2026 Inlight Research Development Grant 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 post-secondary mental health research on our campuses to enhance 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 Development Grants will support early-stage research, as well as other activities that are key to building research projects, programs and teams. Projects are expected to be interdisciplinary, with a team composition that reflects the full breadth of expertise necessary to successfully execute the project.  The primary focus of the activity proposed must take place within the U of T environment. 

Grants will be considered that support the following streams: 

• Research Catalyst: For early-stage research with the potential to catalyze larger projects (eg, pilot initiatives, high-risk/high-reward ideas, knowledge synthesis to identify research gaps) 

• Community Building, Planning and Partnership Development Activities: To develop research teams and/or programs (eg, community connection events, grant planning workshops, partnership development activities and activities designed to enhance community and/or student engagement in research)   

• Implementation Science in Pedagogy: The design and evaluation of classroom innovation [funding would be for the costs of researching the efficacy of a classroom innovation, not funding the classroom innovation itself] 

• Knowledge Mobilization Activities: To disseminate evidence-based research and interventions, driving research innovation into practice 

If you have an idea for a project that would grow research in this area, but you do not feel clearly aligns with any of these activities, please reach out to us at studentmh.research@utoronto.ca to discuss in advance of applying.  

Projects must have a primary focus on post-secondary student mental health, which 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.   

Inclusion of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility 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 underserved and underrepresented groups.  

The Inlight Research Development Grants Program will support projects that are designed to build research related to post-secondary mental health and wellbeing. We have an express purpose of funding grants at all three UofT campuses.  

Budget requests should clearly describe the required level of funding relative to the planned activities. 

Eligible expenses: 

Eligible expenses must align with U of T’s Guide to Financial Management and guidelines on reimbursable expenses, and be aligned with the following categories: 

• Research-related expenses and supplies, including but not limited to purchasing of data, software, or other research- and/or knowledge mobilization-related expenses, explained clearly in the application  

• Salaries for postdoctoral scholars, graduate student researchers, undergraduate student project assistant(s) or research staff  

• Student engagement stipends, or knowledge user or elder honorariums for time spent supporting research project activities  

• Travel and venue expenses related to the execution of the grant activities, including light refreshments and meeting room rental/AV costs for meetings, workshops, and networking/convening activities  

• Travel and registration for conferences, for presentation or other knowledge mobilization purposes 

• Costs of open-access journal publication 

• Consultant, facilitator and/or expert advisor expenses where nobody can be identified at U of T to fulfill this role – the justification must describe the need for external support, and relevant UofT procurement processes will need to be followed 

The following expenses are not an eligible use of grant funds, although they can be described through in-kind contributions to the project: 

• Equipment or administrative salaries  

• Operational expenses associated with the normal and ongoing costs of interventions, for example, teaching staff salaries and material costs, are NOT eligible. These should be supported through in kind contributions to promote the sustainability of the activity once grant funding ends. 

Principal Applicant 

Applicants must meet the provostial requirements for a principal investigator at U of T, and must be eligible to hold research funding at the University of Toronto (U of T).  

Principal investigators must also complete the Inlight Student Mental Health Research Training Series and submit a certificate of completion (an approximately one–hour time commitment). These eModules highlight key considerations in the development of student engagement planning. These and other student engagement resources are available on the Inlight website.  

Knowledge User – co-applicant  

All grant applications must have a co-applicant who is an identified knowledge user. Inlight knowledge users can include but are not limited to University of Toronto students, administrators, student life staff, and clinicians. Additional knowledge users can also be included as either co-applicants or collaborators. Please note that research assistant, graduate students, and/or post-docs who are actively engaged in the research will not satisfy this requirement.

Team 

Team composition should include co-applicants and collaborators who bring the full range of perspectives necessary for the success of the project, including multi-disciplinary expertise, knowledge user perspectives, and community partner representation.

The NOI details should be submitted through this form by February 18th, 2026, and include:

• Principal Applicant information
• Information on up to three co-Applicants (further co-applicants*, as well as collaborators* can be added at the full application stage)
• Title of the proposed project (max 25 words)

Upon submission of the NOI, the applicant will receive a link to the Inlight Research Development Grant Application form via email.

Please note: 

• This step is to support planning for the adjudication of the full application, including identification of adjudicators – the NOI WILL NOT be adjudicated and all submissions may proceed to the full application stage
• The Principal Applicant cannot change between the NOI and full application stage – co-Applicants can change (this information is being collected to inform adjudicator/conflict of interest considerations)
• The title of the application 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 below. Once the applicant has prepared these documents, the applicant should complete the Inlight Research Development Grant Application Form (link will be sent via email upon submission of the NOI application form), and upload all documents through this form.  

• The Inlight Research Development Grant Application Template , which includes:  

• • Principal Applicant information  

• • Signature from department signing authority confirming applicant’s eligibility to act as a principal investigator (as per eligibility requirements, above) 

• • Title and Lay Summary for the project 

• • Table of co-applicants and collaborators, including roles and anticipated contributions   

• • Outline of project including background/rationale, objectives, design and methodology, and anticipated outcomes related to post-secondary student mental health and well-being 

• • Outline of the strategic alignment with Inlight’s vision, mission and guiding principles and potential for impact 

• • Outline of the plans to incorporate student engagement, including a certificate of completion of the Inlight student engagement training series, and a completed student engagement toolkit

• • Outline of the plan to incorporate EDIA considerations 

• • Requested budget and justification 

• • Appendices of references and figures – including required milestones and timeline figure   

• A recent CV for the Principal Applicant (eg, Common CV, SSHRC online CV, etc.) – please highlight two to three key achievements relevant to the planned project, and Inlight’s vision, mission and guiding principles   

• Certificate of completion for the Inlight Student Engagement Training Series.  

Self-identification Survey: Please note, a self-identification survey is linked to the end of the Inlight Research Development Application Form; however, completion of the self-identification survey is not compulsory and will not impact the adjudication of your application. 

Data is being collected through this survey to ensure Inlight is proactively seeking to increase inclusion of racialized persons/persons of colour, women, Indigenous/Aboriginal Peoples of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQIA2S+ persons, and others who may contribute to the diversification of ideas. 

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 or 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 identification of any individual. 

Notice of Intent 

1. Notice of Intent Application Survey 

Application  

1. Research Development Grant Application Form (all documents are to be uploaded and submitted through this form by March 9th – link will be sent via email upon submission of the NOI application form)  
2. Research Development Application Template   
3. A recent CV, with 2 to 3 key achievements highlighted 

Adjudication 

1. Research Development Grant adjudication rubric  

Prior to the adjudication process, a relevance review will be performed by Inlight leadership team members to determine that the research development project has a primary focus on post-secondary student mental health, and that it aligns with the Inlight vision, mission and guiding principles. 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 application review if a conflict exists. 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 relevant applications will be reviewed by adjudicators and scored according to the provided rubric.  

• All applicants and co-applicants will be automatically enrolled into the Inlight Network and will receive communication on future Inlight opportunities and knowledge events.  

• Grant recipients and co-applicants are expected to participate in and present (Recipients) at the Inlight Annual symposium 

• Grant recipients and co-applicants may be asked to join the Inlight grant program adjudication panels in subsequent years.  

• Grant recipients 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 

• A summary and impact report will be requested by Inlight towards the end of the funding period – a template will be provided by the Inlight team. Requests for an extension should be addressed to the Inlight email address, where possible, 2 months in advance of this date.