Trainee Support Programs

To be eligible for an LKSIoV Undergraduate Summer Research Award:

• Candidates must apply through the Alberta Innovates Summer Studentships program
• Candidates must meet all eligibility requirements (refer to link above for details)
• Candidates must be supervised by a full member of the LKSIoV and select the Institute in their application
• Candidates must not be funded by another entity; the LKSIoV currently does not provide top-ups for this program

• The LKSIoV Undergraduate Summer Research Award is $1,875 per month for a maximum of four months between the months of May to August per undergraduate student
• Payment of the LKSIoV Undergraduate Summer Research Award (up to $7,500/summer) shall be only made to the award recipient upon confirmation of all eligibility requirements, as required for the Alberta Innovates Summer Studentships.

LKSIoV Undergraduate Summer Research Award recipients must agree to certain obligations that include, but are not limited to:

• Acknowledgement of the LKSIoV financial support in their presentations (oral or poster format) throughout their undergraduate summer program
• Provision of a biographical sketch and photo to be used for publicity purposes

• LKSIoV Logo in Colour
• LKSIoV Logo in White

To be eligible for the LKSIoV Graduate Studies Entrance Awards:

• Candidates must be supervised by a full member of the LKSIoV
• Candidates must be registered as a full-time graduate student in a Master's of Science (MSc) or Doctoral (PhD) program at the time application
• Candidates may be Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or international students
• Candidates must have an admission GPA of at least 3.5 (or equivalent)
• Candidates must have two letters of support sent from the referee's email account directly to lksiov@ualberta.ca
• Candidates must apply for the LKSIoV Graduate Studies Entrance Award in their first year of their respective graduate program
• Graduate Studies Entrance Award applicants cannot hold an award with a value of $13,000 or greater

• The LKSIoV Graduate Studies Entrance Award is $10,000 per year:
  • One year of funding for MSc Students
  • Two years of funding for PhD students
  • If an MSc student receives an award then elevates to a PhD, they are eligible to apply for one more year of funding
• Payment of the Graduate Studies Entrance Award shall be awarded for support of trainee stipend

The Graduate Studies Entrance Awards competition shall be held once per year. The application submission deadline is October 1 for graduate students with a start date of January 1 or September 1 in the same calendar year.

Successful applicants will be announced in December and the award will begin in January of the following calendar year.

Graduate Studies Entrance Award Recipients must agree to certain obligations that include, but are not limited to:

• Acknowledgement of the LKSIoV financial support in their presentations (oral or poster format) throughout their graduate studies career
• Provision of a biographical sketch to be used for publicity purposes
• Potential membership on the Graduate Studies Entrance Award Selection Committee for a future Graduate Studies Entrance Award competition
• Award recipients must agree to apply for external funding
• If an award recipient subsequently receives an award with a value of $13,000 or greater, they will defer this second award, if possible, to start after the end date of the Graduate Studies Entrance Award

LKSIoV Logos

• LKSIoV Logo in Colour
• LKSIoV Logo in White

For further information and full details, please contact us at lksiov@alberta.ca.

To apply, complete the application form and submit the application package as a single PDF file to lksiov@ualberta.ca.

To be eligible for the LKSIoV Doctoral Student Awards:

• Candidates must be recipients of a FoMD Dean's Doctoral Student Award
• Candidates must be supervised by a full member of the LKSIoV
• If the recipient accepts another major award ($13,000 or greater) from any source, the remainder of the Doctoral Student Award must be relinquished, and the LKSIoV is to be notified by the student and/or supervisor

• The LKSIoV Doctoral Student Award is $12,500 per graduate student for one year
• Up to five (5) LKSIoV Doctoral Student Awards may be administered per year; the number of available awards will be contingent on available funding
• Payment of the LKSIoV Doctoral Student Award shall be made to the award recipient upon confirmation of all eligibility requirements, as required for FoMD Dean's Doctoral Award

• The LKSIoV Doctoral Student Awards competition shall be held once per year, following the announcement of the FoMD Dean's Doctoral Award recipients
• The selection and notification of successful LKSIoV Doctoral Student Award recipients will be completed by December 31
• The LKSIoV Doctoral Student Awards will begin January 1

LKSIoV Doctoral Student Award recipients must agree to certain obligations that include, but are not limited to:

• Acknowledgement of the LKSIoV financial support in their presentations (oral or poster format) throughout their graduate studies career
• Provision of a biographical sketch to be used for publicity purposes
• Potential membership on an LKSIoV Award Selection Committee for a future trainee award competition

• LKSIoV Logo in Colour
• LKSIoV Logo in White

Eligibility

Open to any full-time graduate student, PDF or RA whose supervisor/PI is a full member of the LKSIoV. Candidates awarded a Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry Med Star Award are eligible to receive a LKSIoV Research Impact Award for the same publication.

Requirements

1. Nominee must be first author or co-first author on a peer-reviewed article:
   • Published from January 1 – December 31 in the year immediately preceding the competition.
   • Primary research papers only (review articles do not qualify).
   • Only one nomination per publication will be accepted (in the case of two first co-authors, both first co-authors can submit individual nominations. If selected, the monetary award will be divided between both individuals).
2. To apply, nominees can self-nominate or be nominated by their supervisor by providing the following:
   • A copy of the publication.
   • A brief statement outlining the following (1 page maximum):
     • Is the nominee a MSc, PhD, PDF or RA?
     • What is the research problem/gap addressed in the publication?
     • What is the advancement/contribution of the nominee to the publication, therefore to the advancement of the field?
     • Include evidence of impact: number of views, citations, media coverage, journal impact factor, or any other evidence of impact.
     • What was the nominee's role in the publication? Be specific.

The requested documents should be submitted in PDF format to lksiov@ualberta.ca by 4:00pm on February 20, 2026. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Adjudication

Adjudication will be done by three volunteers from the LKSIoV membership.

Award

Annual awards of $1,000 each will be given for each of the following categories (each nominee can only receive one award annually):

• MSc Student
• PhD Student
• PDF / RA

• LKSIoV Logo in Colour
• LKSIoV Logo in White

To be eligible for the LKSIoV Trainee Travel Award:

• Candidates must be supervised by a full member of the LKSIoV
• Candidates must be registered as a full-time graduate student or employed as a full-time PDF or RA at the time application
• Candidates must deliver a oral or poster presentation on their research at the international/national conference or academic meeting that they propose to attend

Trainee Travel Award recipients may only be awarded one Trainee Travel Award per year.

Candidates can apply for the LKSIoV Trainee Travel Award up to one year prior to conference date they propose to attend.

• The Trainee Travel Award is valued at up to $1000
• The Award shall be only used to reimburse costs directly incurred as a result of attendance at the proposed conference or academic meeting including, but not limited to, airfare, registration fees, accommodation, and poster printing fees
• Payment of Award (up to $1000) will be made following submission of the following:
  • Copies of receipts detailing costs incurred as a result of attendance at the conference or academic meeting
  • Proof of attendance and presentation at the conference or academic meeting

Trainee Travel Award competitions shall be held three times per year. Application submission deadlines shall be:

• April 1
• August 1
• December 1

Trainee Travel Award applications shall be due by 4:00pm on the application submission deadline. When the Trainee Travel Award application deadline falls on a statutory holiday or weekend, the applications shall be due by 4:00pm on the next business day.

Trainee Travel Award applications shall be submitted as a single PDF file to lksiov@ualberta.ca.

Trainee Travel Award Recipients must agree to certain obligations that include, but are not limited to:

• Acknowledgement of the LKSIoV financial support in their presentation at the proposed conference or academic meeting
• Provision of a biographical sketch to be used for publicity purposes
• Presentation of an oral or poster report to LKSIoV members on the conference or academic meeting attended
• Membership on the Trainee Travel Award Selection Committee for the Trainee Travel Awards competition immediately subsequent to the Trainee Travel Awards competition for which they were granted award, unless a conflict of interest arises (i.e., student may not be eligible to sit on a selection committee if a fellow lab member is applying for a Trainee Travel Award)

LKSIoV Logos

• LKSIoV Logo in Colour
• LKSIoV Logo in White

To apply, complete the application form and submit the application package as a single PDF file to lksiov@ualberta.ca.

If you have been awarded with an LKSIoV Travel Award, please submit all expenses together in one submission to Wendy Magee, Director of Operations and Research. 

Required documentation for a travel claim:

• copy of TAP used to purchase airfare (if applicable)
• conference schedule at a glance (a detailed one is not required)
• conference "brochure" front page or screen shot of conference webpage that includes all info (dates, etc.)
• registration receipt (even if paid by P-card)
• accommodation information/folio (detailed)
• ground transportation receipts (train, bus, taxi, UBER, etc.)
• per diems are calculated based on travel times and the conference schedule information (receipts not required)

P-card (corporate credit card)/TAP/HAP

If you have booked your travel using a P-card, TAP or HAP, then please include a copy of the P-card receipts/TAP/HAP along with your other travel receipts above, in order to have one submission.

If you have any questions, contact Wendy Magee at 780-492-1084 or wmagee@ualberta.ca.