Measures of Excellence

Both RRI and KLARU have established several mechanisms to ensure excellence: objective recruiting of the best people in the field, absence of tenure, internal grant reviews, yearly retreats, and several monitoring mechanisms, such as local Scientific Advisory Committees for each RRI and KLARU. Recently, an International Scientific Advisory Committee comprised of international scientists was also established for the RRI to provide feedback and advice annually to the Director of Research to ensure that the institute remains at the forefront of research.  This practice will be extended to KLARU as it evolves.

The most important measure of excellence is the impact of the scientists themselves. The major mechanism for maintaining excellence is an external review every five years.  The external reviews assess how each institute’s mission complies with Baycrest’s mission and measures the overall efficiency and effectiveness of each institute in relation to comparable research units at the local, provincial, national, and international levels.  In the RRI’s 17 years of existence, it has undergone three external reviews (1993, 1997, and 2003) - the conclusion after 15 years:  The RRI has an exceptional group of scientists conducting groundbreaking research that has and continues to revolutionize the field of cognitive neuroscience. Also reflecting Baycrest’s commitment to maintaining excellence, KLARU underwent its first external review in 2004. A visionary establishment for translational research, KLARU is described as a “unique Centre in Canada and perhaps North America,” and “has been remarkably successful in a short period of time in concretely addressing the broad translational research agenda …and addressing important research questions and topics which are (and will have a practical impact on the well-being of the elderly in a variety of settings.”.