INTERNAL DEADLINE: March 16, 2026

Lakehead University is now accepting applications for RESEARCH stays under the ELAP and SICS scholarship programs.  Students funded for research must conduct full-time research during their stay and may not register for classes. 

In all cases, students must find their own host research supervisor at Lakehead – please download the “Finding a Research Supervisor” guide for tips.

NOTE:  Spaces for STUDY applications are very limited; eligible partner institutions with student exchange agreements will have already been contacted directly by our Global Engagement team.  We regret that we are no longer able to accept study applications from all of our valued partners.

EMERGING LEADERS OF THE AMERICAS SCHOLARSHIPS (ELAP):  Eligible Countries:

• Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos;
• Central America: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama;
• North America: Mexico;
• South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela.

STUDY IN CANADA SCHOLARSHIPS (SICS):  Eligible Countries:

• Asia: Bangladesh, Nepal, Taiwan;
• Europe: Türkiye, Ukraine;
• Middle East and North Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia;
• Sub-Saharan Africa: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda.

Students must be citizens of an eligible country and be enrolled full-time in a degree program at a university in an eligible country; 

• The country of citizenship and country of enrollment do not have to be the same, however they both have to be in eligible countries of the same program (e.g. both eligible for ELAP, or both eligible for SICS).

SCHOLARSHIP VALUE AND DURATION

Level of Study:  While graduate students (Master’s, Ph.D.) will have priority, exceptional undergraduates may also apply for research stays, IF there is an ongoing research collaboration between a Lakehead researcher and the student’s home institution.   

Please note: While an MOU or other formal agreement between the student’s home institution and Lakehead is not required, it may be considered under the Selection Criteria (see below) as partial evidence of the strength of the collaboration.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Applicants must:

• Be a citizen of an eligible country;
• Be enrolled full-time at a post-secondary institution in an eligible country/territory;
  • Country of citizenship and country of enrollment may be different, but both have to be eligible within the same program (both eligible under ELAP, or both eligible under SICS);
• Not have held the scholarship before, and must not be submitting an application to any other Canadian university;
• Continue paying tuition fees to that institution at the time of application and for the full duration of their mobility in Canada;
• Be able to arrive no sooner than August 1, 2026 and no later than February 1, 2027;
• Remain registered in their home university program through out the research stay;
• Not be currently enrolled in a degree, diploma or certificate program at any Canadian post-secondary institution;
• Not hold, or have pending, an application for Canadian Citizenship or permanent residency;
• Not hold another grant or source of funding from Global Affairs Canada (GAC), through its legal name, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD), or from a Canadian federal granting agency (e.g. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) or Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). All additional sources of funding must be declared.

REQUIRED APPLICATION DOCUMENTS:

1.  Application form submitted by Home Institution representative (contact your International Relations Office for more information and for the application form

2.  Signed and dated privacy statement (download HERE).

3.  Letter of intent from the Candidate (two pages maximum)

• Provides the rationale for participating in an international research stay
• Rationale for choosing Lakehead and/or their host supervisor
• Research plan (questions, objectives, activities, timeline, expected outcomes)
• How the proposed research project will support their future career goals.

4.  Letter of Invitation from Host Supervisor at Lakehead (two pages maximum).  The LOI must:

• • Be prepared on official letterhead, signed, and dated within the last three months
  • Describes the nature and scope of the research collaboration with the candidate’s home institution
  • Briefly summarizes the research plan/project and any special facilities / equipment / expertise at Lakehead that is required to complete the project
  • Confirms their willingness to support and mentor the candidate during the exchange period
  • Describes the benefits of the research stay to the project, the department, and/or to Lakehead.

5.  Letter of Support – from home supervisor or professor (one page).  Must be on institutional letterhead, signed and dated. The letter shall:  Discuss how the research mobility fits within the student’s academic program; Describe the student’s preparedness to undertake the proposed research stay; Discuss how the candidate and the home institution will benefit from this research collaboration.

6.  Proof of full-time registration at the home institution (must contain the words FULL TIME) and expected graduation date.  (Letter or certificate from home institution, in English or accompanied by an English translation.)

7.  Proof of Citizenship – Valid passport (preferred) or national ID card only

8.  Signed Declaration of Eligibility  (download form HERE).

HOW TO APPLY

Students may not apply directly to Lakehead.  Applications must be submitted by a representative of the student’s home institution, usually the mobility coordinator or other personnel from the International Relations office.  The student must consult with the coordinator to obtain application documents and confirm compliance with their home institution’s eligibility criteria.  Their home institution may have an earlier internal deadline, as the scholarship can be competitive.

The applicant’s home institution coordinator will submit an online form with all the supporting documents by March 16, 2026.  All documents must be submitted by this date. Submissions with missing or incomplete documents will not be considered.   

If the student’s home coordinator has not received the application information from Lakehead or has questions, please contact inbound.globalme@lakeheadu.ca.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Research students will be selected for scholarships based on the following criteria:

• Strength and detail of research plan/project
• Alignment of student’s research interests with host supervisor’s expertise and research program
• Strength of support of home institution
• Strength of the inter-institutional partnership and/or research collaborations
• Equitable gender participation
• Distribution across eligible countries

If the student’s home coordinator has not received the application information from Lakehead or has questions, please contact inbound.globalme@lakeheadu.ca.

INFORMATION FOR LAKEHEAD (HOST) SUPERVISORS:

1. If you are considering hosting a research student, please be sure to have at least one virtual meeting with the student and their home supervisor to discuss the project and make sure the student is a good fit, before agreeing to host and providing the Letter of Invitation.  If you decide that you are not comfortable or otherwise not able to host a student, you should decline.  You may suggest a different supervisor if your expertise or availability does not match the student’s needs; you may also forward the student’s request to intl.research@lakeheadu.ca.  
   
   
2. Because of the funding limit and limits on institutional capacity, each Lakehead researcher may support the applications of a maximum of two candidates to each GAC scholarship program.  (Max. two for ELAP, two for SICS).  Each partner institution may only submit two applications.  
   
   
3. The scholarship is disbursed directly to the student and/or to a university administered benefit (e.g. student residence) and exclusively provides funds for their travel and living expenses. There is no project funding.
   
   
4. Host Supervisors are not expected to provide any financial support to the student.  Please be aware of the following:
   • No Canadian federal funding may be used to supplement the Global Affairs Canada Scholarship (e.g. may not use CIHR/NSERC/SSHRC funds or other Global Affairs Canada funding).
   • If there are costs associated with the conduct of the research project (e.g. materials/ supplies), please discuss this with the student and their home supervisor and determine in advance who will cover those costs.  You may mention that in the letter of invitation.
   • If you wish to provide additional support, please discuss with the the Office of Research Services prior to offering the funding.
5. Successful candidates will be registered as Visiting Research Students (VRS).  VRS are, in most cases, considered “workers” by IRCC for the purpose of immigration.  Students may opt to stay for either 4 months (one semester) or 5-6 months with additional funding.  In addition to considering the time required to complete the research objectives, there are also immigration considerations for length of stay:

• For stays  of up to 120 days –  Students are eligible to apply for the 120-day work permit exemption for researchers; these students will only need to obtain a visitor visa or eTA prior to arrival.   However, visitor visas sometimes have extended processing times.
• For stays of greater than 120 days, a work permit is required and there is a cost to obtaining a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) Exemption ($230 compliance fee) before the student can apply for a work permit. While HR will facilitate the required documents for a work permit application, you as the host supervisor will be expected to cover the compliance fee.  Please note that work permits are likely eligible for expedited (two-week) processing under current guidelines.

Lakehead faculty members with questions or who require assistance should contact Jill Sherman, intl.research@lakeheadu.ca.

The De Chastelain Scholarships, funded by the Ireland Canada University Foundation and Global Affairs Canada, support two-way researcher mobility (3-6 weeks) between Ireland and Canada, to develop research collaborations.  Canadian applicants must be citizens or permanent residents.  Applications are accepted from researchers in any discipline whose work contributes to peacebuilding and reconciliation — whether directly through research in these areas or indirectly by strengthening the social, cultural, environmental, technological, or institutional foundations on which lasting peace depends.   Click here for more information.   Contact Jill Sherman, intl.research@lakeheadu.ca for assistance.

Workplace Opportunities: Removing Barriers to Equity (WORBE) is a grants and contributions program. WORBE is designed to support employers subject to the Employment Equity Act (the Act) in their efforts to improve designated group representation in areas of low representation through partnerships and industry-tailored strategies.

In 2026, through a competitive Call for Proposals process, WORBE will provide funding through grants or contributions to eligible recipients to develop tailored solutions to support the four (4) designated groups under the Act (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities).

Funding of up to a total of $3 million per year is available to distribute to eligible organizations. Eligible organizations can apply for up to $500,000 per year. Eligible projects must be completed within 36 months of the project’s start date. The maximum total funding that can be provided for a project is $1.5 million.

Employment and Social Development Canada’s Labour Program, in partnership with Impact Canada, is launching a 2026 Call for Proposals under the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Fund (WHVPF). This Call for Proposals will pilot the Impact Canada funding model that emphasizes funding tied to measurable results and applied solutions.

Applications will be accepted from January 5, 2026, to February 13, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. ET through Impact Canada.

Objectives

• Develop sector-specific tools and resources related to harassment and violence prevention that will support behavioural changes in the workplace
• Provide guidance to workers regarding new harassment and violence regulations

SSHRC has launched a new funding opportunity: Destination Horizon Grants.  These grants are intended to support SSHRC-eligible researchers whose primary affiliation is with an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution, to build capacity, foster existing partnerships, and further develop networks and/or consortia with partners in the European Union and other “associated countries”, with the ultimate goal of applying to Horizon Europe (HE)—Pillar II calls with a collaborative proposal.  Applications for the Destination Horizon grants are submitted on the SSHRC Convergence portal. 

All HE Pillar II projects are implemented by an interdisciplinary consortium (partnership of organizations across different nations, which must include at least 3 partners (beyond Canada, this must include a partner from at least one EU Member State).  Most HE research consortia consist of 10-20 partners, and have one lead institution.

Consortium partners can be legal entities engaging in breakthrough research, including

• academics
• industrial researchers
• small- to medium-sized enterprises
• non-profit and charity sector entities
• other research and innovation actors in Canada

The purpose of this initiative is to assist Canadian researchers in making the connections and developing the networks needed to successfully join a research consortium in preparation to apply to Horizon Europe.

FUNDING:  SSHRC will provide up to $15,000 for one year; 100% matching cash funds is required, for a total maximum funding of $30,000.  Matching funds will be provided for up to two applications submitted by Lakehead researchers through the internal VPRI International Research Partnership Award mechanism for any applications selected and funded by SSHRC. 

Funds may be used for connection-type activities, including but not limited to:

• Travel expenses for PI, co-investigators and collaborators (travel to Europe or to Canada)
• Workshops or conferences
• Networking
• Proposal development
• Team-building consultants

Funds may not be used to conduct actual research activities.

ELIGIBILITY & SELECTION:  There are no merit criteria for selection.  All applications deemed eligible will be entered into a randomized selection process to determine awards. An eligible application that is not randomly selected for an award may be re-submitted for a future competition.

To be eligible for this funding opportunity, applicants must demonstrate:

• their eligible affiliation and primary affiliation in the social sciences or humanities;
• their readiness to further develop networks and/or consortia with EU and other associated countries’ researchers, with the ultimate goal of applying to a Horizon Europe—Pillar II call;
• eligible budget requests; and
• 100% matching cash contributions from the host institution.

Institutional selection and submission:  Lakehead University will support up to two Destination Horizon Grant applications for the May 22nd deadline.  If more than 2 eligible applications are received by the internal deadline of May 8th, the Office of the VPRI will apply the same two-stage random selection process to select the applications that will be submitted.  Therefore, a strict internal deadline will be treated as an Expression of Interest - at a minimum, a draft of the Program Description must be received by that date.  EOIs received after the EOI/Internal Deadline will not be considered for that round, but may be considered for the following round.  Please submit a copy of the Program Description directly to either Jill Sherman, Nicole Westlund Stewart, or Rebecca Heffernan.  If required, the selection process will take place within 24 hours and you will be notified ASAP if you can proceed to complete the application.

Applications are submitted on the Convergence portal.  For the purpose of this application, please note that Lakehead is the "host" organization, and only one Letter of Support (from the VPRI) is required. 

This funding opportunity follows the agreement signed by the Government of Canada and the European Commission giving Canada status as an "Associated Country" status (Pillar II only) and enables Canadians to participate in Horizon Europe funding.

For examples of past and current HE calls for proposals involving a SSH component, please click HERE.   While some HE calls are currently open, the 2025 and the 2026-27 work plans are expected to be released in early 2025 (detailing new calls 2025-2027), with increased opportunities for SSH participation. 

For examples of HE funded projects with an SSH component, please click HERE.

For questions or assistance, please contact Jill Sherman at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca, Nicole Westlund Stewart, sshrc.research@lakeheadu.ca, or Rebecca Heffernan orillia.research@lakeheadu.ca.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards, whose nineteenth edition is now open, recognize and reward world-class research and artistic creation, prizing contributions of singu­lar impact for their originality and significance. The name of the scheme is intended to de­note not only research work that substantially enlarges the scope of our current knowledge – pushing forward the frontiers of the known world – but also the meeting and overlap of different disciplinary areas and the emergence of new fields.

The Frontiers of Knowledge Awards honor fundamental disciplinary or interdisciplinary advances across a broad expanse of the knowl­edge map of the 21st century. The areas ad­dressed by this family of awards are:

1. Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics)
2. Biology and Biomedicine
3. Information and Communication Technologies
4. Climate Change and Environmental Sciences
5. Economics, Finance and Management
6. Humanities
7. Social Sciences
8. Music and Opera

If a researcher is interested in being nominated for one of these awards, they are asked to contact the Office of Research Services (ahacquo1@lakeheadu.ca) by April 1, 2026.

The Undergraduate Research (UR) grants program supports the research programs of established scientists and engineers at non-doctoral departments and provides financial support for students at those institutions to become involved in advanced research activities, in preparation for continued study in graduate school or employment.

The New Directions (ND) grants program provides funds to scientists and engineers with limited—or even no—preliminary results for a research project they wish to pursue, and who intend to use the PRF-driven preliminary results to seek continuation funding from other agencies. ND grants are to be used to illustrate proof of concept/feasibility. Accordingly, they are to be viewed as seed money for new research ventures.

A "new research direction" is something different from previous research performed by the lead principal investigator (lead PI). But, it may involve a field of science or engineering in which others are already working. Therefore, the proposed research should not be in the same direction as—or overlap with—current projects in the lead PI’s research group. Excluded from consideration will be

• Lead PIs who have had previous support or current funding for the project, and
• Proposals presenting ideas that are a logical extension of ongoing research from the lead PI’s laboratory.