MyRoad Health Research Exchange Competition 2025

Health Research Exchange Competition 2025 in the field of obesity, diabetes and cardiometabolism

 

Description

The MyRoad training and mentoring platform is launching its 2025 Health Research Exchange Competition. The competition invites master students, doctoral students, postdoctoral trainees, medical residents or fellows and early career investigators (ECI) to propose collaborative research projects in the areas of cardiometabolic health, diabetes and obesity, with the goal of complementing their training path with experiential learning opportunities in another research group (i.e. in another centre located in Canada or internationally). Multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral applications or translational aspects will be favoured. The selected candidates will be funded to allow the establishment of the collaboration in the host’s research centre.

Funds available

A total of 4 to 6 internships will be funded yearly.

The amount of each grant is

• up to $5,000 for an internship of 3 months or less;
• up to $10,000 for an internship of more than 3 months.

The eligibility criteria and adjudication process are described below. Selected projects will demonstrate a structuring effect for the research groups involved and contribute to the career progress of the candidate.

Deadlines for submitting applications

• May 1^st, 2025, for internships beginning between September 1^st, 2025 and August 31, 2026.
• October 1^st, 2025, for internships beginning between January 1^st, 2026 and December 31, 2026.

Eligibility criteria:

1. The candidate must be a master’s student, doctoral student, a medical resident, a postdoctoral trainee or fellow, or an ECI affiliated with a CIHR-eligible institution.
2. The candidate must demonstrate motivation to pursue research training in the area of cardiometabolism, diabetes and/or obesity.
3. Each successful applicant cannot receive more than one internship from this competition.
4. For trainees, the research director of the candidate must be affiliated with a CIHR-eligible institution; a maximum of one application per research director will be funded annually.
5. The candidate must propose a relevant training program for the collaborative project.
6. In addition to the CIHR-eligible research centre of the applicant, the proposal must include at least another research centre in Canada or abroad.
7. The research director and the candidate (or the candidate alone if an ECI) must agree to provide a brief progress report one year after the funding period to demonstrate the leverage effect of the program (i.e. obtaining scholarships and/or external grants, etc).
8. Following the year of funding, winning teams are asked to participate in the Constellation project and provide MyRoad with 1) a text of max. 300 words or graphic abstract; or 2) a short video (max. 3-5 min) presenting the team’s project in a language that is accessible to all and that will be publicized through the MyRoad newsletter and website, and any other media that is deemed relevant.

Please ensure that your application meets the eligibility criteria of the funding call. Applications submitted late, incomplete or not meeting the eligibility criteria will not be evaluated.

We strongly encourage women, Indigenous Peoples, racialized people, people from ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and people from the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities to apply for MyRoad funding.

Eligible expenses:

All expenses connected to the training of the successful applicant in the centre of the collaborator and allowable under CIHR research grant rules. Expenditures must be direct costs of the research for which the funds were awarded, and be both effective and economical.

Specifically:

1. Transportation, accommodation and living expenses (if necessary depending on the distance) for the successful applicant in the collaborating research group(s);
2. Shipping costs between the main research centre and the collaborating research centre(s) in connection with the trainee’s stay;
3. Costs related to the collaborative research project (supplies, technical services, etc.);
4. Partial stipend for the trainee;
5. Patient partner honorarium.

Non-eligible expenses:

 Transport, accommodation and living expenses for the trainee in the base research centre:

1. Salary for researchers;
2. Ethics approval fees;
3. Expenses resulting in personal monetary gain for the successful applicant or researchers.

Who can file an application:

The research director is responsible for filing the nomination of the candidate(s) unless the candidate is an ECI. In this case, the candidate is responsible for completing his or her own application.

How to apply:

The application process for this funding opportunity consists in one online form.

Please ensure that the application is complete and is submitted on time.

All supporting documents must be in PDF format.

Specific instructions to complete application:

1. 1. You will be required to provide the following information:
      • Project title;
      • The name and email address of the candidate;
      • Affiliation institution;
      • Affiliation(s) of the candidate to Canadian research networks;
      • Start and end dates as well as the number of weeks of support requested for the research study period abroad;
      • The name and email address of the research director (not required for ECI), and name and location of the foreign host institution(s) where you intend to pursue your research activities;
      • Contact information of financial services in the paid institution; and
      • The address and email to which MyRoad will send all correspondence.
   2. Budget that provides estimates for costs of travel, living and other expenses during the research study period abroad. Any ineligible expenses will be removed from the total amount requested in the application.
   3. Research activities: A description of the intended research activities during the exchange period (including objectives, methodology, timeline, expected outcomes and impact for research groups involved) (max 300 words).
   4. For trainees only, letter from the research director detailing their support of the research study period abroad and confirming that the proposed research objectives align with ongoing projects (max 1 page).
   5. Letter from the host supervisor detailing their support for the research study period abroad and the resources they have available (e.g., financial, if any; supervision time; equipment; library access; etc.) to support the planned research activities (max 1 page).
   6. Updated curriculum vitae, CIHR academic version, of the research director (for trainees only), principal host researcher. For a host researcher outside of Canada, any CV containing information similar to CIHR CV will be accepted.
   7. In one PDF document prepared by the candidate to be uploaded in the online form or sent by email directly to MyRoad.MaRoute@criucpq.ulaval.ca :
      • A brief description of your training path so far and, if relevant, how your lived experience may have influenced your progress (max. 250 words);
      • A brief description of your most significant achievements so far (scientific or other) and how those achievements have prepared you for the activity you are applying for in the present funding call (max. 250 words);
      • A brief description of how this award will contribute to academic and career progress (max. 500 words).

We invite applicants to share lived or professional experiences that they feel may relate to their submission. Applicants should feel free to share as little or as much as they wish, according to their comfort level. Any information shared will be kept confidential by the selection committee.

Application evaluation process:

For the purposes of evaluation, we take care to recruit a diverse committee reflecting the profiles of the applicants and we ensure that the evaluation process considers the career stage and individual context of each applicant, including atypical trajectories.

Applications will be evaluated based on compliance with the contest eligibility criteria and the following adjudication criteria:

For the project (60%):

• Relevance and feasibility of the proposed research activities (25%). Immediate or potential impact of the project and structuring effect for research groups involved.
• Quality of the support obtained from the research groups involved (25%). Availability of expertise, timeliness of the project, time and effort devoted to the collaboration in the form of resources and mentoring.
• Realism of budgetary proposition (10%). Relevant proposal for use of funding.

For the candidate (40%):

• Curriculum vitae (4%). Evaluation of eligibility and career progress.
• Quality of the training path (12%). Relevance of the activity in the current training path.
• Quality of the achievements (12%). Evaluation of the level of preparation for the activity.
• Benefits for career progress (12%). Evaluation of the impact the activity will have on career path.

The career stage will be taken into consideration in the evaluation.

The name of successful applicants will be published on the MyRoad website and in the newsletter (www.myroad.ca).

Requests for additional information can be sent to the MyRoad training and mentoring platform by e-mail to MyRoad.MaRoute@criucpq.ulaval.ca.