MIRA Trainee Network

MIRA and the Labarge Centre for Mobility in Aging (LCMA) are invested in the development of the next generation of researchers in aging and helping to foster a collaborative culture of aging research excellence at McMaster.

In 2017 MIRA worked with trainees to create the MIRA Trainee Network, bringing together around 40 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. This group worked to define their peers’ interests and needs, and identify gaps in trainee support including:

• Opportunities for interdisciplinary interaction and collaboration

• Funding aging related research activities

• Informal networking to better understand the perspectives of others working in aging

• Broad capacity development and skill building

Since inception, the Trainee Network has grown in size and scope, becoming more autonomous. As of November 2021, the MIRA Trainee Network has 172 active members, attracting new members each year as trainees graduate or move on. The Trainee Network conducted a membership survey (2019) to better understand how the network was meeting interests, desires for engagement and needs of its members. MIRA and the Trainee Network meet these objectives by:

• Convening monthly, virtual meetings for informal research presentations and knowledge sharing

• Hosting two annual knowledge translation events: Meet My Method (Spring 2021) and Pitch Your Project (December 2021)

• Supporting science communications skill building through the Trainee Network Blog and MIRA-facilitated webinar Science Communication (July 2021)

2021-22 MIRA Trainee Planning Grant

MIRA issued its second call for proposals for MIRA Trainee Planning Grants in 2021 to develop trainee capacity in research planning and development, and leverage the creative ideas informed by MIRA trainees’ own experiences. The grants were open to MIRA Trainee Network and Association of Undergraduate Research on Aging (AURA) members. The process yielded several promising proposals. The selected proposals will bring together trainees from multiple Faculties to develop skills or promote collaboration in aging research:

• MIRA trainee grant writing workshop | Kenny Noguchi (PhD candidate) proposed a semester long grant writing workshop, that will include a “bootcamp” of resources and webinars, a team-based mock grant writing exercise, peer evaluation and a reflective assessment of program efficacy, with a goal of publication.

• Aging research stakeholder codesign workshop | Cassandra Thorne (PhD candidate) proposed to host a codesigned half-day workshop, where trainees will draw on the experiences of older adults to codesign research and knowledge translation activities.

• Research 101 for Undergraduates | Sanjum Hunjan (Undergraduate) proposed to host a virtual session featuring senior MIRA Trainee Network members and MIRA in October 2021. Speakers discussed navigating the world of aging research, in advance of MIRA’s own Catalyst Grant Symposium – priming students to make the most of the session featuring research highlights and opportunities toget involved.