Program overview

The Royal is pleased to present the Waverley House Accelerator for Mental Illness and Addictions Research.

The program will support clinician scientists and scientists by enabling them to spend up to five years developing their program of research at The Royal’s Research Institute (RI), affiliated with the University of Ottawa. In addition to covering salary, this unique initiative provides operational funds to carry out the project which, rather than investing significant time and effort on seeking external research funding, enables the researcher to focus on discovering ways to unravel mental illness and to develop effective personalized interventions.

Applications for projects that are highly original and innovative are encouraged, possibly requiring preliminary test(s) of feasibility for two years (Stage 1). Based on positive results in Stage 1, support could be extended for an additional three years (Stage 2) to ensure adequate funding to help nurture and launch their career as an independent principal investigator.

This grant will support promising projects that will benefit from a hospital setting and are aimed at testing ‘out of the box’ ideas that may have scant supporting evidence but could have a substantial impact on current thinking.

View our brochure for more details.

Roles

In this first phase, we have opportunities for:

• Up to 5 researchers (clinician scientists and scientists) total
  • Career stage: Must be within the first seven (7) years of completion of a PhD or MD or MD/PhD degree (early career), or mid-career (up to 45 years of age)

We are particularly interested in researchers whose work supports our strategic priorities:

• Depression and Anxiety
• Trauma and Stress-Related Disorders
• Schizophrenia and other Severe and Complex Mental Illnesses
• Addiction
• Mental Health in Equity-Deserving and At-Risk Populations.

In addition, the following expertise will be considered assets (in no specific order):

• Brain imaging, especially PET and multimodalities
• Computational psychiatry, data, AI
• Brain stimulation
• Interventional psychiatry
• Innovation leadership, including private sector partnerships, testing, commercialization
• Clinical trials
• Patient-centered research

We approach research with a bias towards interdisciplinarity and inter-professionalism and have developed a truly collaborative environment to pursue your interests. You can find our strategic research plan here.

Each researcher will receive the following:

• A minimum of a two-year salaried scientific appointment (Stage I), with the opportunity to renew for an additional three years (Stage II) based on positive results of Stage I, for a total of up to five years; salaries are commensurate with benchmarks per career stage.
• A competitive start-up package, up to $200,000, aligned with the needs of the research program.
• Mentorship.
• University affiliation.
• Access to a network of researchers and leaders at the University of Ottawa, Université du Québec en Outaouais, and/or Carleton University.
• Leadership development training and support to help launch their careers.

Eligibility

The Royal’s goal for the Waverley House Accelerator is to attract outstanding scholars to engage in significant novel research and enhance interdisciplinary collaboration in the academic and wider community.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Be within the first seven (7) years of completion of a PhD or MD or MD/PhD degree (early career), or mid-career (up to 45 years of age).
• Be engaged in research that complements and contributes to mental health discovery and the strategic priorities of The Royal.
• Demonstrate an excellent level of research achievement and promise of future impact in mental health research, as evidenced by proposed research, quality of publications, awards received, and statements by referees.
• Demonstrate a track record of, or interest in, engaging across disciplines, as well as with sectors beyond academia to enrich and extend the impact of their research.
• Obtain and hold a valid work permit to work in Canada for the period of employment (there are no restrictions on citizenship).

Selection criteria

Applications will be evaluated based on the following.

Excellence in scholarly work and independent research (20%)

• Qualifications and research experience
• Quality of contributions to research to date
• Scholarships and awards held
• Critical thinking, judgment, originality, initiative and autonomy

Quality and innovation of proposed research (50%)

• Merit and clarity
• Originality, innovation and novelty
• Potential for ground-breaking, precedent-setting significance and impact
• Scientific, clinical, and/or technical significance

Significance and alignment with The Royal’s strategic research priorities (30%)

• Alignment with The Royal’s strategic research priorities:
  • Depression and Anxiety
  • Trauma and Stress-Related Disorders
  • Schizophrenia and other Severe and Complex Mental Illnesses
  • Addiction
  • Mental Health in Equity-Deserving and At-Risk Populations
• Resources necessary to perform the research
• Appropriateness of the proposed budget and duration of the proposed research

In addition, the following expertise will be considered assets (in no specific order):

• Brain imaging, especially PET and multimodalities
• Computational psychiatry, data, AI
• Brain stimulation
• Interventional psychiatry
• Innovation leadership, including private sector partnerships, testing, commercialization
• Clinical trials
• Patient-centered research

Application review process and guidelines

1. The applicant completes and submits the application by the deadline date.
2. Application packages received are vetted for eligibility and completeness.
3. The Scientific Review Group, comprised of The Royal scientists, assesses eligible applications for scientific and technical merit as well as the novelty and fit of the proposed research to The Royal's strategic research priorities.
4. Short-listed applicants will be evaluated by an international Expert Review Committee, comprising distinguished researchers for the quality and potential significant impact of the proposed research, the applicant’s capacity, potential and desire to extend the impact of their research beyond academia and turn their results in meaningful impact for patients.
5. The Expert Review Committee ranks the applicants for the positions. A select number of applicants will be invited for an on-site visit.
6. All applicants are informed of results when the competition has concluded.

Submit your application

Applicants are required to submit:

• A completed application package, as a single PDF file, sent to research.awards@theroyal.ca, with the subject line ‘Waverley House Accelerator’ by Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time Zone.

See below for formatting requirements. Incomplete or unformatted application packages will be deemed ineligible.

The application package must include, in the following order:

• A summary of how your research complements and contributes to research in mental illness and addiction and the strategic priorities of The Royal (two (2) pages maximum). See SPARQ and Strategic Research Plan.
• A brief description of your most significant publications and/or research achievements (two (2) pages maximum).
• A summary of your engagement to date beyond academia to ensure and extend the impact of your research (two (2) pages maximum).
• A detailed overview of your novel research project and proposed future directions, how this would contribute to research at The Royal, and how this award would advance your research (ten (10) pages maximum).
• Budget table, and budget description, both for stage 1 (first two years) and stage 2 (three subsequnt years); up to $200,000, aligned with the needs of the research program (five (5) pages maximum). For clinician scientists, protected time for research is an allowable expense.
• An overview of if and how your proposal could be considered as being novel or innovative, and its potential impact on current concepts/thinking on underpinnings and/or treatment of mental illness and/or addiction (ten (10) pages maximum).
• A list of referees (3), including name, position, affiliation, relationship with the applicant, email address (on a separate page).
• A current CV, including the categories of your choice (reasonable length, no page limit).

Formatting requirements

• Font: Use legible fonts like Times New Roman, 12 point, or Arial 11 point.
• Margins: Minimum of 2 cm (0.79 inch) margins.
• Last name, first name, degree(s) in the header section
• Page numbers in the footer section
• Spacing: Single or 1.15-line spacing, with standard character spacing.
• Page Size: Standard letter size (8.5" x 11"), white background.
• File Format: a single PDF, including the elements listed above, in the specified order

Other submission requirements

In addition, applicants must arrange to have three (3) letters of recommendation submitted by the referees. Letters, maximum two (2) pages, should be written on institutional letterhead paper and signed. No other formatting requirements are specified.

Who should provide reference letters?

• One letter must assess your research in terms of productivity, creativity, breadth, and potential for future leadership in the field. Preferably from an academic supervisor or mentor.
• One letter must address your leadership capacity and potential to expand your research impact. This letter can be from a leader outside your immediate academic sphere.
• A third letter of your choice must speak to your qualities as a researcher, innovator, mentor, team player, and/or leader.

How do referees submit their letters:

Referees must submit their letters directly to research.awards@theroyal.ca by Tuesday October 6, 2026, 11:59 PM (Eastern Standard Time). Applicants are responsible for tracking the submission of their reference letters and ensuring all letters are submitted by the deadline. Letters submitted by other means will not be accepted.