2024 Inlight Research Fellowship Program

Inlight is an Institutional Strategic Initiative of the University of Toronto committed to improving post-secondary student mental health and wellness outcomes. By investing in high-quality, impactful research and driving research innovations into practice, Inlight is re-imagining how we support mental health research on our campuses to enhance post-secondary student mental health and wellness. We are working with students, faculty, researchers, staff, and administrators across our community to drive meaningful change in campus mental health. Inlight’s work is shaped by our vision and guiding principles.

The Inlight Research Fellowship program will support graduate students to develop the skills to conduct research projects that have the potential to advance post-secondary student mental health and wellness outcomes through research at the University of Toronto.  Post-secondary student mental health is inclusive of mental wellness, mental illness and substance misuse. It encompasses the full length of a student’s journey—from transitions into post-secondary education to graduation; and the full range of student mental health experience—from community and individual well-being to clinical intervention, inside the classroom and out.  

Fellows will participate in the Inlight Research Fellowships training program, a one-year, non-credit certificate program that will support them to develop knowledge and research skills related to post-secondary student mental health and well-being. 

What you’ll learn:

• Knowledge of key considerations in the conduct of research related to post-secondary mental health and well-being, including student engagement, incorporation of EDIAI approaches, development of collaborative partnerships, public engagement and strategies for the dissemination of research outcomes

• Skills to generate and mobilize research to achieve health & equity impacts in post-secondary mental health and well-being 

• An appreciation for the diversity of evidence and research needs in this emerging field, and increased knowledge of relevant research/data collection methods 

Inclusion of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Indigeneity Statement: Inlight strives to be an equitable and inclusive community and proactively seeks to increase diversity and representation among our members. We strongly encourage applications from Black, Indigenous, and racialized persons, women, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, and other equity seeking groups.  

The Inlight Research Fellowship program is open to domestic and international masters and doctoral students enrolled in the University of Toronto in a program of study that includes a research project requirement (this can be a primary or compulsory component, or an optional component). Normally, at least one will be awarded at each of the campuses (based on applications received).  

Student applicants must be leading or planning a research project relevant to post-secondary student mental health as part of their thesis, major research project, dissertation, scholarly publication and/or comparative exhibit that is expert reviewed and required for the completion of their graduate program. 

The applicant’s primary supervisor must normally be a full member of the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies, be eligible to supervise graduate students and be eligible to hold research funding at the University of Toronto or at their primary institution. We recognise that there are other faculty roles that are able to supervise students and fall outside of this definition. Please contact Inlight if this is the case for your supervisor, and we will determine eligibility.

Co-supervisors can also be included, and do not need to meet the same eligibility requirements as the primary supervisor. Their role in the project should be described in the application template.

Please note: We do not normally award more than two Fellowships to an individual during their combined academic graduate programs, and repeat applicants will not be given preference, but will be adjudicated together with new incoming applicants: 

• One award may be held during a Masters program 
• Up to two awards may be held during a PhD program 

The application to the Inlight Fellowship Program is a two-step process requiring: (1) submission of a brief notice of intent (NOI); followed by, (2) submission of the full application. Upon submission of the NOI, the applicant will receive a link to the Inlight Research Fellowship Application form.  

The applicant’s supervisor will also receive a request via email to submit a recommendation upon submission of the NOI. This has the same due date as the full application, and it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that their supervisor follows up on this. 

Towards the end of the Inlight Application Form is a self-identification survey. Please note that completing the self-identification survey is not compulsory and will not impact the adjudication of your fellowship application. 

Please review the eligibility and conditions of funding prior to preparing your application. Please convert all files to pdf format prior to uploading. 

This checklist has been provided to support you to successfully prepare and submit a complete application to the program.  

The NOI details should be submitted through this form by October 7th, 2024, and include: 

• Applicant information 
• Primary supervisor information 
• Title of the research project (max 25 words) 

Upon submission of the NOI, the applicant will receive a link to the Inlight Research Fellowship Application form. The primary supervisor will also receive a request via email to submit a recommendation. This has the same due date as the full application, and it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that their supervisor follows up on this.  

Please note: 

• This step is to support planning for the adjudication of the full application, including identification of adjudicators who are representative of the divisions and research foci encompassed in the submissions – the NOI will not be adjudicated and all submissions may proceed to the full application stage 
• The Applicant and Primary Supervisor cannot change between the NOI and full application stage 
• The title of the research project can be modified between the NOI and full application stage, but should not be substantively changed 
• No figures, references/knowledge mobilization products or hyperlinks should be provided at this stage. 

Applicants should prepare and submit the documents listed below by October 15th, 2024. Once the applicant has prepared these documents, the applicant should complete the Inlight Fellowship Application Form (link will be sent via email upon submission of the NOI application form), and upload all of the documents through this form.  

• The fellowship application template, which includes:
  • Applicant and supervisor(s) information  
  • Signature from individual who is able to confirm that the applicant is in good academic standing, and that their funding policy allows for an award to be made on top of their package – this is typically the graduate coordinator from Applicant’s program of study 
  • Statement summarizing relevant training and experiences, and commitment to student engagement and EDIAI  
  • Title and Lay Summary for the project 
  • Outline of research project including background/rationale, objectives, design and methodology, and impact in student mental health 
  • Appendices of references and figures (maximum one page for each)
• A recent CV (maximum 3 pages) or the Inlight abbreviated CV template – if student is submitting their own CV it is recommended that they highlight relevant experience and significant contributions 
• Copy of applicant’s academic transcript for graduate studies (official or unofficial will be accepted)
• Optional attachments – please include a headshot that can be used in the fellowship announcement and other communications materials (not required).

The primary supervisor’s recommendation (emailed to them separately upon submission of the NOI) is also due by October 15th, 2024, and it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the supervisor follows up on this.  

Self-identification Survey: Please note that a self-identification survey is linked to at the end of the Inlight Fellowship Application Form; however, completing the self-identification survey is not compulsory and will not impact the adjudication of your fellowship application. 

Data is being collected through this survey to monitor the degree to which Inlight is meeting its objective of proactively seeking to increase inclusion of Black, Indigenous and racialized persons, women, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, and other equity deserving groups. 

Your data may be used for the purposes of program operations, planning, performance measurement and monitoring, evaluation, and audits. Only the Inlight Leadership team will have access to the survey responses. Individual data will not be shared as part of the adjudication process nor will it be accessed by anyone external to the Inlight Leadership Team. Aggregated data will be shared internally with the Inlight team and advisory committee members to support review and redesign of programs. Aggregated data will only be shared publicly where data volume is sufficient to prevent the identification of any individual. 

Notice of Intent 

1. Notice of Intent submission form 

Full Application  

1. Fellowship Application Form (where all documents are submitted by October 15th, 2024, link will be sent via email upon submission of the NOI application form)
2. Fellowship application template   
3. A recent CV (maximum 3 pages) or the Inlight abbreviated CV template  
4. Copy of applicant’s academic transcript for graduate studies 

A one hour Zoom webinar will be hosted on September 20th (12pm EST) to support those applying for an Inlight Research Fellowship. This webinar is an opportunity to learn more about the application and adjudication process. 

Register for the webinar here.

Prior to the adjudication process, the Inlight leadership team members will perform a relevance review to determine that the research project is relevant to post-secondary student mental health. Applications deemed not relevant will be withdrawn from the competition.  

An adjudication committee will be formed that aims to be representative of the diversity of the University of Toronto community, including faculty (research and teaching stream), staff and students, as well as cross division and tri-campus involvement.

All members of the adjudication committee will declare any conflict of interest and remove themselves from the application review if a conflict exists. Where an Inlight team member supervises a student applicant, that member will recuse themselves from the panel discussion while the application is under consideration. Inlight follows the CIHR guidelines of conflict of interest: “a conflict of interest means a conflict between a participant’s (e.g., reviewers and observers) duties and responsibilities with regard to the review process, and a participant’s private, professional, business or public interests.”    

• All applicants (and their supervisors) will be automatically enrolled into the Inlight Network and will receive communication on future Inlight opportunities and knowledge events.  
• Once funded, we expect all Fellows to actively engage with the training and networking components of this award. Expectations for participation are outlined as part of the training program overview, and these requirements must be met to receive the certificate of completion. Normally, the release of the second round of funding is dependent on successful participation in the components of the certificate.
• Students selected for Fellowships (and their supervisors) may be asked to join Inlight grant program adjudication panels in subsequent years.  
• Students must respond within four weeks to requests for updates on project progress (no more than a quarterly basis) during the year of funding, to support Inlight’s reporting activities, as well as to ensure continued timely payment of stipend installments. 
• A final summary and impact report must be submitted to Inlight one month after the end of the funding period (February 1st, 2026) or the graduate program conclusion (whichever occurs first) – a template will be provided by the Inlight team. Requests for an extension should be addressed to the studentmh.research@utoronto.ca, where possible 2 months in advance of the end of the funding period.