Alberta Innovates- Health Solutions

“Dear Jacques,

As a newly recruited health investigator to Alberta, I have applied for salary support and an independent establishment grant from the AHFMR. My application was submitted in September 1998, yet I am told that I will not hear of the results of the competition until March 1999. Why does it take so long to make a decision?”

The lag time between the application deadline and the announcement of the decisions is largely dependent on the administration of the thorough peer-review process undergone by each proposal. Let me summarize this process.

In the first instance, each application is reviewed for its eligibility to be entered into the competition and checked for completion. The proposals are then each assigned to two internal reviewers on the appropriate review panel (For example, a proposal from a Clinical Investigator would go to the Clinical Advisory Committee) and sent to the Committee. This usually takes about two weeks. Within a few weeks after that, a telephone conference call, or a full meeting of the advisory committee is held to identify potential external reviewers for each proposal received.

At that point (usually from mid October to mid November), each application is sent to five to eight experts who are asked to provide a written evaluation of its scientific merit. Since the AHFMR uses external reviewers from around the world, it usually takes approximately six to eight weeks to get all of these reviews back. The reviews are then sent to the original peer review panel to help inform them in their deliberations.

The five advisory committees which review the applications for Clinical Investigator, Scholar, Senior Scholar, Health proposals, and Scientist awards then meet individually over the early period of the new year (January and February). Their reviews, ratings, and recommendations are given to the AHFMR's Board of Trustees for their decision. Within a few days, these decisions are communicated to the institutions sponsoring the candidates.

If you have questions for Dr. Jacques Magnan about any aspect of AHFMR's grants processes, he welcomes your calls at (403) 423-5727 or by e-mail at jmagnan@ahfmr.ab.ca