Award Value

 

  • All expenses related to participation in the five major policy seminars or briefings of the Harkness Fellows in 2010–2011
  • Stipend of up to US$20,000 for additional travel and/or research expenses

Key Dates

 

  • Deadline for submissions:                        March 15, 2010
  • Notification of results: May 2010  
  • Request the application form

   

  

The Commonwealth Fund Mission Statement
  

The Commonwealth Fund, among the first private Foundations started by a woman philanthropist—Anna M. Harkness—was established in 1918 with the broad charge to enhance the common good.

  
The mission of The Commonwealth Fund is to promote a high performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, minority Americans, young children, and elderly adults.

  
The Fund carries out this mandate by supporting independent research on health care issues and making grants to improve health care practice and policy. An international program in health policy is designed to stimulate innovative policies and practices in the United States and other industrialized countries.

    

On this page:

» Introduction
» Canadian Candidates
» Harkness Seminars
» Benefits
» Stipend
» Commitment
» Application Requirements
» Competition Process
» Review Criteria

   

    

1. Introduction

  
The Commonwealth Fund, in partnership with the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, offers two Harkness Associate Awards annually. These awards are aimed at mid-career health services  or health policy researchers, decision makers (health system managers, clinical leaders, and government policy makers), or journalists. Harkness Associates are interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of the U.S. health care system, developing broader international health policy expertise through interaction with international peers, and establishing an international network with leading health policy experts.

The Harkness Associate Award enables talented Canadians to participate in the Harkness Fellowships in Health Care Policy and Practice, a core program of The Commonwealth Fund’s International Program in Health Policy and Practice. This program selects up to 14 international fellows per year from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, and Germany to spend up to 12 months in the United States doing original research and working with leading U.S. health policy experts.

Up to two Canadian Harkness Associates are selected each year. While Canadian Associates are not expected to reside in the United States for the 12 months, they are fully integrated into the Harkness Fellowships, undertake a parallel research project or case study at their home institution, and participate in all five Harkness fellowship seminars during the course of the year.

Beginning with the class of 2008–2009, two important new features have been introduced to enhance the Canadian Harkness Associates’ experience: arrangements for Canadian and U.S. mentors; and the addition of a $US20,000 research and travel stipend.

The Commonwealth Fund covers all expenses associated with Canadian participation in the five fellowship seminars in the United States and Canada. The seminars provide high-level, in-depth briefings on current policy issues – speakers include health ministers, senior government officials, established health policy experts, and key stakeholders – as well as workshops to develop leadership and methodological skills.

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2. Canadian Candidates

 
Candidates must have comprehensive knowledge of Canada’s health system and expertise in one of The Commonwealth Fund’s areas of interest. Candidates must have extensive experience conducting or using research in these areas. They should also have sufficient experience to understand the culture of health system decision-making in Canada. Ideally, candidates will have made significant contributions to date as health system researchers, decision makers, or journalists.

The candidate should be a mid-career professional whose work and career will be substantially enhanced by the award. Candidates should possess the research and communication skills necessary to converse comfortably with peers and senior policy makers in an international setting.

To take full advantage of the potential commonalities with the Harkness Fellows, networking opportunities, and the collaborations afforded by this award, candidates must be engaged in a health services research project or be professionally responsible for a health policy/health care delivery system issue. Associates will be expected to participate at the Final Reporting Seminar and do a formal presentation of their research project findings or a case study that uses research methods and evidence to address a health policy or delivery system challenge. In addition, Harkness Associate Award holders are expected to brief other Harkness Fellows on Canada and its healthcare system.

Potential applicants are advised to contact CHSRF staff at grantsandawards@chsrf.ca to discuss their suitability for this award.

Please note that only Canadian citizens, landed immigrants or permanent residents with five or more years’ tenure in Canada are eligible for this award.

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2010–2011 Harkness Seminars

   

September 2010: Orientation for New Fellows and Qualitative Research Methodology Workshop
Held at The Commonwealth Fund in New York City, the orientation features an in-depth seminar on the U.S. health care system and current health policy issues, as well as site visits to exemplar health care provider organizations. In addition, there is a two-day workshop on effectively conducting qualitative research, which covers topics such as designing a qualitative study, developing a qualitative instrument, addressing sampling issues, and verifying conclusions.

November 2010: International Symposium on Health Care Policy
The Commonwealth Fund’s Annual International Symposium, held in Washington, D.C., brings together health ministers and leading health policy-thinkers from Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The meeting is a unique, invitation-only policy forum that fosters high level cross-national exchange and showcases international innovations.

February 2011: Washington Policy Briefing and Leadership Seminar Series
This is a three-day briefing held on Capitol Hill with key stakeholders—including members of Congress and senior government officials, think tank researchers, political strategists for the Republican and Democratic parties, lobbyists, and prominent journalists—to highlight the U.S. political process and current issues on the health and social policy agenda. In addition, Fellows participate in a Leadership Seminar Series that will examine the core concepts of leadership, and provide the opportunity to learn from the real world experience of invited guest speakers – U.S. health care leaders drawn from government, politics, and the health care industry.

May 2011: Canadian Policy Briefing
Fellows travel to Canada for a four-day briefing on the Canadian health care system with federal and provincial health policy officials, and innovative leaders from the provider, research, and regulatory communities, to gain a valuable frame of reference for cross-national comparisons.

June 2011: Final Reporting Seminar and AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting
Fellows present project findings to the Fund and leading health policy experts, as well as attend the annual AcademyHealth Research Meeting.


3. Benefits

  
In addition to participation in the Harkness seminars, the Commonwealth Fund will arrange for each Canadian Associate to have a U.S. mentor based at a university, think-tank, healthcare organization, or government agency. The mentor will assist the Associate with research, provide technical expertise and guidance, and facilitate access to data, colleagues, and organizations (see below for information on a stipend to support this). The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation will also assist the Associates to link with a Canadian mentor from the pool of past Associates.

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4. Stipend

  
A stipend is available to 2010–2011 Canadian Associates, upon application and approval. This stipend has two components:

  • Up to $US8,000 in travel and living expenses to enable the Associate to spend up to an additional four weeks in the U.S. to work with his/her U.S. mentor and meet with other experts.
  • Up to $US12,000 in related research expenses available to candidates proposing a dedicated research project or case study as part of the award; candidates requesting this component of the stipend must commit to submitting an article to a peer-reviewed journal based on the research or case study supported through this award. Eligible costs for this component of the stipend include:
    • direct research-related costs; and
    • costs that will allow the candidate to dedicate more time to the proposed research, such as a part-time research assistant or teaching buy-out.

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5. Commitment

  
Successful candidates must commit to attending each of the five Harkness seminars. As most of these take place in the United States, attendance for these traditionally amounts to approximately 15 to 16 days of actual meeting time (plus travel and preparation time) away from the candidate’s place of employment. For this reason, the candidate’s employer must commit to freeing up the candidate’s time to participate fully in these events and other opportunities that are requested or may be offered to him/her on an individual basis. As noted above, candidates requesting support for research-related expenses must commit to submitting an article to a peer-reviewed journal based on the research or case study supported through this award within one year.

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6. Application Requirements

  

Application Form:

  • Part I: Summary Information
  • Part II: Statement of Professional Objectives
  • Part III: Preliminary Research Proposal

Attachments:

  • Attachment 1: Curriculum Vitae
  • Attachment 2: Three published articles or reports
  • Attachment 3: Institutional Letter of Reference and Organizational Support (to be mailed separately by Institutional Chief Executive/Director, or if academically-based, by Department Chair)
  • Attachment 4: Three Professional Letters of Reference (to be mailed separately by each referee)

  

» Request the application form

  

Translation

 
To ensure equitable review and informed discussion at the merit review panel, CHSRF provides English translations of the complete text of all French applications. CHSRF offers applicants the option of arranging their own translations so they may have control over quality. CHSRF will reimburse these translation costs (up to its standard rate of 25¢ per word). Applicants will have up to one week after the deadline to submit their translation. (Please note: the original application must still be submitted before the deadline.) Applicants should use CHSRF’s cover page to indicate their decision to commission their own translation.

Applicants should also review and ensure that they are aware of the CHSRF’s conflict of interest policy.

   

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7. Competition Process

Closing date
Applications must be received at CHSRF on or before 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern Standard Time, March 15, 2010.

  
Mail/courier and send applications by e-mail to:

2010 Harkness Competition
Grants, Awards, and Partnerships
Canadian Health Services Research Foundation
1565 Carling Avenue, Suite 700
Ottawa, ON K1Z 8R1
Telephone: 613-728-2238

E-mail: grantsandawards@chsrf.ca

  

Canadian Harkness Associate Selection Committee

A selection committee, appointed by the Commonwealth Fund, will assess applications using the criteria outlined below. The panel is composed of members drawn from the Canadian community of senior researchers and decision makers and representatives of CHSRF and The Commonwealth Fund.
 

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8. Review Criteria

     
Relevant knowledge and experience

  • Knowledge of the Canadian health system
  • Expertise in The Commonwealth Fund’s and CHSRF’s priority theme areas
  • Experience as a health system researcher, decision maker, or journalist
  • Ability to do research and communicate knowledge about health system issues
  • Contributions related to researching, managing, or reporting on the Canadian health system

  

Potential benefit and future contribution [or impact]

  • Extent to which the candidate’s career will be enhanced by the Harkness experience
  • Extent to which the candidate is likely to share the benefits of the Harkness experience (opportunities, skills, and knowledge) with Canadian researchers, decision makers, or journalists
  • Extent to which the candidate’s current focus and future career plans align with the areas of interest of The Commonwealth Fund and CHSRF
  • Extent to which the employer commits to support the candidate’s Harkness experience

  

Quality of the research project or case study proposal

  • Quality of the research project or case study on research use — scientific merit and potential impact
  • Quality of the communication/knowledge transfer proposal
  • Feasibility and appropriateness of the proposed stipend request and plan for additional research resources and/or time in U.S.

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Making Research Work