The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has proposed changes to its funding paradigm. CIHR has proposed two tracks of funding: Foundation/Programmatic Scheme focused on investigators with a separate track for new/early career investigators, and Project Scheme, which is about funding projects.
Researchers are worried that the one aspect of the new program, which would allow experienced and successful researches to apply for a single seven-year grant rather than multiple shorter-term grants worry they would get significantly less overall funding than under the current system. Researchers are made all the more anxious over concern that the overall budget for research will include a cut in the CIHR budget. Uncertainty over future funding is already affecting researcher’s ability to recruit new staff, as reported by Ann McIlroy in The Globe and Mail.
