging areas. These awards typically range from $400k-$1M/year for a six-year period.
Application Process
All CIHR strategic competitions use the PI submission process (note: this is different from the Institutional E-approval process used for the Project Grant competition). Be sure to confirm the ORS deadlines and procedures relevant to your campus, as well as your Faculty and/or Department/School, as necessary:
Support & Resources
SPARC support for these grants currently includes CWL-protected resources and sample grants.
External Resources
CIHR often schedules competition-specific webinars. Please check the CIHR webinar page (see both the ‘archived webinars’ and ‘upcoming webinars’ tabs) if you are interested in applying to a competition. If you have missed the webinar you can request the slides from the CIHR helpdesk.