Table 1.
Profile of Canadian universities receiving Discovery Grant funding (2015).
Student enrolment is available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_Canada (accessed April 22, 2016) and includes all programs of study. Discovery Grant funding rates are in $ CDN, and means (± SD) are calculated using institutional summaries, which exclude those with <5 applicants per category [18]. Institution size category corresponds to NSERC binning categories. Applicant types are ER-R (established researcher applying for renewal), ER-NHG (established researcher not holding grant), and ECR (early-career researcher).
Fig 1.
(A) Mean (± SD) percent success of NSERC Discovery Grant applications (2011–2014) relative to institution size and applicant status.
Fig 2.
Funding level scores for NSERC Discovery Grant applications (2011–2014) by established researchers and early career researchers, according to institution size.
Normally a score of “J” or earlier letter is required for funding.
Table 2.
Summary statistics for best-fit models from NSERC Discovery Grant proposal funding success and award outcomes (2011–2014) for established researchers.
The variables include years, institution size, and applicant status (established researcher not holding grant (ER-NHG)). The evaluation metrics reflect researcher accomplishments (Excellence of the Researcher, EoR), research proposal (Merit of the Proposal, MoP), and training record and opportunities (High Quality Personnel, HQP).
Fig 3.
Evaluation scores for NSERC Discovery Grant applications relative to institution size (2011–2014).
(A) Excellence of the Researcher for established researchers. (B) Excellence of the Researcher for early career researchers. (C) Merit of the Proposal for established researchers. (D) Merit of the Proposal for early career researchers. (E) Contribution to the Training of High Quality Personnel for established researchers. (F) Contribution to the Training of High Quality Personnel for early career researchers.
Table 3.
Summary statistics for best-fit models from NSERC Discovery Grant proposal funding success and award outcomes (2011–2014) for Early Career Researchers.
The evaluation metrics reflect researcher accomplishments (Excellence of the Researcher, EoR), research proposal (Merit of the Proposal, MoP), and training record and opportunities (High Quality Personnel, HQP).
Fig 4.
Discovery Grant success rates 2004–2015.
(A) Established researchers currently seeking Discovery Grant renewal (ER-R). (B) Established researchers currently not holding a Discovery Grant (ER-NHG). (C) Early career researchers (ECR). The dashed line reflects the 2009–2010 adoption of a new grant application evaluation system.
Fig 5.
(A) Projected 10-year mean change in NSERC Discovery Grant funding at Canadian universities assuming no corrective measures to address bias related to institution size. (B) Projected mean (± SD) 10-year change in NSERC Discovery Grant funding at universities according to different bias-corrective measures, relative to current funding rates. Values less than 1 represent attrition in funded researchers.
Table 4.
Sensitivity analysis of applicant type contributions for projected Discovery Grant funding success relative to institution size.
Applicant types are established researchers seeking grant renewal (ER-R), established researchers not currently holding a grant (ER-NHG) and early career researchers (ECR).