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CONNECT Summer Student Award

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CONNECT awards serve as a pipeline to allow a new generation of undergraduate or medical summer students and co-op students to engage in GI and liver-related research. The CONNECT program serves to connect interested students with scientists who will provide a supportive, engaging full-time, paid summer research role and reduce barriers to gaining research experience. The CONNECT program also includes learning and skill development opportunities via the TRIANGLE curriculum.

After the summer, CONNECT students will have access to long-term mentorship from leading scientists, clinician-scientists, and more senior students and fellows aimed at helping them continue their training into graduate school and beyond.

STATUS UPDATE 19 Feb 2026: 

Dear TRIANGLE Community,

We are writing to inform you that the REDCap system at SickKids has been unexpectedly offline due to technical issues identified last week. As a result, applicants have been unable to submit their applications during this period.

To ensure everyone has adequate time to complete their submissions once the system is restored, we are extending the application deadline to Friday March 20th, 2026.

Please feel free to share or forward this message to anyone in your networks who may be affected. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and share any further updates should they become available. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this unforeseen disruption.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. Feel free to share this communication widely.

Warm regards,

Linda Pires, Program Manager

 

Students: Summer students eligible to apply for this grant must be:

  • enrolled as an undergraduate or medical student in the term immediately before or after their CONNECT studentship at a Canadian university.
  • eligible to work full-time on or off campus.
  • able to meet the in-person requirements of the host institution.
  • guaranteed a position in the lab, regardless of the outcome of this award.
  • Canadian citizens

Supervisors/Faculty: This award is open to all Canadian researchers (new investigators to senior scientists) at a Canadian academic institution and/or health research institute, conducting gastrointestinal or liver research. Supervisors may have more than 1 student apply, however only a maximum of 1 student in a supervisor’s lab will be funded per year.

Location: The award must be held at a Canadian academic institution and/or health research institute.

Citizenship: This program is open to Canadians and permanent residents of Canada. Both the student and faculty/supervisor must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada.

Research: All projects must focus on gastrointestinal (GI) or liver researcher.

TRIANGLE ECR SECURE AWADEES: All TRIANGEL ECR SECURE Awardees are entitled to 1 Summer Student as per their 3 year award. These applications will be removed form the adjudication process. For further details please see the adjudication tab.

WILDCARD AWARDS: Awards may also be issued to underrepresented groups in STEM across Canada. For further details please see the adjudication tab.

Successful applicants will receive:

  • A $6000 summer student stipend for 12-16 weeks (May – August) of full-time or part-time
    research.

 

In addition, summer students supported by this stipend will receive:

  • Scientific seminars with leaders in GI and liver research – career and professional development support
  • Mentorship from more senior TRIANGLE students and fellows
  • Social and community building events with other local CONNECT students and TRIANGLE awardees

Deadline to apply: February 28th 2026 at 11:59 pm EST. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

When you are ready to submit your application click on the “APPLY NOW” button on our website to complete the online form. You will be asked for the following information and to upload each of the required documents below.

  1. Proof of citizenship for the summer student: A pdf of your passport, birth certificate, or residency card are all acceptable forms of verification. Please name it “Lastname_Citizenship”. Identity documentation will not be circulated to the adjudication committee and will only be used to review eligibility.
  2. Summer Student CV/Resume: Please name it “Lastname Resume.”
  3. Faculty/Supervisor TRINAGLE NIH Biosketch Template. Please click here to download the template: Please name it “Lastname CV”
  4. Summer student transcripts: Unofficial transcripts are acceptable. Please name it “Lastname transcripts”
  5. Student Letter: All students are required to write a 250-word maximum letter answering the following question. “Please explain how your past experiences, life challenges, and/or career goals motivate you to pursue a career in research and work in this lab specifically.” Please name it “Lastname Letter.
  6. Project Title
  7. Lay Abstract
  8. Supervisor questions:
  9. What you plan for your CONNECT summer student to learn and do for this project.
  10. How having a summer student will support your research and this project.
  11. How you and your lab members will mentor and supervise a CONNECT summer student.
EVENT DATE
Applications Open December 12th 2025
Deadline to apply March 20th 2026
Review of applications by the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology Research Affairs Committee March 1st – April 6th 2026
Notice of funding results Mid April 2026
Funding period May – August 2026

Reviewer Assignment and Conflict of Interest:

1. Upon the application deadline, the TRIANGLE Program Manager will collate applications and ensure that each applicant meets all eligibility requirements.

2. TRIANGLE-funded ECRs via the SECURE stream who have been guaranteed a summer student will be removed from the application pool and automatically approved by the TRIANGLE program manager.

3. The following information will then be sent via email by TRIANGLE program manager to the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (CAG) Research Affairs Committee Project Manager:

  • The total number of awards available for funding
  • A list of the remaining applicants in excel
  • A PDF of each application
  • A link to the evaluation form

 

4. The CAG Project Manager and Research Affairs Committee will manage all conflicts of interest, assignment of reviews, and completion of reviews.

5. CAG will assign 3 reviewers to each application based on the collected conflicts of interest. Emails are sent by CAG to the reviewers to accept or decline and declare any conflict of interest. A new reviewer will be assigned if a reviewer declines or has a conflict.

Reviews and Scoring:

6. Reviewers are given approximately 4 weeks to complete their reviews and return the evaluation form via Redcap with scores. The CAG Project Manager will ensure all reviews are completed within the designated timeframe. Reviewers will score the candidates based on the following categories and all will have equal weight.

CATEGORY POINTS
Summer student: Resume and GPA 5 points
Summer student: Contents of student letter 5 points
Supervisor: Faculty Applicant/Supervisor’s research and publication record 5 points
Supervisor: Growth as a researcher with summer student support 5 points
Mentorship: Student’s role and skill development 5 points
Mentorship: Mentorship plan for the summer student 5 points

7. Based on the reviewer evaluation scores, all applications will be ranked by the CAG Project Manager and shared with the Research Affairs Committee. The top applications will be accepted for funding. Please note that priority awards may also be issued to underrepresented groups in STEM and our Network.

8. The ranking and funding order will then be shared with the TRIANGLE Program Manager.

Notice of Award:

9. Notices to all applicants will be sent via email by the TRIANGLE Program Manager that will include their rank among all applicants. Feedback and/or copies of the reviewer’s forms will not be sent with the notice. Applicants are always welcome to contact the TRIANGLE Program Manager for further information regarding their application.

Grievances:

10. All grievances with the selection process can be brought to the Steering Committee via the Program Manager or anonymous feedback survey: https://surveys.sickkids.ca/surveys/?s=47TLPWH9MNJN9AHF

11. A follow-up discussion with TRIANGLE can be planned based on the issue and method of
contact, if needed.

The researcher/awardee and summer student agree to the following conditions:

  1. The Summer student will make every effort to attend all TRIANGLE events over the summer, including the experience-sharing symposium (approximately bi-weekly events, with all dates being announced in the TRIANGLE welcome session held mid-May). You can find the 2025 schedule here
  2. The Summer student will present a summary of their summer research in the TRIANGLE experience-sharing symposium.
  3. The Summer student will meet with their TRIANGLE-assigned mentor at least three times over the summer, when encouraged to do so by TRIANGLE and as needed.
  4. The Host Institution and awardee must commit to having space, resources, and time for the Summer student.
  5. The awardee and summer student will acknowledge TRIANGLE, CIHR, CAG, and any other sponsor identified in their acceptance letter, in all presentations and publications for the duration of the award. All logos can be found on our Resources page.

 

It is the responsibility of the summer student and researcher/awardee to inform TRIANGLE when these requirements are no longer met. This will render the awardee ineligible, resulting in cancellation of the award and the return of unused funds. Failure to notify TRIANGLE of a situation that renders the awardee ineligible will result in cancellation of this award.

Program Supporters
TRIANGLE would like to express their sincerest gratitude to the following benefactors for their generous support of our Program.
Read more about our Supporters