ResearchNet - RechercheNet

Table of Contents

• Description
• Objectives
• Eligibility
• Guidelines
• Performance Measurement
• Review Process and Evaluation
• How to Apply
• Contact Information

Description

Fellowships provide support for highly qualified applicants in all areas of health research at the post-PhD degree or post-health professional degree stages to add to their experience by engaging in health research either in Canada or abroad.

Funds Available

CIHR and partner(s) financial contributions for this initiative are subject to availability of funds. Should CIHR or partner(s) funding levels not be available or are decreased due to unforeseen circumstances, CIHR and partner(s) reserve the right to reduce, defer or suspend financial contributions to grants received as a result of this funding opportunity.

The awards consist of a stipend and a research allowance and are valued in Canadian dollars. It is anticipated that approximately $21 million over five years will be available through this competition, enough to fund approximately 170 awards.

• The maximum amount awarded for a single award is up to $60,000 per annum for up to 5 years. The value and duration of each award is determined by the degree(s) held, licensure (where applicable), location of tenure and experience of the applicant.

Stipend

The annual stipend level for:

• Trainees with a PhD degree is $40,000 per annum.
• Health Professionals who hold licensure (full or educational) in Canada and have less than 2 years of research or clinical training experience is $40,000 per annum. Upon completion of two years of postgraduate research training, the awardee may be eligible to receive a stipend increase to the higher level.
• Health Professionals who hold licensure (full or educational) in Canada and have two or more years of research or clinical training experience is $50,000 per annum.
• Health professionals who do not hold licensure in Canada is $21,000 per annum. Upon completion of two years of postgraduate research training, the stipend may increase to $40,000 per annum.

For awards physically held outside Canada, $5,000 is added to the annual stipend.

Research allowance: $5,000 per annum.

Duration of Support

The maximum duration of support, taking into account all federal funding held, will depend on the degree(s) held by the applicant. For holders of a:

• PhD degree, or PhD and health professional degrees, the maximum period of support is three years, and applicants will only be eligible for support until the end of their fifth year of post-PhD training.
• Health professional degree who are not requesting support to pursue a graduate degree, the maximum period of support is four years.
• Health professional degree who are requesting support to pursue a graduate degree, the maximum period of support to complete the degree is five years.

Note that the award of Health Professionals receiving this funding to complete a graduate degree will end upon completion of the degree. Applicants need to re-apply to be considered for further funding through this funding opportunity.

Objectives

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are:

• To provide recognition and funding to academic researchers early in their career;
• To provide a reliable supply of highly skilled and qualified researchers.

Relevant Research Areas

Additional funds are available through this competition to support Fellowship award applications in the following specific research areas:

• Fellowship: Fall 2015 Priority Announcements (Specific Research Areas) (This competition is now closed)

Eligibility

Eligibility criteria for all CIHR research funding programs apply. The business office of the institution of an eligible Nominated Principal Applicant generally administers CIHR funds. Refer to the Individual Eligibility Requirements regarding the eligibility requirements for individuals and institutions.

For the application to be eligible:

1. As the Nominated Principal Applicant, you must be a trainee and meet the minimum commitment of 75% of your time in the research fellowship role proposed in the application. Note: For the purpose of this funding opportunity, trainees must not hold a tenure-track or tenured faculty position, nor can they be on leave from such a position (generally “tenure or tenure-track” refers to an open-ended academic position in which the holder can form a research group, apply for externally funded research as a principal investigator, and also teach).
2. A primary supervisor must be identified on the application. An additional supervisor may also be identified.
3. At the time of application, they applicant must hold or be completing a PhD or a regulated health professional degree. The applicant must expect to complete all of the requirements of the degree by the latest possible date on which you can take up your award (see Conditions of Funding). To determine if a particular health professional degree is eligible, please consult the list of Eligible Health Professions.
4. Applicants who have obtained a doctorate degree (course-based or research-based) more than three years prior to the competition deadline are not eligible. Interruptions and delays will be taken into account in determining eligibility if detailed information on the valid interruption, including specific dates, is provided. CIHR uses the date of degree completion to determine applicant eligibility. This is the date on which all requirements of the degree have been met, including successful defense and submission of the corrected copy of the thesis.
5. The program is open to both Canadians and citizens of other countries.
6. These awards are normally held at Canadian institutions. However, Canadian citizens and permanent residents are eligible to hold their awards outside Canada. Applicants, who are neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents of Canada, are eligible for awards to be held in Canada only.
7. A recipient of a Doctoral Award (DRA) with a health professional degree may apply to the Fellowship funding opportunity no earlier than during the last year of their award. If a recipient of a DRA with a health professional degree applies to the Fellowship funding opportunity for doctoral support before the last year of the DRA, funding for the currently-held DRA will be cancelled as of the first potential effective date of the Fellowship award, even if the application is not successful through the Fellowship funding opportunity.
8. Applicants may submit only one training or salary award application per year (September 1 to August 31) for funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) or the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). However, individuals eligible to apply to the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program or the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program may also submit an application to the CIHR Fellowship program (this is the only exception where an individual may submit two applications in the same year).

Guidelines

General CIHR Guidelines

This funding opportunity will comply fully with the policies and guidelines as outlined in the CIHR Grants and Awards Guide. Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate the use of Gender and Sex-Based Analysis in applications. CIHR also recognizes the importance of engaging citizens in its funding opportunities. CIHR encourages researchers to involve citizens where appropriate, and to provide in their research proposal a brief description of how they intend to involve them when applicable. Please see CIHR’s Citizen Engagement Framework for more information.

CIHR’s mandate states that our commitment to excellence applies equally to research and knowledge translation, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that the results of research are transformed into policies, practices, procedures, products and services. For more information about incorporating knowledge translation in your proposal, please see Guide to Knowledge Translation Planning at CIHR: Integrated and End-of-Grant Approaches.

Official Languages

CIHR is committed to promotion of and compliance to the applicable parts of the Official Languages Act. As such, CIHR encourages applicants to submit proposals in the Official Language of their choice and commits to ensuring high quality review of applications submitted in either Official Language. In addition, applicants are encouraged to consider the inclusion of Official Languages and Official Language Minority Communities in their research where appropriate. Please see Official Languages at CIHR for more information.

Allowable Costs

Recipients should review the Use of Grant Funds section of the Tri-Agency (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) Financial Administration Guide for a complete listing and description of allowable costs and activities.

Global Health Research and International Collaborations

As outlined in the CIHR Grants and Awards Guide Global Health Research Section and the International Collaborations Section,applicants who are eligible for CIHR funding may apply to CIHR’s funding opportunities for funds to support research to be carried out in, or in direct collaboration with researchers and/or knowledge users based in, other countries. CIHR contributes to, and supports international research projects and international collaborations to address a range of research areas, including but not limited to established priorities in global health research and contributes to the development of health-research capacity both internationally and at home.

Conditions of Funding

Successful applicants funded through this funding opportunity and any other persons working on the project must comply fully with the CIHR Funding Policies. Policies and guidelines cover areas such as Applicant Responsibilities, Official Languages policy, Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Acknowledgement of CIHR's Support. Successful applicants will be informed of any special financial requirements prior to the release of funds or when they receive CIHR's Authorization for Funding document:

• The award must be accepted within 15 working days of the date of offer or the award will be cancelled and potentially offered to the next fundable applicant.
• Successful applicants must begin their award within 12 months of the earliest possible start date stated in this funding opportunity (payments can be made retroactively as of the earliest start date):
  • For post-PhD and health professional awardees not enrolled in a degree program: awards may commence on the first day of any month.
  • For awardees registered in a graduate program: awards must start either on January 1, May 1 or September 1.
• For individuals who do not hold a health professional degree, awards will only begin after proof that the recipient has completed all the requirements of the PhD program (including the oral examination) is provided.
• Applicants are required to obtain the research institution's signature.
• For individuals who are seeking support to pursue a graduate degree, award will only begin after the recipient has registered in a full-time graduate program and has provided official confirmation from the Registrar's office of their registration.
• For individuals who are seeking support to hold their award outside of Canada, award will only begin after the recipient has provided a proof of Canadian Citizenship or Canadian Permanent Residency.
• For foreign applicants coming to Canada, awards will only begin after proof of an entry visa into Canada from a Canadian embassy is provided.
• For Canadian applicants leaving Canada, awards will only begin after proof of a visa to enter a foreign country from the office of the foreign government is provided.

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

All personal information collected by CIHR about applicants is used to review applications, to recruit reviewers, to administer and monitor grants and awards, to compile statistics, and to promote and support health research in Canada. Consistent with these purposes, applicants should also expect that information collected by CIHR may be shared as described in the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy of the Federal Research Funding Organizations.

CIHR as a federal entity is subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, therefore the requirements of these two statutes will apply to all information located in CIHR’s premises including, without limitation, cost-sharing agreements related to this funding opportunity and all matters pertaining thereto.

While respecting the application of the Privacy Act to federal entities, all signing parties involved in a collaborative agreement will also be bound by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). All personal information (as identified by the PIPEDA) collected, used or disclosed in the course of any commercial activity under collaborative agreements related to the Funding opportunity will be collected, used and disclosed in compliance with the PIPEDA.

Tri-Council Guidelines for Health Research Involving Aboriginal People

Applicants, whose proposed research will involve Aboriginal People, please consult Ethics of Health Research Involving First Nations, Inuit and Métis People.

Communication Requirements

Funding recipients are required to acknowledge CIHR, its institutes and partners in any communication or publication related to the project. See Communication of Competition Results for details on CIHR’s communication requirements. The contributing internal collaborators/partners will be identified on the Authorization for Funding and decision letter.

Performance Measurement

CIHR is committed to collecting and disseminating information on the outputs and impacts of the research it funds. This information is an important part of CIHR accountability within the Federal Government and to Canadians:

• The Nominated Principal Applicant must contribute to the monitoring, review and evaluation of CIHR’s programs, policies and processes by participating in evaluation studies, surveys, workshops, audits and providing data or reports as required for the purpose of collecting information to assess progress and results;
• The Nominated Principal Applicant must also encourage their associates, trainees and administration to participate in the monitoring, review and evaluation of CIHR’s programs, policies and processes as required.

Review Process and Evaluation

Evaluation Criteria

Fellowship Awards are reviewed in accordance with the CIHR Peer Review Guide for Training and Salary Awards and the CIHR Reviewers’ Guide for Fellowship Awards.

The general criteria for evaluating training awards applications can be found in the above guides.

Funding Decision

Upon completion of the peer review, CIHR will generate a ranking list of the applications that fall in the fundable range. The list will be used for funding decision-making purposes and will remain anonymous. Applications will be funded from the top down in order of ranking as far as the budget will allow.

How to Apply

To submit an application, please log into ResearchNet and create an application. You are required to follow the instructions in the Fellowship Awards - Application Instructions.

In order to ensure fairness in the evaluation of applications, equivalent time must be guaranteed for the assessment of each complete application. As a result, CIHR will not accept updates to applications after the application deadline.

Submission Requirements

This Funding Opportunity participates in the eApproval process. As such, once submitted the application will be electronically directed to the proposed Institution Paid for review and approval. The eApproval process allows Administrators at the Institution to review and electronically approve an application for which the applicant has identified their institution as the Institution Paid. Once the application is reviewed and approved by the Institution, it will be submitted electronically to CIHR on behalf of the applicant. When completing the application on ResearchNet, detailed instructions on the eApproval process are available in the "Electronic Approval tool - Applicant's Guide" under the “Enter Proposal Information” task, "Details" subtask.

FAQ

Consult the CIHR Fellowship - Frequently Asked Questions.

Contact Information

For questions on CIHR funding guidelines, how to apply, and the peer review process contact:

Fellowships Program Delivery Coordinator
Open Programs, Research and Knowledge Translation Portfolio
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Telephone: 613-960-6219
Fax: 613-954-1800
Email: Fellowships@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

For technical difficulties with your ResearchNet account or the e-Submission process contact:

CIHR ResearchNet Support
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Telephone: 613-941-9080
Email: support@researchnet-recherchenet.ca