Research Trainee Program
Our Research Trainee Program supports health researchers in the training phase of their research career to enable career development and enrich BC’s health research talent.
The Research Trainee Program is one of Health Research BC’s flagship funding opportunities. Since 2001, we’ve granted more than 1,400 Research Trainee awards helping to develop, attract and retain BC’s best and brightest health researchers and support the advancement of world-class health research in BC.
Update: July 2025
BC’s research talent needs are changing, and we are exploring how we can adapt our funding programs to respond. Starting this fall, we will lead provincial discussions to better understand talent needs and gaps, which will inform future program decisions.
While we do this work:
– We will pause the Scholar and Health Professional-Investigator competitions this year.
– The Research Trainee program will continue, with the 2026 competition scheduled to launch this fall.
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This competition is
CLOSED
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Important Dates
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Applications open:
October 30, 2025
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Letter of intent deadline:
November 27, 2025, 4:30 p.m. PT
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Full application deadline (applicant):
January 29, 2026, 4:30 p.m. PT
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Full application deadline (host institution):
February 05, 2026, 4:30 p.m. PT
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Anticipated notice of funding decision:
July 2026
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Anticipated start of funding:
September 01, 2026
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Award Term
Up to 3 years
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Award Amount
$60,000/annum
Jump to:
Program details Eligibility How to apply Application resources WebinarProgram details
- Award amount: $60,000/annum and a research and travel allowance of $4,500/annum.
- Award term: Applicants may request up to three years of support.
- Provides salary support for talented post-doctoral or health professional researchers and develops their health research careers.
- Helps post-doctoral researchers increase their, and their labs’, research productivity.
- Prepares post-doctoral researchers for successful careers in research, biotech, health policy and more.
- New for 2026: Top-up funding of up to $10,000 is available for 2026 Research Trainee recipients whose research involves meaningfully engaging Indigenous communities. Applicants will need to complete an activity plan and a brief budget in their Full Application form. Applicants are only required to submit one mandatory reference letter with their application.
Partnered awards are
available for this program!
Learn more
Eligibility
Applicants must:
- Have a PhD and commit to a minimum of 75 percent of their time conducting research, or be a health professional in active clinical service and commit to a minimum of 50 percent of their time conducting research.
- Hold or be eligible to hold a post-doctoral fellowship position by the award start date, and for the duration of the award, at a BC institution that holds a memorandum of understanding with Health Research BC (formerly known as MSFHR).
- Not have held a previous Health Research BC/MSFHR post-doctoral fellowship award.
Featured Story
2026 Research Trainee competition: call for applications
Health Research BC is excited to launch the 2026 Research Trainee competition, supporting early-career health researchers across BC.
Read moreHow to apply
Applications to our funding competitions are coordinated through Health Research BC's ApplyNet, our online grants management system that allows users to manage their entire award lifecycle, from application submission to post-award monitoring.
Log in to ApplyNet:
Applynet
Webinar
The Research Trainee webinar has now passed. To watch the recording, please click “view” below and enter the passcode. The slides are also available for download.
Fostering health research capacity
As a funding agency with a provincial mandate, we recognize the importance of fostering health research capacity in all regions. Additionally, we’re working to increase applications from around the province, including the north, Interior, Fraser Valley, and Vancouver Island, to support research of importance to those communities and train tomorrow’s researchers to strengthen health research capacity across the province. For this competition, we will continue to identify and remove barriers to success for applicants from around the province, including:
- Implementing peer review processes and evaluation criteria to ensure applications from across BC are reviewed fairly and equitably.
- Recruiting peer reviewers from underrepresented regions and institutions in BC and from smaller institutions outside of BC.
- Working with Health Research BC partners to proactively identify partnership opportunities for fundable applications from regions and institutions outside of the Lower Mainland.
