Program name:  Summer Student Research Scholarships in Psoriatic Disease

Funding organizations: Psoriasis Canada (PsoCan)    

Canadian Institute of Health Research - Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (CIHR-IMHA)

*Additional funders will be added to this RFA as they commit to this program

Application Deadline: Friday January 3, 2025 

Anticipated Notice of Decision: April 11, 2025

Funding Start Date: May 1, 2025

Description

The purpose of this funding opportunity is to provide undergraduate and health professional students with opportunities to undertake research projects related to psoriatic diseases with established investigators in an environment that provides strong mentorship.  We encourage applications from across Canada.

Funds Available

The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $20,000 (up to 4 awards). The number of awards may increase if additional funding partners participate. The maximum stipend contribution per award is $4,000 for up to three months. Timelines are flexible to accommodate school schedules. Minimum is eight weeks.

Objectives

This opportunity targets the early stage of the student’s academic training to encourage the pursuit of a career in psoriatic disease research and/or in medical dermatology.

Eligibility to Apply

For your application to be eligible:

1. The Nominated Principal Applicant must be a trainee. The trainee must meet the following requirements:
   1. Enrollment in a medical school or health professional program at a Canadian university at the time of application.
   2. Have completed the course requirements of at least the first year of university study (or two academic terms) by the funding start date.

2. At least one project participant must be a Primary Supervisor. The Primary Supervisor must meet the following requirements:
   1. Employed by a Canadian institution considered eligible under CIHR's guidelines. Please see CIHR's Application Administration Guidefor more information.
   2. If a Primary Supervisor is affiliated with more than one application, each application must contain a separate and distinct research project.
3. The application must meet the specific requirements described below.

Guidelines

Official Languages

Applicants can submit proposals in English or French and we are committed to ensuring high quality review of applications submitted in either language.

Allowable Costs

The award consists of a stipend only to be used by the student to offset living expenses such as housing and food.

The stipend may be used for costs and activities that are considered allowable according to the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration.

Conditions of Funding

1. Funded students must attend a virtual workshop on patient engagement in research at the beginning of their projects, which will be facilitated by PSOCAN (anticipated in May 2022). 
2. Funded students will also be expected to present their research projects at the end of the funded term to patients and caregivers at a virtual workshop (anticipated in September 2023)
3. PSOCAN also requests that funded students provide a list of publications and/or presentations related to the research project to PSOCAN by September 30, 2022, and request that funded students notify PSOCAN if any other publications or presentations result from the funded project after that date.
4. Funded students and any other persons working on the project must comply fully with the CIHR Funding Policies.Policies and guidelines cover areas such as Applicant Responsibilities, Official Languages policy, Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Acknowledgement of CIHR's Support. Successful applicants will be informed of any special financial requirements prior to the release of funds.

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

All personal information collected 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 this application may be shared as described in the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy of the Federal Research Funding Organizations.

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 funding opportunity will be collected, used and disclosed in compliance with the PIPEDA.

Communication Requirements

Funding recipients are required to acknowledge the Psoriasis Canada (PsoCan) and CIHR-IMHA in any resulting publications or presentations. The contributing Sponsors for the PsoCan-CIHR Studentship in Psoriatic Disease Research Program will be identified on the decision letter.

Review Process and Evaluation

Relevance Review Process 

This award is to fund applications that are specific to psoriatic disease research. Applications that are not deemed to be relevant to psoriatic diseases will be withdrawn from the competition. Relevancy review will take place at the same time as the adjudication of the application by the review panel.

Review Committee

Applications will be peer reviewed by a committee selected by PsoCan that includes:

• Patient or caregiver impacted by psoriatic disease, and
• Two medical or scientific experts in psoriatic disease.

Review committee members will follow CHIR’s Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality policy.

Evaluation Criteria

Eligible applications will be evaluated using the following review criteria:

• Academic excellence and research interests of the student
• Excellence of the research project and relevance to psoriatic diseases
• Quality of the mentoring plan and training environment
• Suitability of the supervisor and appropriateness of the student for the award and
• The track record of the supervisor as a principal investigator in psoriatic disease research

Funding Decision

Upon completion of the review, PsoCan will receive the ratings for the applications from the committee. Applications will be funded from the top down in order of ranking as far as the budget will allow. When awarding the studentships, geographical representation of the top-ranked applications across Canada will also be considered, to a maximum of one award per Primary Supervisor.

How to Apply

The application must be a single PDF document, minimum 12 font, single spaced, with one-inch margins consisting of the following sections:

1. Cover page with information about the student, supervisor and project (maximum one page).It must include: 
2. Project title 
3. Student’s name and status in current academic program
4. Supervisor’s name and current employment
5. Research activity location 
6. Funding period requested. 
7. Signatures of both student and supervisor.

2. Summary of project (maximum one page):  Describe the project, hypothesis, and specific objectives that the trainee will undertake.

3. Relevance to psoriatic diseases: (maximum ½ page):  Describe the relevance of the project to advancing our understanding of psoriatic diseases. Please note that only projects relevant to psoriatic diseases will be funded.

4. Lay title and lay summary (maximum ½ page):  This section should be suitable for a press release and/or for use on the PsoCan website to explain the research project. It may also be used by PsoCan to attract funders/donors.

5. Mentorship plan (maximum one page): Supervisor should outline the research activities of the student, detail a mentoring plan that will enable the student to achieve these objectives, and specify which funds will be used to support the research. Details should include who will directly supervise the student, how often the student will meet with the supervisor, and plans for the student to present their research. The specific funding agency, the title of the grant, and the fund number of the grant used to support this research must be detailed.

6. CV of student (maximum 5 pages): Summarize current academic and research achievements, and list all research presentations, abstracts and publications.

7. CV of supervisor (maximum 5 pages, limit publications and funding history to last 5 years): Summarize academic and/or employment history, list all publications and funding in the last five years, and include a section detailing significant contributions to the field of psoriatic disease.

8. Student transcripts are required ONLY AFTER approved for funding: official transcripts from the University should be sent directly to Helen Crawford Senior Programs Manager, Psoriasis Canada, 304-583 St. Clair Ave, W. Toronto, ON. M6C 1A6 

Specific Conditions of Funding: Knowledge Translation

At the end of the funding period, funded students are invited to apply for an additional $1,000 knowledge translation award. This award is designed to help students publish or present their research findings at national or international conferences. To request this funding, students must send a letter of request to the address listed below along with confirmation of acceptance at any applicable conference or for publication and a receipt of costs.

Contact Information

For questions on how to apply, and the peer review process contact:

Psoriasis Canada

 In the spring of 2024, the Canadian Assocation of Psoriasis Patients (CAPP) and the Canadian Psoriasis Network (CPN) announced that they would be uniting as Psoriasis Canada (PsoCan) to form a single national voice for patients with psoriatic disease in Canada.

With a new name, brand, operating and governance procedures, PsoCan will be able to scale up its programs, campaigns, and patient support to modernize services and advance advocacy and awareness of psoriatic disease in Canada.  A single association provides a stronger voice to address major issues of common interest and better serve the psoriatic disease community.

Working as one association allows more efficiency by concentrating community resources and reducing overlap and duplication among associations. Our organizations appreciate funding from the Government of Canada’s Community Services Recovery Fund to make this process possible.

Sponsors

PsoCan is Grateful for the support of our 2024 Sponsors, without whom these Studentships would not be possible.