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NextGen IACC Scholars Program

Research focus

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), Long COVID, POTS, hEDS and hypermobility disorders, MCAS, and other infection-associated chronic conditions (IACCs).

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Program overview

The NextGen IACC Scholars Program is a funded research training and mentorship opportunity for graduate students at Canadian universities. Trainees will develop and lead an original research project using the Symptom Cluster Characterization in Complex Chronic Disease (SC4D) dataset.

SC4D is a large, patient-centered, questionnaire-based study containing approximately 1.5 million data points from more than 2,200 adult respondents. Respondents include people with clinical diagnoses of ME/CFS, Long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome/disease (MCAS/MCAD), hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or other hypermobility disorders, related IACCs, and healthy controls.

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Trainees will receive structured instruction and individualized mentorship in research-question development, statistical-analysis planning, data stewardship, clinical and lived-experience translation, reproducibility, scientific writing, visualization, peer review, and publication. Research questions may change after dataset orientation and feasibility review. 

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Each scholar will work toward producing:

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  • A manuscript for peer-reviewed publication;

  • A clinician-facing research product;

  • An accessible patient-facing research product; and

  • A documented and reproducible analytic workflow.

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Eligibility

Applicants must:

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  • Be enrolled in a master’s or PhD program at a Canadian university at the start of the award;

  • Remain enrolled in a master’s or PhD program throughout January–December 2027 OR, after completing the degree, maintain a formal affiliation with a Canadian university that permits institutional oversight, administration of funds, and continued approved data access for the remainder of the program;

  • Be able to devote approximately 50% of their research time for one calendar year to the program, subject to institutional requirements;

  • Ensure that total committed effort across research projects does not exceed 100%;

  • Have training or experience relevant to quantitative health research; and

  • Be able to participate in remote, structured mentorship and collaborative activities, including asynchronous participation where appropriate.

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Students in statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, public health, medicine, and MD/PhD programs are especially encouraged to apply. These are suggested areas, not an exhaustive list. Applicants from other fields are welcome when their training and proposed research direction are a strong fit for SC4D and the program.

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Formal supervisor approval is not required to apply. Selected applicants must obtain supervisor approval before accepting funds, and selection is contingent on confirming an acceptable payment, oversight, affiliation, and data-access arrangement with the scholar’s institution.

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What scholars will receive

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  • A CA$15,000 stipend intended to support 50% of the trainee’s research time over one calendar year;

  • Protected access to the de-identified SC4D dataset through the approved data platform after all institutional, privacy, security, data-governance, and platform requirements are completed;

  • Biweekly instruction and project-development meetings;

  • Individualized statistical-analysis-plan mentorship;

  • Data stewardship and platform training;

  • Clinical and lived-experience translational guidance;

  • Scientific writing, visualization, reproducibility, peer-review, and publication support; and

  • Opportunities to develop clinician- and patient-facing knowledge-mobilization materials.

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Funding and progress review

Each scholar will receive CA$15,000, normally paid in two installments:

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  1. First installment — CA$7,500: Paid after enrollment or qualifying affiliation, institutional arrangements, and data-access requirements are confirmed.

  2. Second installment — CA$7,500: Paid after the six-month review, contingent on satisfactory participation and reasonable progress.

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Continuation is normally expected for scholars who remain engaged and make reasonable progress. Continuation does not depend on obtaining a particular scientific result, confirming the initial hypothesis, or meeting every original milestone without revision. Payment arrangements remain subject to the grant agreement and the requirements of the administering and participating institutions.

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​Consistent with CIHR and Tri-Agency financial-administration principles, which treat grant funding as support for direct research costs unless a funding opportunity explicitly permits indirect costs, indirect costs and institutional overhead are not eligible expenses under the NextGen IACC Scholars Program. The CA$15,000 award is restricted to trainee stipend or salary support and approved direct trainee costs and may not be reduced to recover institutional overhead. Any required institutional arrangement must preserve the full value of the trainee award.

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For complete expectations and flexibility provisions, review the NextGen IACC Scholars Program — Trainee Responsibilities, Progress Review, and Remediation Policy.

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Before applying

Review the SC4D Applicant Information Sheet. It summarizes the study design, available domains, examples of feasible research directions, major limitations, and data access requirements. Applicants are not expected to know the complete data dictionary or produce a final statistical analysis plan before applying.

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Application instructions

Submit the NextGen IACC Scholars Program — Trainee Application and requested materials by November 16, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

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Responses should be understandable to reviewers from different disciplines. Define specialized terms and avoid assuming that reviewers share your methodological or clinical background. Suggested limits are included to support equitable review and reduce applicant burden. Responses over the stated limit may not be read in their entirety. References may be listed separately and do not count toward the suggested limits.

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We strongly recommend drafting the numbered responses in a separate document before entering them into the form. A downloadable copy of the application questions will be made available once the application opens.

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Before submitting, read the NextGen IACC Scholars Program — Application Privacy and Data Handling Policy.

Applications will open September 21, 2026.

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Questions and accommodations

Questions about the application or requests for accommodation or an accessible version of the applicant materials may be sent to iacc-scholars@meaction.net.

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