Well, here's one right off. The most wonderful summary of any research project is that provided by the applicant. CIHR requires that people describe in summary what the application is about, but it's already there. All they have to do is print it off and send it round to the panels, and that's what we do. So they have a summary. They don't have to do it themselves. How can they improve upon the applicant's summary? That's one thing we do.
The other is that we don't require such a long description in words. We do invite them to talk about it when the panel meets, from their own notes, but they don't have to provide it in detail beforehand. These are two specific items that we do that help our reviewers and applicants.
Also, our application has only five pages; CIHR's has 20 pages. Many agencies in the States are going to a five-page application. It's difficult at first to write a five-page application when you're used to being able to spell out everything in 20, but that's what we do.