Program

Canadians are ready and willing to use digital health innovations. You can help make this happen. EPIC-AT is an enhanced training platform that will prepare the next generation of leaders in digital health solutions for seniors with complex health needs.

Whether you see your future in academia, industry, government or the non-profit sector, EPIC-AT will provide the skills to drive innovation in your career.

EPIC-AT Fellowships provide a minimum of $8000 to trainees and $10,000 to Early Career Researchers. Fellowships are intended to enable promising new scholars to participate fully in an exclusive 1 year training program.

The program will focus on developing new skills and providing a breadth of experience in transdisciplinary working, stakeholder engagement and co-creation, the research-policy dynamic and the innovation and implementation process. The program will equip fellows to develop, implement and evaluate digital technologies that help older Canadians with complex health needs age safely, independently and with dignity in the setting of their choice.

The expected time commitment of the training and mentorship program is approximately 50-60 hours over the course of 1 year.

Benefits

These fellowships are an opportunity for trainees and early career researchers to:

gain in-depth, specialized expertise in developing, implementing and evaluating digital health solutions for seniors with complex health needs
access to multi-sectoral mentors and sponsors
participate in value-added professional development training, internship and lab exchange opportunities
network with a community of AgeTech researchers and professionals
receive support to identify and attain career goals

The Fellowships

We expect to offer the following 1 year Fellowships in this 2024 call:

22 Master’s, PhD, and Postdoctoral Fellowships at minimum $8,000
3 Early Career Researcher Fellowships at minimum $10,000
Minimum 2 Fellowships to self-identified Indigenous trainees or ECRs

This represents the minimum value of fellowships. A number of postsecondary institutions and research institutes have agreed provide top up or matched funding and/or travel funds to successful applicants from their institutions. In some cases, this brings the value of the master’s, PhD, and postdoctoral Fellowships to $13,000-$17,000 and the Early Career Research Fellowship to $20,000.

Applicants are asked to indicate all of memberships and affiliations in order to be considered for institutional supplements and matching funds. Eligible applicants will automatically be considered for these additional funds; no additional application is required.

Institutions and organizations that may provide additional funding include:

Bruyère Continuing Care
Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI)
Centre de recherche Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM)
Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention (IHLCDP), University of British Columbia Okanagan
Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto
Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Victoria
McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA)
Perley Health
Reseau provincial de recherche en adaptation-réadaptation (REPAR)
Réseau Québécois de recherche sur le viellissement (RQRV)
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest
Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation
Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

How to apply

Eligibility

Domestic and international graduate students or postdoctoral fellows must participate full-time in their respective program at a Canadian post-secondary institution or research institute.
Early career researcher applicants must be within the first 5 years (60 months) of a full-time academic appointment at a Canadian post-secondary institution or research institute.
All applicants must be engaged in academic study/research aligned with the mission and vision of EPIC-AT and willing to participate fully in the training platform program.
Applicants may not hold an AGE-WELL Annual Graduate and Postdoctoral Award concurrently with an EPIC-AT Fellowship or have previously received an EPIC-AT Fellowship.

Important Dates

Forum Application Opens: 1 April, 2024
Completed Applications Due: 3 May, 2024
Results Available: August 2024
Fellowship Term: 1 September 2024 – 31 August 2025
Funding Disbursement Schedule: 1 September 2024 via CIHR subgrant

Instructions

The application is comprised of an online application form and supporting documents detailed below. Late or incomplete applications will not be reviewed. Please note that this includes letters of reference which must be uploaded by your referees into the Forum system.
Applicants are strongly recommended to complete the EPIC-AT HRTP Fellowship application (Section C of the HRTP Fellowship Application Package 2024 in either English or French) using preferred word processing software.
If you have not already done so, you must register with the AGE-WELL Forum Research Portal at https://forum.agewell-nce.ca/index.php/Special:HQPRegister(the form will ask for your name and email). After you submit the registration form, the system will create an account and send your credentials to the email address you provided. Once you login, you will have to reset your temporary password.
The “My Applications” link is in the top right of the page you will reach after resetting your password. Please select “EPIC-AT Award 2024,” navigate to the “Documents” tab, enter your referee names and email addresses and click on “submit.” Letters of support must be uploaded to the Forum Research Portal by your referees by 5pm ET May 3, 2024. and enter your referee names and email addresses. Letters of support must be uploaded to the Forum Research Portal by your referees by 5pm ET May 3, 2024.
Once you are ready to submit your application, copy your application material and upload supporting documents to the AGE-WELL Forum Research Portal website by 5pm ET May 3, 2024.
Notice of Admissions will be received in August 2024. Expected start date of fellowship is 1 September, 2024.

Contact Information: training@agewell-nce.ca