Published on Monday, February 28, 2022
Applications are now being accepted for an Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (iBEST) funding award that supports trainee research while offering the opportunity to hone collaborative and technical skills.
The iBEST Trainee Collaborative Research Fund (iBEST-TCRF) is open to full-time graduate students or postdoctoral researchers from Ryerson University and Unity Health Toronto. Applicants can apply for up to $5,500 for their project. The application deadline is March 14, 2022 by 5 p.m. EDT.
To qualify, each team must include a minimum of one registered iBEST trainee. While there is no limit on the number of trainees or labs involved with each application, each team must also include at least one trainee from Unity Health Toronto and one from Ryerson.
Four funding awards will be given out, one for each of iBEST’s four research themes:
1) Biomaterials, Tissue Injury and Repair (BTR)
2) Biomedical Delivery Systems (BDS)
3) Biomedical Imaging Therapy (BIT)
4) Healthcare AI and Analytics (HAA)
While trainee-initiated projects are encouraged, ongoing research activities proposed by principal investigator-trainee teams will be considered as well.
The 2021 iBEST-TCRF recipients recently shared some insights on their project experience.
“TCRF has been an excellent opportunity to work in a cross-disciplinary team. Both team members have gained a lot of technical knowledge from each other,” said Kushal Joshi and Rajiv Sanwal, representing the Biomedical Delivery Systems (BDS) theme.
The Healthcare AI and Analytics (HAA) theme team of Binh Nguyen and Caroline Espinola said they gained experience navigating the Research Ethics Board process, while Lorraine Chiu and Cong Lu, the Biomaterials, Tissue Injury and Repair (BTR) team noted they learned about each other’s working styles and more, adding “In terms of collaborative skills, we learned to work in a team despite both our busy schedules.”
Jady Liang and Sarah McColman, representing the Biomedical Imaging Therapy (BIT) theme, had some advice for future teams. “Work around issues to avoid delays,” they said, noting they successfully navigated challenges to avoid losing momentum on their research.
