It's pretty hard to argue with a commitment to research excellence. Or more interdisciplinary collaborations, or helping underserved populations. So the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) won't need to spend much time defending its new suggestions for strengthening the country's health research.
But CIHR president Alan Bernstein warns scientists that these fuzzy generalities may take on a harder edge when used for judging funding proposals. "If someone puts forward a large initiative that doesn't fall into these [categories], they'll have to articulate a clear reason why it should be considered," Bernstein says.
In particular, Bernstein suggests that biomedical scientists figure out how to take advantage of hot areas such as bioinformatics and combinatorial chemistry. "This is, to some extent, my own view of where the action is going to be," he says. Whatever idea they pitch, he adds, researchers should spell out how it will "build Canada's international leadership through national excellence in health research."
