Project Grant: Spring 2024 Peer review participants

The peer review process relies on the time and dedication of experts across the health research spectrum. For the Spring 2024 Project Grant competition, a total of 1384 individuals (including Chairs [58], Scientific Officers [112], reviewers [1217]) participated in 58 peer review committees. There were also 115 early career researcher (ECR) Reviewers in Training present during the peer review process.

Note: Some individuals played multiple roles, such as chairing one review panel and then acting as a peer reviewer in another, which is why the role counts may not add up to 1384.

Approximately 79% (1115) of the committee members are members of the College of Reviewers, which has specific membership selection criteria. As a first step, CIHR staff provided lists of suggested reviewers based on specific selection criteria, and then reviewers were vetted by committee Chairs and Scientific Officers.

Peer review participants by sex

  Female Male Undeclared
participated 583 participated 770 participated 51 participated
invited 1664 invited to participate 1878 invited to participate 127 invited to participate
accepted 685 accepted (41.2% acceptance rate) 899 accepted (47.9% acceptance rate) 60 accepted (47.2% acceptance rate)

The figures above exclude ECR Reviewers in Training.

Participants by region

The following table is based on the region information of the individual’s institution. The table includes all peer review participants, excluding ECR Reviewers in Training.

Region Invited Accepted Acceptance Rate Participated
British Columbia 388 177 45.6% 152
Alberta 406 196 48.3% 160
Saskatchewan 92 47 51.1% 41
Manitoba 130 63 48.5% 54
Ontario 1414 643 45.5% 544
Québec 974 412 42.3% 358
New Brunswick 16 7 43.8% 7
Nova Scotia 111 51 45.9% 48
Prince Edward Island 3 1 33.3% 1
Newfoundland and Labrador 38 14 36.8% 10
International 77 22 28.6% 19
No region specified 20 11 55.0% 10

Participants by pillar

The following table is based on the self-reported primary research pillar of peer review participants, excluding ECR Reviewers in Training.

Pillar Participants Proportion
Biomedical (Pillar 1) 744 53.0%
Clinical (Pillar 2) 249 17.7%
Health Systems/Services (Pillar 3) 129 9.2%
Social/Cultural/Environmental/Population Health (Pillar 4) 127 9.0%
Uncategorized 155 11.0%

Note: The proportions of peer review participants by pillar reflect the types of applications submitted to the competition. For more information, please visit the competition results page.

Career stage of participants

The table below approximates career stages based on the start year of the peer review participants' self-reported first independent appointment. Only ECR status extensions offered by CIHR due to the COVID-19 pandemic were considered in this approximation; other eligible leaves were not considered. For more information on the ECR status extensions, see the definition of researcher (early career) in the CIHR Glossary of Funding-Related Terms.

Career Stage Invited Accepted Acceptance Rate Participated Participant proportion
Early Career Researcher 617 365 59.2% 313 22.3%
Mid Career Researcher 1039 494 47.5% 426 30.3%
Senior Career Researcher 1487 655 44.0% 554 39.5%
Unknown 526 130 24.7% 111 7.9%

The figures above exclude ECR Reviewers in Training.

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