Arthritis Society Canada 2024 Training Graduate PhD Salary Award (TGP)

Salary awards are offered to graduate students who are undertaking full-time research training in an area of clear relevance to arthritis and Arthritis Society Canada's Strategic Plan 2020-2025: Accelerating Impact - Research Strategy which aims to identify research avenues that focus on areas of highest priority to patients and achieve the highest levels of scientific excellence and rigour.  Applications must focus on innovative research efforts in the following priority areas.

Table of Content

• Summary
• Benefits
• Requirments
• Interview Process
• Application Documents
• Application Deadline
• How To Apply

Summary

• Application DeadlineApril 1, 2024
• Value$105,000
• Study LevelPhD
• SponsorArthritis Society Canada

Benefits

Our research funding is always contingent on the generosity of our donors.  The maximum award per application is $35,000 annually for up to three  years ($105,000 total). These awards are non-renewable. 

Please note the matching funds required for this program:

• The program provides 50% of the salary award to successful applicants. The other 50% of the award funding must come from one or more partners (government, industry, NFP or academic institution) or be allocated from an existing research agency grant held by their supervisor.
• Successful candidates will receive up to $17,500 annually from Arthritis Society Canada for this award.

Requirements

To be considered eligible for this award, applicants must:

• Be engaged in full-time training in research in a Canadian graduate school program leading to a PhD;
• Be within the first three years of a PhD training program at the time of the application deadline; and
• Be working on a research project with clear relevance to the research priority areas in Arthritis Society Canada’s 2020-25 Research Strategy.
• Not hold a competitive award, as of the September 1 start date, that exceeds the value of this award. 

Interview Dates and Process

Peer Review:

• One or more multidisciplinary peer review committee(s) will be assembled to review the applications. The peer review committee(s) will consist of scientific and clinical experts with broad expertise, along with consumers to provide patient perspectives. It is important that applicants devote time to write the lay summary sections. 

Review Criteria:

The review criteria for applications will include, but not necessarily be restricted to the following:

1. Quality of the candidate and research environment

   • Strength of the CVs, transcripts, letters of support, etc.

   • Strength of the research and training environment

   • Strength and appropriateness of the supervision

   • Potential impact of the award to the candidate

2. Quality of the research project

   • Scientific merit of the arthritis research project and its potential to create new knowledge, significantly advance our understanding of arthritis, and/or improve care or support for people affected by arthritis. For example, the development of new therapeutics, diagnostics, devices, intellectual property, information to consumers and/or health policy makers, decrease the burden of illness, improve quality of life, etc.

   • Consumer engagement plan, as appropriate

   • Sex and/or gender considerations

   • Feasibility of the proposed research project within the time frame.  For example, are the timelines appropriate, technology and laboratory environment available etc.

Relevance of the proposal to Arthritis Society Canada's 2020-2025 Research Strategy

It is the applicant’s responsibility to make convincing arguments supporting the relevance of their proposal to Arthritis Society Canada’s Research Strategy, specifically one or more of the five research priority areas (arthritis pain, OA, IA, childhood, and work). More details can be found in Accelerating Impact: Research Strategy.

The role of the consumer is to assess the feasibility, relevance to the strategic priorities and potential impact of the proposed research to address an important problem and the potential of the candidate. The consumer will also assess the quality of the lay sections.

Application Documents

Required attachments

• Signature page (signed by the candidate, supervisor(s), department head and Host Institution)
• Candidate and supervisor(s) Canadian Common CV (CIHR Biosketch - CIHR issued PIN required)
• Timeline and milestones (1 pg. diagram/chart)
• Official transcripts (Undergraduate and Graduate)
• Two letters of support, including one from the candidate’s primary supervisor including confirmation that the trainee will devote at least 75% of their time to conducting the proposed research, providing an assessment of the candidate’s critical thinking, independence, perseverance, originality, organizational skills, interest in discovery, etc., value of the award to the candidate, the research environment, and details of the source of matching funding.  

Optional attachments:

• Appendices (Max. 5MB per document)

Application Deadline

April 1, 2024

How To Apply

Are you qualified and interested in this opportunity? Kindly go to Arthritis Society Canada on to apply

Interested and qualified? Go to Arthritis Society Canada on arthritis.ca to apply

A maximum of one application per trainee will be permitted in the competition. 

All submissions will be screened for completeness and eligibility. Note that incomplete applications by the deadline will be deemed ineligible and withdrawn from the competition. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that applications are complete at the time of submission.

All applicants are strongly advised to read all program documentation listed below. If you have any questions, please contact the research department.

Applications must be submitted through Arthritis Society Canada’s online research grant portal and include the following components:

• Scientific abstract (Max. 500 words)
• Project description (Max. 2,500 words) 
• References 
• Relevance of the proposal to Arthritis Society Canada’s Research Strategy priority areas (Max. 250 words)
• Lay summary sections (Max. 150 words per section)
• Knowledge translation (KTE) plan sections (Max. 250 words per section)

Tips Sheet for Applicants [279 KB]