IHSPR Institute Community Support (ICS) Program

The ICS Program is designed to foster community development by providing grants and awards to individuals and organizations for the purposes of:

  • Aiding research and knowledge translation activities where the circumstances fall outside CIHR's programs.
  • Supporting individuals and organizations whose goals are consistent with the Institute's and CIHR and its Institutes’ vision, mandate and strategic directions.

Key highlights of the Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR) ICS program include:

  • Recognition of research excellence at different career stages in Health Services and Policy Research (HSPR) through the Barer-Flood Prize Senior Career Award in HSPR, Robyn Tamblyn Mid-Career HSPR Innovator Award, HSPR Rising Star Early Career Award, as well as the CAHSPR Student Poster Prize ;
  • Support planning and dissemination activities, partnership development and/or increasing understanding of the health research landscape;
  • Support for travel awards for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and new investigators.

Funds Available

IHSPR's contribution to the amount available for this program is subject to availability of funds voted annually to CIHR by parliamentary appropriations, and the conditions that may be attached to them.

The total amount available for the ICS program annually is $250,000 to be distributed amongst the following and similar funding opportunities offered by IHSPR:

IHSPR ICS Program

Under the framework of the ICS Program, IHSPR's ICS funding will be distributed among the following and similar opportunities:

1. Barer-Flood Senior Career Prize in Health Services and Policy Research

The Barer-Flood Prize is named in honor of the leadership, vision and innovative contributions of the first two IHSPR Scientific Directors, Morris Barer and Colleen Flood. In their roles as Scientific Directors, Dr. Barer and Dr. Flood made tremendous contributions towards advancing the field of health services and policy research in Canada, building a community of world-class researchers, and designing innovative new programs that foster evidence-informed decision making and improved health and health care for Canadians.

The Barer-Flood Prize is intended to recognize and support the research excellence of Canadian senior-career investigators, and will be given to a highly ranked senior-career investigator in CIHR’s Project Grant competition whose application is relevant to IHSPR’s mandate. This prize is a supplemental grant to support research and/or knowledge mobilization.

A single prize will be awarded in the amount of $25,000 per year for one year, non-renewable. The recipient may be invited by IHSPR to present their research at a national conference.

For further details on this award, including previous recipients, eligibility requirements and how to apply, please visit the Barer-Flood Senior Career Prize in Health Services and Policy Research page.

2. Robyn Tamblyn Mid-Career HSPR Innovator Award

This award is intended to honor the outstanding work and trailblazing innovations of Dr. Robyn Tamblyn, the former Scientific Director of CIHR-IHSPR. To recognize the excellence of research and innovation in health services and policy research being conducted in Canada, the prize will be given to the highest ranked mid-career investigator in CIHR’s Project Grant competition whose application is relevant to IHSPR’s mandate.

A single prize will be awarded in the amount of $25,000 per year for one year, non-renewable. The recipient may be invited by IHSPR to present their research at a national conference.

For further details on this award, including previous recipients, eligibility requirements and how to apply, please visit the Robyn Tamblyn Mid-Career HSPR Innovator Award page.

3. Health Services and Policy Research Rising Star Early Career Award

This award was established to recognize the excellence of health services and policy researchers at an early stage in their career. The Health Services and Policy Research Rising Star Early Career Award will be given to the highest ranking early-career investigator in CIHR’s Project Grant competition whose application is relevant to IHSPR’s mandate. This award is a supplemental grant to support research and/or knowledge mobilization.

A single prize will be awarded to an early career researcher in the amount of $25,000 per year for one year, non-renewable. The recipient may be invited by IHSPR to present their research at a national conference.

For further details on eligibility requirements and how to apply, please visit the Health Services and Policy Research Rising Star Early Career Award page.

4. Planning and Dissemination Grants

IHSPR will provide support for dissemination activities that will contribute to the advancement of research consistent with the mandate of CIHR.

The Planning and Dissemination Grants program is administered through ResearchNet and is launched twice per year: July and January. For further details on application deadlines, eligibility requirements and how to apply, please visit the CIHR Funding Opportunities Database at those times to view the funding opportunity.

5. CAHSPR Student Poster Prize

Each year, the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) and IHSPR co-sponsor a Student Poster Competition at the annual CAHSPR conference. This competition is designed to encourage trainees to attend and showcase their work at CAHSPR, Canada's pre-eminent health services and policy research conference, and to recognize the outstanding research efforts of up-and-coming health services and policy researchers (HSPR).

Three prizes are awarded in the amounts of $1,200, $1,000 and $800 for first, second and third prize, respectively, and are determined through the following process:

  • All abstracts submitted for presentation at the CAHSPR conference are reviewed and scored by the CAHSPR abstract selection panel.
  • The top scoring posters accepted for presentation at the conference by the CAHSPR abstract selection panel are short-listed for in-person review at the conference.
  • Short-listed presenters will be notified of their eligibility for the CAHSPR Student Poster Prize and to remain eligible must attend the conference in person and be present at their poster during the assigned poster viewing time.
  • The posters will be reviewed in-person during the assigned poster viewing time by a team of reviewers with expertise in HSPR. Students may be asked to explain their poster or answer questions about their research. Unattended posters will not be reviewed and will be excluded from the competition.
  • The three top-ranked posters by the reviewers are awarded prizes during the CAHSPR Awards lunch on the last day of the conference.

Previous CIHR-IHSPR/CAHSPR Student Poster Prize Recipients:

6. IHSPR-CAHSPR Article of the Year Award

This award recognizes published research that has significantly contributed to the advancement of the field of health services and policy research in Canada. Articles related to the following are considered:

  • research that has had a clear impact or potential impact on policy, practice or health outcomes (e.g., decision maker uptake, change management for improved practice); or
  • research that broke ground in the way health services or policy research is conducted (e.g., innovations in methodology, novel theory or application of theory, new approaches to existing problems).

Please view past award recipients in the IHSPR-CAHSPR Article of the Year Award page.

Eligibility and Guidelines

Further details on eligibility and guidelines pertaining to these funding opportunities including allowable costs, funding conditions and communication requirements can be found on the individual prize webpages.

Contact information

For questions about this initiative and the objectives of this funding opportunity contact: info.ihspr@ices.on.ca

Date modified: