Medical Education Strategic Research Grant

These grants focus on strategic thematic areas within medical education research, as identified by expert advisors to the Vice Dean Medical Education. These themes provide a framework for addressing key challenges and opportunities in medical education, with the aim of fostering transformative change and improving outcomes across the medical education community.   

These grants support interdisciplinary teams composed of researchers, educators, clinicians, and other stakeholders from diverse fields and backgrounds. This collaborative approach encourages cross-pollination of ideas, methodologies, and perspectives, enriching the research process and enhancing the potential impact of funded projects.    

These grants provide seed funding for programmatic research and innovation, enabling teams to explore novel ideas, develop innovative approaches, and generate preliminary data or proof-of-concept evidence. This seed funding serves as a catalyst for continued scholarship and innovation, laying the groundwork for larger-scale research initiatives and external funding opportunities. 

These grants are awarded to experienced researchers and scholars who serve as Principal Investigators (PIs). However, the program also emphasizes the importance of engaging and mentoring junior scholars and learners, fostering their development and nurturing the next generation of medical education researchers. Other roles, such as Co-PI or Co-I, may be held by individuals in various capacities, including faculty members, clinicians, educators, and learners.  

Applicants for these grants are not required to provide matched funding, allowing for greater accessibility and equity in the application process. This ensures that innovative ideas and promising projects are not hindered by financial constraints, enabling a diverse range of researchers and teams to compete for funding. 

The PI must:

• Must hold a primary faculty appointment as a full-time or part-time faculty member of a department within the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine (TFoM). Members of any academic rank (lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor or full professor) are eligible to apply. PIs are expected to  be faculty who are researchers, scholars, clinicians, educators, affiliated with TFoM.  
• Principal investigators can only hold one grant at a time. It is expected that PIs will receive Medical Education Strategic Research Grant funding only once for each project.  
• Status-only faculty can act as a PI on a grant. Adjunct clinical faculty members can act as a collaborator on a grant held by a full-time or part-time faculty member.  
• Must agree to take responsibility for the overall project design, development, budgetary oversight, and completion.  
• Must agree to provide year-end and project-end reports.  
• Must agree to present project findings at The Richard K. Reznick Wilson Centre Research Day.  
• Submit their work for presentation and publication in peer-reviewed venues  
• Must agree to communicate their findings to relevant stakeholders in TFoM, as identified by the adjudication committee co-chairs and/or Vice Dean Medical Education.    

The project may include a Co-PI.

• The Co-PI contributes intellectual input and guidance and may share some of the leadership responsibilities for the project.
• Staff, faculty members, and learners are eligible to be Co-PI with a Faculty PI.
• Co-PIs without formal affiliation with the University of Toronto will be considered and approved on a case by case basis. Please contact medicine.awards@utoronto.ca if you are planning to engage an external Co-PI.

Each project may include a co-investigator.

• Staff, faculty members, and learners are eligible to be co-investigators with a Faculty PI. 
• Interdisciplinary teams are strongly encouraged, comprising individuals from diverse backgrounds and disciplines including clinical departments, education programs, and research paradigms.  
• Collaborators or advisors can include faculty, staff, members of the public, patients, patient families, learners, and trainees. 
• A formal affiliation with the University of Toronto or the TFoM is not required to act as a co-investigator, collaborator, or advisor. 

The following individuals are not eligible to apply to the EDF:

• Current PIs of Medical Education Strategic Research Grant-funded projects are ineligible to apply for funding. PIs can apply for funding for a new Medical Education Strategic Research Grant project only after all project requirements are completed (including submission of the project final reports), and at minimum, 2 years after their initial funding began.
• Current holders of EDF grants are ineligible to apply for Strategic Research Grants as PI and vice versa. However, they may apply as Co-PIs, or Co-Investigators. 
• Education Leaders at the level of Vice-Chair or Associate Dean are ineligible to be named members of the project team.
• Individuals who sit on the adjudication committee can be listed as a PI, co-investigator, or collaborator on a grant, but will be required to recuse themselves from their adjudication duties for the award cycle in which they are listed as a PI, co-investigator, or collaborator on a grant submission.

• Applicants are encouraged to consider how they plan to embed Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion principles in the composition of the research team. Applicants should consider how the project plans to engage a diversity of perspectives relevant to the project and the education portfolio -- including learners, patients, community leaders, staff, or underrepresented groups, as appropriate -- and explain why the project takes this approach.   

• Applicants are encouraged to consult the Addressing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Your Research Funding Application – Research Teams and the Training of Highly Qualified Personnel guidebook developed by the Office of the Vice President, Research and Innovation.    

• Individuals can serve as the PI on a maximum of one application per cycle.  

• Co-Investigators, collaborators, and advisors can be named on multiple grants (for example, a collaborator can be listed as a collaborator in multiple applications provided they are not for the same project or can be listed as a PI in one project and a collaborator in another).  

Funded projects must have formal ethics approval and/or formal ethics exemption from either a hospital or the University of Toronto Ethics Board (REB) prior to funds being released. REB approval must be obtained within three months from award notice. Projects that do not meet this deadline will be considered abandoned and the funding will not be awarded unless an extension is requested by the PI. The extension request will be reviewed by the Co-Chairs who may also invite other committee members as necessary.   

Awardees are accountable for the implementation and dissemination of their projects, as outlined in their grant proposals and agreements. Regular reporting and evaluation mechanisms facilitate accountability and continuous improvement within the program. The Medical Education Strategic Research Grant Program is accountable to TFoM and its stakeholders for transparent and equitable selection processes, effective administration of funds, and timely communication with applicants and awardees. Oversight and governance mechanisms ensure adherence to ethical standards, research integrity, and responsible stewardship of resources. 

• PIs will complete progress reports at 6-months, 1-year, and project completion:
  • Six months after disbursement of funds, PIs will receive a short survey to complete which tracks progress of their project. 
  • A 1-year report is required at the end of the first funding year. Formal written reports will record the work done to date, include a summary of budgetary expenditures, describe progress towards and barriers to implementation, and include a plan for dissemination/knowledge translation. 1-year reports must also be accompanied by a letter describing the outcomes as they relate to meaningful incorporation and sustainability of the project as discussed between the recipient and the Department Chair. 
  • A final project report is due upon the completion of the project (within 2 years of the original funding date). This report must contain details regarding final budget expenditures which will outline any unused funds or overages, status of knowledge dissemination, implementation and planned future related work. Project teams are highly encouraged to also include perceived impact of the project on the PI’s career and the perceived impact of the project on collaborators.  

Financial accountability for projects will be maintained by the named PI. All funds, other than costs related to project dissemination, are expected to be disbursed by the end of the first year and all costs, including dissemination costs, are to be disbursed by the end of the second year. Any unused funds must be returned at the close of the project.

• Recipients are expected to disseminate their research in typical scholarly venues including submission to peer-reviewed publications, academic conferences, and other venues. TFoM funding should be acknowledged in any formal dissemination.
• Recipients will be invited to present their findings to the Vice-Dean, Medical Education and other relevant stakeholders.   
• PIs are expected to present their work at the annual Wilson Centre Research Day and any department or faculty research day.