Background
The McGill Global Health Scholars - Undergraduate program provides opportunities for McGill undergraduate students to learn about and gain experience in global health through participating in research projects. Over the summer, each Global Health Scholar is involved in a global health project in either an International or Northern Canada site location or from Montreal or Gatineau, under the mentorship of a McGill faculty member. During the academic year following their summer project, Global Health Scholars benefit from a variety of education, training and networking opportunities organized by McGill Global Health Programs (GHP), including the Insight Nights seminar series custom-designed for Global Health Scholars, GHP's annual Global Health Night event, complimentary access to the McGill Summer Institutes in Global Health, and other activities.
The current call for submissions is open to McGill faculty who are interested in benefiting from the support of an undergraduate Global Health Scholar on their global health research project in the summer of 2024. Projects that are selected will be included in the roster of global health projects offered to the 2024 cohort of undergraduate Global Health Scholars. Faculty members whose projects are selected will serve as the faculty supervisor for the Global Health Scholar who is selected and assigned to your project by GHP and will be expected to provide mentorship and support to the student throughout the summer. GHP provides funding to cover student travel, if applicable, and a modest stipend.
Please note that a parallel call for faculty project submissions is underway for the newly established Informed Investment in Health Innovation (IIHI) Scholars – Undergraduate Program. IIHI is embedded within the Global Health Scholars program and offers McGill undergraduate students opportunities to participate in health research projects involving cost assessment, economic evaluation, and modeling. IIHI Scholars will be part of the 2024 Global Health Scholars - Undergraduate cohort. The IIHI call for faculty project submissions is exclusively open to McGill Faculty members associated with the Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE) at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC). Review the IIHI call for faculty project submissions.
Key dates
- Launch of Call for Faculty Project Submissions: October 12, 2023
- Extended Submission Deadline: November 19, 2023 at 11:59 pm
- Announcement of Faculty Project Submission Results: December 12, 2023
- Launch of Call for Student Applications: January 9, 2024
- Deadline for Student Applications: February 11, 2024
- Faculty members evaluate and interview applicants: March 2024
- Announcement of Results to all student applicants: March 22, 2024
Project eligibility:
- The project must address a critical global health challenge or priority with an explicit connection to population health outcomes.
- GHP welcomes project submissions from every Faculty, Department and School within McGill University.
- The faculty member must be prepared to provide hands-on supervision and mentorship to the Scholar throughout their summer 2024 project.
- The Principal Investigator of the project must be a McGill faculty member.
- The project site location(s) must be International, in Northern Canada, or in Montreal or Gatineau.
- All International and Northern Canada projects must identify a site location and an onsite partner or supervisor who has agreed to work with a McGill undergraduate student in the summer of 2024. Faculty members are encouraged to involve your collaborators in defining project objectives for the student in your proposal.
- Global Health Scholars are not permitted to engage in clinical care or clinical training.
- Research projects involving human subjects must have the approval of all appropriate ethics boards by May 2024 to be eligible to receive support via the program.
- GHP only supports travel to countries and regions with a Government of Canada travel advisory risk level of Level-1 (“take normal security precautions”) or Level-2 (“exercise a high degree of caution”).
- As per McGill’s International Mobility Guidelines, students are not permitted to travel to or through countries or regions with a Government of Canada travel advisory risk level of Level-3 (“Avoid all non-essential travel”) or level Level-4 (“Avoid all travel”).
- Review the latest Government of Canada travel advisories.
Funding and hours:
- Students completing projects locally (in Montreal or Gatineau) will receive a stipend of $2,500.
- Students completing projects that involve travel (either internationally or in Northern Canada) will receive an additional $2,500, bringing their total stipend to $5,000 to offset travel expenses.
- If a student initially selected for a project that involves travel becomes unable to travel for personal reasons, the award may be rescinded, and an alternate student may be selected, at the discretion of GHP in consultation with the faculty supervisor.
- The first disbursement of funds to students will be in May 2024. A 10% holdback amount will be disbursed to students in March 2025 upon completion of all deliverables of the Global Health Scholars program.
- Selected students must complete 240 hours of work (equivalent of 6 weeks full-time) between May 1 – August 31, 2024. The student and their faculty supervisor will determine the student’s schedule together.
- Any work on the project that exceeds 240 hours is not covered by GHP. In such instances, the student and their faculty supervisor must mutually agree on compensation before extending the project.
- For International or Northern Canada projects, the student should spend a minimum of 3 weeks on-site. Compelling reasons why a student can’t spend 3 weeks onsite can be discussed with GHP well in advance of student travel. GHP will evaluate and decide whether a project can move forward with a shorter travel window.
- For local projects (Montreal or Gatineau), the student must spend the majority of their time onsite, working in a hands-on learning environment and integrated within a team. Projects that primarily entail “working from home” or working remotely are ineligible.
- Costs relating to data usage, graphic design software, and carrying out research are not eligible. Faculty supervisors are expected to cover all research-related costs.
Global Health Scholars application process:
- Students will apply via the Global Health Scholars program application portal, to be posted on the GHP website in January 2024. Applicants cannot apply via faculty members.
- GHP will shortlist the most competitive student applications and share them with faculty members in late February 2024. Faculty members will refrain from contacting or interviewing students before receiving the shortlisted applications from GHP.
- Faculty members conduct interviews as needed in the first half of March 2024 and identify their preferred candidates to GHP. GHP will subsequently notify selected students of their program acceptance.
- Faculty members are encouraged to include their on-site partners or supervisors in the selection process and interviews.
- The faculty member will make the final decision on which student(s) are selected for their project.
Additional instructions relating to travel:
- Students traveling for the project should have access to comprehensive supervision from an established member of the research team.
- In cases where the faculty supervisor is not accompanying the student for travel, it is crucial for the faculty member to designate an on-site supervisor for the student and ensure the student receives sufficient information about the project before departure.
- Faculty supervisors are required to communicate with GHP in advance of any changes to the student's project location, deviating from what was initially proposed in the project submission.
- The partner institution must be aware that the student is traveling to their facility to work on the research project, receiving all pertinent travel details and emergency contact information.
Program expectations for faculty members:
- Establish either a verbal or a written agreement with the student outlining the role and responsibilities of both the faculty supervisor and the student to ensure mutual understanding during project collaboration.
- Introduce the student to project staff, communicate the student’s role and responsibilities to the team, involve the student in team meetings or calls with project partners, and provide any reading materials and training necessary for their assigned tasks.
- Offer constructive feedback to students to support their professional growth.
- Notify GHP in a timely manner if the student is not meeting project expectations as outlined in the agreement between the faculty supervisor and the student.
- Contact GHP immediately in case of any incident or safety concerns encountered by the student during their project work.
- Complete a mid-point check-in survey in July 2024 and the final survey in October 2024, providing feedback to GHP on your experience with the Global Health Scholars program.
Program expectations for scholars:
All students selected as undergraduate Global Health Scholars must:
- Attend a two-part training and orientation on research ethics in April 2024.
- Attend a project debrief workshop in September 2024.
- Complete a mid-point check-in survey in July 2024 and a final report in October 2024. These reports serve as reflections on the Global Health Scholars program and facilitate feedback. Report content is used by GHP for communications materials and donor stewardship reports. A comprehensive review paper or journal article is not expected. A template will be provided for both reports.
- Attend at least three events in the Insight Nights Seminar Series tailored exclusively towards Global Health Scholar undergraduates (held once per month between October 2024 and March 2025).
- Present a poster on their Global Health Scholars project at GHP’s annual Global Health Night event in November 2024. The poster is not required to present final research results.
Scholars who are traveling to an international or Northern Canada work site are required to:
- Complete the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) online pre-departure training at least 4 weeks prior to departure.
- Register their itinerary via the McGill Student Travel Registry at least 4 weeks prior to departure.
- Regularly monitor their McGill email address while abroad as this is the primary way through which we communicate with students.
Additional training opportunities:
- Global Health Scholars have the opportunity to participate (free of charge) in a maximum of two courses offered by the McGill Summer Institutes in Global Health in Summer 2024 or Summer 2025. Participation in Summer 2024 should not disrupt the pre-established work plan between the faculty supervisor and student.
- Scholars are strongly encouraged to take either PPHS 511 - Fundamentals of Global Health (3 credits) or the Interprofessional Global Health Course during the 2024-2025 academic year.
- Faculty supervisors are encouraged to discuss with their Scholar regarding any recommended training in preparation for the Scholar’s upcoming research project.
How to apply:
All faculty project submissions must be submitted through the Global Health Programs online project submission portal.
Additional information:
To learn more about the Global Health Scholars Undergraduate Program please visit the main Global Health Scholars Undergraduate Program page.
Global Health Programs contact:
Please direct all inquiries to studentaffairsghp.med [at] mcgill.ca.
