HQP Leadership Awards

The HQP (Highly Qualified Personnel) Leadership Awards are dedicated to supporting students and postdoctoral fellows in achieving strategic goals, such as developing a research or industry partnership or running a university-level course. The awards offer HQPs the opportunity to design, manage, and lead workshops / short conferences / projects that facilitate the achievement of their strategic goals in areas related to their research program and aligned with building Canada-India research collaborations in:

• Safe and sustainable infrastructure, including smart cities;
• Public health, including detection and prevention of diseases;
• Integrated water management, including renewable, off-grid energy as a source of power for water treatment;
• Commercialization initiatives; and
• Other emerging areas, including sensors to monitor civil structures, water pollution.

IC-IMPACTS will provide up to $15,000 to selected applications. Projects need to reflect principles of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in order to ensure that everyone is encouraged to participate, both as speakers and as participants.

Eligibility of Applicants

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Be an undergraduate, graduate or postdoctoral fellow registered at a Canadian university;
• Work with a principal investigator (PI) at their university (funds will be sent to/received by the faculty PI for distribution);

Expected Outcomes

The proposed workshop / short conference / project provides an opportunity for student leadership and must:

• Preferably be inclusive of students from Canada and India;
• Demonstrate how it adds value to the skills of undergraduate and graduate students, for example:
  • Proposal writing (grant writing, commercialization proposal, research paper, etc.);
  • Preparing business plans for start-ups;
  • Creating and delivering presentations;
  • Developing Waste to Wealth programs (innovations and community initiatives to extract value from wastage);
  • Building teams that can deliver research and installations in communities;
  • Enhancing gender equity by engaging women engineers and entrepreneurs;
  • Engaging indigenous communities in research;
  • Capacity-building throughout the research process, from innovation to delivery; and
  • Other areas of emerging interest can be proposed.
• Demonstrate how it adds value to Canada and India research collaborations;
• Demonstrate principles of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion to encourage voices traditionally underrepresented to participate, as speakers and participants; and
• Recognize IC-IMPACTS as a supporter at the event, including using IC-IMPACTS social media handles (Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram) in promoting it.

The following will be considered assets to the proposal:

• Principles of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion;
• Partnering with industry and subject experts; and
• Funding from other sources to complement IC-IMPACTS funding.

Reporting

Following the completion of their event, each recipient of an HQP Leadership Award will be required to submit a written report summarizing:

• The outcomes of the event;
• Leadership lessons learned; 
• Submit Form 300 and return any unutilized funds to IC-IMPACTS;
• An analysis of the impact of the event.

Eligible Expenses

The following list describes key eligible expenses to run the workshop / short conference / project:

• IC-IMPACTS HQP Leadership Award funds must be spent on costs directly associated with the event and be compliant with Tri-Council funding regulations.
• No overhead may be charged by the University or the advising Principal Investigator / faculty / researcher.
• Eligible expenses include:
  • Room rental
  • Technical requirements at the event such as audiovisual, microphones, internet connectivity
  • Food (no alcohol)
  • Travel for up to two distinguished guest speakers (economy airfare, accommodation based on the lowest price of a standard room in a business class hotel, per diem of up to $60, and taxi transportation to and from an airport in host city)
  • Conference materials including agenda, notebooks, and pens
  • Social media promotion, signage, and communications
• Funding may be used for printing the proceedings of the workshop / short conference / project.

Important Links

• Eligible expenses: Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide > Use of Grant Funds
• List of previous IC-IMPACTS HQP Leadership Award winners
• Networks of Centres of Excellence

Questions?

If you have a question or need clarification on the HQP Leadership Awards, please email: [email protected].

To Apply for HQP Leadership Awards

To apply, please download and complete the following documents:

• HQP Leadership Awards Application Form
• HQP Leadership Awards Budget Form

Please also provide the following:

• Rough draft agenda of the workshop / short conference / project
• Supporting letter and statement of commitment from the Principal Investigator / faculty / researcher willing to serve as an advisor and budget supervisor

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Assessment of Application

The review committee will assess each application based on the following criteria:

Application Submission

Once you have completed your application form, budget, and supporting documentation, please submit them to:  [email protected]