the nserc awards for science promotion honour individuals and groups who make an outstanding contribution to the promotion of science in canada through activities encouraging popular interest in science or developing science abilities. two recipients (one individual and one group) may be selected for the awards each year.

the martin walmsley fellowship supports the commercialization of ontario based academic intellectual property by allowing a masters, ph.d. or post-doctoral fellow, graduate student or recent graduate within the last 3 years to create an innovative start-up with the potential sustainable economic impact in the province. the business venture must be commercializing innovation from an oce supported project developed in an ontario publicly funded institution (university or hospital).

the successful candidate will satisfy oce’s external project advisory panel (epap) that he or she has the requisite motivation and skill to extract the proposed technology from the research with which he or she had been associated, conduct the necessary market research, develop a successful market and business plan and lead in the formation of a new technologically innovative business registered in ontario.  recommendations for award are submitted by the external panel to oce’s internal review panel comprised of senior oce staff that will make the final decision.

awardees receive $50,000 per year for two years, with the second year funding dependent on timelines and milestones being met. 

applicants are required to complete an online application form along with a three-minute video using oce’s management information system (mis). the link to access the online application form will be sent to the applicant by oce business development manager. application period closes 06 august 2013.

idrc is pleased to announce the inaugural call for concept notes of the cultivate africa’s future (cultiaf) fund.

the 2013 call is to support applied research in areas vital to achieving long-term food security in 10 eastern and southern african countries, with a focus on post-harvest systems, the agriculture-nutrition nexus, and sustainable water use.

the fund is looking to harness the best minds in the private, public, and non-governmental sectors to expand its research portfolio and lay the groundwork for scaling-up research results and innovations — within a country or across the region.

this is an open, competitive call for concept notes, and submissions may come from new or existing partnerships. 

details of the request for proposals

the goal of this request for proposals (“rfp”) is to provide funding to high potential, basic research that will have translational and transformational impact on neurodegenerative diseases including:

-       alzheimer’s disease

-       amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

-       frontotemporal dementia

-       parkinson’s disease

-       vascular cognitive impairment

background

the ontario neurodegenerative disease research initiative, as part of the integrated discovery program, is unique in bringing together clinician researchers and basic scientists from across ontario with expertise in vascular cognitive impairment (vci), alzheimer’s disease (ad), parkinson’s disease (pd), frontotemporal dementia (ftd) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (als). in the 5 year timespan of the project,   broad based approaches  will be used to critically evaluate the contribution of vascular disease to each of these disorders and define the earliest markers of cognitive change associated with each.  in doing so, we will develop and evaluate proactive treatment strategies designed to meaningfully modify the course of each of the aforementioned neurodegenerative disorders. 

      dnord will address several interlinked hypotheses, including:

-       that clinically meaningful subgroups of adult-onset neurodegenerative diseases affecting cognitive function can be predicted by an integrated, multi-modality approach that includes an assessment of the contribution of ischemic vasculopathy; and,

-       that rigorous neuropsychological, clinical, genomics and neuroimaging evaluations can differentiate amongst the individual dementias, including the mixed dementias, at a time point where therapeutic intervention is most likely to succeed. 

research platforms will facilitate the evaluation of these hypotheses by providing a mechanism for:

1. embedding research into clinical care
2. embedding commercialization into research
3. allowing patient data to inform basic science and validate basic science findings in patient data.

the basis for funding basic science research will be to support projects that provide insights into

the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases or lead  to the development of new therapeutic interventions to slow the progression of the diseases.  for example:

1. improve and/or develop clinically relevant animal models to test potential new interventions for subsequent evaluation in phase ii clinical trials;

2. identify early gene and protein markers of cognitive change associated with each of the identified neurodegenerative disorders;

3. discover new drug therapies or other interventions to prevent or slow cell death and cognitive decline in these diseases; 

4. develop sensitive preclinical cognitive test batteries for use across neurodegenerative disease states;

5. perfect preclinical or clinical imaging methodologies for tracking structural and functional brain changes over time that can be related to behavioural outcome and inform both basic and clinical studies and,

6. achieve a mechanistic understanding of how known disease related genes/biomarkers as well as additional markers identified through the patient/clinical platform contribute to development of vascular and neuronal pathophysiology leading to identification of appropriate clinical targets.      

obi will commit up to $2.85 million over 4 years to the basic science funding program. grants will be $150,000-200,000 per project per year.  grants can only be awarded to institutions located in the province of ontario and priority will be given to those institutions that provide matching funds (1/3 of the total grant amount).  grants must involve at least two investigators. 

timeline

these timelines are approximate and may be subject to change.

announced rfa – july 15^th, 2013

loi registration deadline – august 15th, 2013

proposals due- september 30^th, 2013

funds released november 1, 2013

application process

registration

all potential applicants are required to register their intent to submit a proposal by august 15th, 2013. the purpose of the registration is to guide the external review process and ensure the appropriate number of external reviewers. all registration requests for research will be pre-reviewed by a scientific advisory panel to ensure that only relevant and high quality applications go forward for external peer review.  at the registration stage the panel may also recommend collaboration between project teams or refocusing of the proposed project to better meet the needs of the call. to register, please send the following information via email to basicsciencerfp@braininstitute.ca.

1. name of principal applicant and co-applicants (at least one co-applicant is required)

2. primary institution of research of principal applicant

3. proposed project title

4.  a summary of the proposed project outlining objectives, approach and potential impact (not to exceed 350 words) plus 4-6 key words

application guidelines

following receipt of an invitation to submit a full proposal, applications should be written in at least 11 point arial font, margins of 25mm and be no longer than 5 pages. additional information such as supporting figures, tables, etc, must be included in the 5 page application, no supplementary information will be permitted other than budget, nih biosketches, references (3 pg limit), letters of support (see section h) confirming matching funds (if applicable). applications should include the sections/information described below.

a. applicant information

1. name of principal applicant and co-applicants (at least one co-applicant is required)

2. primary institution of research of principal applicant

3. application title  

b. objectives

clearly state the objectives of the proposed research.

c. approach and impact

describe the proposed research approach and methodology. discuss the potential impact for patients with neurodegenerative disorders in terms of potential new therapeutic interventions, early detection of disease or cognitive impairment, or insights into mechanistic underpinnings of neurodegeneration. clearly indicate: 1. milestones within a two-year period; 2. the skills/experience of the proposed collaborators

d. budget

include details on the research services, personnel, equipment, and other costs requested.  please note that allowable costs will be consistent with their institutional guidelines on eligible expenditures for research funding programs, which provide general information and description of allowable costs and activities. the funds can not be used to offset institutional overhead costs.

e.  curriculum vitae

each submission must include an nih biosktetch for each applicant.

f. letters of support

if applicable, please provide the following letters of support:

a letter of support from the institution providing matching funding. the letter should indicate the amount committed, the timeframe of the commitment, and the applicant’s name. an authorized representative of the organization must sign the letter. also include a letter of support from collaborating obi scientists. 

contact and submission information

applications should be sent electronically to basicsciencerfp@braininstitute.ca by monday september 30^th, 5:00 pm est.

review process

 complete applications will be assessed by a minimum of two external reviewers drawn from a pool of recognized experts outside the province of ontario.

review criteria

relevance to obi and neurodegenerative diseases: applicants should describe the alignment of the proposed project with the goals of the obi neurodegenerative project.

criteria considered when reviewing proposals:

-      innovation: the project should challenge current research thinking and paradigms and/or address unexplored areas. the potential of great scientific gain should offset the risk of failure. applicants should emphasize the ways in which their project constitutes a unique, “outside-the-box” original investigation.

-       experimental approach: are the overall strategy, methodology and analyses reasonable and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the project?

-       likelihood of success: how likely is the hypothesis to be proven?

-       impact: if successful, will the project accelerate the development of therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases?

additional criteria considered when reviewing proposals:  

-       experimental approach: are potential problems and pitfalls and areas adequately considered?

-       development plan for the therapeutic intervention: what are the steps after this study to continue development if successful?  what if it doesn't work?

-       team and environment: the quality, track record of the team and the research environment. does the project leverage unique capabilities/features of either? 

-       budget and timeline: are the proposed budget and timelines justified and realistic?  are matching funds available?

funding details and requirements

overall funds:  obi will provide up to $2.58 million to fund projects selected through this rfp process.  grants are contingent on the receipt of a sufficient number of high quality applications but it is anticipated that 3-4 grants will be funded per year in the first 2 years with continued funding contingent on grantees meeting milestones and providing deliverables including submission of progress reports at 1 year intervals and participation in obi annual assessment meetings. continued support is contingent upon the progress reports being favourably reviewed.

funds available per project: 

-       $150-200,000 per project per year for up to 4 years

-       direct costs covered must be appropriate and justifiable for the work proposed

-       costs must be clearly described and justified in the proposal budget

-       only minor equipment purchases (i.e. < $25,000/year) that are necessary for the proposed project will be considered for funding 

-       grants awarded may not be for the full amount requested

multiple institutions: in the event of collaboration between multiple institutions, funds must be paid to the team leader pi's institution.  it is the responsibility of this individual to distribute/manage funds appropriately.   

the objective of this funding opportunity is to support the creation and/or further development of formal networks by encouraging national and/or international collaboration, resource sharing, capacity building and dissemination in priority research areas.

the specific objectives of this funding opportunity are:

• support population health intervention research on rapidly unfolding programs, policies and resource distribution approaches that 1) would benefit from a timely study, and 2) have the potential to promote health and health equity at a population level.
• encourage collaboration of community, non-profit, private, and/or public partners, where appropriate.
• develop knowledge exchange opportunities between researchers and community, non-profit, private, and/or public partners.

the specific objective of this funding opportunity is to provide support for planning activities, partnership development and/or increasing the team's understanding of the health research landscape that will contribute to the advancement of research consistent with the mandate of cihr.

the intent of the partnerships for health system improvement (phsi) program is to strengthen canada's healthcare system through collaborative, applied and policy-relevant research. phsi is canada's premier health services and policy research competition — and with its strong emphasis on partnerships and knowledge translation, it is also a major resource for managers and policy makers who want relevant research to inform their decision-making. phsi funds teams of decision makers and researchers to conduct applied health services and policy research. because they participate throughout the research process, the research results are more likely to be relevant to and used by decision makers.

the purpose of this funding opportunity is to support teams of researchers and decision makers interested in conducting applied health services and policy research that will be useful to health system managers and/or decision makers.

the specific objectives of this funding opportunity are:

• support research that "reflects the emerging health needs of canadians and the evolution of the health system and supports health policy decision-making";
• support research relevant to decision makers by producing results that can be applied to multiple regions and/or settings;
• foster "collaboration with the provinces and with individuals and organizations in or outside canada that have an interest in health or health research" and engage a variety of partners, "in or outside canada, with complementary research interests;
• promote the "involvement and recognition of, and respect for, health researchers from an array of health disciplines"; and,
• enable "the dissemination of knowledge and the application of health research to improve the health of canadians and strengthen the canadian healthcare system.

the specific objective of this funding opportunity is to:

• increase the uptake/application of knowledge by supporting partnerships between researchers and knowledge-users to bridge a knowledge to action gap, and in so doing, increase the understanding of knowledge application through the process.

please note: proposals should include both the translation of knowledge into action and research on the knowledge to action process.