TRIANGLE Early Career Researcher (ECR) SECURE Awards

Eligibility

The SECURE program is designed to provide the support Early Career Researchers (ECRs) in gastroenterology and hepatology are currently missing, to succeed in the long term, as scientists and clinician-scientists.

Applicant: This award is open to all ECRs who are actively pursuing a career as a scientist or clinician-scientist at a Canadian institution. CIHR defines an ECR as an individual within five years of the date of their first independent research-related appointment.

Location: The award must be held at a Canadian academic institution and/or health research institute. 

Research: All projects must focus on gastrointestinal (GI) or liver research.

Timing:

• All applicants must have at minimum 50% protected time for research
• Career interruptions are not counted toward years of ECR experience. Applicants should provide context for their career interruptions in the optional TRIANGLE Personal Statement. Interruptions could include, but are not limited to:
  • maternity, parental, and/or adoption leave
  • illness and/or disability
  • pandemic-related delays
  • mandatory military service
  • war, civil conflicts, and/or natural disasters
  • socio-economic factors
  • lack of research opportunities
  • child and/or elder-care responsibilities

Citizenship: This program is open to citizens of any country. Citizens of a country other than Canada must provide proof upon application of a valid permit at the time the award begins and at the beginning of each award year thereafter.

Summary

SECURE faculty will already have salary support from their home institution. Therefore, TRIANGLE focuses on providing innovative, tailored, and targeted support to ECRs that are not available at their universities and research institutes but are integral to personal and professional success.

These include:

• training and mentorship that will allow ECRs to successfully and seamlessly bridge the gap between the training and lab leader stages of their careers
• funding travel to TRIANGLE’s face-to-face annual summit, where ECRs will have access to the top Canadian faculty in their fields for mentorship, learning, networking, and collaboration building
• annual ECR leadership retreat where TRIANGLE ECRs develop critical leadership skills and leverage the expertise of colleagues within and beyond GI and liver
• access to competitive PhD, postdoc, and summer student trainee stipend support (AMPLIFY and CONNECT awards) to help ECRs recruit world-class trainees to their labs

TRIANGLE will give out 3 awards each year to the top 3 ranked applicants.

AWARD DURATION: 3 years

FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Not Applicable. No financial support for the applicant’s salary is provided.

CAREER AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL SUPPORT

• Travel and expenses for the TRIANGLE annual summit. Up to $1,500 per year for 3 years via reimbursement post-meeting.
• Travel and expenses for TRIANGLE planned ECR leadership retreats, via reimbursement post-retreat.
• Salary support for one CONNECT Summer Student over the 3-year award in your lab at $6,000. Application is required.
• $20,000 in funding to support patient engagement in your research. An application is required and contingent upon available funding (a temporarily limited opportunity).

NONFINANCIAL SUPPORT

• skill and knowledge building via the TRIANGLE curriculum
• mentorship and guided career planning from leaders in research, industry, government, non-profit, and more
• access to large research teams/networks
• community, network, and collaboration building with the gastroenterology and hepatology communities within and beyond TRIANGLE
• support for mental, physical, and emotional well-being

Maternity/Parental, Medical or Family Caregiver Leave:  Learners are eligible for unpaid Maternity/Parental,  medical or a family caregiver’s leave for up to 12 months. The latter is to provide care or support to certain family members who have a serious medical condition. Awards will be placed “on hold” for the duration of the leave with supported documentation from the local institution. The leave must be requested at minimum 30 days in advance of the leave start date. Awards will resume upon the return of the individual to the training environment. The term of the award will be extended by the length of the approved leave up to but not exceeding 12 months.

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.

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.

The complete application, plus approval in the Research Management System (RMS) (https://research.ucalgary.ca/conduct-research/additional-resources/research-management-system-rms), will be required by RSO by noon on May 27, 2025.  Please be sure to select "Submitted for approvals" (Under Save & Progress) in RMS in good time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the Research Services deadline. Consult your department and faculty for more information on their approval processes and timelines. 

Once your RMS record has been approved by Research Services, submit to the agency by their deadline on June 1, 2025