E-newsletter - February 2012

IA Sponsored Funding Opportunities can be accessed from the CIHR Funding Opportunity Database. Details and links for the current funding opportunities can be found below.

IA Awards and Prizes for Students and Trainees can be accessed from the IA Students and Trainees webpage.

Funding Opportunities Promoting IA Priority Areas

Catalyst Grant: Health Services and Systems for an Aging Population

This funding opportunity provides seed money, on a short term basis, to:

  • support innovative ideas and projects aligned with the goals, objectives and principles of the Institute of Aging (IA)'s Health Services and Systems for an Aging Population (HSSAP) initiative;
  • support original, high quality projects which have the potential to generate high impact results and/or innovative research proposals, research tools, techniques, or methodologies;
  • ncourage researchers from other fields to consider research questions related to Health Services and Systems for an Aging Population.

The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $600,000. The maximum amount awarded for a single grant is $ 100,000 per annum for up to 1 year. The registration deadline is June 15th, 2012.

Age+ Prize

The IA Age+ Prize recognizes excellence in research on aging carried out by emerging Canadian scholars and the resulting publications. Awards are for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and residents from all disciplines, conducting research in aging. The award is valued at $1,000. The next application deadline is May 1st, 2012.

Summer Program in Aging (SPA 2012)

The annual Summer Program in Aging (SPA) is designed to offer graduate students and post-doctoral fellows involved in research relevant to aging, and those doing post-graduate clinical training that includes a program of research in aging, an advanced research training program that crosses disciplines, sectors, institutions and geography. The SPA 2012 will be held from May 6-11 at the Tigh Na Mara Resort, Parksville, British Columbia. The application deadline is March 15th, 2012.

Evidence-Informed Healthcare Renewal (EIHR) funding opportunity – Healthcare Renewal Policy Analysis grants

CIHR will be launching an exciting new funding opportunity called Healthcare Renewal Policy Analysis in February 2012 as part of CIHR's Roadmap Signature Initiative in Evidence-Informed Healthcare Renewal (EIHR).

These grants will support the generation of high-quality policy analyses that identify evidence-informed policy options for healthcare renewal in Canada in the EIHR priority areas of healthcare financing and funding, health system sustainability, and governance and accountability. Innovation in these areas will require contributions from a wide range of disciplines and would greatly benefit from contributions from economics, political science, sociology, philosophy, law, and other relevant fields.

This initiative is launched in partnership with the Institute of Aging.

Stay-tuned for further details or contact Jennifer Campbell for more information. To learn more about the EIHR initiative, including current and upcoming funding opportunities and priority research areas, please visit the Evidence Informed Healthcare Renewal page.

Institute of Aging Strategic Planning

The Institute of Aging is currently embarking on a strategic planning process to define our priorities in research on aging and knowledge translation for the next five years (2013-2018).

As a first step in this process, we will be launching a web-based survey targeting a broad array of stakeholders engaged in research and knowledge translation on the current, short and long-term issues related to the Canadian aging population. Our philosophy is to make this web based survey as inclusive as possible. We will be seeking input on the opportunities and challenges of an aging population and eliciting opinions and diverse points of view on the priority research areas in the coming years.

Your input in this survey will be critical. We strongly encourage you to participate in this short (10-15 minute), four open-ended questions, web based survey, which will be launched the week of February 27th.

Stay tuned for information as to how to access this survey in our next communications.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Proposed Changes to Open Suite of Programs and Enhancements to the Peer Review Process

On February 9, 2012, CIHR published the Open Suite of Programs and Enhancements to the Peer Review Process design discussion document. This document outlines how CIHR is proposing to change the way investigator-initiated research is funded and peer reviewed. The CIHR Institute of Aging encourages you to read the document and provide your thoughts to CIHR.

Feedback will be accepted until March 30, 2012.

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