Backgrounder - Collaborative Health Research Projects Program
[ Press Release 2011-12 ]The Collaborative Health Research Projects Program supports collaborative research projects involving any field of the natural sciences or engineering and the health sciences. The Collaborative Health Research Projects Program is jointly funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
The Collaborative Health Research Projects Program supports original research that will lead to health benefits for Canadians, more effective health services, or economic development in health-related areas. Projects may range from fundamental knowledge creation to research on knowledge application that is relevant to industry or public policy.
Collaborative Health Research Projects grants are designed to assist new projects that involve interdisciplinary collaborations that will have an impact on the health of Canadians. In 2011, the 34 recipients received an average grant of approximately $150,000 per year, for up to three years, for defined projects with clear milestones and decision points.
The objectives of the Collaborative Health Research Projects Program are to:
- translate research results to end users and stakeholders;
- encourage the NSERC and CIHR communities to collaborate and integrate their expertise in their novel research activities;
- advance interdisciplinary research leading to knowledge and technologies useful for improving the health of Canadians; and
- train highly qualified personnel in collaborative and interdisciplinary research relevant to health.
Starting in the next competition, the active participation and support of a non-academic knowledge/technology user organization will be required to apply to this program. The knowledge/technology user must be an organization with the potential to use the knowledge generated through the research and apply it to new health-related products, policies, programs and/or practices outside the research setting.
The participation of two or more independent researchers with complementary expertise is required. Team composition must include expertise in the natural sciences or engineering and the health sciences. New collaborations between researchers in the natural sciences and engineering and medical researchers, clinicians, social scientists and humanists are strongly encouraged. Collaborators from other sectors (e.g., government and industry) and foreign researchers are welcome to participate, but are expected to bring their own resources to the project.