Operating Grant: ECRs in Human Development, Child and Youth Health (2025)

Eligibility

For an application to be eligible, all the requirements stated below must be met:

1. The Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) must:
   • be an early career researcher* affiliated with a Canadian postsecondary institution and/or its affiliated institutions (including hospitals, research institutes and other non-profit organizations with a mandate for health research and/or knowledge translation) and

   • have at least 50% protected time for research.

     *Individuals who do not hold an independent research appointment at the time of application, but who expect to be appointed by the beginning of the funding period, may apply. If the application is successful, funds will be released to the Institution Paid once the applicant's status is confirmed.

2. The NPA must have their substantive role in Canada for the duration of the requested grant term.
3. The Institution Paid receives and administers the funds on behalf of the NPA and therefore must be authorized by CIHR before the funds can be released. If the Institution Paid is not on the List of CIHR Eligible Institutions, they are encouraged to contact the Contact Centre, in advance, to enquire about the authorization process and timelines.
4. The NPA must have successfully completed one of the sex- and gender-based analysis training modules available online through the CIHR Institute of Gender and Health and submit a Certificate of Completion (see How to Apply). Please select and complete the training module most applicable to your research project.
5. For applications to be eligible for the Indigenous Human Development, Child and Youth Health pool:
   • The NPA must self-identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) and/or provide evidence of having meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples (see How to Apply);
   • The applicant team must include an Indigenous Elder and/or an Indigenous Knowledge Keeper identified in any role.
6. For applications involving research carried out by or with Indigenous Peoples but not applying to the Indigenous Human Development, Child and Youth Health pool, at least one member of the research team in an applicant or knowledge user role (i.e. Principal Applicant, Co-applicant, Principal Knowledge User, Knowledge User) must self-identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) and/or provide evidence of meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples (see How to Apply).
7. For applications to be eligible for the Human Development, Child and Youth Health for Equity-Denied Groups pool:
   • The NPA must provide evidence of having meaningful involvement with that group (see How to Apply).
8. For applications involving research with equity-denied groups but not applying to the Human Development, Child and Youth Health for Equity-Denied Groups pool, at least one member of the research team in an applicant or knowledge user role (i.e. Principal Applicant, Co-Applicant, Principal Knowledge User, Knowledge User) must provide evidence of meaningful involvement with that group (see How to Apply).
9. Applicants may only submit one application to this competition as the NPA.

If eligible for both competitions, applicants may apply to the Early Career Researchers in Human Development, Child and Youth Health (2025) and the SickKids Foundation-CIHR IHDCYH New Investigator Research Grants in Child and Youth Health (2025) competitions but can only accept a grant from one of the 2025 competitions, regardless of whether the applications are for different projects.

Summary

The goal of this funding opportunity is to build research capacity, generate new knowledge, and support knowledge mobilization in human development, child and youth health by funding operating grants to early career researchers.

The program will fund research across the four CIHR pillars (biomedical; clinical; health services; and social, cultural, environmental, and population health) that has the potential to have a significant impact on human development, child and youth health. Ultimately, the program aims to strengthen Canada's capacity and knowledge to respond to challenges and needs by providing important early career development support to researchers in these fields.

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are to:

• Support early career researchers in initiating and conducting independent research in human development, child and youth health with the goal of building research capacity in this important health research area.
• Generate new knowledge that will contribute to improving human development, child and youth health outcomes, promote health equity, and increase our understanding of the challenges, needs and current gaps in this research area.
• Facilitate knowledge exchange and translation between early career researchers and other stakeholders in human development, child and youth health.

Overhead

n/a

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Pre-application program deadline

Application deadlines

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

Submission Process:

Registration due directly to CIHR via ResearchNet by 6:00PM Calgary time on November 18, 2025. No RMS needed for this step.

Full application, plus approvals in RMS, will be required by RSO by noon on December 11, 2025. Please be sure to select "Submitted for approvals" (Under Save & Progress) in RMS in enough time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the internal RSO deadline. Consult your department and faculty for more information on their approval processes and timelines.

Do not submit through ResearchNet until RSO's signature has been granted!! 

Once institutional signature has been obtained, a copy of the CIHR signature page will be available via the RMS record, under Documents. Upload the CIHR signature page and routing slip in the Print/Upload Signature Pages task in ResearchNet by 6:00PM Calgary time on December 16, 2025.

RESOURCES

Contact the following Research Service units for support with: 

 Projects Involving Indigenous Research: 

Support with incorporating wise practices in Indigenous research, community engagement, and Indigenous data management is available through the Indigenous Research Support Team (IRST). 

Applicants can reach out by email to IRST at IRST@ucalgary.ca in advance of the RSO internal deadline. For more information about IRST, please visit the IRST webpage. 

Knowledge Mobilization, Research Impact Assessment, DORA:  
Support for knowledge mobilization/engagement/translation, community partnerships, research impact, responsible research assessment (DORA), and open science, is available through the Knowledge to Impact team.  

Applicants can reach out by email to the KI team at knowledge.impact@ucalgary.ca.  
For more information and access to resource archives, please visit the KI team webpage. 

Research Data Management: 

For information on research data management plans, processes, or best practices for your research program, please contact research.data@ucalgary.ca.  

EDI in Research: 

RSO can provide resources and support to research teams on the integration of equitable and inclusive practices in research design and research practice.  

Contact edi.rso@ucalgary.ca for more information. 

Research Security: 

The Research Security Division is available to ensure researchers adhere to research security guidelines and policies, including the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships (NSGRP) and the policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC). 

Visit the Research Security website to learn more or contact researchsecurity@ucalgary.ca.  

Reminder: The sooner the researcher engages with RSO units, the more help we can be! 

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application