CIHR 2012 DRA results?

[mitcherr]

I got it too!! Ranked 104 in group A. Congrats to all!

[Dal PhDer]

Grats MMRGirl and Mitcherr!!!! Wahoo!!

[3minutes]

Managed to login and see the title of my application. Can't go further! Argh!

[3minutes]

Congratulations to MMRgirl and Mitcherr!

[KathrynMorrison]

I think they are trying to weed out some people by giving us heart attacks before we get to see the results :-)

[MMRgirl]

Thanks! It's my last year that I qualify. October was exactly my cut off since i haveva master's, and started in January, 2010. So I was hoping for it

[3minutes]

Probably!

I can't even login anymore. Why me?

ETA: I can login, and go to the main page with all the documents but it times out when I click "View Decision". Argh!

Edited April 16, 2012 by kaipsychology

[pspsa31]

I was finally able to log in after hours of refreshing....and I got one! Was disappointed after the Vanier announcement a few weeks ago but this totally makes up for it

[3minutes]

Congratulations!

I logged in finally, and was not awarded the grant! Time to prepare for next year

[Dal PhDer]

Grats pspsa! Good work!

kaipsychology- that's the right attitude!! Sorry to hear though...but we're awesome regardless of an award!

[elixir]

Congrats to those who got it. Best of luck to others for next year. I already printed off the application information for the next grant I'm applying for (due in two weeks and I haven't started it yet, but the application is similar to this one). I was sort of hoping to not write another. So, here we go again.

[3minutes]

kaipsychology- that's the right attitude!! Sorry to hear though...but we're awesome regardless of an award!

Exactly

[Dal PhDer]

good luck elixir! I'm with you! I got a grant due Friday- was hoping not to have to write it....oops!

We will rock it out though

[3minutes]

I highly recommend all of those unsuccessful applicants to listen to "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" by Kelly Clarkson. It makes me feel happy haha

[Mike Slackenerny]

Congrats to everyone who got the award.

I didn't get it either. I thought I had a chance, but I was ranked 346th. Only the top 141 students got it.

My apologies for the delay - I had to attend a seminar, host something, attend a meeting and then go out of solemn beers to celebrate the people that did get the award.

Its crushing. Either way you look at the situation, its bitter to swallow.

A lot of people have told me in person today to not worry about it. Everyone means well, but the initial sting really affects you.

I don't care about appearing like a whiny kid, or having the wrong attitude. It really really sucks to read that disappointing letter. And dammit I'm going to sulk about it for today.

[Dal PhDer]

Congrats to everyone who got the award.

I didn't get it either. I thought I had a chance, but I was ranked 346th. Only the top 141 students got it.

My apologies for the delay - I had to attend a seminar, host something, attend a meeting and then go out of solemn beers to celebrate the people that did get the award.

Its crushing. Either way you look at the situation, its bitter to swallow.

A lot of people have told me in person today to not worry about it. Everyone means well, but the initial sting really affects you.

I don't care about appearing like a whiny kid, or having the wrong attitude. It really really sucks to read that disappointing letter. And dammit I'm going to sulk about it for today.

Sorry to hear, Mike. Try not to get it down. I think it's important to realize it doesn't measure the kind of student you are or your ability to complete your degree. With that said, take the time you need to sulk...I did...I still am...I occasionally shake my tiny fist in the air and curse CIHR...I am pretty sure my lab mates think I am crazy.

[OriginalBDivision]

Hey all!

Just wondering if anyone knows what the cut-off score for acceptance was this year?

For the 2011/12 year I received a 4.19 (4.14 and 4.24) and was ranked 267 (I heard last year was around 4.24, not sure if this is correct). I set upon myself to learn from the information provided, spend the year crafting a better application, and then hopefully become a CIHR DRA scholar!

This year, with two more publications (1st author review and 2nd author data) as well as numerous awards and improvements on my previous application, I somehow moved down to a 4.10 (4.30 and 3.89) putting me at a ranking of 447 and leaving me frustrated as hell!

With 2 first author, and 3 second author papers I was able to get a 4.8 in publication record from the first reviewer, and a dismal 3.7 from the second reviewer. My "Other Research Activity" was 4.6 from one, and 3.8 from the other. I wish I understood how this can happen between two reviewers who are seeing the same list of publications/achievements.

Congrats to all those who have won an award this year! The rest of us are left scratching our heads about what went wrong.

[KathrynMorrison]

OriginalBDivision that seems so wrong that there is such a division between reviewers. Mine were a little different but not that drastically different. I would maybe contact CIHR about it - I thought they were supposed to involve a 3rd reviewer if there was serious discrepancy between the two?

[OriginalBDivision]

Hey Kathryn,

I emailed CIHR, but I am not expecting much. From what I have heard once there isn't much wiggle room after these are announced. I am assuming if a 3rd reviewer was not brought in already then any differences between the two were not considered to be "serious" discrepancies. The text on their site says "When all scores are received, CIHR will calculate an average for each application. CIHR will then identify applications which are at risk of an unfair decision because of a wide spread between the two reviewers' rating".

Anyone have any idea what constitutes a "wide spread"?

[MissionRNAi]

I talked to my supervisor who has sat on these kind of committees before. Basically, they will scan over the application and decide if they like it or not and then mark it accordingly. A friend of mine has identical credentials to me but I ranked top 200 (not enough to get the award, sigh) and he ranked 800 something.

I hesitated typing this, but I have a first authored Cell paper. I got a 4.2 in publications. COME ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

edit: Mike, I too feel your pain. I was miserable the entire day but I had to suck it up as well. I just found out a few people I know got DRA-A. What sucks is that their research is considered much 'hotter' than mine. It seems like biochemistry and cancer sounds much more appealing than genetics and development.

ARGHGhghghghgha0igheaigheaghag sorry for my facerolll rant. I am teh rage.

Edited April 18, 2012 by MissionRNAi

[Dal PhDer]

Yeah, their scoring ranges seem very odd.

But don't let getting it or not getting it define you or represent the quality of student that you are.

Shake your fist, face palm a few times, and having a couple extra drinks...then brush it off as a life experience!

[Mike Slackenerny]

Sorry to hear, Mike. Try not to get it down. I think it's important to realize it doesn't measure the kind of student you are or your ability to complete your degree. With that said, take the time you need to sulk...I did...I still am...I occasionally shake my tiny fist in the air and curse CIHR...I am pretty sure my lab mates think I am crazy.

Thanks Dal PhDer! You know, you've taken this quite well since the dissapointing results were announced. Kudos to you. I had 2 bad days, and I finally got out of it today (I think). Haha. Here's to the rebuilding process. And thanks for the support. Believe it or not, this forum has been rather comforting.

I hesitated typing this, but I have a first authored Cell paper. I got a 4.2 in publications. COME ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Noooooooooooo. If you can't bank on one of these babies....I don't know what to believe in anymore. I'm sooo sorry to hear that. I was feeling bad because I got a 3.8 and a 4.2 in publications with just one first author paper in 3-4 impact journal. I totally feel your pain.

What sucks is that their research is considered much 'hotter' than mine. It seems like biochemistry and cancer sounds much more appealing than genetics and development.

Hopefully we'll get reviewers who think we're hot stuff too.

[Mike Slackenerny]

The rest of us are left scratching our heads about what went wrong.

Seems to be the theme of the year....

[OriginalBDivision]

Hey guys,

Here is the response I got from CIHR regarding the review process

"The discrepancy review process used by CIHR addresses situations in which applications near the funding cut-off are deemed to be at risk of an unfair decision due to a wide spread between the two reviewers' ratings. The “acceptable” range is determined based on the level of variation of all scores received. This means that the “acceptable” range will differ from year to another."

My questions....

- What was the cutoff this year?

- What was the acceptable range this year?

- Are applications deemed to be "near the funding cut-off" AFTER the two scores are averaged? If not, how is this done? E.g. Would an application that was ranked at 4.5 and 3.5, averaged to 4.0, not be reviewed because it was not near the funding cut-off?

If anyone has any more information I would love to hear it!

Cheers

[KathrynMorrison]

I don't see how two reports that are more than an entire point apart (out of 4.9) for some categories could not be considered discrepant. It seems like one reviewer that really wanted you to get funded and the other didn't, isn't that the definition of borderline? Ugh! Just bringing in a 3rd reviewer in cases like this would make me think the process is much more fair. I was in competition B so I don't think my ranking etc would give you much info about the cutoff but I think it's usually around 4.2 or 4.3?