The Training and Capacity Building Program supports a national network of graduate and post-graduate researchers studying brain health, cognitive impairment, and aging. Trainees in this network have access to in-person and virtual resources for professional development, mentorship, and networking. As well, members of the Trainee Society in this network provide feedback on programming impacting the development of Canada’s brain health research training ecosystem.
Integrating trainees and capacity building activities into your grant is an opportunity to support the development of Canada’s next generation of dementia researchers and innovators. Some ways to enhance training and capacity building in your grant are to:
Leverage existing resources offered through academic institutions and develop complementary opportunities:
Rather than re-inventing the wheel, understand what resources are available to you for supporting training and capacity building (e.g., institutional matching funds, student employment incentives, formal mentorship, or professional development networks). Mentorship and online learning modules for trainees may also be available for leveraging through the TCB program. Identify in your grant how these unique resources could be leveraged to advance your research aims, uniquely support training and capacity building, and enhance the impact of your proposed activities.
Consult trainees in the development of training and capacity building initiatives:
Understanding the learning needs of trainees is critical to developing impactful training and capacity building opportunities. Whether through informal consultation or inclusion of trainees as investigators on your grant, any proposed activities for capacity building will benefit from engagement and feedback from trainees who will be the end users.
Integrate capacity building into knowledge mobilization and dissemination activities:
In addition to traditional academic dissemination activities like publishing and presenting research, look for opportunities to engage trainees in developing other knowledge products (e.g., online learning modules or webinars, community engagement sessions, web-based resource hubs, arts-based knowledge translation) or creating opportunities that would help trainees and early career researchers advance their knowledge and skills (e.g., communities of practice, placements).