Resilience
This year’s theme, Resilience, reflects the adaptability, persistence, and collective strength required to advance human health in space and on Earth. Across the program, resilience will be explored through the experiences of trainees, researchers, industry leaders, and astronauts working at the frontiers of space health.
2026 Canadian Space Health
Research Symposium
This year, CSHRNet will be co-hosting the bi-annual symposium with the Brain Repair and Integrative Neuroscience (BRaIN) Program of the McGill University Health Centre Research Institute and the Montreal Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience.
The Canadian Space Health Research Symposium is a multi-day forum for national and international leading scientists and trainees investigating the effects of spaceflights on humans’ health, as well as those whose research has the potential to make a significant contribution to space health. Importantly, the symposium is also a venue for discussing how space health research could impact communities that are confronting a variety of medical conditions on Earth. The symposium is an opportunity for the dissemination of scientific work, the development of collaborative projects, networking, and the engagement of trainees in human health research programs.
Dates: November 2-4, 2026
Address: Drs. Sylvia & Richard Cruess Amphitheatre & Elspeth McConnell Atrium, 1001 boul. Décarie, Montréal, QC, Block E
To volunteer for helping with the symposium, please contact our Communications Chair (Lucy Ma) at communications@canadianspacehealth.ca
We invite you to see the schedule for the 2026 symposium.
Registration fee is $90 for everyone attending. Registration is open for anyone who would like to attend the Canadian Space Health Research Symposium (with or without presenting).
Abstract Submission & Travel award
OPEN NOW! We are reviewing abstracts on a rolling basis until slots are filled, so we encourage early submissions.
You don't need to be working with astronauts or spaceflight data to submit an abstract. We welcome abstracts from any researcher or trainee whose work, whether rooted in clinical, basic, or applied science, could inform or benefit human health in space exploration.
Please email communications@canadianspacehealth.ca for any changes in your abstract or submission details.
Travel awards are available to both undergraduate and graduate students (affiliated with a Canadian institution) who would like to attend the Canadian Space Health Research Symposium and have limited funds to cover travel expenses. For the 2026 symposium, awardees receive $1000 if traveling from outside the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and $500 if traveling from those provinces; the registration fee is waived for awardees. To be considered for a travel award, applicants are required to confirm and indicate their eligibility during the abstract submission process (no additional application required).
Travel award applications will be evaluated based on the scientific merit of the research study presented at the symposium, with priority given to members of underrepresented groups. Each award will cover transportation, accommodation, and registration (details will be determined with the awardees following email confirmation of the awards).
Alternative funding support may be available from the Canadian Space Agency: deadline August 25th, 2026.
Note: Priority may be given to applicants whose abstracts have been selected by the CSHRS selection committee. Applicants are therefore strongly encouraged to submit their abstracts to the CSHRS no later than August 25.
Join our Network (no fees) to receive updates about the symposium and other initiatives.
Venue
Address: Drs. Sylvia & Richard Cruess Amphitheatre & Elspeth McConnell Atrium, 1001 boul. Décarie, Montréal, QC, Block E
Exhibiting technology for space health research
Companies can join the symposium to showcase their products/equipment of potential use for space health research, and establish a research collaboration with experts in the field. If interested in exhibiting at the next opportunity, please contact the Industry Partnerships Committee Chair (Roxy Fournier).