Health Research Training Platform (2024/25) – Frequently Asked Questions

Webinar questions

• What are the institution affiliation requirements, including for institutions not part of the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities?

  The eligibility criteria text within the HRTP funding opportunity (FO) has been updated to clarify the following requirements for institution affiliations. The FO outlines that collectively, the NPA and PAs must:

  • Be affiliated with at least three different institutions or organizations at the time of application (at least one of which must not be a member of the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities);
    • Non-U15 institution(s) associated with the NPA and PAs must be a Canadian institution.
  • Note: Individuals with more than one affiliation (for example, one being of U15 status and one of non-U15 status) must identify one of their appointments as their primary affiliation. This affiliation will be used to satisfy all eligibility requirements; therefore, if the chosen affiliation is the non-U15 institution, it will satisfy the requirement for a non-U15 affiliation. Any letters of support must come from this institution.
  • Note: If an applicant’s primary affiliation is a non-U15 institution and it is affiliated with a U15 institution, it must be independently eligible to receive CIHR funds as an institution paid in order to meet the non-U15 eligibility requirement.

  Please reach out to CIHR’s Contact Centre with specific questions to confirm eligibility.

• How should the Platform Advisory Committee (PAC) evaluate progress?

  As each platform can be structured differently, it is at the discretion of the PAC to determine the appropriate measures and metrics to monitor the platform's progress and future directions.

• Can Platform Advisory Committee (PAC) members receive remunerations (e.g., an honorarium)?

  Members on the PAC (and participants on the platform overall), who are not in roles explicitly stated in the FO (allowable costs) as eligible for compensation, must meet the compensation eligibility requirements stated in the TAGFA Directive on Employment and Compensation Expenditures. As per the TAGFA, individuals who conduct research independently as part of the terms and conditions of their employment, are not eligible for compensation from grant funds (e.g., academia, hospitals, and research institutions)). In addition, in keeping with the cultures and traditions of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and/or Indigenous participants can receive remuneration for their participation in the PAC, in a method acceptable to the individual. See TCPS 2 – Chapter 9 Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada and TAGFA Directive on Gifts, Honoraria and Incentives.

  Note: Remuneration should not be confused with reimbursing out of pocket costs associated with a person’s participation in the activity (e.g., travel to attend a meeting, hotel accommodations or covering meal costs). For more information, see the TAGFA Directive on Travel and Travel-related Subsistence Expenditures.

• Can a Principal Applicant be an advisor on the Platform Advisory Committee and not a mentor?

  The Platform Advisory Committee (PAC) cannot include the Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) and Principal Applicants (PAs) in the role of advisors. If the NPA or one of the PAs is serving a dual role that is required to participate on the PAC (e.g., the EDI Champion), they may participate on the PAC in that role and provide advice on matters related to that specific role. It is otherwise at the discretion of the applicants to determine how the platform will fulfill the eligibility criteria of the funding opportunity. Please refer to the funding opportunity for full details.

• Is there a limit on the number of mentors or co-applicants for specific funding pools?

  Applications to any funding pool must only identify 8-14 mentors for purposes of eligibility and must meet all eligibility requirements (general and pool specific) collectively within that number. These mentors may include the NPA and PAs. Mentors identified for eligibility purposes must submit a Tri-agency CV and letter of support. Additional mentors (not identified for eligibility purposes) may be listed on the application (with no limit on the number) as co-applicants but must not submit a Tri-agency CV or letters of support.

• How should mentors engage with platform participants?

  We recognize that mentorship can take a variety of forms and may vary across platforms based on structure, elements of curricula, activities, etc. It is up to each platform to determine how the mentors will use their complementary mix of disciplinary and sectoral expertise to engage with trainees and ECR mentees.

• Can individuals not in health disciplines be included as trainees and early career researcher (ECR) mentees?

  Each platform is intended to be interdisciplinary, interjurisdictional, and intersectoral, and it is at the discretion of the platform to include trainees and ECR mentees outside of health disciplines based on the needs of their community.

• What is the distinction between Health Research Training Platform (HRTP) as a platform vs a training program?

  CIHR is using the term ‘platform’ for the Health Research Training Platform funding opportunities to capture the intent of providing interdisciplinary, interjurisdictional, and intersectoral training and mentoring environments, which in addition to equipping trainees and ECR mentees with research competencies, will provide them with opportunities to develop skills and experience that will be valuable both within and outside of an academic environment. Rather than providing funds to conduct research, funding through HRTP will allow grantees to focus on creating a diverse range of training and mentoring opportunities that go above and beyond standard research training programs typically experienced by trainees and ECRs.

• What kind of pilot data or past activities does the peer review committee hope to see in the applications?

  We encourage the applicants to refer to the HRTP 2024/25 evaluation criteria when considering any pilot data or past activities to include in their application. These evaluation criteria will be what the peer review committee uses to assess applications.

• Is there a requirement to train a specific number of trainees or ECRs every year?

  There is no specific training quota outlined for the HRTP 2024/25 funding opportunity. It is at the discretion of the platform to determine how best to support trainees and ECR mentees within their research community. Please refer to the funding opportunity for each funding pool’s descriptions of the platform’s expectations.

• For the Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Health Data Sciences pool, do applications have to cover all three topics of bioinformatics, computational biology, and health data sciences?

  Yes. The intent of the Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Health Data Sciences pool is to address training needs in those areas where there may currently be gaps, with a focus on bioinformatics, computational biology, and data science.

Applicant Roles / Application Process

• Can an individual submit or participate in more than one application to the Health Research Training Platform (HRTP) (2024/25)?

  A Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) cannot submit more than one application as an NPA with the same or different teams. However, an NPA can be a Principal Applicant (PA) or a Co-Applicant on another application. PAs can be a PA or hold other roles on other applications. Co-applicants can be added or removed within an application between registration and full application stages or engage in more than one HRTP-funded platform.

• Can an individual who participates on a funded platform through the HRTP Pilot (2021/22) apply or participate in an application to the HRTP (2024/25) funding opportunity?

  Yes, an individual can apply or participate in an applicant team in any role to the HRTP (2024/25) funding opportunity if they’re participating in a funded HRTP Pilot platform. If they are applying for a role required for eligibility (e.g., Nominated Principal Applicant, Principal Applicant, and/or 8-14 mentors) they must meet all eligibility criteria relevant to the HRTP (2024/25) funding opportunity, including pool specific eligibility criteria.

• How can early career researchers (ECR) participate in the HRTP (2024/25)?

  To be considered eligible, each application must include ECRs in the three following ways:

  • Among the three lead applicants, at least one must be an ECR. ECRs can apply as a Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) or Principal Applicant (PA).
  • Among the 8-14 mentors, at least two must be ECRs. ECR mentors can be listed in the NPA, PA or Co-Applicant role.
  • ECR representation must be included in the Platform Advisory Committee in an advisory capacity.
• How can knowledge users participate in the HRTP (2024/25)?

  Knowledge users can apply to the HRTP in the role of Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA), Principal Applicant (PA) or Co-Applicant. At least two knowledge users must be identified as mentors.

  Examples of support provided by knowledge users may include (but are not limited to) academic or non-academic mentorship and training expertise, expertise in the research training area identified by the funding pool, and experiential learning opportunities for platform participants.

  Please see the CIHR definition of knowledge user and the Eligibility section of the funding opportunity for more information.

• How can mentors participate in the HRTP (2024/25)?

  Every application must identify at least eight mentors representing different institutions, disciplines, jurisdictions, sectors, and career stages, and:

  • must include at least 2 early career researchers and 2 knowledge users;
  • can include the Nominated Principal Applicant or Principal Applicants, but otherwise must be identified as Co-Applicants;
  • must meet pool-specific eligibility criteria as applicable*.

  These mentor-specific eligibility requirements must be met within 8-14 mentors, and these mentors must submit a Tri-Agency CV and letter of support attesting to how their mentorship attributes will enable the delivery of the proposed platform.

  Additional mentors can be identified as Co-Applicants or collaborators but must not submit a Tri-Agency CV or a letter of support.

  *Please refer to the funding opportunity for pool-specific eligibility criteria for the following pools:

  • One Health – Antimicrobial Resistance pool
  • One Health – Emerging Zoonoses pool
  • Health System Impact Training Platform pool
• How does the EDI Champion demonstrate their level of expertise?

  The EDI Champion is required to write a one-page statement on how their lived experiences, work experience, and any formal and informal training has provided them with the relevant expertise to undertake the role of EDI Champion and support the platform. The relevant expertise is not specified to accommodate the variety of personal and professional experiences and skillsets that individual EDI Champions can provide. Please consult the funding opportunity for details on the requirements of the EDI Champion role.

• Are international applicant members considered eligible?

  Provided that the Canadian-specific eligibility requirements are met, international team members may participate in the applicant team.

• What is used for the Relevance Review and who will conduct it?

  Two documents will be used to conduct a Relevance Review after the application period has ended.

  The Summary of Research Proposal document will be used to assess relevance to the HRTP Objectives. Applicants must summarize the proposed research training platform using Objective 1 and Objective 2 and explain how the Objective sub-bullets will be addressed.

  The Relevance Review form will be used to assess relevance to the funding pool. All elements of the pool description must be addressed.

  Applications must be assessed as relevant both to the HRTP Objectives and the funding pool to which they were submitted to proceed to peer review.

  The summary (provided at Registration) may be used to find reviewers with the expertise required to assess the proposal.

  CIHR and partners with the relevant expertise in the funding pool area will conduct relevance review using these documents.

Tri-Agency CV

For a full list of Tri-Agency CV Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), please visit the Tri-Agency CV FAQ webpage.

• Who is required to submit a Tri-Agency CV for HRTP?

  Applicants required to submit a Tri-Agency CV include:

  • Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA);
  • Principal Applicants (PA); and
  • Eight to fourteen mentors identified for eligibility (mentors may be NPA, PA, and/or Co-Applicants).

  Additional applicants not identified for eligibility (e.g., additional mentors beyond the 14 identified for eligibility) must not submit a CV as they will not be reviewed at peer review.

Allowable Costs

• Are early career researchers eligible for compensation from HRTP grant funds?

  Early career researchers (ECRs) are eligible for compensation from HRTP grant funds in one of two ways:

  1. ECRs in the role of applicant (Nominated Principal Applicant, Principal Applicant, Co-Applicant) are eligible for teaching or clinical release funds for their time dedicated to the HRTP; or
  2. ECRs in the role of platform participant or mentee are eligible for salary support for their participation in the HRTP.

  Costs incurred to conduct research or support research related activities (including provision of research allowances) are not permitted. Please see the funding opportunity for full details.

• Are trainees eligible for compensation from HRTP grant funds?

  Trainees (see CIHR’s Glossary of Funding-Related Terms) are eligible to be compensated from HRTP grant funds for activities directly attributable and/or related to the CIHR-funded HRTP. See the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration (TAGFA) for full details.

• What kind of compensation may be available for Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers or Indigenous mentors outside of academia who participate on the Platform Advisory Committee or on a training platform itself?

  CIHR and the Tri-Council Policy Statement 2 (2022) – Chapter 9 Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada recognize the necessity of expenditures that respect the cultures and traditions of Indigenous Peoples during the delivery of research training platforms. These expenditures should be captured in the proposed budget.

  Mentors outside of academia (including Indigenous mentors) are eligible to receive compensation from grant funds, subject to Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration (TAGFA) restrictions.

  Please see the funding opportunity for full details or reach out to CIHR’s Contact Centre with specific questions.