HSRLCE Fellowship Awards

A complete application will consist of one (1) original  paper copy of the application and an electronic copy in PDF format.  

Terms of Reference for the HSRLCE fellowship program:

Description

The Heart & Stroke/Richard Lewar Centre of Excellence (HSRLCE, the Centre) offers fellowship awards to support the cardiovascular research community of Toronto. The aim of this competition is to be accessible, convenient and inclusive to all members of this community. One of the goals of the Centre's training programs is to have processes that are transparent to the community.

The Centre's fellowship awards are intended to support individuals who wish to pursue a research career in cardiovascular science. The objective of these awards is to support a robust and productive research community in Toronto. The fellowship awards are intended to support individuals who are still considered 'in training', but have completed (or are expecting to in the near future) a PhD, MD, BM, DVM or equivalent degree. These awards are offered to those who demonstrate excellence in their previous training programs.

Eligibility Requirements

• The program is open to both Canadian citizens and fellows from abroad who wish to undertake fellowship training at the University of Toronto or one of its affiliated institutions.
• Applicants must be primarily supervised by a Member of the Centre. Supervisors must be members at the time of application. Each application is considered a joint submission by the applicant and the proposed supervisor. The research plan should be written in full consultation and agreement between the supervisor and fellow.
• Applicants to the fellowship competition must have completed a PhD or MD degree or equivalent, or intend to have completed one of these degrees at the time of commencement of funding. Equivalence will be determined at the discretion of the evaluating committee. Documentation of degree completion will be required prior to the initiation of funding.
• Applicants MUST BE pursuing a research program. Clinical practice based fellowships will NOT be supported. It must be documented with the application that a candidate with clinical interests will dedicate at least 75% of their time and effort to their research project(s).
• The applicant's research project should be primarily in the area of the cardiovascular sciences. Relevance to cardiovascular science will be determined by the committee which evaluates all applications.
• Applicants to the HSRLCE fellowship program must have applied to a major funding agency for a fellowship award, such as the HSFC or CIHR, prior to application to the Centre's program. Documentation of submission of such an application is required with the submission of an application to the HSRLCE program. If an award is offered from one of these agencies, the fellow becomes ineligible for an HSRLCE award.
• Individuals wishing to undertake post-PhD training with their PhD supervisor or in the same department in which they received their doctoral training may be eligible for a HSRLCE fellowship. However, these candidates are advised that a change of training environment is strongly encouraged, and this factor will be considered in the scoring of the candidate's application.
• Limited funds may preclude the funding of all excellent applicants. The Centre reserves the right to limit the number of awards to fellows of a single investigator. In the case of multiple applications in a single calendar year from the same laboratory, the principal investigator in the laboratory must rank the applicants to indicate priority for funding. This criteria will be applied secondarily to the criteria of excellence outlined below.
• Applicants must not have previously held a faculty appointment, nor have completed more than 4 years post-doctoral training anywhere at time of application. Interruptions in the applicant's career, either during or subsequent to training, should be briefly described.

Terms and Conditions of Awards

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria, with equal emphasis: 

• the applicant's academic record and perceived potential, as indicated in the letters of recommendation submitted with the application
• the research project, including significance to the field of cardiovascular science, rigor of design, and preliminary results (if applicable)
• the environment in which the applicant will do their research project 
• a minor component of the evaluation will be based on other factors that the reviewers consider relevant to the potential success of the applicant's fellowship

The review process will consist of an in-depth review of each application by two reviewers from the review committee. The review committee will consist of individuals from the Toronto cardiovascular research community, representing a cross-section of expertise. Once the in-depth individual reviews have been completed, this committee will meet as a group to discuss and finalize the individual reviews of each of the HSRLCE fellowship applications. A consensus score will be assigned to each application. Conflict of interest rules will be observed, such that any member of the review committee who supervises, co-supervises or otherwise advises a candidate will excuse themselves from the discussion of that candidates application. Awards will be offered to the highest ranking applicants. A pre-set level will be established, and applications ranked below this level will be ineligible to receive awards.

Application details

General Instructions for submitting an application:

• Referees' assessments should be forwarded by email to hsrl.centre@utoronto.ca separately
• Do not fold or place any part of the applications in folders or envelops, except the entire completed application package, as required for delivery.
• Include only one copy of each Enclosure with applicant's section.
• The common CV module (see the web site http://www.commoncv.net). Completion of this unit requires obtaining a password, which may take some time, plan ahead. Only those pages relevant to the candidate need be submitted. Pages 7a to 11a are unlikely to apply, except in rare circumstances. DO include relevant attachments, such as activities/contributions, interruptions/delays, patents and copyrights, and publications, if applicable.
• Complete all sections in the HSRLCE fellowship application form.

All attached pages must conform to the following format restrictions:

• A one inch margin should surround the text on all attached pages.
• Text must be no smaller than twelve point, or ten characters per inch.
• No condensed formatting is allowed.
• The referee assessment form should be filled out by two different individuals. If the candidate has completed a PhD, it is recommended that the applicant's PhD advisor is one of the references.
• The section marked Progress Report (item 9) should be completed by all applicants. If the applicant is entering their fellowship training in 2012, then the Progress Report should consist of the progress the applicant believes he or she has made towards establishing his or her cardiovascular research career to date. Those who are seeking renewal of an HSRLCE fellowship should focus on the progress made in their fellowship tenure.

• If applicable, proof of Canadian licensure to practice medicine.
• If the applicant is a practitioner, a statement from the department head that at least 75% of the applicant's time will be reserved for research activities.
• Official transcripts from most recent academic training.
• Proof of application for external funding of the fellowship (signature page). 
• Reprints of the applicant's three most recent publications (do not send preprints, proofs or manuscripts in preparation.)

Important Dates:

Applications due (no late submissions will be accepted) — April 30, 2012

Notification of Offer of Award — June 30, 2012

Funding begins — September, 2012

1. Fellowship Application 2012-13 Applicant Section

   .doc file (70.50 KB)

   March 07, 2012

   Download

2. Fellowship Application 2012-13 Supervisor Section

   .doc file (68.50 KB)

   March 07, 2012

   Download

3. Fellowship Application 2012-13 Referee Section

   .doc file (34.50 KB)

   March 07, 2012

   Download