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New Investigator Award (NI)

Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

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").

Funding Availability Financial contributions for this initiative are subject to availability of funds. Should the funders’ funding levels not be available or decrease due to unforeseen circumstances, funders reserve the right to reduce, defer or suspend financial contributions to grants and awards received as a result of this funding opportunity.

Also, once funded decisions are finalized, Heart & Stroke may identify an unranked pool of fundable (but unfunded) applications for the competition. An application within this pool may receive funding should a donor(s) be identified to support the full grant or award. In order to facilitate such funding, application information such as project title, lay summary and/or research summary may be shared with the donor(s).

AI Based Application Success Predictor

1. Scientific excellence and innovation (Highest Predictor ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

This is the cornerstone of all Heart & Stroke funding decisions.

Competitive proposals should demonstrate:

Outstanding scientific quality
Original hypotheses
Innovative research concepts
Strong scientific significance
Potential to transform cardiovascular or brain health

Heart & Stroke explicitly states that it funds the best science as evaluated through competitive peer review.

2. Strong alignment with Heart & Stroke research priorities (Highest Predictor ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Competitive proposals should directly address:

Heart disease
Stroke
Cerebrovascular disease
Vascular dementia
Brain health
Cardiovascular prevention
Rehabilitation
Cardiac arrest
Heart failure
Arrhythmias
Vascular biology

Projects should also align with one of the four CIHR research themes:

Basic Biomedical
Clinical
Health Services and Systems
Social, Cultural, Environmental, and Population Health

Alignment with the specific funding opportunity is critical.

3. Potential to improve patient outcomes and population health (Highest Predictor ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Successful proposals should demonstrate potential to:

Prevent cardiovascular disease
Improve stroke care
Enhance diagnosis
Develop better treatments
Improve rehabilitation
Reduce mortality
Improve quality of life
Advance public health

Projects with a clear pathway to improving heart or brain health are highly competitive.

4. Rigorous methodology and feasibility (Highest Predictor ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Competitive applications include:

Clearly defined aims
Strong experimental or study design
Appropriate statistical analyses
Realistic timelines
Feasible milestones
Reproducible methods

Scientific rigor and feasibility are central components of the SRC peer-review process.

5. Outstanding investigator and research team (Very High Predictor ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Reviewers evaluate:

Investigator expertise
Publication record
Leadership potential
Institutional support
Research environment
Team composition

Heart & Stroke provides dedicated funding mechanisms for trainees, postdoctoral fellows, new investigators, and established researchers.

6. Strong translational potential and implementation (Very High Predictor ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Competitive projects often include:

Biomarker development
Precision cardiovascular medicine
Translational neuroscience
Clinical implementation
Medical devices
Rehabilitation strategies
Health systems research
Population interventions

Heart & Stroke emphasizes research that can ultimately benefit patients and healthcare systems.

7. Collaboration and multidisciplinary research (Very High Predictor ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Competitive teams frequently include:

Cardiologists
Neurologists
Neuroscientists
Surgeons
Epidemiologists
Rehabilitation specialists
Engineers
Population health researchers
Health policy experts

Large collaborative initiatives—such as Cardiac Arrest Research Team Grants—encourage national and international partnerships.

8. Equity, diversity, inclusion, and Indigenous research (High Predictor ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆)

Heart & Stroke has expanded support for:

Indigenous-led cardiovascular and brain health research
Women’s heart and brain health
Black scholars
Indigenous scholars
Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)
Sex- and gender-based research

Applications that appropriately integrate these priorities, when relevant, align well with the Foundation's strategic direction.

9. Knowledge translation and dissemination (High Predictor ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆)

Competitive proposals describe plans to:

Publish findings
Present at scientific meetings
Translate research into clinical practice
Inform policy
Share results with patients and healthcare providers

Heart & Stroke expects funded investigators to actively disseminate research outcomes and submit progress and final reports.

10. Strong application quality, budget, and compliance (High Predictor ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆)

Successful applications include:

Well-justified budgets
Complete documentation
Compliance with funding guidelines
Strong BioSketch
Appropriate institutional approvals
Timely submission

Applications that fully adhere to program requirements are more likely to progress successfully through peer review.

Specialties

Cardiothoracic Surgery

Neurosciences

Cardiovascular Diseases

Eligibility Requirements

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

a. 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.

b. The Applicant must have an MD, PhD, or equivalent degree.

c. 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. The date of first faculty appointment will be based on the date listed in the BioSketch under First Faculty Appointment. 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.4.3 BioSketch for more information.

d. Applicants must have an identified one (1) mentor and provide a co-signed letter of the Mentorship & Training Plan. Please refer to B.4.3 Mentorship for more information.

e. The Applicant should clearly demonstrate the potential to become an independent investigator.

f. Partial awards of less than one (1) year are not available to New Investigator Award Applicants.

g. Applications for this award must be supported by the university or institution at which the Applicant will conduct the proposed research program. The Host Institution is expected to guarantee the Applicant appropriate academic rank and to provide adequate space and facilities for the investigator’s research, commensurate with the status of the individual’s experience and level of support from Heart & Stroke. Please refer to B.4.3 Institutional Statement for more information.

h. 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. Please refer to B.4.3 Institutional Statement for more information.

i. 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

Eligible Countries:

Canada

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 222 Queen Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 5V9

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