Terms of Reference – Science Council (SC)

Chair

The President of CIHR is the Chair of Science Council (SC).

Membership

SC consists of the following voting members:

• President
• 13 Scientific Directors
• Chief Scientific Officer
• Vice-President Knowledge Translation & Public Outreach
• Executive Vice-President
• Director of Ethics
• Chief Financial Officer

Ex-officio

SC consists of the following non-voting members:

• Director, Program Planning and Process
• Director, Marketing and Communications

Meetings

Meetings will be conducted at least 6 times per year.

Quorum

Two thirds of voting members

Reference

Bourinot's Rules of Order, 4^th Edition

Mandate

SC provides scientific leadership and advice to Governing Council (GC) on health research and knowledge translation (KT) priorities and strategies, and recommends investment strategies in accordance with CIHR's 5-year Strategic Plan.

Roles and Responsibilities

SC will:

1. Develop, for GC's approval, CIHR's five year strategic plans and yearly implementation plans;
2. Lead in the development of a national strategy under the direction of GC and in consultation with stakeholders;
3. Provide the President and GC with expert advice on priority health research and KT issues, integrating Institute and corporate priorities;
4. Review strategies to explore and develop partnerships that facilitate the achievement of CIHR's objectives;
5. Review and approve all multi-institute and pan-organization strategic initiatives;
6. Approve funding decisions for all funding opportunities and initiatives;
7. Recommend to GC effective and efficient allocation of research funds using a multi-year budget approach;
8. Oversee policies, programs and processes which enable delivery of CIHR's strategic plan; and
9. Oversee yearly progress of CIHR's Strategic Plan against implementation plans and report back to GC, government and other stakeholders.

Evaluation

The SC will review its own terms of reference every two years.

Committees

The SC may establish subcommittees and working groups as required.

Reporting

The Chief Scientific Officer will identify SC decisions of public interest and communicate them through the CIHR website. The President will report to the Governing Council on SC business.

Approval

TOR approved by SC September 16, 2009

• Original approved November 19^th, 2007 by the Research and Knowledge Translation Committee (RKTC)
• Revised October 23, 2008 by the RKTC (name change from RKTC to SC)