The Doctoral Foreign Study Award (DFSA) program supports high-calibre students engaged in doctoral programs in all academic disciplines who are pursuing a doctoral degree in a health-related field abroad (outside of Canada).
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Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Foreign Study Award
Aim and Benefits of Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Foreign Study Award
As of result Budget 2024, funding levels are expected to be adjusted following the launch of this Funding Opportunity.
CIHR and partner(s) financial contributions for this initiative are subject to availability of funds. Should CIHR or partner(s) funding levels not be available or are decreased due to unforeseen circumstances, CIHR and partner(s) reserve the right to reduce, defer or suspend financial contributions to awards received as a result of this funding opportunity.
- The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $1.05 million, enough to fund approximately 10 awards.
- The maximum amount per award is $35,000 per year for up to three (3) years. Award funding is allocated as follows:
- Training Stipend: $35,000 per annum
For more information on the appropriate use of funds, refer to Allowable Costs.
Objectives
The Doctoral Foreign Study Award (DFSA) is expected to:
- Provide recognition and funding to students early in their academic research career, providing them with an opportunity to gain research experience while abroad (outside of Canada); and
- Provide a reliable supply of highly skilled and qualified researchers.
Requirements for Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Foreign Study Award Qualification
Research Areas
This funding opportunity will support projects relevant to the following research areas:
Consult the eligibility flowchart to confirm your eligibility.
To be eligible to apply, an applicant must:
- be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada or a Protected Person under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada), as of the application deadline date.
- have completed no more than 24 months of full-time study in their doctoral program or PhD portion of their joint professional undergraduate/PhD program (such as MD/PhD, JD/PhD, DVM/PhD) by December 31 of the calendar year of application if previously enrolled in a graduate program.
- have completed no more than 36 months of full-time study in their doctoral program by December 31 of the calendar year of application if enrolled directly from a Bachelor to a PhD (without having completed or enrolled in another graduate program).
- Direct-entry applicants who are not enrolled in their doctoral program should contact the appropriate agency for further guidance.
- Have completed no more than 36 months of full-time study in the PhD portion of their joint professional undergraduate/PhD program (such as MD/PhD, JD/PhD, DVM/PhD), by December 31 of the calendar year of application if they have not previously enrolled in another graduate program.
- If they have not previously completed or enrolled in another graduate program, they must be enrolled in their joint MD/PhD program at the time of application.
- have completed no more than 36 months of full-time study in their joint program by December 31 of the calendar year of application if enrolled in a joint graduate program, such as, MA/PhD, MSc/PhD, MBA/PhD.
- Applicants that fall into this category have access to the 36-month window whether or not they were previously enrolled in a master's program.
- identify a primary supervisor within their application. An additional supervisor may be identified.
- The primary supervisor must be affiliated with the institution abroad where the applicant's doctoral studies will be conducted (outside of Canada).
Interview date, Process and Venue for Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Foreign Study Award
Additional Eligibility Criteria:
- The Nominated Principal Applicant must be a trainee at the time of funding.
- The Nominated Principal Applicant cannot hold a tenure or tenure-track appointment concurrently with their CGS D award. An awardee cannot be on leave from an academic appointment for the purpose of holding the award.
- Applicants can submit a maximum of one scholarship (master's or doctoral) or fellowship application per academic year to either CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC. Nominations to the Vanier CGS program and applications to the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program do not count towards this limit (other exceptions may apply to CIHR internships).
- If an applicant submits an application that does not follow these restrictions, the second application submitted will be automatically withdrawn.
- Applicants cannot have already received a doctoral-level scholarship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC (does not apply to CIHR Fellowships).
Program of Study
- An eligible doctoral program must include a significant research component that leads to the completion of a thesis, major research project, dissertation, scholarly publication, performance, recital and/or exhibit that is merit/expert-reviewed at the institutional level as a requirement for completion of the program.
- Joint programs with a professional degree (e.g., MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD) as well as clinically oriented programs of study, including clinical psychology, are eligible if they have a significant autonomous research component as described above.
Number of Months
Eligibility is based on the number of months of full-time study, including summer months, toward the degree for which the applicant is requesting funding by December 31 of the calendar year of application. Two terms of part-time study count as one term of full-time study.
All studies toward the doctoral degree for which funding is requested, whether or not they were completed in the same program or at the degree-granting institution will be counted.
Fast-track and Joint Programs
Fast-track: For those registered in a master's program and subsequently transferred to a doctoral program (fast-track), the months of study completed are calculated starting from the date on which an applicant transfers into the doctoral program.
Joint programs: For those registered in a joint program, and if a master's degree is obtained as part of the program (e.g., MA/PhD), the months of study are still calculated starting from the date on which an applicant is officially registered in either portion of the joint program (including the master's portion of the program).
For those registered in a joint professional undergraduate/PhD program (such as MD/PhD, JD/PhD, DVM/PhD), only the months of study in the PhD portion will be counted.
Application Deadline
October 17, 2024
How to Apply
Interested and qualified? Go to
Canadian Institutes of Health Research on www.researchnet-recherchenet.ca to apply
- To complete a Full Application, applicants must follow the instructions in Doctoral Research Awards - Application Instructions.
- Applications must be submitted prior to the deadline posted on the funding opportunity.
- In order to ensure fairness in the evaluation of applications, equivalent time must be guaranteed for the assessment of each complete application. As a result, CIHR will not accept updates to applications after the application deadline.
- Incomplete applications will be withdrawn from the competition.
- Nominated Principal Applicants and their supervisors are required to:
How to Submit an Application
- For applicants to submit their application, they must manually type the name of their proposed non-Canadian institution in the "Other" field next to the Institution Paid drop down menu.
For more details - click here
