Studentships and fellowships
Supporting the next generation of mental health research
We invest in students and early-career researchers to strengthen mental health research and help promising ideas move forward. Our studentships and fellowships connect emerging researchers with academic expertise, community partners and people with lived experience. This helps ensure that research is grounded in real needs and positioned to generate evidence that can inform future research, services and decisions.
Looking for funding?
Explore our current and upcoming calls for proposals, including eligibility, funding, deadlines and application information.
How our funding model works
We support research that brings academic knowledge together with community experience.
Studentship projects are developed with an academic supervisor and a community or service-delivery partner. People with lived experience and the communities most connected to the research should also have meaningful opportunities to help shape the work.
This approach supports the development of both the research and the researcher. By working across academic and community settings, emerging researchers can build experience, relationships and knowledge while pursuing research that reflects real needs and priorities. The goal is to support research that is rigorous, relevant and positioned to contribute beyond the project itself.
Eligibility, funding periods and other requirements vary by opportunity. Each call provides the information and application materials you will need.
Research made possible through partnership
Partnership is central to how we fund research. Our multi-year collaboration with Mitacs supports many of our studentships and fellowships. We also work with foundations, research funders and other organizations to expand opportunities for emerging researchers and support work in areas where new evidence can make a meaningful contribution.
Our funding partners are recognized alongside the opportunities and research they help make possible.
When do we offer funding?
We generally offer one to three studentship funding cycles each year, depending on available partnerships and research priorities.
These may include:
an early-year call supporting research across a range of mental health topics
our annual Indigenous studentship call, launched around the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
targeted opportunities focused on specific research areas, communities or regions
We only accept applications while a call is open.
Award types
Studentships generally support students and early-career researchers completing shorter research projects.
Fellowships provide longer-term support for postdoctoral researchers.
Specific eligibility, funding and duration vary by call.
In this section
How our funding model works
Calls for proposals
Research in progress
Alumni and impact
See the research in action
Funding is only the beginning.
Meet the researchers currently working on MHRC-supported projects and see how they are working with communities to explore important mental health questions.
You can also learn what happened after earlier projects were completed, including their findings, resources and broader contributions.