Young Investigators (YI) Forum Abstract Travel Award

Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH)

Important Dates
February 1, 2010 Full applications must be submitted by this date.
February 15, 2010 Anticipated notification of decision.

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Description and Objectives

The mission of the ICRH is to support research into the causes, mechanisms, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation for a wide range of conditions associated with the heart, lung, brain (stroke), blood vessels, blood, critical and intensive care, and sleep. In addition, ICRH embraces a range of research from fundamental bio-medical and clinical research, to research on health systems, health services, the health of populations, societal and cultural dimensions of health and environmental influences on health.

The Young Investigator (YI) Forum is a major training and educational initiative of CIHR's Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health. Each year, the YI Forum provides young investigators and trainees with an opportunity to showcase research, interact with senior researchers and faculty, and learn about career development and state of the art research and technologies.

The goal of the YI Forum Travel awards is to recognize the outstanding research conducted by Young Investigators (e.g. students, MSc and PhD, new investigators) with a focus on health research and health research knowledge translation.


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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. Please refer to the Eligibility Requirements for CIHR Grants and Awards  regarding the eligibility requirements for individuals and institutions.

Specific Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility requirements specific to this opportunity include the following:

Conditions of funding and reimbursement

  • Successful applicants must use the award to attend the Young Investigators Forum
  • The award is contingent on attendance and presentation (oral or poster) at the Forum. If an abstract is not approved for presentation, the applicant will not receive a travel award
  • Successful awardees will be awarded (up to $1,500). The funds can be used towards air and ground transportation costs. ICRH will cover travel award recipient's room costs at the Pan Pacific hotel for the evenings of May 5 -7th (incidentals, room service, internet charges will not be covered). If a recipient of the travel award wished to prolong his/her stay beyond May 5-7th, it will be at his/her own expense.
  • The number of awards approved is dependent on application pressure and ICRH budgetary allocations.

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Allowable Costs

The maximum amount for any individual award will be $1,500. Expenses eligible for support include air and ground transportation costs. ICRH will cover travel award recipient's room costs at the Pan Pacific hotel for the evenings of May 5 -7th. However, incidentals, room service, internet charges will not be covered.

  • Residents in eastern Canada to Quebec = $1,500 CND
  • Residents in Ontario = $1,300 CND
  • Residents in Manitoba = $1,000 CND
  • Residents in Saskatchewan to Alberta = $800
  • Residents in British Columbia (outside of the Vancouver area) =$500
  • Local residents (Vancouver area) = $150

Applicants should review the Tri-Agency (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) financial administration guidelines Use of Grant Funds for a complete listing and description of allowable costs and activities.

The full application must provide a detailed justification of all costs.


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Review Process and Evaluation Criteria

After the submission deadline, completed abstracts will be peer reviewed as described below. "Incomplete" abstracts will not be considered. To ensure the integrity of the review process, revisions to abstract will not be accepted after the submission deadline – no exceptions.

Requests for travel awards from the ICS Program will be processed as following:

  • Abstracts will be reviewed by members of the YI Forum Program Advisory Committee (review committee) according to the evaluation criteria described below.
  • All abstracts will be annonymized, i.e., reviewed without knowledge of the author(s), institution(s) or disclosure information
  • Accepted abstracts will be selected for either a short oral presentation or a poster presentation

Evaluation Criteria

  1. Relevance – What is the degree of relevance of the research to the mandate and priorities of ICRH?
  2. Scientific merit and ability to advance knowledge - Does the abstract contain well defined aims, hypothesis, methods, results and conclusions? (Note: abstracts will be evaluated relative to career stage).
  3. Lay language – Has the applicant effectively written his/her abstract using plain language and simple terminology that is understandable to non-scientists?
  4. Impact – Does the abstract clearly state the potential impact on health and health benefits? In the case of biomedical research does the abstract state the connection to health services and policy research, or public health research?

Please note the following:

  • Only one abstract can be submitted by each YI
  • The YI whose abstract is accepted will be expected to make either oral or poster presentation

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General CIHR Guidelines

This Opportunity will follow the General Guidelines for Grant Programs. Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate the use of Gender and Sex-Based Analysis in applications.


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Conditions of Funding

All conditions specified in CIHR General Grants and Awards Policies shall apply to applications funded through this Request for Applications. Conditions cover areas such as Applicant and Institutional Responsibilities, Ethics, Official language policy, Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Acknowledgement of CIHR Support. Successful applicants will be informed of any special financial conditions prior to the release of funds or when they receive CIHR's Authorization for Funding (AFF) document.

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 Use and Disclosure of Personal Information Provided to CIHR for Peer Review.

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 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 Opportunity will be collected, used and disclosed in compliance with the PIPEDA.


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Communications Requirements

Recipients are required to acknowledge CIHR, its institutes and partners in any communication or publication related to the project. See CIHR General Grants and Awards Policies, Acknowledgement of CIHR's Support for details on CIHR's communication requirements. The contributing institutes / partners will be identified on the Authorization for Funding and decision letter.


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Monitoring, Performance Measurement and Evaluation

CIHR is committed to demonstrating results to Canadians for the money invested in health research. Therefore, processes for monitoring progress and appropriate use of funds, as well as for performance measurement and program evaluation are in place. As a result, funding recipients 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;

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How to Apply

Please submit your application using the "ICS Application Form" [ PDF (242 KB) | Help ].

To be eligible for funding, an application should include the following documents:

  1. The Institute Community Support (ICS) form [ PDF (242 KB) | Help ]. Before completing the form, be sure to follow the instructions specific to this Travel Award Program.
  2. To be considered for a travel award, participants must submit an abstract. All abstracts must be submitted by Monday, February 1st.

    Send the completed application package by courier to:

    Attention: Katherine Gardner
    CIHR - Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health
    585 University Ave.
    Ncsb 11-1268
    Toronto, ON M5G 2N2

    Also, send an electronic copy of the ICS form and the abstract to the Institute by email at: ICRH-ISCR@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.

Content of the Abstract
  1. Abstracts are limited to 400 words.
  2. Body of abstract: purpose of the study, methods used, summary of the results, conclusion and impact of the study.
  3. References and credits should not be included in the abstract.
  4. Simple tables may be made in the submission form - please do not paste tables in the abstract body.
  5. Formulas should be avoided.
  6. Use standard abbreviations in parentheses after the full word the first time it appears.
  7. Please indicate the theme your abstract most closely represents:
    • Biomedical
    • Clinical
    • Health Systems and Services
    • Population Public Health

All participants submitting an abstract will be considered for an oral presentation (top 10) or a poster presentation, as determined by the peer review panel.

Abstracts will be printed as submitted. Proof and edit your submission accordingly.

Send the completed application packages by courier to:

Attention: Katherine Gardner
CIHR - Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health
585 University Ave.
Ncsb 11-1268
Toronto, ON
M5G 2N2


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Contact Information

For questions on CIHR funding guidelines, how to apply, and the peer review process, or about this initiative and research objectives contact:

Katherine Gardner - Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health
Project Manager
Telephone: 416-340-4531
Fax: 416-340-4753
Email: kgardner@uhnresearch.ca