Trainee Support Programs

The Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology (LKSIoV) provides support to its member trainees through various Trainee Award Programs:


STUDENTSHIPS

Body shot of a group of summer students

LKSIoV Undergraduate Summer Research Awards ($7,500 maximum value)

The Alberta Innovates Summer Studentships program provides funding to support undergraduate students engaging in health and medical research during the summer months (May to August). The intent of the program is to encourage such students to consider careers in medical/health research. The Undergraduate Research Initiative (URI) administers the Alberta Innovates Summer Studentships program at the University of Alberta. The Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology has partnered with URI to support undergraduate students under the supervision of a full LKSIoV member.

Eligibility

To be eligible for an LKSIoV Undergrad Summer Research Studentship:

  • Candidates must apply through the Alberta Innovates Summer Studentships program;
  • Candidates must meet all eligibility requirements (refer to link above for details);
  • Candidates must be supervised by a full member of the LKSIoV and select the Institute in their application;
  • Candidates must not be funded by another entity; the LKSIoV currently does not provide top-ups for this program.

NOTE: To support students in as many labs as financially possible, the LKSIoV will support one student per lab per summer period.

Financial Support
  • The LKSIoV Undergrad Summer Research Studentship is $1,875 per month for a maximum of four months between the months of May to August per undergraduate student.
  • Payment of the LKSIoV Undergrad Summer Research Studentship (up to $7,500/summer) shall be only made to the award recipient upon confirmation of all eligibility requirements, as required for the Alberta Innovates Summer Studentships. (NOTE: Confirmation will be obtained URI; candidate will be contacted)
Obligations LKSIoV Undergrad Summer Research Studentship Recipients

LKSIoV Undergrad Summer Research Studentship recipients must agree to certain obligations that include, but are not limited to:

  • Acknowledgement of the LKSIoV financial support in their presentations (oral or poster format) throughout their undergraduate summer program;
  • Provision of a biographical sketch and photo to be used for publicity purposes.

Funding Results

 


Close-up of a microscope

LKSIoV Graduate Studies Entrance Awards ($10,000 value)

The LKSIoV Graduate Studies Entrance Awards aim to provide LKSIoV full members with assistance in attracting the brightest and most promising students to the University of Alberta for graduate studies in their laboratory.

The application deadline is October 31, 2024.

Graduate Studies Entrance Award Eligibility & Requirements

To be eligible for the LKSIoV Graduate Studies Entrance Awards:

  • Candidates must be supervised by a full member of the LKSIoV
  • Candidates must be registered as a full-time graduate student in a Master's of Science (MSc) or Doctoral (PhD) program at the time application
  • Candidates may be Canadian citizens, Permanent Residents, or International students
  • Candidates must have an admission GPA of at least 3.5 (or equivalent)
  • Candidates must have two letters of support sent from the referee's email account directly to lksiov@ualberta.ca
  • Candidates must apply for the LKSIoV Graduate Studies Entrance Award in their first year of their respective graduate program (students who switch from a MSc to a PhD program are eligible in the first year of their PhD program, but only if they have not previously received this award)
  • Graduate Studies Entrance Award applicants cannot hold an award with a value of $13,000 or greater
Graduate Studies Entrance Award Financial Support
  • The LKSIoV Graduate Studies Entrance Award is $10,000 per graduate student.
  • Up to five (5) Graduate Studies Entrance Awards, plus any carry-forward Graduate Studies Entrance Awards, may be administered per year.
  • Payment of the Graduate Studies Entrance Award ($10,000) shall be awarded for support of trainee stipend.
Graduate Studies Entrance Award Procedures

The Graduate Studies Entrance Awards competition shall be held once per year. Application submission deadline is October 31, 2024 for graduate students with a start date of January 1 or September 1 in the same calendar year.

NOTE: Applications submitted after the deadline or incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Successful applicants will be announced in early December and the award will begin in January of the following calendar year.

Obligations of Graduate Studies Entrance Award Recipients & LKSIoV Logos

Graduate Studies Entrance Award Recipients must agree to certain obligations that include, but are not limited to:

  • Acknowledgement of the LKSIoV financial support in their presentations (oral or poster format) throughout their graduate studies career;
  • Provision of a biographical sketch to be used for publicity purposes;
  • Potential membership on the Graduate Studies Entrance Award Selection Committee for a future Graduate Studies Entrance Award competition.

LKSIoV Logos

For further information and full details, please contact us at lksiov@alberta.ca.

Application Form

To apply, complete the Google form which includes three (3) attachments.  You can exit and return to the form at anytime before the deadline to edit your application and attach the required documentation.

Funding Results

 


Female, black student conducting an experiment

LKSIoV Doctoral Student Awards ($12,500 value)

The LKSIoV Doctoral Student Awards provide financial assistance to LKSIoV full members by matching funding for recipients of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (FoMD) Dean's Doctoral Student Award.

The competition is closed. The application deadline was October 1, 2024.

LKSIoV Doctoral Student Awards Eligibility

To be eligible for the LKSIoV Doctoral Student Awards:

LKSIoV Doctoral Student Awards Financial Support
  • The LKSIoV Doctoral Student Award is $12,500 per graduate student for one year
  • Up to five (5) LKSIoV Doctoral Student Awards may be administered per year; the number of available awards will be contingent on available funding
  • Payment of the LKSIoV Doctoral Student Award shall be made to the award recipient upon confirmation of all eligibility requirements, as required for FoMD Dean's Doctoral Award (NOTE: Confirmation will be obtained from the FoMD Office of Research)
LKSIoV Doctoral Student Awards Procedures
  •  The LKSIoV Doctoral Student Awards competition shall be held once per year, following the announcement of the FoMD Dean's Doctoral Award recipients
  • The selection and notification of successful LKSIoV Doctoral Student Award recipients will be completed by December 31
  • The LKSIoV Doctoral Student Awards will begin January 1
Obligations of LKSIoV Doctoral Student Award Recipients

LKSIoV Doctoral Student Award recipients must agree to certain obligations that include, but are not limited to:

  • Acknowledgement of the LKSIoV financial support in their presentations (oral or poster format) throughout their graduate studies career
  • Provision of a biographical sketch to be used for publicity purposes
  • Potential membership on an LKSIoV Award Selection Committee for a future trainee award competition

Funding Results

 


RECOGNITION AWARDS

Stack of open academic journals

LKSIoV Research Impact Awards ($1,000 value)

The LKSIoV Research Impact Awards recognize high impact publications produced by graduate students, post-doctoral fellows (PDFs) or research associates (RAs) whose principal investigator (PI) is a full member of LKSIoV.

The competition is closed. The application deadline was February 15, 2024. 

Eligibility and Requirements

Eligibility

Open to any full-time graduate student, PDF or RA whose supervisor/PI is a full member of the LKSIoV.

Requirements

  1. Nominee must be first author or co-first author on a peer-reviewed article:
  • Published from January 1 – December 31 in the year immediately preceding the competition.
  • Primary research papers only (review articles do not qualify).
  • Only one nomination per publication will be accepted*.

*NOTE: In the case of two first co-authors, both first co-authors can submit individual nominations. If selected, the monetary award will be divided between both individuals.

2. To apply, nominees can self-nominate or be nominated by their supervisor by providing the following:

    • A copy of the publication.
    • A brief statement outlining the following (1 page maximum):
      • Is the nominee a MSc, PhD, PDF or RA?
      • What is the research problem/gap addressed in the publication?
      • What is the advancement/contribution of the nominee to the publication, therefore to the advancement of the field?
      • Include evidence of impact: number of views, citations, media coverage, journal impact factor, or any other evidence of impact.
      • What was the nominee's role in the publication? Be specific.

The requested documents should be submitted in PDF format to lksiov@ualberta.ca by 4:00pm on February 15. When the application deadline falls on a statutory holiday or weekend, the applications shall be due by 4:00pm on the next business day. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Adjudication and Awards

Adjudication

Adjudication will be done by members appointed by the LKSIoV Management and Advisory Committee and the Director of the LKSIoV.

Award

Annual awards of $1,000 each will be given for each of the following categories (each nominee can only receive one award annually):

  • MSc Student
  • PhD Student
  • PDF / RA

 Funding Results

 


TRAVEL AWARDS

An airplane flying from Edmonton to around the world

LKSIoV Trainee Travel Awards ($1000 value)

The LKSIoV Trainee Travel Awards aim to provide financial assistance to LKSIoV graduate students, post-doctoral fellows (PDFs), and research associates (RAs) of full LKSIoV members to support their travel to national or international conferences or other academic meetings to disseminate their research findings.

The application deadline is August 1, 2024 at 4:00pm.

Trainee Travel Award Eligibility

To be eligible for the LKSIoV Trainee Travel Award:

  • Candidates must be supervised by a full member of the LKSIoV;
  • Candidates must be registered as a full-time undergraduate or graduate student or employed as a full-time PDF or RA at the time application;
  • Candidates must deliver a oral or poster presentation on their research at the international/national conference or academic meeting that they propose to attend.

Trainee Travel Award recipients may only be awarded one Trainee Travel Award per  year.

Candidates can apply for the LKSIoV Trainee Travel Award up to one year prior to conference date they propose to attend.

Trainee Travel Award Financial Support
  • The Trainee Travel Award is valued at up to $1000.
  • The Award shall be only used to reimburse costs directly incurred as a result of attendance at the proposed conference or academic meeting including, but not limited to, airfare, registration fees, accommodation, and poster printing fees.
  • Payment of Award (up to $1000) will be made to the award recipient following submission of the following:
    • Copies of receipts detailing costs incurred as a result of attendance at the conference or academic meeting;
    • Proof of attendance and presentation at the conference or academic meeting.
Trainee Travel Award Procedures

Trainee Travel Award competitions shall be held three times per year. Application submission deadlines shall be:

  • April 1 for attendance at a conference or academic meeting held between May 1 to August 31 
  • August 1 for attendance at a conference or academic meeting held between September 1 to December 31
  • December 1 for attendance at a conference or academic meeting held between January 1 to April 30.

Trainee Travel Award applications shall be due before 4 p.m. MT on the application submission deadline;

  • When the Trainee Travel Award application deadline falls on a statutory holiday or weekend, the applications shall be due before 4 p.m. MT on the next business day;
  • Trainee Travel Award applications shall be submitted electronically using the Google Submission Form provided below;
  • The application package must be submitted as a single PDF file.

Note: Trainee Travel Award applications submitted after the deadline or incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Obligations of Trainee Travel Award Recipients and LKSIoV Logos

Trainee Travel Award Recipients must agree to certain obligations that include, but are not limited to:

  • Acknowledgement of the LKSIoV financial support in their presentation at the proposed conference or academic meeting;
  • Provision of a biographical sketch to be used for publicity purposes;
  • Presentation of an oral or poster report to LKSIoV members on the conference or academic meeting attended;
  • Membership on the Trainee Travel Award Selection Committee for the Trainee Travel Awards competition immediately subsequent to the Trainee Travel Awards competition for which they were granted award, unless a conflict of interest arises (i.e., student may not be eligible to sit on a selection committee if a fellow lab member is applying for a Trainee Travel Award).

LKSIoV Logos

Submission Form

To apply, complete the Google form which includes one (1) PDF attachment of your application package.  You can exit and return to the form at anytime before the deadline to edit your application and attach the required documentation.

Submitting Your Expenses

ONE Submission 

If you have been awarded with an LKSIoV Travel Award, please submit all expenses together in ONE submission to lksiov@ualberta.ca

Required documentation for a travel claim:

  • boarding passes for all flights;
  • copy of airline ticket;
  • conference schedule at a glance (a detailed one is not required);
  • conference "brochure" front page or screen shot of conference webpage that includes all info (dates, etc.);
  • registration receipt (even if paid by P-card) and info on surcharges;
  • accommodation information/folio (detailed);
  • ground transportation receipts (train, bus, taxi, UBER, etc.);
  • per diems are calculated based on travel times and the conference schedule information (receipts not required).

P-card (corporate credit card)/TAP/HAP

If you have submitted your travel using a P-card, TAP or HAP, then please include a copy of the P-card receipts/TAP/HAP along with your other travel receipts above, in order to have one submission.

If you have any questions, contact Wendy at 780-492-1084 or wmagee@ualberta.ca.

Funding Results

 

 


A cracked golden egg with coins spilling out.

OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

The University of Alberta's Research Administration Services (RAS) maintains a funding database of current opportunities for researchers, postdoctoral fellows and trainees.

 


 

 Questions?

If you would like more information, please contact us at lksiov@ualberta.ca.