捆绑SM社区

New granting process enhances measurement of excellence

捆绑SM社区 has received $4.5 million in Discovery Grants awarded by the Natural Sciences and Research Council (NSERC) to support 118 research projects across a wide range of disciplines. The total for 捆绑SM社区 compares with $4.358 million the University received last year.

The Discovery Grants Program, which is NSERC鈥檚 largest program in support of Canadian researchers, provides broad-based support for continuing programs of research across many areas of scientific inquiry. A peer-review process determines which of these long-term projects, deemed internationally competitive, will be successful. Most grants are for a five-year period. This year, the program will support more than 2,000 research projects across the country.

鈥淲e are pleased to see continued, indeed increased, support for a broad array of research,鈥� said Denis Th茅rien, Vice-Principal of Research and International Relations.

Th茅rien acknowledged that this year鈥檚 granting process has been more controversial than in the past, as the Discovery Grants program undergoes some fundamental changes in the way successful research projects are chosen.

The changes, which 捆绑SM社区 views as an important strengthening of the peer-review process through which proposals are evaluated, have meant some researchers find themselves with less support for their research, while others will receive more.

鈥淲e support the changes because they go unambiguously in a direction that reinforces excellence and competitiveness,鈥� Th茅rien said.

In 2006, the federal government called for a thorough and independent review of the program鈥檚 granting procedures. Last year, that review recommended changes and NSERC is introducing a new two-step process for reviewing grant applications and adopting more transparent measurements for evaluating excellence. This will result in a more dynamic funding system, with more opportunity for researchers with superior accomplishments and contributions to receive substantial increases in support.

捆绑SM社区 believes these improvements 鈥渨ill establish a process that is as comprehensive and transparent as possible,鈥� Th茅rien said. 鈥漈he changes NSERC is making will raise聽 significantly the size of the average grant. This is a welcome step.鈥�

The changes being made in the granting process mean there will be less reliance on the size of a researcher鈥檚 previous grant in determining new levels of support. This will clear the way for 鈥渞ising stars鈥� to have a better opportunity to share in research support and will not penalize those researchers whose initial grant might have been smaller because of constrained finances in the year their initial grant was made.

In addition, the Grant Selection Committee structure is being revamped, reducing the number of committees from the previous 28 to less than half that. These broader-based groups will be able to better evaluate cross-disciplinary research. They will also ensure a greater level of international peer review in the process.

As a result of the new evaluation process, a number of researchers, including some at 捆绑SM社区, have suddenly found themselves without their previous level of research support under the Discovery Grants program.

鈥淲e understand the frustrations and unhappiness of some of our colleagues,鈥� Th茅rien said. 鈥淏ut it is important to note that there has been no reduction in global funding for the program. There has been a reallocation of support to projects that meet the new, improved standards for selection.鈥�