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Connaught Mid-Career Researcher Award

AWARD OVERVIEW


Temerty Medicine Expression of Interest Deadline: December 12, 2025

Temerty Medicine Full Application Deadline: January 12, 2026

Institutional Deadline: March 16, 2026

Value: Up to $250,000 over two years

Eligibility: Tenure stream, Associate Professor, 5-15 years from first tenure-stream academic appointment
 

Award Overview

The purpose of the Connaught Mid-Career Researcher Award (MCR) program is to foster excellence in research and innovation by providing support for University of Toronto faculty members who are at the mid-career stage. These awards are intended to either strengthen and expand the research program of or address challenges faced by a mid-career researcher, thereby increasing the researcher’s competitiveness for external funding, particularly from the Tri-Agencies. 

Submission for the MCR is by divisional nomination only. 

Deadlines

Temerty Medicine EOI Deadline: December 12, 2025

The EOI stage consists of filling out a short form. Provided they meet the eligibility requirements, all applicants who submit an EOI will be eligible to submit a full application, but an EOI must be submitted to proceed to TFOM’s full application stage.

Temerty Medicine Full Application Deadline: January 12, 2026

Temerty Medicine's internal review committee will select the applications that will move forward to the institutional competition. Please see the Applications Materials section below for details. 

Institutional Deadline: March 16, 2026

Eligibility

To apply, individuals must be full-time tenure-stream faculty members whose primary employer is the U of T; who are at the Associate Professor level; AND, as of the date of application, are within no less than 5 years and no more than 15 years of their first tenure-stream professorial appointment (at U of T or elsewhere). The window of eligibility may be extended if a nominee has experienced significant interruptions in their academic career.

Nomination Stream

Nominations must be submitted through one of two streams:

  1. Accelerator stream: for those investigators aiming to lead larger or significantly different research programs than they have previously, while developing research leadership skills and training the next generation of scientists/scholars.
  2. Resurgence stream: for those investigators experiencing mid-career challenges, including but not limited to expanding team sizes, increased committee/administrative duties, or a lack of success in securing external funding in an increasingly competitive climate.

Application Materials Required for the Temerty Medicine Full Application Deadline

  • A research program information form
  • A nomination letter (2 pages max)
    • This letter should be written by the nominee and be reviewed and signed by the Departmental Chair. The Vice Dean of Research will endorse successful nominations.
  • An academic or standard Canadian Common CV

Please see the Program Guidelines and VPRI Connaught MCR webpagefor more details.

Inquiries and Submission

Please direct questions about program eligibility to the Connaught Secretariat.

Questions about the Temerty Medicine nomination process can be directed to Alex De Serrano.

Please email completed applications for the Temerty Medicine’s internal deadline to medicine.research@utoronto.ca. Please put ‘Connaught MCR Award’ in the subject line for all correspondence.