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Call for Applications: Fall 2023 Fellowship Awards

 Competition Details

  • Call for Applications: Fall 2023 Fellowship Awards
  • Submission Deadline: November 20, 2023 at 11:59 PM 
  • Status: Not accepting applications

Purpose of the Training Awards Program

The purpose of the CanVECTOR Research Training Awards is to provide financial support for highly qualified, promising trainees or fellows to allow them to pursue research training in thromboembolism at a Canadian centre. The area of training must: 1) align with CanVECTOR priorities, 2) be research focused, and 3) be supervised by a CanVECTOR member.

Partners

These training awards are available thanks to the generous support of our partners. Academic partners that have contributed to the fellowship awards include Dalhousie University, Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute (SREMI), the University of Ottawa, the University of Toronto, McMaster University, Université de Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke, and Université Laval. See our full list of partners here.  All applications will be reviewed through the same process.

Award Details

CanVECTOR Research Fellowships offer support to candidates who are MDs and aim to become clinician scientists or clinician investigators in venous thromboembolism (VTE). The number of awards granted per year is based on the number of applications received and the availability of partner funding

CanVECTOR clinician scientist:

  • Is committed to devoting a substantive percent (≥ 75%) of their professional effort to research
  • Has formal training in research methodology (MSc or PhD degree)
  • Develops and leads research projects (assumes the role of principal applicant for grant applications and principal investigator for research execution)

CanVECTOR clinician investigator:

  • Is committed to devoting a portion of their professional effort to research
  • May (or may not) have formal training in research methodology
  • Contributes to the development and conduct of research projects (may participate as a co-applicant for grant applications and co-investigator for research execution)

Amount of the award: Fellowship: maximum of $50,000

Term of award: Fellowship awards will be granted for one year. It is expected that the awardee will seek peer-reviewed funding during the first year to support any subsequent years of training (if applicable).

Award renewal: Priority for fellowship awards will be given to new applicants. If additional funding is available, renewal applications will be invited and considered in the subsequent competition. It is expected that renewal applicants will demonstrate evidence of substantial progress in achieving their research objectives. Applications from trainees who have actively participated in CanVECTOR activities will be viewed favourably.

Candidate Eligibility

  • Citizenship: Canadian and International applicants are eligible to apply. Priority will be given to Canadian citizens and Canadian permanent residents.
  • Prior education: Fellowship applicants must have completed an MD degree (or international equivalent) and must be eligible for licensure with the provincial College of Physicians where training will take place. Applicants must have completed residency training within the last 3 years. Persons who already hold a faculty position are not eligible.
  • Career focus: Candidate must be committed to a career with a focus on thromboembolism, including a commitment to ongoing research activity.
  • Type of research activities: Eligible research activities must be in an area related to thromboembolism, and aligned with the mission and goals of CanVECTOR.
  • Location of training: The Fellowship must be completed at a CanVECTOR training site at one of the following Canadian universities: Dalhousie University, McGill University, McMaster University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Ottawa, the University of Toronto, the University of Western Ontario, the University of Calgary, Queen’s University, Université de Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke, and Université Laval. Applicants from other training sites are invited to email info@canvector.ca to discuss the connection to CanVECTOR, prior to completing an application.
  • Concomitant higher degree: Fellowship applicants may be enrolled in a higher degree program (MSc or PhD) during the tenure of the fellowship as long as they demonstrate that they have sufficient time to also conduct substantive research.
  • Supervisor(s): Must be an established researcher who has agreed to be the Student’s supervisor and who accepts the conditions of the award as outlined below. At least one of the applicant’s supervisors must be a CanVECTOR member.

Fellowship Conditions and Responsibilities

Submission of an application implies acceptance of the following conditions by both the applicant and his/her supervisor(s):

  • Protected time: It is expected that the principal focus and time commitment of the successful candidate will be to further his/her research experience in thromboembolism. Fellows in the clinician scientist stream must devote at least 75% of their time to research related activities. Non-research related clinical work or teaching may be done concurrently during the fellowship but should not exceed 25% of their time. Fellows in the clinician investigator stream must devote 25-50% of their time to research-related activities. Preference will be given to candidates with a greater time commitment to research.
  • Award administration: The administration of the award will be through a university department or hospital research department and not sent to the successful candidate directly. The University or Hospital will then issue the funds to the award recipient according to their own procedures and payment schedules.
  • Top-up: It is the responsibility of the host university or hospital to ensure that the total stipend that the Fellow receives meets the minimum institutional and provincial funding standards (as applicable). Top-up of the CanVECTOR award by the institution or other internal or external sources is permitted to a maximum of $100,000 per year. Successful candidates must declare all sources of salary support to the CanVECTOR Training Office.
  • Letter of offer: Upon receiving an award offer, the applicant must notify the CanVECTOR Training Office training@canvector.ca of their decision to accept within 14 days.
  • Letter of agreement: On acceptance of the award, the successful candidate and his/her supervisor will sign a letter of agreement to the Conditions and Responsibilities of the award and submit this to the CanVECTOR Training Office training@canvector.ca within 2 months of the offer.
  • Acknowledgment: Any formal presentation (e.g. poster, oral paper), publication, or thesis resulting from the CanVECTOR research Fellowship must acknowledge the support of CanVECTOR, and a copy of any publications resulting from the fellowship must be sent to the CanVECTOR Training Office training@canvector.ca
  • Final report: A brief summary of the activities and accomplishments achieved during the Fellowship year shall be submitted to the CanVECTOR Training Office within 3 months of the end of the funding year. h. Presentation: The Student will be invited to present a summary of his/her research activities at the CanVECTOR annual conference.
  • Ongoing funding: It is expected that the awardee will seek peer-reviewed funding during the first year to support any subsequent years of training (if applicable).

Selection Process

The Fellowship applications will be reviewed by the CanVECTOR Training Awards Committee, in collaboration with the CanVECTOR Patient Partner Council and external reviewers, as appropriate. Final Decisions will be made by the CanVECTOR Training, Mentoring, and Early Career Development co-leads. Reviews of each of the submissions will use a ranking system that recognizes:

  • The quality and potential of the candidate, including demonstration of a sincere commitment to a career in research or other aspects of academic medicine related to venous thrombosis
  • The quality of the research environment and the supervisor(s)
  • The quality and potential importance of the proposed training activities, including its relevance to the mandate of CanVECTOR.

Rating system: A 10-point rating system will be used by the reviewers:

Component Maximum Points
The candidate 5  5
 The environment/supervisor     2.5
 The research proposal  2.5

External reviews: The CanVECTOR Trainee Award Committee may, if necessary, request formal, written external reviews from people who have knowledge of the candidate or his/her supervisor or who have expertise in the area of proposed research.

Conflicts of interest: It is possible that members of the CanVECTOR Trainee Award Committee may have potential conflicts of interest in the review of applicants and in the selection of successful candidates. A set of guidelines has been developed to prevent actual or perceived, direct or indirect conflicts of interests in the selection process.

Patient Partners: The CanVECTOR Patient Partner Council will review lay summaries from each application and will provide comments to the final decision committee

Components of the Application

  1. Application Form
  2. A letter from the applicant (2 pages maximum) with the following headings:
    • Background preparation
    • Specific objectives for the fellowship
    • Plans for the research year (based on the specific objectives)
    • Future career plans
  3. A Summary of proposed research project (2 pages maximum). If the research proposal requires additional funds, the summary should describe the source of this funding (obtained or applied for) and should include a brief discussion of alternatives, if applied-for funding is not successful.
  4. Lay summary (maximum 500 words). The lay summary is a brief summary of a research project that is used to explain complex ideas and medical and scientific terms to people who do not have prior knowledge about the subject. In language suitable for a lay audience, describe the following:
    • Purpose of the research
    • Relevance of the research
    • General approach (methods) For the lay summary, please include paragraphs and headings that clearly show how you are addressing each of the above (3) components, and a lay title
  5. A copy of the applicant's current CV
  6. A copy of the proposed primary supervisor(s)’ current CV
  7. A letter of support from the proposed primary supervisor outlining
    1. The strengths and accomplishments of the candidate
    2. The research facilities and resources available to the candidate
    3. The proportion of time the candidate will spend on research, course work, clinical duties, and teaching

Please note: Applications must use a minimum of 12-point font and 1-inch margins for all submitted material. 

Submission Details

Please complete the application form & attach all required documents by Monday, November 20, 2023 at 11:59 PM. Inquiries can be addressed to info@canvector.ca.