Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA)

Table of Contents

• Objectives
• Award
• Eligibility
• Review Process and Evaluation Criteria
• General CIHR Guidelines
• Conditions of Funding
• Monitoring, Performance Measurement and Evaluation
• How to Apply
• Contact Information

Objectives

Existing since March of 2001, Brain Star is a program of the Institute of Neurosciences Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA) Brain Star is administered under the Institute Community Support Grants and Awards program [link] and is designed to recognize the excellence of research done in Canada by students and trainees in all fields and disciplines covered by our Institute.

The specific objectives of the Brain Star programme are to:

• Promote research careers in neuroscience, mental health and addiction in Canada.
• Stimulate the participation of trainees in the planning and development of INMHA activities.

Top of Page

Award

• A maximum of twenty-four awards of $1,000 each are available each calendar year.
• Winners of the Brain Star award are considered for the Marlene Reimer Brain Star of the Year.
• A profile of award recipient's research on our Web site.
• In the case of equal first co-authors, the prize will be divided equally.

Top of Page

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:

• Must have a recently published research article as a first author (within six (6) months of the application date). Manuscripts in press or submitted for consideration are not acceptable.
• Must be a student or trainee at any Canadian university, teaching hospital, research centre or other health organization (undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate, post-doctoral fellow, resident.
• Canadians or foreigners doing research in Canada are eligible.
• Canadians doing research abroad are not eligible.
• There is no need to be a CIHR grantee.

Top of Page

Review Process and Evaluation Criteria

The award is based on the excellence of the research, its relation to the mandate of INMHA, its interdisciplinary focus and its potential benefits to the health of Canadians.

Individual submissions will be evaluated and ranked according to their individual and collective merit based on the following criteria:

• Relevance to the vision, mission and research areas covered by INMHA:

The vision of INMHA is that innovative research will provide new knowledge of the biological and socio-cultural processes underlying neurological, mental and addictive disorders. As such, the Institute's mission is to foster excellence in innovative, ethically responsible research in Canada that aims to increase our knowledge of the functioning and disorders of the brain and the mind, the spinal cord, the sensory and motor systems, as well as mental health, mental illness and all forms of addiction. INMHA intends to support initiatives that mobilize and link scientists in innovative collaborative programs across these research domains. INMHA seeks to translate this new knowledge into a better quality of life for all Canadians through improved outcomes, health promotion and health care services.

• Level of the student or trainee and specific contribution: quality of the research based on the experience of the applicant and the individual's specific contribution to conception and design of the study, acquisition of data and analysis and interpretation.
• Quality of the journal: Journal impact rating and/or appropriateness for the research topic.
• Impact of the publication: Are the results of importance beyond the specific field of study of the applicant i.e., multidisciplinary research or consideration of the relevance of the research to the four pillars of CIHR: biomedical; clinical; health services and policy; and population and public health.
• Impact on the target audience: Potential impact of the research to the target audience and knowledge translation strategies (does the research have the potential to stimulate additional research or to be translated into products, services, policies, educational material, practice documents).

Evaluation Schedule

The evaluation committee meets bi-annually and reviews all applications received up to and including the application date. The application deadlines for each review cycle are as follows:

• June 30, 2009
• December 31, 2009

Decisions of the evaluation committee will be communicated within six (6) weeks of the application deadline.

Top of Page

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.

Top of Page

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.

Top of Page

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.

Top of Page

How to Apply

Submissions that meet the eligibility criteria are welcome at any time throughout the year with evaluation taking place on a bi-annual basis (please see evaluation schedule). Submission can be made by the student or trainee (primary author) or the supervisor or a co-investigator involved in the research, on behalf of the trainee.

Submit:

• a copy of the published article in electronic and hard copy form.
• a completed Institute Community Support (ICS) application form [ PDF (241 KB) | Help ] in electronic and hard copy form. If you are unable to save or alter text in the PDF version on the form please use the contact information below to obtain the form in an alternate format. Please follow the: Instructions for completing the ICS application form for the Brain Star Program.

Send the completed registration and application packages by courier/ registered mail and email to:

Melissa Phypers
Assistant Director
Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
160 Elgin Street, 9^th Floor
Address Locator 4809A
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0W9
Email: melissa.phypers@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Top of Page

Contact Information

For questions about this initiative and research objectives contact:

Melissa Phypers
Assistant Director
Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
160 Elgin Street, 9^th Floor
Address Locator 4809A
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0W9
Telephone 613-948-8392
Email: melissa.phypers@cihr-irsc.gc.ca