INSPIRE Training Network (ITN)

Conference Attendance

The ITN will work with a subset of these regional conferences to build in ITN-specific network events, and concurrent sessions and to ensure that invited keynotes and plenary speakers cover the interests of the ITN. Already committed to supporting the specific needs of the ITN is the WE-SPARK Health Institute Annual Conference. Trainees will be encouraged to participate in the UGuelph’s OneHealth Institute events and networking opportunities. Importantly, trainees and Early Career Researcher Principal Investigators will also have a discipline-specific conference fund through ITN from which they can request financial support.

INSPIRE(D) Community Outreach Plan

Trainees within the ITN will collaborate to develop outreach materials to be incorporated into community events occurring at Universities across the INSPIRE partnership. With the support of ITN staff and the Talent Development Committee (TDC), the ITN will develop an outreach/advocacy plan that includes social media engagement across all social platforms. In year 2 the ITN will launch a newsletter that will go to established community partners and government. Information circulated will include general information about INSPIRE and the ITN, events, and team successes.

INSPIRE ME’ Virtual Roundtable

To expose all ITN members to the theory and experimental methods of our vast multi-disciplinary team and support the development of presentation skills, a biweekly 1-hour online roundtable will be established featuring 2 trainees per session, using Microsoft Teams. Trainees will present their current project goals and progress, with the challenge to conveying their project to researchers who are both within and outside of their immediate discipline. Trainees will receive feedback and questions widely from the ITN. The virtual roundtable is a key opportunity for trainees to gain confidence in presenting and communicating their research, as well as build a network of peers, colleagues, and potential employers.

ITN Digital Hub

A hub of digital resources that will be housed on SharePoint for all ITN members and will serve as a living document. The hub’s content will evolve based on the input and needs of the network and will be maintained by the INSPIRE staff. The digital hub will start with information about the INSPIRE philosophy, governance, funding model, contacts of the membership and resource allocation. It will have a comprehensive list of ITN resources with accompanying information about how members can access these resources (some detailed below). It will hold the onboarding and yearly survey links and will keep an active list of mentor/mentee onboarding materials and expectations documents. It will serve to showcase upcoming events, deadlines, and opportunities of interest to the ITN. Collectively the digital hub will be an up-to-date repository of all digital materials to support trainee learning, development, and engagement.

ITN Rotations

Lab groups and industrial partners within ITN will sign up to host 4-week-long trainee rotations over July in years 2 and 3 of the proposal. Opportunities will be posted on the ITN Digital Hub, and trainees will sign up for 2 separate rotations.

ITN Specialized Training Courses

The ITN offered three intensive micro-credential courses in June 2026 at the University of Guelph. These courses are open to all Master’s, PhD students, and Postdoctoral Fellows (PDFs) in the ITN program.

Designed to be accessible to trainees from diverse backgrounds, these courses provide high-impact, hands-on training in data security, AI governance, and data science.

• Data Wrangling & Visualization: Develop essential data science skills with R in this fast-paced micro-credential (25 learner hours). Learn to import, clean, and analyze messy data, apply the ‘grammar of graphics’ for visualization, and tell compelling data stories. Through coding exercises, quizzes, and project-based assessments, participants gain hands-on experience in reproducible data analysis.
  • Completion Criteria: Learners complete quizzes, hands-on data wrangling tasks, data storytelling exercises, and a final case study involving analysis, visualization, and a peer-reviewed presentation.
  • Course Timeline: June 8 – 30, 2026
    • Instruction Days: June 9 – 11
• Forecasting in Public Health: Develop a solid understanding of the foundations of time series analysis, including data creation processes, forecasting strategies (recursive, direct, and multi-output), forecasting types (point and probabilistic), evaluation and scoring techniques, and key families of forecasting models, among others. The course then extends these concepts to real-world applications in epidemic forecasting. The primary focus is on forecasting using statistical methods, deep learning approaches, and time series foundation models (TSFMs). Additionally, we will briefly highlight the role of compartmental models and hybrid methods and compare them with data-driven methodologies.
  • Completion Criteria: Learners will apply classical statistical models for time series analysis and compare modelling approaches using appropriate evaluation metrics, and write a structured technical report
  • Course Timeline: June 12 – 30, 2026
    • Instruction Days: June 12 & 15

• Data Privacy, Security & Governance: Develop the fundamentals of data privacy, security threats, and governance in the AI era. This one-week micro-credential (25 learner hours) blends online and in-person learning, covering cybersecurity risks, data governance, and AI-driven security solutions. Participants gain hands-on experience in privacy attacks, protection strategies, and governance principles through interactive activities and research presentations.
  • Completion Criteria: Learners complete literature reviews, hands-on exercises in data privacy attacks and protection, a structured Q&A session on data governance, and research presentations on AI/ML security risks.
  • Course Timeline: June 16 – 30, 2026
    • Instruction Days: June 16 – 18

Each ITN Specialized Training Course will be hybrid. Instruction days can be in-person or online.

INSPIRE trainees are guaranteed free enrollment in all courses, with the flexibility to participate in just one. Upon successful completion, participants will earn a micro-credential badge via MyCreds.ca, gaining practical, real-world experience through projects and applied learning.

Beyond technical skills, these courses offer valuable networking opportunities, allowing trainees to connect with peers, faculty, and experts in their fields. All accommodations and travel expenses for INSPIRE trainees will be fully covered by the INSPIRE Program, ensuring an accessible and immersive learning experience.

To learn more and register for the courses follow this link: Registration Form (https://redcap.link/itn-specialized-courses-registration-form)

ITN Think Tanks

The ITN will make use of our strong partnership with WE-SPARK Health Institute to broaden trainee experience and interactions with potential new and existing industrial partners by hosting annual INSPIRE-specific Think Tanks. WE-SPARK Think Tanks routinely bring together diverse partners from across Ontario with strong attendance from a wide range of hospital partners, public health units and diverse community groups.

ITN Training Modules

The ITN will provide an up-to-date portal of training modules recommended or suggested for trainees. These will be posted to the ITN Digital Hub. For those resources that are not free, an equitable plan will be made by the ITN-AC for access and a budget set aside to ensure the potential of ITN training. Examples of modules include REDCap training, and training modules arising from the pathogen surveillance corridor network.

Peer-2-Peer Mentorship

A collaborative and supportive relationship between peers with similar backgrounds and experiences, where the mentor will provide knowledge, guidance and personal insights to mentees to facilitate professional and personal growth. The type of support a mentee may seek from their mentor can range from career advice, scientific/experimental advice, networking tips and opportunities, and review of scholarship applications and grant proposals. The expected Peer-2-Peer duration will be 4-8 weeks, to accommodate a diversity of (academic, industrial, non-profit and governmental) schedules.

ITN Mentors: All faculty participating in our network can sign up to be a part of the Peer-2-Peer program. We will also incorporate mentors from our industrial partners and/or governance bodies willing to serve in this important capacity.  Mentors will be from outside the mentee’s training laboratory, and ideally outside the mentee’s primary institution; thereby expanding the mentees’ network. Mentors will be given an onboarding package and a survey to gauge their initial interest and enthusiasm to be part of the network and their baseline knowledge, skills and experience as a mentor.

ITN Mentees: Graduate students, PDFs, technical staff, and ECRs will be prioritized as mentees and resources developed with the training needs of each of these levels of training in mind. Mentees will be provided with an onboarding package, EDI training and an expectations document, and an onboarding survey to gauge their comfort with the program, their expectations, ideas for improvement and their knowledge and skillset coming into the program. Each year this survey will not only serve to gather data regarding the perceived skill set developed and comfort/happiness with the program, but also to ensure that the best mentor/mentee partnership is in place.