CIHR Definition

CIHR definition of a trainee/AIHS definition of a Postdoctoral applicant

The CIHR definition of a trainee is as follows:

·         an individual who is enhancing their research skills through actual involvement in research and who works under the formal supervision of an independent researcher; or

For example:

·         a postdoctoral fellow (post-PhD) at a academic or research institution;

·         a post-health professional degree fellow (e.g., nursing, physiotherapy, medicine, dentistry) at an academic or research institution.

In addition they cannot hold an academic position.

The following contains information on the eligibility for the CIHR Post-Doc competition:

  1. As the Nominated Principal Applicant, you must be a trainee and meet the minimum commitment of 75% of your time in the research fellowship role proposed in the application. Note: For the purpose of this funding opportunity, trainees must not hold a tenure-track or tenured faculty position, nor can they be on leave from such a position (generally “tenure or tenure-track” refers to an open-ended academic position in which the holder can form a research group, apply for externally funded research as a principal investigator, and also teach).
  2. At the time of application, the applicant must hold or be completing a PhD or a regulated health professional degree. The applicant must expect to complete all of the requirements of the degree by the latest possible date on which you can take up your award (see Conditions of Funding). To determine if a particular health professional degree is eligible, please consult the list of Eligible Health Professions.
  3. A recipient of a Doctoral Award (DRA) with a health professional degree may apply to the Fellowship funding opportunity no earlier than during the last year of their award. If a recipient of a DRA with a health professional degree applies to the Fellowship funding opportunity for doctoral support before the last year of the DRA, funding for the currently-held DRA will be cancelled as of the first potential effective date of the Fellowship award, even if the application is not successful through the Fellowship funding opportunity.

The AIHS definition of a Postdoctoral applicant:  

Applicants must hold a PhD and/or professional health degree (eg., MD, DDS, DVM or DPharm) without clinical accreditation in Canada, and be accepted or currently hold a postgraduate appointment at a university in Alberta.

AIHS recognizes the institutional limitations on the period of expected postgraduate training and will not provide support beyond 5 years of postgraduate training at the same institution (*).

Trainees must ensure that they spend no more than a maximum of 200 hours per year on non-research-related activities.

(*)  note that this does not preclude someone who arrived in Calgary after completing some PDF work elsewhere. Also - if they receive an external award (AIHS or otherwise) that extends beyond the official timeframe of 5 years past obtaining their degree, the PDF office at UofC is willing to allow them to continue on the external funding past that time point.