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The Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize 2025

The Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize for Mental Health Research is awarded annually to recognize and support Canadian early-career researchers with a focus in mental health. The Prize provides funding to outstanding early-career researchers who are affiliated with a Canadian academic or clinical research institution in the field of mental health, to encourage them to continue pursuing their interests in Canada.

The Prize is a $100,000 grant, unrestricted, to be used at the recipient’s sole discretion for personal support, research operations and/or research equipment.

The Prize strongly encourages applicants with a wide variety of experience and diverse backgrounds.

More Information

Eligibility

Eligible candidates must be:

1. Early career researchers, normally less than 45 years of age, independent of years of post-training, who are Canadian citizens or have landed immigrant status in Canada and are currently residing in Canada (and for the next 12 months);
   1. Eligible leaves (e.g., maternity, parental, medical, bereavement) will be credited at twice the amount of time taken; part-time leaves will be taken into consideration, calculated according to the percentage of leave taken, and credited at twice the amount of time taken.
2. Affiliated with a Canadian academic or clinical research institution;
3. Researchers that hold an M.D. (or equivalent) and/or a PhD;

Nomination Process

A completed nomination will consist of the following:

1. A completed and signed nomination form;
   1. Lay summary (500 characters);
   2. Leadership description (1250 characters), focused on demonstrated leadership outcomes to advance Canadian research or innovation in mental health;
2. A cover letter (maximum 2 pages) written by the applicant; providing an introduction and research highlights and accomplishments, also this can include a description of any eligible career interruptions (including duration, and if there was any research productivity during that time);
3. Research summary (1000 words);
4. A current free-form CV (50 pages max.) with the following sections in this order:
   1. education (degrees and credentials);
   2. employment experience (academic and non-academic; please indicate primary affiliation);
   3. prizes, awards, recognitions;
   4. peer-reviewed publications;
   5. other publications or research outputs (e.g., clinical guidelines; datasets, quality of care metrics);
   6. complete research funding history;
   7. supervision, mentoring;
   8. knowledge translation activities, intellectual property and transfer activities;
   9. academic research presentations;
   10. interviews and media communications;
   11. other academic activities;
   12. partnership activities (e.g., roles in collaborations, partnerships, networks);
   13. leadership roles (e.g., advisory committees, working groups, task forces, editorships, community and client engagement or education).

Eligible candidates may apply directly to the program.

Agency Resources

• Prize Guidelines
• Sample PDF of the Nomination Form

EDID Supports

Dedicated support and resources for Indigenous research and Equity Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization in research are available through the Inclusive Research Excellence and Impact team. You can complete a request for support form to receive more information or book a consultation. If you are unsure if your project involves Indigenous research, it is recommended that you contact the team early for determination and support.

Submission

Please submit the nomination as a single searchable PDF file to research.awards@theroyal.ca; title and submit as indicated: "Last Name_First Name RMG Prize Application.pdf"

Deadline

For Western Research support for your nomination, please contact rwprizes@uwo.ca by August 8, 2025.

The final submission deadline is October 15, 2025.

Contact

Potential nominators and nominees are encouraged to contact Research Awards & Distinctions at rwprizes@uwo.ca regarding Western Research support and coordination of your nomination.