For 25 years, Health Research BC has helped shape a strong provincial research ecosystem by investing in researchers at all career stages. Supporting talent is core to our mandate.
The environment in which we support talent is changing. System needs are more complex, health research career paths are diversifying, and funding is more constrained. Innovations like artificial intelligence are also reshaping how research is done and supported.
BC researchers and institutions have highlighted that traditional funding approaches are no longer keeping pace with current talent needs. Career paths increasingly extend beyond academia while funding processes have stayed relatively static for years. In addition, current funding models are creating and perpetuating inequities for recipients.
Every organization needs to evolve their approaches to ensure health research talent investments today – and tomorrow – are sustainable. Health Research BC’s multi-year funding commitments currently restrict our ability and agility to respond to the health research system’s talent needs.
The time has come to evolve our programs and activities to address these pressures.
What’s changing
This year, we are making changes to some of our funding programs. These actions are steps towards modernizing our approach to supporting health research talent and advancing the use of evidence.
We are taking three immediate steps:
- After being paused last year, the Scholar and Health Professional-Investigator programs are now concluded.
- The Research Trainee program will conclude after the 2026 recipients are announced this summer.
- A new funding program, Impact Pathways, will launch this month. This new funding opportunity will support partnerships between researchers and research users to co-design and conduct meaningful knowledge mobilization and engagement activities.
The Scholar, Health Professional-Investigator, and Research Trainee programs have played important roles in supporting talent. Going forward, more flexible approaches are needed to align with BC’s current and future needs.
All 300+ current awardees in these programs will continue receiving our full support for the duration of their remaining award terms. These ongoing investments are supporting emerging researchers, increasing the competitiveness of BC’s research system, and advancing innovation.
All other programs and activities that support health research talent continue to be funded, including life science internships, fellowships in biodevice development, support for Indigenous health researchers, seniors care, and regional, provincial, and national partnerships which cumulatively support an additional 150+ researchers.
We understand this announcement will raise questions. A Frequently Asked Questions section is available below to provide more information.
The next step
These shifts to our programs and activities are informed by our talent study and outreach over the past few years. We’ve listened and learned about the challenges facing health researchers and their career pathways, as well as those facing the institutions where research takes place.
This year will be one of thoughtful engagement and design. New approaches to building and retaining health research talent and to moving evidence into practice are needed to respond to the current and future challenges facing BC and Canada.
We will continue learning about the kinds of support needed to address these challenges.
Health Research BC is taking bold action to evolve our approaches for the future. We are committing to open communication and regular updates as we work closely with researchers, institutions, and partners to explore solutions, funding approaches, and opportunities.
Frequently asked questions
Over the past several years, Health Research BC and other organizations have conducted program evaluations, community consultation, and engagement within the BC health research community about how health research talent is supported. Findings highlighted gaps in traditional ways of funding, including Health Research BC’s awards. Health Research BC’s longstanding talent programs are no longer well-aligned to the needs of BC’s research system.
As we develop new approaches to investing in health research talent, we remain committed to discussions about gaps, solutions, and what the system requires. For 25 years, we have invested in researchers at all career stages, helping to build a strong provincial research ecosystem. Supporting talent is core to our mandate, and that will not change.
All current award holders, including Scholar, Health Professional-Investigator, and Research Trainee (including the 2026 cohort), will continue to receive funding through the end of their award terms. We will honour all existing funding commitments.
The Scholar, Health Professional-Investigator, and Research Trainee programs have now concluded and will not be offered again in their current form. But all individuals who currently hold active awards will continue to receive their funding through the end of their award terms. All existing funding commitments will be honoured.
We do not have a set timeline. We continue to learn and understand how research funding, and the research and health care systems are changing, and we will initiate new approaches in the coming year. During this time, we continue to support research talent in many ways, including through ongoing awards, through partnerships, and work we do across the research system
We will work closely with researchers, institutions, communities, funding partners, and Indigenous partners as we explore new approaches and opportunities. From the evaluations that have taken place, several principles have been highlighted: the need for agility and scalability in response to emerging needs; targeting support at critical career transition points; exploring opportunities with provincial and national organizations; and aligning with the needs of BC’s regions, communities, and institutions.
Supporting Health Professional-Investigators to engage in and do research remains critically important, particularly to help bridge the gap between evidence use and patient care. However, with health systems strained, the mechanisms to do this need to evolve. The current program does not recognize the unique challenges of different health care settings or the regional and disciplinary differences across BC. More flexible and responsive approaches are needed to better support health professionals working at the intersection of research and care.
We will work closely with researchers, institutions, health authorities, communities, funding partners, and Indigenous partners as we explore new approaches and opportunities for support.
Over 300 current awardees will continue to receive our full support for their remaining award terms. In addition, we continue to support an additional 150+ researchers through a variety of initiatives, including life science internships, fellowships in biodevice development, support for Indigenous health researchers, seniors care, and regional, provincial, and national partnerships. These ongoing investments support emerging researchers, increase the competitiveness of BC’s research system, and advance innovation.
This spring, we will introduce a new opportunity aimed at strengthening team engagement and knowledge mobilization across the research system.
Current Indigenous award holders in these programs will continue to receive full support for the duration of their awards. These changes do not affect existing commitments.
While these specific programs are concluding, our broader commitment to advancing Indigenous-led health research remains unchanged. This includes continuing to incorporate Indigenous expertise in review processes and supporting Indigenous-led research ethics.
We will continue to engage with Indigenous partners, researchers, and communities as we evolve our approach to supporting health research talent.
The new engagement program will be announced very soon.
While it remains early days, Health Research BC sees opportunity to target support at critical career transition points (i.e., early career and midcareer). For example, initial supports may be smaller in scope and shorter in duration. We will focus on what is feasible within current constraints while allowing for expansion as the environment shifts.
We will work closely with researchers, institutions, health authorities, communities, funding partners, and Indigenous partners to align any new funding approaches with the needs of BC’s health research system and regions.
Current partnered award holders (including Scholar, Health Professional-Investigator, and Research Trainee) will continue to receive funding through the end of their award terms. We will continue to work with all our partners on shared opportunities to support research talent.
Yes. We are committed to working closely with partners as we explore new collaborative funding approaches and opportunities.
