SPARC's Internal Review Training Program (IRTP) ran as a pilot in 2018 and for one year in 2019. The program goal was to integrate emerging scholars into SPARC’s scientific review services in order to enrich the postdoctoral fellow (PDF) training experience while strengthening the competitiveness of UBC Project Grant proposals. The program wais designed to leverage the scientific expertise of PDFs, foster the development of critical thinking skills and supplement applicant discussion groups with feedback from subject matter experts. The program aligns with CIHR's Reviewer Pathway Initiative, the Mock Review Toolkit and the Postdoctoral Peer Review Training Pilot Program to train and support PDFs as peer reviewers.
Internal Reviewers
The following postdoctoral fellows (PDFs) were formally admitted into the 2018 and 2019 voluntary training program and contributed their scientific expertise as subject matter experts in SPARC’s Internal Review process.
Dr. Nassim Adhami, PhD |
Dr. Jean Buckler, PhD |
Dr. Molly Cairncross, PhD |
Dr. Jennifer Gillis, PhD |
Dr. Lesley Hill, PhD |
Dr. Travis Hodges, PhD |
Dr. Sanne Janssen, PhD |
Dr. Emma Morton, PhD |
Dr. Heather Palis, PhD |
Dr. Rahul Sachdeva, PhD |
Alumni Network
Participants who successfully completed the program had the opportunity to join the virtual community of internal reviewers and to be invited to lead a subsequent session of the training program. By participating in the training sessions, alumni had the opportunity to share their insights and personal experience in the program, and mentor the next cohort of reviewers. It was expected that participating alumni would further develop leadership and mentorship skills, and that the new program participants would have the opportunity to interact and learn from their peers.
Training Program
PDF participants admitted into the training program had to successfully complete a series of intensive workshops and work assignments designed to develop proficiency in the CIHR Project Grant program and in conducting quality reviews. Each draft UBC faculty proposal was assigned to 2 PDFs for review and feedback was discussed for quality control at a mock, CIHR-structured Peer Review Committee meeting facilitated by SPARC. A spokesperson for the PDF committee then discussed the feedback with the faculty applicants in an online group meeting.
Session 1 (Orientation): PDFs were introduced to the CIHR Project Grant program and to the principles and policies guiding CIHR Peer Review:
- Project Grant Program Requirements
- Adjudication Criteria and Peer Review Manual
- Principles of Peer Review
- Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Agreement for Peer Reviewers
- Learning Modules for Participants in Peer Review
Session 2 (Improving Grantsmanship): PDFs undertook a mock review of a previously reviewed Project Grant proposal following SPARC’s ‘Applicant Feedback’ worksheet and studied the evolution of the proposal from an early draft to a successful submission. Participants were also introduced to SPARC’s approach to Internal Review and best practices for proposal development/ grant writing.
Session 3 (Peer Review Committee): At the conclusion of the training sessions, PDFs participated in a CIHR-structured, peer review committee meeting to discuss the proposals submitted to SPARC's Internal Review program. SPARC facilitated the review meeting with the assistance of a Chair selected from the Alumni Network. The Chair facilitated the group discussion and obtained consensus from the reviewers on the overall strengths of each proposal and the key areas for improvement.
Session 4 (Applicant Discussion Group): PDF reviewers participated in the subsequent applicant discussion groups to share key points from the PDF review meeting/ session 3. Each proposal and the provided feedback was discussed for 20 minutes.
Session 5 (Networking Event): At the conclusion of the training program, the PDFO and SPARC hosted a luncheon for PDFs to network and share their learning experience. A modest gift and a letter of acknowledgement from the Office of the VP-Research and Innovation was provided in recognition of the effort and successful completion of the training program. It was expected that PDFs who completed the program would gain valuable grantsmanship skills, grant review experience, and networking opportunities.
Program Evaluation
In line with the assessment of CIHR’s pilot PDF peer review training programs, similar evaluation surveys were developed to determine the effectiveness of the training program and assess the quality and relevance of the feedback provided by the PDF reviewers. The evaluation reports containing the survey results for the 2018 pilot and 2019 program are available for download in .pdf format.