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Doctoral Personnel Awards for Black Scholars

Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Heart & Stroke, along with Brain Canada, is pleased to support the 2026 Personnel Awards for Black Scholars. Through these awards, Heart & Stroke seeks to increase the representation of best-in-class Black researchers across heart and brain health research fields in Canada. By removing financial burdens, the awards enable outstanding students to focus on their studies, undertake a program of research, and engage with mentors as part of their training and development.

These awards are offered to students accepted to or enrolled in master’s or doctoral programs in Canada who identify as Black and who are studying in an area specific to heart or brain health. These multi-year awards will function as salary stipends intended to enable trainees to focus on their studies and advance in their chosen field.

Applicants must complete a registration for the funding opportunity using 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.

Registration deadline on CIRCUlink is February 12, 2026, at 12 p.m. ET. Competition closes February 12, 2026, at 3 p.m. ET.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

🧪 1. Strong Scientific Merit & Relevance

Heart & Stroke funds rigorous research that addresses important questions in heart disease and stroke. Proposals should:

Advance understanding of disease mechanisms, risk factors, treatments or prevention.

Cover areas where evidence gaps exist (e.g., sex/gender disparities, health systems research).

Span basic to clinical or population health domains. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Success predictor: Research questions should be clearly framed with state-of-the-art context and justified significance.

🧠 2. Alignment With Program Priorities

Different funding streams have distinct strategic priorities:

GIAs support novel and important research that can generate new knowledge. Research at UCalgary

Team and themed calls (e.g., cardiac arrest, women’s heart & brain health) focus on specific priority areas. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Success predictor: Explicitly link aims with the specific focus and goals of the call you’re applying to.

👩‍🔬 3. Investigator Expertise & Environment

Heart & Stroke reviewers assess whether the research team has the expertise, track record, infrastructure, and environment to deliver the proposed work:

Established productivity and relevant publications

Evidence of successful previous funding

Suitable institutional support

Success predictor: Highlight prior achievements and how your environment supports project delivery.

📋 4. Feasible Study Design & Impact Planning

Study plans should include:

Clear methodology and milestones

Realistic timelines and deliverables

Plans for interpreting and using data

For clinical and health services research, include robust analysis plans and recruitment feasibility.

Success predictor: Craft a compelling but feasible execution strategy.

🎯 5. Potential for Impact & Translation

Heart & Stroke values research with meaningful impact on health outcomes and future policy or practice:

Clinical impact (e.g., better diagnosis, therapies)

Public health or system benefits

Clear translational pathways

Success predictor: Define what change your work could produce and how it might lead to improvements in heart or stroke health.

📊 6. Inclusive, Responsible & Modern Research Practices

Current Heart & Stroke guidelines require responsible research practices, including:

Sex and gender-based analysis and reporting across research designs when applicable. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Responsible conduct, data policies, and alignment with research security compliance. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Use of the Heart & Stroke BioSketch to communicate investigator strengths. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Success predictor: Incorporate rigorous equity and responsible science plans early in applications.

📣 7. Clear Communication & Lay Summaries

Grants are reviewed by Heart & Stroke’s Scientific Review Committee, comprising national experts who assess scientific quality, feasibility, and impact. Proposals must communicate clearly to reviewers from a range of sub-disciplines. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Success predictor: Write crisp, well-structured narratives (scientific and lay summaries) that clearly articulate your research story.

🧠 Practical Tips to Strengthen Applications

✔ Read the competition guidelines carefully for eligibility, scope, themes, and scoring priorities. Regularly check Heart & Stroke’s research pages for updates. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
✔ Engage collaborators or mentors early, especially for large thematic/team grants.
✔ Use the BioSketch effectively to contextualize your contributions, impact, and training. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
✔ Incorporate sex/gender-based analysis and responsible research practices where relevant. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
✔ Align aims with Heart & Stroke strategic goals like innovation, prevention, equity, and translational impact. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

🧠 Summary: Heart & Stroke Success Predictors

Predictor	Why It Matters
Scientific novelty & relevance	Core metric for all competitive grants. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Alignment to specific program priorities	Ensures fit to funder and competition goals. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Team expertise & institutional support	Confidence in execution.
Feasible design & clear milestones	Indicates deliverability.
Impact & translational potential	Funders prioritize meaningful health applications. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Responsible, inclusive research planning	Required by updated Heart & Stroke guidelines. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Clear writing and summaries	Helps reviewers judge quality quickly.

Specialties

Cancer

Eligibility Requirements

In order to be eligible to apply for the BSA-PhD, Applicants must meet the following criteria: a. Applicants must self-identify as Black. Please refer to section

B.4 for further details. b. As of the application deadline date, applicants must be Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada or Protected Persons under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) (see section B.5.3).

c. At the time of submission, Applicants must either (a) be enrolled in a full-time Doctoral program at an eligible Canadian institution, or (b) have applied for full-time admission to a Doctoral program at an eligible Canadian institution, with a start date of no later than September 30, 2026. Applicants and their institution (“Host Institution”)1 must confirm, as part of the Signature Form, that the Applicant is enrolled/accepted as a full-time student, or has submitted an application for full-time admission in a Doctoral program. For more details, please refer to the ‘Signatures’ section under B.5.3.

d. Partial Doctoral Personnel Awards for less than one (1) year of funding are not available.

e. Applicants must have an identified research Supervisor based at an eligible Canadian institution where the research will be undertaken.

f. At the time of submission, no more than five (5) years or sixty (60) months may have passed since the start date of the Applicant’s Doctoral program. Note that the eligibility period may be extended resulting from career interruption due to extenuating circumstances such as parental leave(s), illness etc. The period of eligibility will be extended by the equivalent duration of the eligible interruptions(s). Please refer to B.5.3 BioSketch for more information.

g. At the time of submission, and for the duration of the award, Applicants and/or their Supervisor(s) are ineligible if they hold or have already held funding, directly or indirectly, from the tobacco industry.

Eligible Countries:

Canada

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 2300 Yonge St., Suite 1200, Box 2414 Toronto ON M4P 1E4

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