Operating Grant: SPOR iCT Rewarding Success
Frequently Asked Questions

Eligibility

• Can the team also include participants from provinces that are not participating in the pilot program?
  Participants from provinces that are not participating in the pilot can be included on the team; however these individuals cannot be the NPA on an application.
• Are there any plans to expand this work to additional provinces?
  CIHR is experimenting with this new model. Participating provinces chose to be part of this pilot stage and at this point we cannot determine if this program will be launched again.
• Can a researcher based at an institution outside of Canada be part of the team?
  Yes, individuals based at institutions outside of Canada can be part of the team; however, they cannot be the NPA on an application.

Patient Engagement

• Can a member of the multidisciplinary team be a patient partner?
  The team must include at least one patient. In the context of SPOR, patient is "an overarching term inclusive of individuals with personal experience of a health issue and informal caregivers, including family and friends."
• Can the patient partner be one of the team members who attends the Ideathon?
  Three individuals (i.e., two members of the multi-disciplinary research team and the most prominent payer) will represent each team to pitch their ideas to the review panel, in front of the other applicants. A patient partner can be one of the members of the multi-disciplinary team who attends the Ideathon.

Budget

• Does there need to be a single payer?
  Teams may partner with multiple payers of health services (e.g. Ministries of Health, Regional Health Authorities, insurers, hospitals, etc.) and/or charities and philanthropic organizations.
• Is the 1:1 matching both cash and in kind?
  Funding under SPOR is based on a 1:1 matching formula with non-Canadian federal government partners to ensure relevance and applicability. Note that matching funds are only mandatory for Phase 3 - iCT Rewarding Success Team Grants.The team grant funding opportunity is in development; however, cash equivalent limits in other SPOR opportunities have ranged between 25-50%.
  
• Who will cover the travel costs of the teams attending the Ideathon?
  CIHR will provide Travel Awards to offset travel and accommodation costs for teams invited to attend the Ideathon. The maximum amount per travel award, per team, is $2,500.

Phase 1

• What is the review process for Phase 1: Idea Brief and Travel Awards?
  The Idea Briefs will go through a relevance review completed by CIHR to ensure alignment with the SPOR Innovative Clinical Trials Initiative and SPOR principles. All relevant Idea Briefs will then go through a review process managed in partnership with the respective Ministries of Health, and in some cases, with SPOR SUPPORT Units. Each province will select the five (5) most promising ideas to move forward, including ideas that may involve multiple provinces. The selected Idea Briefs from each province will be invited to the Ideathon to pitch their idea to a review panel. All Idea Briefs submitted will be shared with all participating provinces.
• Is there a template for the two-page Idea Brief and the biosketch?
  The Idea Brief can be up to a maximum of two (2) pages. More detail can be found under the How to Apply section of the funding opportunity.
• What criteria will be used to evaluate the Idea Brief?
  The following criteria will be used in the prioritization exercise:
  1. Relevance to provincial priorities, both those identified by the province and those that may be suggested by the applicants and accepted as highly relevant by the respective province.
  2. Quality of the idea (i.e., intervention/program) and the potential of the province to spread and scale.
  3. The likelihood of achieving the stated outcomes within the time window for full implementation (4 years).
  4. The likelihood that the team can successfully implement and measure the cost-effectiveness of the program/intervention.
• Can the idea be pitched to more than one province?
  An idea can be pitched in multiple provinces if there are separate teams that would like to implement the idea in each province. Each team would have to submit an Idea Brief to their province of choice. Please note that although the idea may be similar in each province, each provincial team would have to tailor the idea and implementation towards their provincial contexts.
• If a project is proposed to take place in multiple provinces, which province makes the decision?
  Each Idea Brief is only reviewed by the one province indicated on the application. A single team can implement a project in more than one province, but only the province selected on the application will review the Idea Brief.
• Are Idea Briefs submitted directly to the province or to CIHR? 
  Idea Briefs will be submitted to CIHR through ResearchNet.  The Idea Briefs will be shared with the participating provinces through the respective Ministries of Health, and in some case, SPOR SUPPORT Units.
• What is the role of the SPOR SUPPORT Units?
  The SPOR SUPPORT Units may work with the Ministries of Health to help coordinate and conduct the relevance and prioritization exercise. They will also be involved in facilitating many of the activities in supporting this type of implementation experimentation on the ground. 
• Does the evaluation methodology need to be developed in the idea brief?
  No, the evaluation methodology would be expected to be developed in the business case development grant.

Phase 2

• What is the review process for Phase 2: Ideathon and Business case Development Grants?
  

  The review panel at the Ideathon will consist of representation from Ministries of Health, as well as other individuals who have expertise in research innovation and innovative funding mechanisms, clinicians, and patients. A minimum of two (2), maximum of three (3) top-ranked pitches within each participating province will be awarded a Business Case Development Grant (there is no additional written application required).

  During the business case development stage, there will be a Strengthening Workshop on adaptive, complex intervention trials and financial and legal frameworks that can be employed in a Rewarding Success financial model. All teams who receive Business Case Development Grants will be required to have two representatives attend this workshop. Funds from the grant may be used to offset travel and accommodation costs associated with the workshop.

Phase 3

• Can you please clarify the amount per team that will be granted to the iCT Rewarding Success Team Grant (final phase / Phase 3)?
  The total funds (CIHR + Partners) available for Phase 3 is $24M for 5 grants over 4 years.
• Does the partner providing the matching funding in Phase 3 have to be the same as the payer?

  No, the matched funding partner and the payer do not have to be the same organization, although they can be the same organization. Please consult the definitions for each role.

  Some examples include:

  • Funder and payer is the Ministry of Health.
  • Matched funds provided by the Ministry of Health and the payer is a regional health authority.
  • Matched funds provided by a charity/foundations and the payer is an industry organization.
• Are the successful applicants from Phase 1 the only individuals that can apply to the iCT Rewarding Success Team Grant phase (Phase 3)?
  Only projects funded through the Ideathon for the development of a business case will be considered for the iCT Rewarding Success Team Grant phase.

Important Dates

Date modified:

2017-11-01