Recruitment Principles and Membership Requirements for the Multidisciplinary Selection Committee

The competitive review process of the Canada Impact+ Research Chairs program will be led by a multidisciplinary selection committee.

The role of the committee is to carry out a rigorous, competitive, single-phase review process, by:

• ensuring the program’s high international standards of research excellence and objective of selecting candidates with research projects that hold strong transformational and translational potential are respected; and
• making funding recommendations to the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS) Steering Committee based on a full consideration of the selection criteria, and the available budget.

The Multidisciplinary Selection Committee plays a crucial role in upholding the integrity and quality of the review process and the program’s standard of global excellence. The committee does this by ensuring its members understand and impartially apply the program’s policies and selection criteria in assessing their assigned applications.

Multidisciplinary selection committees, composed of 20 to 25 members, will be virtually convened to undertake two four- or five-day reviews of the applications in intake one and two. The proposed recruitment principles and membership requirements are aligned with those approved in previous Canada Excellence Research Chairs competitions.

The Multidisciplinary Selection Committee plays an important role in upholding the program’s objectives. The following principles are applied in recruiting committee members:

• Diversity of perspectives: The committee represents a diversity of perspectives in terms of individual experiences and identities, locations, and sectors of activity (postsecondary research, private sector, public sector).
• Range of experience: Members’ expertise covers a broad range of experience in the management, administration and application of research initiatives in a variety of contexts and jurisdictions.
• Understanding of the research ecosystem: As a whole, the committee will have an in-depth understanding of the global science, technology and innovation context, the Canadian postsecondary system, and the Canadian R&D context, with a focus on expertise needed to evaluate knowledge translation potential and insight into academic, public, private and not-for-profit crossover.
• Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and Indigenous research: In line with other strategic committees, the membership of the committee will include clear competencies that ensure EDI and Indigenous considerations are appropriately and consistently assessed. An Indigenous-identified person is selected to serve as Indigenous champion.

To support these principles, multidisciplinary selection committees are composed of a diverse group of world-leading national and international academics, scientists and leaders from various sectors.

Through the membership of the committee, TIPS ensures that:

• the high level of excellence and prestige of the program is upheld;
• there is diversity in terms of individual experiences and identities, locations, and sectors of activity (postsecondary research, private sector, public sector);
• the expertise covers a broad range of disciplines and areas of research targeted by the applications, with the understanding that it is not possible to ensure representation of all disciplines;
• the expertise covers a broad range of experience in research initiatives in a variety of contexts and jurisdictions; and
• the committee, as a whole, has a significant level of understanding of the global science, technology and innovation context, the Canadian postsecondary system, and the Canadian R&D context; and contains the required expertise in knowledge translation potential, and insight into academic, public, private and not-for-profit crossover.

Members do not represent their own disciplines or their own jurisdictions. Rather, they use their experience to provide a fair and balanced assessment of the applications, to ensure the program’s ambitious objectives are met.