CIHR Fellowship (CIHR Fellowship: 2022-2023)

Application deadline: October 5, 2022 (6 p.m. eastern)

Important Dates

Description

CIHR's Health Research Training Strategy aims to equip research trainees so that they emerge from their training as scientific, professional, or organizational leaders within and beyond the health research enterprise. Generating Research Leaders of tomorrow is a key objective for CIHR.

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.

It is expected that applicants integrate sex and gender perspectives into their research to promote rigorous science that has the potential to expand our understanding of health determinants for all people. As such, applicants are required to indicate how they will account for sex (biological factor) and gender (socio-cultural factor) in the research design, methods, analysis and interpretation, and dissemination of findings. For more information and resources, please see the Sex, Gender and Health Research page on the CIHR website.

Relevant Research Areas

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

Fellowship: Fall 2022 Priority Announcements (Specific Research Areas)

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 awards 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 (5) years will be available through this competition.
• The maximum amount awarded for a single award is up to $60,000 per annum for up to five (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.

Applicant self-identification information may be used by CIHR to consider individuals for designated funding, should it become available.

Duration of Support

The maximum duration of support, taking into account all Tri-Agency federal funding held¹, 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 (3) years minus the duration of any previous Tri-Agency support held at the postdoctoral researcher / post-health professional degree level (see examples of postdoctoral/degree researcher programs).
• Health professional degree who are not requesting support to pursue a graduate degree, the maximum period of support is four (4) years minus the duration of any previous Tri-Agency funding held at the postgraduate level (see examples of Doctoral and Masters' programs).
• Health professional degree who are requesting support to pursue a graduate degree, the maximum period of support to complete the degree is five (5) years minus the duration of any previous Tri-Agency funding held at the postgraduate level (see examples of Doctoral and Masters').

Note: Health Professionals who receive funding through this program to pursue a graduate degree must terminate their award upon completion of the degree.

Supplement: The Alice Wilson Award

A $1,000 award is offered yearly by the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) to three women of outstanding academic qualifications entering a career in scholarship or research at the postdoctoral level via fellowship programs from the Tri-Agencies (one award is granted per Agency). CIHR will seek the consent of top-ranked women who accept a CIHR Fellowship to share their information as potential nominees to the RSC, who will make the final determination and inform successful candidates upon completion of their selection process.

More information is available on the Royal Society of Canada website.

Objectives

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are:

• To provide recognition and funding to academic health research trainees;
• To provide a reliable supply of highly skilled and qualified researchers.

Eligibility

Eligibility to Apply

For an application to be eligible:

1. The Nominated Principal Applicant must be a trainee (and maintain such status throughout the award duration) and meet the minimum commitment of 75% of their time in the proposed research training (Research + Course Work) throughout the tenure of their award.
   Note: For the purpose of this funding opportunity, trainees cannot hold or be on leave from an independent research position.
2. A primary supervisor must be identified on the application. An additional supervisor may also be identified.
3. As of the application deadline, the Nominated Principal Applicant must hold or be completing a PhD or a regulated health professional degree. The Nominated Principal Applicant must expect to complete all of the requirements of the degree by the latest possible date on which they can take up their award (see Conditions of Funding). For examples of health professions, please consult the list Eligible Health Professions.
4. Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada are eligible to hold a CIHR Fellowship award in Canada or abroad. Nominated Principal Applicants who are neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents of Canada may only hold a CIHR Fellowship award at a Canadian institution.
5. A recipient of a CIHR doctoral–level award 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 CIHR doctoral–level award with a health professional degree applies to the Fellowship funding opportunity for doctoral support before the last year of the doctoral award, funding for the currently-held doctoral award 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.
6. The Nominated Principal Applicant may submit only one (1) 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 (other exceptions may apply depending on the program objectives; these would be indicated in the specific funding opportunities).
7. The Nominated Principal Applicant must complete one of CIHR's three interactive modules on sex and gender in research and include the completion certificate with their CIHR Fellowship application (see How to Apply section for further details)

Guidelines

General CIHR Policies

Before submitting an application to this funding opportunity, applicants should review the relevant policies and guidelines on the CIHR Funding Policies page to ensure understanding of their responsibilities and expectations.

Allowable Costs

Applicants 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.

Conditions of Funding

• The award must be accepted within 15 working days of the date of offer or the award will be cancelled.
• 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 degree awardees not enrolled in a degree program: Awards may commence on the first day of any month from the earliest start date (between April 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024).
  • For awardees registered in a graduate program: Awards must start either on May 1, 2023, September 1, 2023, or January 1, 2024.
• 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, awards 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 enrollment.
• For Canadian applicants who are seeking support to hold their award abroad, the award will only begin after the following documents have been provided:
  • proof of Canadian Citizenship or Canadian Permanent Residency
  • proof of visa to enter the foreign country
• For foreign applicants, awards will only begin after proof of an entry visa into Canada has been provided.
• If the candidate holds another direct Tri-Agency (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) or agency-specific federal funding training award, it must be terminated prior to the start of the CIHR Fellowship.
• Data related to research by and with First Nations, Inuit, Métis or Urban Indigenous communities whose traditional and ancestral territories are in Canada must be managed in accordance with data management principles developed and approved by those communities, and on the basis of free, prior and informed consent. This includes, but is not limited to, considerations of Indigenous data sovereignty, as well as data collection, ownership, protection, use, and sharing.

Review Process and Evaluation

Review Process

Peer review will be conducted in accordance with the CIHR Reviewers' Guide for Fellowship Awards.

For information on CIHR's peer review principles, see the Peer Review: Overview section of CIHR's website.

Funding Decision

Upon completion of the peer review, CIHR will generate ranking lists for each committee. These lists will be used for funding decision-making purposes and will remain anonymous. Applications will be funded by committee from the top down in order of ranking as far as the budget will allow.

CIHR reserves the right to break ties in ranking by using the committee percent rank for ties between applications in different committees, and the consolidated percent rank for ties between applications within a committee.

Applications that receive a final rating below 3.5 will not be funded.

The names of successfully funded applicants will be published on the CIHR website.

See agency website for full details on How to Apply

• To complete your application, follow the instructions in the Fellowship Awards - Application Instructions.
  Important:
  • Please read all instructions to familiarize yourself with the application process before applying.
  • Consult the CIHR Fellowship – Frequently Asked Questions.
• In order to ensure fairness in the evaluation of applications, CIHR will not accept updates to applications after the application deadline.
• Nominated Principal Applicants and their supervisor(s) are required to:
  • Have/obtain a CIHR PIN;
  • Complete the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Self-identification Questionnaire.
• 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 identified by the Nominated Principal Applicant as the Institution Paid to review and electronically approve the application. Once the application is reviewed and approved by the Institution, it will be submitted electronically to CIHR on behalf of the Nominated Principal 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.

Contact Information

For all inquiries, please contact:

CIHR Contact Centre
Telephone: 613-954-1968
Toll Free: 1-888-603-4178
Email: support-soutien@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Sponsor Description

Internal Collaborators

Canadian Institutes of Health Research
At the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), we know that research has the power to change lives. As Canada's health research investment agency, we collaborate with partners and researchers to support the discoveries and innovations that improve our health and strengthen our health care system

Additional Information

Footnote

1. This includes all Tri-Agency award programs, such as the Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS) and agency-specific awards from CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC (See the Tri-agency Research Training Award Holder's Guide).