CIHR's Strategic Action Plan on Training

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Health research training is a core priority for CIHR. With the changing health research landscape, CIHR wants to ensure that its approach to training is informed by all training stakeholders to best position health research trainees for success.

Through environmental scanning, literature reviews, and consultations with training stakeholders, CIHR has identified three main challenges in the health research enterprise:

1. Health Research is Evolving: The way we conduct health research is changing as the research questions are becoming more complex, requiring a more interdisciplinary and global approach to research, along with a technical savvy that has not been seen before; however, the majority of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows (PDFs) are still being trained the same way as their supervisor.
2. Career Paths of Grad Students/PDFs are Changing: Recent Canadian statistics indicate that 20-40% of those who obtain a PhD will remain in academia, and 60% will find careers outside of academia; however, employers indicate that research students/PDFs are not fully prepared for careers outside of academia following their training.
3. Expertise in Critical Areas is Lacking: Experts are needed to establish and fill Canadian priority areas of specialized expertise, i.e., data-intensive research, health professional scientists, research with/by Indigenous Peoples, entrepreneurship, and patient-oriented research.

Stakeholder discussions on the challenges and solutions have shaped a vision for Canada and underpin CIHR's Strategic Action Plan on Training.

Achieving this vision will require a diverse, dynamic, globally-linked workforce that is adaptive to the evolving research landscape, equipped to apply their talent for the broader benefit of society, and responsive to critical health issues. CIHR's Strategic Action Plan on Training sets out the following strategic goals aimed at developing this diverse and dynamic cadre of highly-qualified personnel:

Challenges in the Health Research Enterprise

To achieve the strategic goals of the T-SAP, CIHR has defined specific actions, which are being phased-in in collaboration with the community.

Research Leaders of Tomorrow

To equip trainees to lead high-impact, multidisciplinary health research in a rapidly evolving research landscape, CIHR aims to:

• Integrate innovation and interdisciplinarity training requirements in our programs, through:
  • Embedding training and mentoring in program design, as appropriate
  • Creating specific multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral training programs within and across institutions
• Accelerate research independence and leadership, through:
  • Providing opportunities for trainees in the College of Reviewers
  • Developing training modules on emerging professional expectations and new science/policy/practice frontiers

Leaders Across Knowledge Sectors

To equip trainees to apply their scholarship and talent to lead innovation across different sectors, CIHR aims to:

• Empower trainees to take charge of their training and careers, through:
  • Requiring individual career development plans from all trainees
  • Offering trainees access to professional skills expected from employers
• Provide trainees with opportunities for critical hands-on experience, through:
  • Providing flexibility to CIHR-funded trainees to allow for opportunities for hands-on experience (e.g., co-op-like internships) during graduate training
  • Redesigning CIHR fellowship programs to support diverse tenure environments, within and beyond the health research enterprise

Experts in Critical Priority Areas

To equip trainees with specialized expertise in areas of priority as identified in CIHR's five-year strategic plan, CIHR aims to:

Data Intensive Research

Support data-intensive research capacity consortia in different fields to advance the digital readiness of our research community

Health Professional Scientists

Support health professional training platforms that create a network of health professionals engaged in research to integrate real-world experience into health innovations

Research with/by Indigenous Peoples

Support culture-rich research capacity building approaches linked to CIHR's Pathways to Health Equity for Aboriginal Peoples initiative and the Indigenous Mentorship Network Program to enhance the health and wellness of Indigenous Peoples in conjunction with CIHR's Indigenous Health Research Action Plan.

Entrepreneurial Skills

Partner on entrepreneurial skills building to strengthen Canada's entrepreneurial environment to move health research along the innovation pipeline

Patient-Oriented Research

Continue to partner with the health system to strengthen Canadian capacity to integrate research evidence to enhance patient experiences and outcomes

Date modified:

2020-12-09