2026 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 supports graduate students in developing skills essential to conducting research projects with a primary focus relevant to post-secondary student mental health and wellness 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 a structured program that includes the Inlight Student Mental Health Research Training Program, a Fellowship Workshop Series, development of a Knowledge Mobilization Project, participation in the Student Summit, and completion of a short final reflection. Through these activities, Fellows will develop knowledge and research skills related to post-secondary student mental health and well-being.   

What you will learn during the Fellowship: 

• Knowledge of key considerations in conducting research related to post-secondary student mental health and well-being, including student engagement, incorporation of EDI considerations, development of collaborative partnerships, and working with community partners. 
• Skills to generate, communicate, and mobilize research for public engagement and impact in post-secondary student mental health and well-being.   
• Experience developing accessible knowledge mobilization outputs, which may include formats such as op-eds, fact sheets, policy briefs, infographics, workshop proposals, podcasts, or video shorts.  
• Experience collaborating with peers and the Inlight community through workshop co-planning and co-facilitation, peer feedback, and participation in the Student Summit. 
• An appreciation for the diversity of evidence and research needs in this emerging field, along with increased knowledge of relevant research and knowledge mobilization approaches. 

Inclusion of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion 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-deserving 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 UofT campuses (based on applications received).    

Student applicants must be leading or planning a project with a primary focus relevant to post-secondary student mental health and wellness 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. Although student applicants can be in any year of their graduate study, they must be enrolled in their program of study for the full 2026-27 academic year.  

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 recognize 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 will normally only award one Fellowship to an individual during their combined academic graduate programs at the University of Toronto. 

Please review the eligibility and conditions of funding prior to preparing your application.   

The application to the Inlight Fellowship Program requires submission of the application documents through a REDCap survey (‘Application survey’).  Please convert all files to pdf format prior to uploading. 

Please note your submission includes both a supervisor recommendation and a signature by the graduate coordinator for your program – we strongly recommend that you request these early in the application process and at least 2 weeks before the application deadline, to facilitate timely submission. You may either use the Supervisor Information Survey to send an automatic request to your supervisor to complete the recommendation, or share this form with your supervisor and submit it at the same time as the rest of your application documents.    

At the end of the Application survey you will have the opportunity to complete a self-identification survey. Completing the self-identification survey is not compulsory and will not impact the adjudication of your fellowship application.  

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

We invite applicants who are considering the use of AI in the preparation of their applications to review the report prepared by the University of Toronto’s AI Task Force [Report: Toward an AI-ready University – University of Toronto]. If, while undertaking review of your application, we have any concerns about the use of AI, we may invite you to attend an in-person interview to discuss your application. 

Applicants should prepare and submit the documents listed below. Once the applicant has prepared these documents and converted them to pdf format, the applicant should complete the Application Survey, and upload all of the documents through this survey.    

• The  fellowship application template  which includes:   
  • Applicant and supervisor(s) information  
  • Signature from an individual who can 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 the Applicant’s program of study  
  • Statement summarizing training and experiences relevant to post-secondary mental health and well-being, and commitment to student engagement and EDI   
  • Overview of research project that is part of your program of study (planned or underway):  
    • Title and Lay Summary for the project  
    • Outline of research project including background/rationale, objectives, design and methodology, and impact on student mental health  
    • Appendices of references and figures (maximum one page)  
• Supervisor recommendation – please either submit a supervisor recommendation form along with your application, or send an automatic request to your supervisor to complete and submit a recommendation through this link (please ensure you give your supervisor plenty of notice to complete this form – it is your responsibility to follow up and ensure it is completed)  
• A recent CV (maximum 3 pages) or the abbreviated CV template – if you are submitting your own CV, it is recommended that they highlight relevant experience and significant contributions  
• A copy of your academic transcript for graduate studies (official or unofficial will be accepted)  

Self-identification Survey: Please note that a self-identification survey is linked to at the end of the Application survey; 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. 

1. 1. Application Survey  
   1. Application template  
   1. Supervisor recommendation form OR Supervisor recommendation request  
   1. A recent CV (maximum 3 pages) or the  abbreviated CV template  
   1. Copy of applicant’s academic transcript for graduate studies  

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

Adjudication of the applications will be led by the Inlight Associate Director, Education & Training. Applications will then be considered with respect to the excellence and achievements of the candidate (relative to stage of their training), and consideration will be given to ensure that successful applicants are representative of the diversity of the University of Toronto community, as well as breadth of division and tri-campus involvement.   

Where an Inlight leadership team member supervises a student applicant, that member will recuse themselves from involvement in the process around that application. 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.”  

Once funded, we expect all Fellows to actively engage with the Fellowship Program components, including the Fellowship Workshop Series, Student Mental Health Research Training Program, Knowledge Mobilization project, Student Summit, and final reflection. Fellows are expected to meet the participation and program requirements outlined for the 2026-2027 Fellowship Program. 

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

• 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.   

• Fellows will complete a short, one-page personal reflection, due April 30th, 2027, discussing their Fellowship Program experience.