2024 ARC-NL Graduate Fellowships: Call for Applications

In 2024, the Aging Research Centre-Newfoundland and Labrador (ARC-NL) of Memorial University will provide masters and/or doctoral fellowships to students doing research on aging-related topics in any discipline.  A total of up to six fellowships of $6,000 each will be awarded.  ARC-NL Graduate Fellowships may be held for a maximum of 12 months or as long as the student remains eligible for baseline funding from School of Graduate Studies (SGS), whichever is shorter. Applications must be submitted by the supervising faculty member on behalf of the student. 

ARC-NL Fellowship

For the 2024 ARC-NL Graduate Fellowships, we are asking faculty members to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to outline their willingness to supervise a graduate student on research that is focused on aging. We hope these awards will help encourage faculty who have an interest but not necessarily the funding to support/supervise graduate students interested in research on aging to accept those students for admission. Please note that a faculty member may or may not have identified a potential student at the time of application; however, a student will need to be identified prior to September 2024. The application will be assessed based on the EOI and the faculty member’s ability to supervise the student. See “To Apply” below for more details.

For more information on Graduate Programs at Memorial, please visit here.

 

Eligibility

 To submit an EOI for the ARC-NL Graduate fellowship, faculty:

• Must be a faculty member at Memorial who is able and willing to supervise a graduate student eligible to hold the award
• Must be able to identify a current student whose research is focused on aging or recruit a student into an eligible program for a September 2024 start
• Must be a member of ARC-NL (apply to become a member)

To be eligible to hold a fellowship a student:

• Must be currently enrolled in or accepted to a graduate program at Memorial (as noted above) with a start date of September 2024
• Must be pursuing a research-based master's or doctoral degree at Memorial University
• Must have selected or been assigned a research topic that is relevant to aging, broadly defined to include a wide range of disciplines, approaches and topics
• Must be eligible for baseline funding from SGS
• Must be a Student Member of ARC-NL (apply to become a member)
• Must have an academic supervisor who is a Research Member of ARC-NL (apply to become a member)

 

Important Dates

• Deadline for Expression of Interest: May 10, 2024
• Announcement of awards: June 2024
• Beginning of funding: September 2024

 

To Apply

Faculty members must submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to demonstrate their willingness to supervise graduate student research that is relevant to aging, with a particular focus on community-based research projects, based in Newfoundland and Labrador and consistent with the broad mandate of ARC-NL.  To find out more about ARC-NL, please visit here.

The EOI should provide a broad description of the project, the role of the graduate student and the potential impact of the study in terms of closing knowledge gaps and contributing to the health and well-being of the aging population in Newfoundland and Labrador.  EOIs should be one page maximum and include any additional sources of funding supervisors have to offer students. At the time of the EOI submission, the faculty member does not have to identify the prospective student. Applicants must also identify an ARC-NL research pillar (listed below) that best fits the research topic and through which the proposed project should be considered.

EOIs can be sent to agingresearchcentre@mun.ca

 

NEW! ARC-NL Research Pillars

The activities at ARC-NL are organized by three research pillars to create and support research on topics covering the spectrum of aging. In order to equitably support projects across all topics and disciplines, ARC-NL will be funding up to two applications per research pillar.

The three ARC-NL pillars are:

Pillar 1: The Biology of Aging

The mission of the Biology of Aging pillar of ARC-NL is to improve health and quality of life through research on aging processes and age-related diseases by understanding biological, cellular and molecular mechanisms of aging.  Pillar leads: Drs. Sukhinder Cheema (Biochemistry, St. John’s Campus) and Karen Doody (Environmental Science, Grenfell Campus).

Pillar 2: The Lived Experience of Aging

The mission of the Lived Experience of Aging pillar of ARC-NL is to understanding and improve the health and quality of life of older adults with cognitive and mental health issues, foster a recognition of the diversity of older adults, promote practices that help establish positive personal and emotional well-being, and develop and improve interventions that lead to healthier aging outcomes. Pillar lead: Dr. Kelly Warren (Psychology, Grenfell Campus).

Pillar 3: Aging in Place

The mission of the Aging in Place Pillar is to support and empower older adults to age well in place at home and in their communities through engaged research. This includes consideration of the impacts of local, provincial and national programs and policies and design of age-friendly programs and policies with a strong focus on community-based and community-engaged research.  Pillar leads: Dawn Pittman (Western Regional School of Nursing, Grenfell Campus) and Dr. Kelly Vodden (Environmental Policy Institute, Grenfell Campus).

 

Selection Criteria

• Relevance of the proposed research topic to aging with priority given to research relevant to aging in Newfoundland and Labrador
• Quality of the project description in the Expression of Interest

 

End of Award Reports

Upon completion of the award, recipients must submit an End of Award Report to agingresearchcentre@mun.ca.

 

For more information on ARC-NL Fellowships, please contact us at  agingresearchcentre@mun.ca.