Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards (CIRTA) Initiative (Postdoctoral Stream)

Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards (CIRTA) Initiative (Postdoctoral Stream)

The Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards are a one-time initiative to recruit international or returning Canadian students and postdoctoral researchers to Canada, supporting the recruitment of trainees in the priority research areas (FAQ 5).

Award values: PhD: $40,000/year for 3 years. PDF: $70,000/year for 2 years. 

Trent’s allocation: Two PhD and one postdoctoral nomination. 

Nominators: A nominator must hold an active grant awarded under one of the eligible funding opportunities (FAQ 17) and must be eligible to supervise doctoral students and/or postdoctoral researchers. While the nominator’s research grant does not have to specifically be within one of the priority research areas, they must be able to facilitate the nominee conducting research in one of the identified areas.

Nominees: Nominees can be of any citizenship. Nominees cannot have a current affiliation with a Canadian institution and must be currently studying or working abroad. For the postdoctoral award: Nominees must be qualified to undertake postdoctoral research at the nominating institution in Canada as of the award activation date. Participation of Canadian citizens in this program is intended for those who have previously left Canada for research and/or work experience who wish to return to Canada to continue their research.

Internal Trent deadlines and nomination process

The Office of Research & Innovation (ORI) and the School of Graduate Studies will be coordinating the CIRTA nominations, with the ORI supporting the PDF nomination and the School of Graduate Studies supporting the PhD nominations. 

Internal Postdoctoral Nomination Process

The deadline to submit a nomination for Trent’s CIRTA PDF allocation is February 5, 2026. Submissions should be sent to ORI at research@trentu.ca. Use “CIRTA Initiative” as the subject line. Nominators are asked to submit the following: 

1. Expression of Interest form to confirm the eligibility requirements. If the form has already been submitted, resubmission is not required.
2. Research description file (up to 2 pages in length):
   1. Brief description of nominee’s research and how it advances priority research areas.
   2. Explanation of how the research aligns with Trent’s Research Strategic Plan.
   3. Overview of the nominator’s active grant awarded under one of the eligible funding opportunities (i.e. title, role in project, term, amount). If the grant is outside the eight priority research areas, describe how you facilitate the nominee’s research in one of the identified areas.
   4. Description of the nominator’s vision and plans for a successful training opportunity, including:
      1. existing research excellence and resources (faculty expertise, facilities/equipment, etc).
      2. planned support for the nominee (financial and non-financial), including coverage of non-discretionary benefits, EDI and immigration support, opportunities for building professional networks, career development, etc. Nominators are encouraged to consult Trent International regarding institutional supports available for new international students/postdocs. 

Submissions will be adjudicated, and successful nominators will be notified by February 13, 2026. Adjudication will be based on the following criteria: 

• Strength of the proposal and its alignment with the nominator’s research program
• Proposal alignment with Tri-Agency priority research areas and Trent’s Strategic Research Plan.

Selected nominator/nominee will work with the research office to submit the nomination form.

For full program information and eligibility, visit the website. The external nomination form to be submitted to the Tri-Agency and guidelines for nominators are below:

• Impact+ Nomination Form 

• Nomination Form Instructions 

• Nomination Guidelines 

• Eligibility Checklist

If you have any questions about this competition, please do not hesitate to contact the research office (research@trentu.ca). If you are interested in nominating the PhD student, please contact Graduate Studies (janerennie@trentu.ca) for more details.