Heart & Stroke New Investigator Award

Eligibility

In order to be eligible to apply for the NI competition, Applicants must meet the following criteria: 

• At the time of submission, the Applicant must have a full-time appointment at the Assistant Professor level or above at an eligible Canadian institution. 
• The Applicant must have an MD, PhD, or equivalent degree. 
• At the time of submission, no more than five (5) year or sixty (60) months may have passed since the date of the first faculty appointment at the Assistant or Clinical Assistant Professor level. This would include Adjunct positions in a research track for which the Applicant is eligible to write a Grant-in-Aid as a Principal or Co-Principal Investigator.
• Applicants must have an identified one (1) mentor and provide a co-signed letter of the Mentorship & Training Plan. 
• The Applicant should clearly demonstrate the potential to become an independent investigator. 
• The Dean and Department Head (or institutional equivalents) must guarantee at least 75% of the Applicant¿s time will be allocated to the proposed research program.
• At the time of submission, and for the duration of the award, Applicants are ineligible if they hold or have already held funding, directly or indirectly, from the tobacco industry.

Applicants must complete a registration for the funding opportunity using the Heart & Stroke's electronic grant and award management system CIRCUlink before accessing and submitting the application. 

Note that registration for the competition closes three (3) hours prior to the submission deadline. Heart & Stroke strongly encourage Applicants to begin the registration process as early as possible, and well in advance of the application submission deadline to ensure timely completion.

Summary

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (Heart & Stroke) New Investigator Award (NI) program is a salary award to support early-career investigators who have demonstrated excellence in their doctoral and post- doctoral training and wish to establish their own independent research career (Applicants). Salary awards provide an added incentive for researchers to continue or begin their program of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular research within Canada. 

The stipends, amounting to a maximum of $240,000 ($80,000 per year for up to three (3) years), will support successful NI Applicants ('Recipients') in conducting their research programs and engaging with mentors and trainees at their respective institutions ('Host Institutions').

The salary for the NI is $80,000 per annum, including the employer's share of benefits, for a maximum of three (3) years. There are no additional allowances. Heart & Stroke imposes no restriction on the additional income the Recipient may earn, provided it is within the guidelines of the Host Institution and that such activity does not impinge upon the time dedicated to the proposed research program.

Letters of Recommendation: 

Applicants should add names of professors or instructors to whom appraisals have been requested from for this application. Three (3) letters of recommendation cannot be provided or attached to the application by the applicant and should be emailed separately to research@heartandstroke.ca in PDF format, directly from the referees by September 03, 2026.

An Institutional (Faculty) Statement:

Must be provided by the identified Dean and Department Head (or equivalents) confirming that the Applicant will have 75% of his/her time allocated to the proposed research program. The statement must be uploaded to CIRCUlink and clearly describe details on: 

• How the 75% allocation of research time will be spent; 
• Commitments for the remaining 25%; 
• Critical appraisal of the Applicant; and, 
• Critical appraisal of the proposed research program.

Overhead

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.

RESOURCES

Reminder: The sooner the researcher engages with Research Services, the more help we can be!

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.

Pre-Award Submissions:

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award LOI
RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application