• General information
• Completing the reference assessment form
• Selection process
• Accessing past references
• Collection and use of personal information
• Terms and conditions for references

The reference assessment form is to be completed if you have agreed to provide a reference assessment for a Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Master’s (CGRS M) applicant. Reference assessment forms should be completed by individuals who are familiar enough with the applicant’s research and other abilities that they can provide meaningful commentary (for example, a current or previous academic research supervisor, industrial supervisor, employment/volunteer manager, teacher or thesis advisor).

You must verify and validate your Research Portal account at least 48 hours in advance of the applicant’s deadline to address system issues (such as forgotten passwords, locked or multiple accounts), which may prevent the timely submission of your assessment.

Applicants have been advised to provide their references with a deadline that is well before the application deadline date to allow them to submit their completed application on time. The applicant cannot complete the final tasks and submit their application until your reference assessment form has been completed and submitted in the Research Portal. We recommend that you submit your reference assessment at least 48 hours in advance of the applicant’s deadline to allow enough time for the applicant to complete and submit their application. As the deadline approaches, delays may occur due to a high volume of users on the Research Portal; this may prevent the timely submission of your assessment and you should plan accordingly. No deadline extensions will be given to applicants who are unable to submit because of missing reference assessments.

For technical issues related to the Research Portal, contact the help desk at least 48 hours in advance of the applicant’s deadline. The agencies aim to respond to inquiries within 48 hours. However, during peak periods (November to January), the response time may be delayed.

Detailed instructions on how to complete the reference assessment form can be found below in text form.

Receiving an invitation to complete a reference assessment form

Applicants enter the family name and email address of their references into their CGRS M application. Once this information is saved to the application in the Research Portal, you will receive a system-generated email with an invitation to complete the reference assessment form.

If you do not receive this email immediately after the applicant enters your information into the Research Portal, you should confirm that it is not in your “junk”, “spam” or “deleted” email folder. If you are still unable to locate the email invitation, the applicant should re-invite you using a different email address.

Accepting the reference assessment invitation form

To accept the invitation, you must create a Research Portal account (if you are a new user) and follow the steps in the system-generated email. You must click on the link in step 2 in the invitation email, which has a unique authorization number. If you already have a Research Portal account, you may log in using your existing credentials.

Once you have logged into your Research Portal account, you must read and agree to the terms and conditions for references that will appear in a pop-up window. It is your responsibility to retain a copy of the agreed terms and conditions for your records. Once you accept the terms and conditions, the system will create the reference assessment form for you to complete.

After accepting the invitation, you will have access to both the reference assessment form and certain sections of the applicant’s application.

To view the application before completing your reference assessment form, click the triangle on the Applicant bar, which will allow you to see the applicant’s form, attachments and uploaded Canadian Common CV.

Note: Some web browsers may not be compatible with the Research Portal. If technical difficulties occur while you are completing the reference assessment form, ensure that your browser is the most recent version available or try using a different browser.

Best practices for limiting unconscious bias

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) are committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion to ensure equitable access to all of their programs.

The following best practices and considerations should be taken into account when drafting your reference assessment form:

• Write “the applicant” in place of the applicant’s name and “they/them/their” in place of gendered pronouns. This separates your assessment of the applicant from perceptions, presumptions or unconscious bias related to their race, ethnicity, nationality and/or gender.
• Be objective, accurate, fair, clear and balanced.
• Support your points by providing specific examples of accomplishments where possible.
• Use superlative descriptors (for example, excellent, outstanding) judiciously and support them with evidence.
• Include only information relevant to the selection criteria. Avoid sharing personal information about the applicant.
• Avoid words or sentences that reflect prejudiced, stereotyped or discriminatory language of particular people or groups or their institution.
• Avoid inappropriate comments.
• Do not include links that refer to external sources.

The use of anonymizing language has been shown to decrease unconscious bias during the evaluation process. For more information, refer to the Canada Research Chairs guidelines for letter writers on limiting unconscious bias.

You should also refer to the Bias in peer review training module as a guide for preventing unconscious bias in merit review.

For further information on unconscious bias, consult the Gender-based Analysis Plus: Unconscious bias section of the Women and Gender Equality Canada website.

Completing and submitting the reference assessment form

Note: The Research Portal has a time-out period of 60 minutes of inactivity in each section. After 60 minutes of inactivity, you will be logged out of the Research Portal. Typing does not count as an activity. Remember to Save and validate frequently; otherwise, the information you enter may be lost.

The Role column in the Research Portal must indicate Reference, which will confirm your role in the applicant’s application.

To complete the reference assessment form, click on Open. You will be redirected to the Participant tab, under which you must click Edit.

While completing the reference assessment form, you will be able to modify, save and validate the information provided at any time, as long as you have not yet submitted the form.

For your reference assessment to be considered complete, you must

1. indicate how long you have known the applicant and in which capacity (how many years and/or months)
2. provide a percentage rating and comments for the following three selection criteria—the applicant’s strengths and limitations should be assessed, including examples of the applicant’s accomplishments and contributions to support your assessment:
   • Academic excellence, as demonstrated by past academic results, transcripts, awards and distinctions:
     • Rating: Top 2%, Top 5%, Top 10%, Top 25%, Below Top 25% or Unable to comment
     • Provide a written assessment of the applicant’s skills, abilities, achievements, awards, experience and contributions related to this criterion; use concrete examples (2,400 characters maximum, including spaces)
   • Research potential, as demonstrated by the applicant’s research history, their interest in discovery, the proposed research, its potential contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the field and any anticipated outcomes:
     • Rating: Top 2%, Top 5%, Top 10%, Top 25%, Below Top 25% or Unable to comment
     • Provide a written assessment of the applicant’s skills, abilities, achievements, awards, experience and contributions related to this criterion; use concrete examples (2,400 characters maximum, including spaces)
   • Personal characteristics and interpersonal skills, as demonstrated by the applicant’s past professional and relevant extracurricular interactions and collaborations:
     • Rating: Top 2%, Top 5%, Top 10%, Top 25%, Below Top 25% or Unable to comment
     • Provide a written assessment of the applicant’s skills, abilities, achievements, awards, experience and contributions related to this criterion; use concrete examples (2,400 characters maximum, including spaces)
3. click the Save and validate button

Click Submit to attach your assessment to the application. The Submit button will only become available once all sections of your assessment have been completed, saved and validated.

Once a reference assessment form has been submitted, the applicant will receive a notification in their application informing them of the submission. However, the applicant will not be able to view the content of the assessment (refer to Collection and use of personal information).

No changes or updates can be made to the assessment after it has been submitted. Once the assessment is submitted, you will only be able to view a printer-friendly or PDF version of the reference assessment form by selecting Export participant’s form to PDF.

For applicants to be able to submit their applications, all mandatory sections of the application must be completed, including the two reference assessments before the deadline. Incomplete applications cannot be submitted.

For information on the merit review of CGRS M applications that is carried out by institutions with an allocation, refer to the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Master’s program information and instructions for scholarships liaison officers web page.

You can access your past reference assessments in the Research Portal by looking under the Role column for entries listed as Reference and opening the entry.

If you have forgotten your password for the portal, select Forgot password on the login page.

For more information on the collection and use of personal information, refer to the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Master's program description web page.

The electronic submission of your assessment to the granting agencies using the Research Portal means that you have read these instructions, including the terms and conditions for references and that you consent to the uses and disclosures described.