Canada’s three research funding agencies, The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) have launched a new pilot committee to support interdisciplinary, investigator-initiated research projects.
The Tri-agency Interdisciplinary Peer Review Committee is a one-year pilot program designed to provide an option for researchers working in interdisciplinary research to direct their applications to a committee composed of experts from across the social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, engineering, and health sciences. Researchers applying for SSHRC Insight Grants, CIHR Project Grants, and NSERC Discovery Horizons Grants will be eligible for their applications to be reviewed by this new interdisciplinary peer review committee.
The launch of the Tri-agency Interdisciplinary Peer Review Committee is part of the tri-agency response to recommendations made in the final report of the Fundamental Science Review, whose goal is to ensure the agencies have robust mechanisms to review and support interdisciplinary research.