The Canadian Respiratory Research Network (CRRN) offers two types of research trainee awards to the medical and scientific community: post-doctoral fellowships and PhD graduate studentships. Information and policies are provided in the following pages. The Lung Association and the Canadian Thoracic Society will provide the administrative support for the CRRN application and review process.

Deadlines

Registration: September 2, 2014
Application: September 2, 2014

Eligibility

Priority will be given to a Canadian citizen, permanent Canadian resident or landed immigrant.  These awards are normally held at Canadian institutions. 
To be eligible for a CRRN Fellowship or Studentship Award the:

1. Applicant’s supervisor must be working on an established CRRN research project or platform
2. Applicant’s research project must align with a CRRN research project and must span at least 2 CIHR Themes (Pillars).
3. Studentship applicants - should be enrolled or accepted in a graduate (thesis based) program at the Doctoral level at a Canadian academic institution. Individuals who have applied to a graduate program but have not received acceptance may apply for a Studentship award.  The award, however, will be conditional on acceptance into the program. 
4. Fellowship applicants - should be working under supervision of a faculty member at an accredited Canadian academic institution. 

The Canadian Lung Association (CLA) and Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF) are pleased to announce the launch of the Emerging Research Leaders Initiative (ERLI). This multi-partnered initiative, led by CLA and HSF, includes organizational partners from non-profit, government, industry, and emerging / existing networks. Partners include CIHR’s Institute for Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH), Pfizer Canada Inc., the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS), Allergy, Genes and Environment Network (AllerGen NCE), ICRH Canadian Respiratory Research Network (CRRN), the ICRH Canadian Stroke Prevention Intervention Network (C-SPIN), and the ICRH Vascular Network (CVN).

The Emerging Research Leaders Initiative (ERLI) is an establishment grant program for researchers at the transition stage from post-doctoral fellow to early professional career stage in the areas of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and/or respiratory health research.

This initiative aims to support successful early career launch of new investigators. Through this initiative, partners will provide establishment grant funds that will create a set of conditions conducive to the successful career launch of emerging research leaders in the cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and/or respiratory health research domains.

Establishment grant programs are intended to assist new investigators in establishing independent health research programs and achieving the research productivity necessary to obtain major funding from national and other external granting agencies.

ERLI Awards

• Length of term: Up to 3 years
• Award amount: Up to $150,000 ($50,000 per year for 3 years) The maximum amount per grant, including equipment, staff, and travel

This award provides $500,000 over a period of five years to support accomplished investigators at the assistant professor level to study pathogenesis, with a focus on the interplay between human and microbial biology, shedding light on how human and microbial systems are affected by their encounters. The awards are intended to give recipients the freedom and flexibility to pursue new avenues of inquiry and higher-risk research projects that hold potential for significantly advancing the biochemical, pharmacological, immunological, and molecular biological understanding of how microbes and the human body interact.

Scientific advances such as genomics, quantitative structural biology, imaging techniques, and modeling of complex systems have created opportunities for exciting research careers at the interface between the physical/computational sciences and the biological sciences. Tackling key problems in biology will require scientists trained in areas such as chemistry, physics, applied mathematics, computer science, and engineering.

Recognizing the vital role such cross-trained scientists will play in furthering biomedical science, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund has developed the Career Awards at the Scientific Interface. These grants are intended to foster the early career development of researchers who have transitioned or are transitioning from undergraduate and/or graduate work in the physical/mathematical/computational sciences or engineering into postdoctoral work in the biological sciences, and who are dedicated to pursuing a career in academic research.

The AdvancingHealth Program, managed by Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), is designed to bolster innovation in Ontario’s public healthcare sector by matching healthcare needs with innovative products and services through partnerships between public healthcare organizations, companies and academic institutions. The aim is to advance healthcare innovation directed to improved health outcomes, enhanced patient experience and efficient use of resources through investments in collaborative demonstration projects that show clear potential for scaling-up to the system-level and establish a strong case for adoption. 

The overall objectives of the program are to:

• Enable the public healthcare sector to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies and process improvements;
• Engage the public healthcare community to demonstrate innovative products and services that produce better patient care, patient outcomes, patient safety and reduce costs; and,
• Identify and bridge barriers to realize sustainable and long-term adoption of innovations/technologies in the public healthcare sector.

- See more at: http://www.oce-ontario.org/programs/commercialization-programs/advancing...

The CQDM Explore program is now widely opened to the scientific community of Quebec and Ontario. CQDM and Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) are working collaboratively to launch the 2014 Explore competition which aims to support unconventional and highly innovative research projects that could strongly impact the drug discovery process.Explore is designed to fund early concept validation of cutting-edge technologies, computational tools, novel approaches, techniques and devices that address the most crucial needs in drug discovery and/or development. 

The ultimate goal of the Explore funding program is to challenge the established practices in the drug R&D process. Projects funded by this program must have the potential for a breakthrough discovery that have the potential to radically transform the current paradigm or conventional wisdom. Research projects that result only in incremental improvements over the existing state of the art will not be considered in this funding program. - See more at: http://www.oce-ontario.org/programs/industry-academic-collaboration/expl...

International Collaborative Research Grants

International Collaborative Research Grants (ICRG) provide up to $30,000 to support research collaborations between two or more qualified scholars, where the principal investigators bring different and complementary perspectives, knowledge, and/or skills together. Supplemental funds are also available to provide essential training for academic research participants in ICRG funded projects.

Duration of awards:

• Intermediate Research Fellowship: 3 years (up to $40,000 per year)
• New Investigator Fellowship: 3 years (up to $35,000 per year)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship: 2 or 3 years ($35,000 per year)
• Research Training Fellowship: 1, 2 or 3 years ($35,000 per year)
• ResearchStudentship^: 1, 2 or 3 years ($16,000 per year)

Intermediate Research Fellowships are intended to help individuals to continue a career in research once they are established members of the mental health research community. To be eligible, candidates must at the time of application be a minimum of five years but not more than ten years beyond the most recent professional research qualification. Applicants for the Intermediate Research Fellowship must be members of the institution’s full-time staff.  These awards are subject to external review. External reviews may be shared between the Research Committee and the Fellowships Committee.  

New Investigator Fellowships are intended for candidates who at the competition deadline are in the first five years of their career since obtaining the most recent professional research qualification. Interruptions, delays or post-degree clinical training in your post-PhD  or professional research qualification cumulative experience and/or research training may be taken into account in determining eligibility if detailed information on the interruption, including specific dates, is provided in the “Applicant’s Letter.”  Valid interruptions include childrearing, long-term illness (greater than 30 days), or health-related family responsibilities. Personal career choices such as Professional or Independent work experience are not considered eligible interruptions. The OMHF uses the date of degree completion to determine applicant eligibility. This is the date on which all requirements of your degree have been met, including successful defense and submission of the corrected copy of your thesis (verified against the official transcript[s]) submitted as part of the application.

Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Postdoctoral Fellowship is intended to provide an opportunity for a person with a Ph.D. to obtain further training.  

The Research Training Fellowship is intended to provide an opportunity for those who have completed professional training (e.g., M.D., F.R.C.P.(C).; M.S.W.; M.N.Sc., M.H.Sc.) and wish to follow a career which requires further training in research (e.g., at the Ph.D. or Master's level).  Research Training Fellowships will be awarded only to applicants who have a reasonable prospect of attaining a formal research credential as a result of the training to be undertaken.  

Research Studentship

The Research Studentship is available only to those who are enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Ontario Universities during the award period.

Career Awards for Medical Scientists (CAMS) provide $700,000 over a minimum of five years to bridge advanced postdoctoral/fellowship training and the early years of faculty service.