Over the last few months, CPA has provided members with an update on the restructuring of the granting councils. Of particular concern to the membership is NSERC’s decision to explicitly not fund students in clinical programs regardless of the fact that they may have a basic science research focus. CPA developed a position paper in which it discussed its concerns, along with letter templates that could be used to write to each of the granting Councils.

 

On May 3, 2010, CPA received a letter from NSERC responding to concerns expressed by the CPA and other sources about its revisions to the Scholarship and Fellowship eligibility criteria. According to its guidelines NSERC does not support clinically oriented research; further, the aim of NSERC’s Scholarship and Fellowship program is to support students preparing for careers in the natural sciences and engineering.

 

In its letter to the CPA, NSERC acknowledged that some students in clinically oriented programs may be undertaking a research project that falls within the NSERC mandate and working under the direction of an NSERC-funded research supervisor.  Because of this, NSERC has determined that students who are registered, or intend to register, in a clinically oriented program will be eligible for NSERC funding if:

 

For the 2010 NSERC Scholarships and Fellowships competition, applications in the above situation will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The eligibility clarification will also be reflected in the revised program literature.

View CPA's Response to NSERC's Revision: click here.

Restructuring of the Granting Councils: CPA Position Paper

In recent issues of Psynopsis and CPA News, CPA has provided members with an update on the restructuring of the granting councils. Of particular concern to the membership are SSHRC’s decision to no longer fund health-related research and NSERC’s decision to explicitly not fund students in clinical programs regardless of the fact that they may have a basic science research focus. CPA has developed a position paper on this issue. We have also developed letter templates that can be used to write to each of the individual granting Councils.

Download CPA’s Position Paper on this issue. 

 

Send a letter to the Granting Councils expressing your concerns on the restructuring!

Write to the Granting Councils using the letter templates below:

 
SSHRC Funding of Students in Combined Programs

CPA representatives met with representatives from SSHRC on April 27th, 2009. A major focus of this meeting was funding for postbaccalaureate masters students. Following meetings with CPA, SSHRC conducted a thorough analysis of the different types of programs in order to avoid unfairness in combined programs. Based on this analysis, SSHRC plans to move to allow all students in combined MAPhD programs to apply for MA funding in the first year. 

Liaisons with Granting Councils