ResearchNet - RechercheNet

Table of Contents

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

Description

The CIHR Doctoral Research Awards consist of two programs administered through a single application:

• The Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships Doctoral Awards (CGS-D) program provides special recognition and support to students who are pursuing a doctoral degree in a health-related field in Canada.
• Some Canada Graduate Scholarship recipients may be considered for the honour of having their scholarship named a “Canada Graduate Scholarship to Honour Nelson Mandela”, should CIHR deem their application to be aligned with at least one of five themes championed by Mandela: national unity; democracy; freedom and human rights; leadership; children’s participation in society; and children’s health.
• The Doctoral Foreign Study Award (DFSA) provides special recognition and support to students who are pursuing a doctoral degree in a health-related field abroad.

Candidates apply to the CIHR Doctoral Research Awards competition and top-ranked candidates are awarded a CGS-D or DFSA depending on the proposed location where the doctoral degree will be pursued and granted.

All candidates are expected to have an exceptionally high potential for future research achievement and productivity.

Funds Available

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

For this competition, applications will be accepted in all areas of health research, including biomedical, clinical, health services and social, cultural, environmental and population health.

• It is anticipated that approximately $14 million over three years will be available for the CGS-D competition, enough to fund approximately 133 awards.
• It is anticipated that approximately $1.05 million over three years will be available for the DFSA competition, enough to fund approximately 10 awards.
• Trainee stipend: $30,000 per annum.
• Research allowance: $5,000 per annum.

Objectives

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are:

• To provide recognition and funding to students early in their academic research career, providing them with an opportunity to gain research experience;
• To provide a reliable supply of highly skilled and qualified researchers.

Funding Opportunities in Specific Research Areas

The CGS-D and the DFSA programs will fund applications in any area of health research. Additional funds are available, in specific research areas, to support Doctoral Research Award applications that are not funded through either the CGS-D or the DFSA.

• Doctoral Research Award: Fall 2014 Priority Announcement (Specific Research Areas) (This competition is now closed)

Partner Participation

The Doctoral Research Awards competition has no formal requirements for partnering.

From time to time, additional funding for the Doctoral Research Awards competition may be made available through partnerships with other health research funding organizations. These funding opportunities will be announced individually where they occur through priority announcements.

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.

Eligibility to Apply

1. The Nominated Principal Applicant must be a trainee.
2. A primary supervisor must be identified on the application. An additional supervisor may be identified.
3. The program is open to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada at the time of application.
4. Only students engaged in a full-time doctoral program that has a significant research component are eligible to apply. An eligible program of study must require that 75% of the students' time be devoted to research training. The research component must be a requirement for completion of the program, such as the completion of a thesis, a major research project, a dissertation, a scholarly publication, a presentation and/or an exhibit that is merit/expert reviewed at the institutional level.  Doctoral programs that are based only on course work are not eligible. Joint doctoral programs with a professional degree (e.g. MD/PhD, MBA/PhD, DVM/PhD, etc.) and clinically-oriented doctoral programs (e.g. PhD in Clinical Psychology) are eligible if they have a significant research component as described above. For the purposes of eligibility assessment, the health professional degree portion of the combined degree program will not be counted as graduate study.
5. The table below outlines the maximum amount of time a candidate can be registered as a full-time student in a doctoral program (as of the application deadline), in order to be eligible to apply.^{1, 2}
6. The maximum duration of award funding from all federal sources to undertake graduate studies is four years, including at the Master's level. Individuals who hold or have held a doctoral award from a federal source for a term of three years are not eligible to apply.
7. Individuals eligible to apply to the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program or the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program may also submit an application to the Doctoral Research Award program.
8. As of the application deadline, all candidates must have completed a minimum of 12 months of graduate study at the Master's or doctoral level.¹

¹In evaluating the amount of time a candidate has been registered in a doctoral program for application eligibility purposes only, two sessions of part-time study will count as one session of full-time study. One full-time session, including summer sessions, is counted as 4 months of studies unless otherwise noted on the official transcripts. All previous studies at the graduate level, regardless of discipline, either course-based or research-based, will be included in this evaluation (which will be based on the official transcripts provided).

²If the candidate is registered in a master's degree program and subsequently transfers to a doctoral degree program, the months in the doctoral program will be calculated starting from the first academic session in which the candidate officially transferred to their doctoral program as indicated on the official transcripts.
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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.

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

The awards consist of a stipend and a research allowance.

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.

In addition to CIHR standard guidelines and requirements, the following special requirements shall apply:

• This 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.
• Awards will begin only after the recipient has registered in a full-time doctoral program and has provided official confirmation from the Registrar's office of their registration.
• Canadian candidates pursuing a doctoral degree abroad must also submit proof of a visa to enter a foreign country from the office of the foreign government.
• Candidates are required to obtain the research institution's signature.
• Successful candidates must begin their award within 12 months of the earliest possible start date and start May 1, September 1 or January 1 following the offer of award.
• A recipient of a Doctoral Research Award (DRA) with a health professional degree may apply to the Fellowship Funding Opportunity no earlier than the beginning of the last year of their DRA. 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.

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 institutes/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

Review Committee

A CIHR review committee will evaluate the full application. The committee may be drawn from one of CIHR's pre-existing committees or may be created specifically for this funding opportunity. Committee members are selected based on suggestions from many sources including the institute(s)/ branch(es) and partner(s), following the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy of the Federal Research Funding Organizations.

Doctoral Research Award applications are assigned to a review committee based on the theme of research identified within the application. For more information, please refer to the Peer Review Committees and Mandates - Doctoral Research Award.

For information on CIHR's peer review process in general, see the Understand Peer Review section of CIHR's website.

Evaluation Criteria

Doctoral Research Awards applications are reviewed in accordance with the Peer Review Manual for Salary and Training Award Applications and the Guide for Reviewers – CIHR Doctoral Research Awards.

The following general criteria for evaluating training award applications will be used:

• Achievements and Activities of the Candidate
• Characteristics and Abilities of the Candidate
• Research Training Environment

Funding Decision

Applications will be peer-reviewed in a single CIHR Doctoral Research Awards competition. A ranking list will be generated and CIHR will fund CGS-D and DFSA applications, from top down in order of ranking, to the limit of the funds of each pool.

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

How to Apply

The application process will be conducted on ResearchNet. To complete your application, follow the instructions in the Doctoral Research 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. (Updated: 2014-09-18)

Consult the CIHR Doctoral Research Awards - Frequently Asked Questions.

Contact Information

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

CIHR Doctoral Research Awards Program Delivery Coordinator
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Telephone: 613-952-5701
Fax: 613-954-1800
Email: DRA@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

For technical support with your ResearchNet account or the electronic submission of your application contact:

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