External Funding Opportunities
Ongoing intake
Accelerating Innovations into CarE (AICE)
Amount: 50% of total eligible project costs up to $300,000 CAD per Project, over a maximum term of 24 months
The Accelerating Innovations into CarE (AICE) – Market Access Program accelerates health innovations that face evidentiary hurdles in achieving market access. The Program supports small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and real-world testing sites (Testing Sites) in carrying out clinical trials, feasibility studies or real-world trials to fast-track commercial progression and market adoption.
The AICE-Market Access Program improves Alberta’s competitiveness in the health innovation sector on a global scale.
SMEs who participate in the AICE – Market Access Program can expect to:
- Acquire evidence through clinical or real-world trials that supports rapid market access and adoption,
- Build connections within the health innovation ecosystem, and
- Progress towards commercialization across all four Health Innovation Cycle domains – from clinical and end-user safety and feasibility to real-world implementation.
Testing Sites who participate in AICE – Market Access can expect to:
- Build capacity for adopting promising health innovations, and
- Improve competitiveness in a rapidly shifting healthcare environment.
Strategic Networking and Development Program
Amount: up to $25,000 per project over 1 year
This program provides funding to support high impact networking, workshops, gatherings, competitions, educational and experiential programming and events in emerging technologies that achieve the following:
- Connect Alberta’s tech talent and expertise including researchers, other innovators and students with each other and with industry, including the Small-Medium Enterprise (SME) / start-up community, Multinational Enterprises (MNEs), and other technology end-users and stakeholders.
- Explore Alberta-based collaborations between and within members of academia, industry, community, and government.
- Provide experiential learning opportunities for students (K-12 to post-secondary) in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), especially in the emerging technology areas listed below.
- Develop entrepreneurial thinking and skillsets in a tech setting, helping to prepare students/innovators for their futures in Alberta.
Amount: Up to $10,000
The Micro Voucher Program is designed to de-risk novel technological solutions.
The program is a good fit for high potential, high growth, technology or knowledge-based Alberta small and medium enterprise (SME) that:
- has a novel technology with an opportunity for intellectual property
functional requirements and features that are defined, and can prove that the concept is technically feasible. - has a management team and executed foundational business agreements
- can identify target customer, customer segments and possible markets
- has completed an initial high-level competitive position analysis and understands any regulatory hurdles to entering the market
- can point to pricing and business models of similar products in the industry
- has a technology readiness level between 3 and 7
- can complete the proposed project within six months
- has connected with a Technology Development Advisor (TDA) for coaching
Amount: Up to $2000
Do you have a cool idea for how your research could go beyond the lab? Branch Out invites you to apply for one of our brand new IMPACT Grants. This grant supports the application of your NeuroCAM research beyond the lab where it can make a real impact in the community.
Examples:
- Host a knowledge translation event to educate people with lived experience about NeuroCAM
- Begin the process of commercializing your research
- Submit your fees for open access publishing costs
- Travel costs (when permissible) to disseminate research ideas
- Collaborate with a community organization for an event
Applications are reviewed in February, May, August, and November
Exceptional Opportunities Fund
Amount: Varies according to need
The Exceptional Opportunities Fund is designed for those very few instances when an exceptional research opportunity would be missed if a project had to wait to undergo the normal course of a national competition before a decision could be rendered.
While most infrastructure projects require significant time to develop from conceptualization to implementation, there are rare instances where an exceptional research opportunity could be missed if it had to follow our regular national competition processes.
The Exceptional Opportunities Fund is designed to assist institutions and their partners in seizing such unique opportunities. We expect to consider very few projects under this fund.
The CFI will fund a maximum of 40 percent of the total eligible costs of the infrastructure project. The remainder must be provided by the institution(s) and/or eligible funding partners.
Junior Investigator Grant Panel Travel Award
Amount: Varies
The Canadian Cancer Society is pleased to offer a special initiative to allow junior investigators in cancer research to gain knowledge and understanding of the Canadian Cancer Society peer-review process. During the year, through different funding opportunities, applications spanning all disciplines of cancer research are evaluated and ranked for funding.
Selected investigators from across Canada will be provided funds to reimburse travel costs to Toronto to observe a grant panel meeting. This unique opportunity will provide junior faculty members with an “inside look” at how research grants are reviewed to help structure their grant proposals in the future.
Eligible applicants are investigators in cancer research at the end of their Post-doctoral fellowship or within the first few years of their academic appointment. Priority will be given to those who have yet to be awarded a grant from a Canadian granting agency.
CHARGE Syndrome Foundation Clinical Research Grant Program
Amount: Up to $25,000 over 12 months
The purpose of these grants is to promote clinical research on the treatment, intervention, prevention, and support of individuals with medical, health, and behavioral issues, and their families. Both established and new investigators are encouraged to apply.
Funding is for 12 months of research. Preference will be given to projects that include investigators who are new to CHARGE research and to projects with clear potential to lead to future funding from other agencies.
Amount: up to $25,000
The President’s Fund provides small grants in non-traditional areas and in cases where there are no other possible opportunities to apply for funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), to support an initiative, event or activity.
The President’s Fund supports:
- initiatives whose objectives are consistent with CIHR’s vision, mandate and strategic priorities as outlined in CIHR’s Strategic Plan 2021-2031;
- national and international events that provide outreach opportunities or increase the profile of CIHR or CIHR-funded research; and
- research or knowledge translation activities where the funding request falls outside of CIHR’s regular funding programs.
Amount: In-kind
The BDS program will match you with subject matter experts who will help move your innovation-based project or start-up closer to market. Experts will work with you individually to help address your unique challenges and gaps, and will assist you in performing tasks that move you closer to company creation or market.
For this program, subject matter experts have not been identified and we are seeking your input. Experts could support you in the following areas: market development and analysis, intellectual property strategy, financial expertise, technical and regulatory, leadership and teams, sales and/or marketing, or business operations and strategy. The expertise offered will be subject to the demand of applicants and is not limited to these areas; therefore, please share with us where you need help.
Amount: N/A
These awards are intended for candidates who (1) wish to pursue a career as a perinatal and/or child health researcher, (2) are conducting research in perinatal and/or child health and wellbeing and (3) have already attained salary support at a local, provincial or national level but are still seeking advanced training. Successful candidates will gain complete access to the Enrichment Program. Through an individualized research development plan, learners in the Enrichment Program will enhance their skills ranging from research methods, to managing multi-site teams, to personal wellness, and other relevant topics for researchers.
Accepted learners will receive complete access to the Enrichment Program, which includes its curriculum, network of mentors, formalized progress review, and more. All applicants entering this pathway should be financially supported by their host institution (travel and accommodation) to attend the annual symposium.
Amount: up to $75,000
Innovators from Canadian organizations may access funding to assist with research and development (R&D) for a single technology. They cover up to 75% of costs to pursue and sign collaborative R&D agreements with international partners and investors.
Amount: $10M per project
The Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) supports large-scale, transformative and collaborative projects that help position Canada to prosper in the global knowledge-based economy. SIF projects promote the long-term competitiveness of Canadian industries, clean growth, and the advancement of Canada's strategic technological advantage.
As part of the Innovation and Skills Plan, the Strategic Innovation Fund plays a key role in the continuum of innovation funding, providing support for projects through simplified application processes, accelerated processing, and assistance that is more responsive and focused on results.
IPHCPR Network Funding Opportunities
Amount:
- Dissemination Grants: Up to $2,500
- Developmental Grants: Up to $5,000
- Implementation Grants: Up to $15,000
The IPHCPR Network’s Knowledge Exchange Grants Program opportunity is intended to spark early-stage community driven research that facilitates Indigenous Primary Health Care (PHC) system innovation and transformation within Alberta. It is designed to support research and knowledge sharing activities within Indigenous-led PHC and policy.
IPHCPR Network Funding Opportunities
Amount:
- $6,000 for undergraduate stipends
- $10,000 for graduate stipends
The IPHCPR Network Experiential Internships will provide funding to support undergraduate and graduate students in primary health care and policy research to apply skills and build capacity through an experiential internship.
Amount: $15,000 over 4 months. Must be matched by a partner contribution of $7,500
Mitacs Accelerate is Canada’s premiere research internship program. It connects companies with over 50 research-based universities through graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, who apply their specialized expertise to business challenges. Interns transfer their skills from theory to real-world application, while the companies gain a competitive advantage by accessing high-quality research expertise.
Open to all disciplines and industry sectors, projects can span a wide range of areas, including manufacturing, technical innovation, business processes, IT, social sciences, design, and more.
Amount: $60,000/yr for up to 3 years ($30,000 from partner)
The Mitacs Accelerate Industrial Postdoc provides one, two or three years of funding – valued at $60,000 per year – for a postdoctoral fellow. This special initiative offers an enhanced leveraging opportunity for postdoctoral fellows.
Postdoctoral fellows partner with a company or not-for-profit organization and build a longer-term research collaboration.
Partner organizations gain a competitive advantage by adding a highly skilled member to their team while postdoctoral fellows apply their expertise to real-world problems and build business-ready skills.
Postdoctoral fellows can complete projects for up to three years of funding and need to be within five years of PhD completion at the start of their project to be eligible for this Mitacs program.
Mitacs Accelerate International
Amount: $15,000 over 4 months. Must be matched by partner contribution of $7,500
Mitacs Accelerate International supports bilateral research collaborations between interns, universities, and industry partners, both in Canada and abroad. Interns at Canadian universities can undertake projects in Mitacs’s partner countries. Interns from Mitacs's partner countries can undertake projects in Canada.
Accelerate projects with international travel to and/or from Canada have additional requirements from domestic Canadian projects:
- College students are not eligible to participate in Accelerate projects with international travel
- Applicants should submit their completed proposal package at least 16 weeks before the planned start date
- Interns travelling abroad (either to or from Canada) must attend any pre-departure orientations as mandated by their home university
- Most Accelerate interns are paid by the participating Canadian university; Interns will be notified of alternative arrangements of payment in their outcome letter, if applicable.
- Benefits to Canada will be considered in pre-submission eligibility screening and also in the review process.
Amount: $20,000 maximum including a $5,000 contribution from KBHN
The Kids Brain Health Network (KBHN) is committed to the implementation of research innovations into practice and ensuring evidence-based solutions reach their intended audience. In support of this goal, the KBHN-Mitacs Awards were established to provide a mechanism for KBHN to respond to opportunities for supporting projects that focus on enhancing services and support for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their families across Canada. The KBHN-Mitacs Awards support collaborative research between KBHN, a non-academic partner, and a research intern.
Mitacs Accelerate Entrepreneur
Amount: Match the start-up’s investment by 50%, and provides internships up to $15,000 over 4 months
Accelerate Entrepreneur is designed to support the unique needs of postdoctoral, undergraduate, graduate and college student entrepreneurs.
Mitacs Accelerate Entrepreneur funds student and postdoctoral entrepreneurs to further develop the research or technology at the core of their start-up business. With the support of an approved incubator, Mitacs funding helps students and postdoctoral fellows build their professional entrepreneurial skills, with the goal of commercializing their start-up’s technology, product, or service through funded internships. In short, Accelerate Entrepreneur pays students and postdoctoral fellows to grow their start-ups and get to market faster.
Student and postdoctoral entrepreneurs must hold ownership in their start-up, and hold responsibility for the management and/or operations of the company. Full-time employees with no ownership or responsibility for the company’s management and/or operations are not eligible for Mitacs Accelerate Entrepreneur funding. Check with your business development representative to explore bringing a standard Accelerate intern to your start-up.
MITACS: Business Strategy Internship
Amount: $10,000 -$15,000
As companies and not-for-profit organizations ramp up their business operations, they face challenges – challenges your students can help solve.
The $10K or $15K award enables the brightest students – from college students to undergrads, grads, postdocs, and even recent grads – to undertake a collaborative internship with businesses or eligible not-for-profit organizations (NFPs). The potential is limitless, whether it’s streamlining processes, commercializing your technology, developing new business models, improving public services or addressing social or environmental issues – students apply their technical expertise to business challenges to support an organization's innovation activities. The award is open to students across all disciplines, from law to STEM to social sciences and humanities.
- $10K for a four-month project: the partner pays $5K and no college or university funds are required
- $15K for a four-month project: The partner pays only $7.5K and no college or university funds are required. At $15K, the participants have the option of using up to $5K for specified project costs or to top up the intern stipend.
- Open to college, undergrad and grad students, postdocs, and recent grads
- Students and faculty can apply at any time for multiple projects
- Open to all disciplines
Amount: Not listed
MDA supports meetings and conferences focused on muscular dystrophies and related diseases of the neuromuscular system. These are muscular dystrophies (including Duchenne and Becker); motor neuron diseases (including ALS and SMA); peripheral nerve disorders (CMT and Friedreich's ataxia); inflammatory myopathies; disorders of the neuromuscular junction; metabolic diseases of muscle as well as other myopathies. Conference grants are awarded to encourage scientific meetings for researchers and/or clinicians to exchange ideas and to establish collaborations. Meetings focused on therapy development will be considered a priority.
Amount:
- Option 1: $20,000 to $1 million per year for 1 to 5 years
- Option 2: over $30,000 to $1 million per year for 1 to 5 years
Alliance grants encourage university researchers to collaborate with partner organizations, which can be from the private, public or not-for-profit sectors. These grants support research projects led by strong, complementary, collaborative teams that will generate new knowledge and accelerate the application of research results to create benefits for Canada.
Option 1 applications may request up to 66.7% of the project costs (2:1 leverage) from NSERC, regardless of partner organization size or sector. Option 2 covers 100% of project costs, although your project must involve at least one partner organization whose cash contributions would be recognized, had there been any.
Amount:
- Alliance International Catalyst grant: Up to $25,000 for one year
- Alliance International Collaboration grant: Up to $100,000/yr for up to 3 years, provided the international partner at least matches this amount
Alliance International Catalyst Grants
Catalyst grants will provide funding for one year to support Canadian researchers in initiating international research collaborations in the NSE disciplines. These grants will allow Canadian researchers to identify and initiate the first stage of collaboration with the intent of supporting exploratory research activities initiating exchanges for Canadian personnel where appropriate
Alliance International Collaboration Grants
Collaboration grants will allow Canadian researchers to participate in international projects and leverage the best international expertise in the NSE disciplines to help address research challenges of impact and benefit for Canada. International academic collaborators are expected to have already secured funding from their own national funding agency for the collaborative project and identified the Canadian academic researcher(s) in their proposal. This proposal must have been peer-reviewed. The eligible Canadian researchers participating in the international project can then apply for a Collaboration grant to cover the costs of their participation in the global-scale project. The funding obtained by the international academic collaborator(s) will be recognized for cost sharing. This funding must be at least equal to the amount requested from NSERC.
Advancing Scientific Voice Research
Amount: Up to $15,000 USD
Applications will be considered for:
- Educational Projects, such as publications, symposia, workshops and training programs are directed to informing the scientific community and the public about research and care of the voice.
- Research Projects directed to all aspects of the voice, such as the investigation of physiology, biochemistry, and genetics, as well as anatomy, pathology, psychology, and neurolarngology.
AI4Society 2022-23 Initiatives
Amount: Varies
AI4Society is a University of Alberta Signature Area that brings together interdisciplinary research around artificial intelligence, big data, ethics, and social impact. Researchers at the University of Alberta in any discipline are invited to propose projects, grant preparation ideas, and big question events for funding support from AI4Society.
We are looking specifically for proposals for grant writing support, for projects, and for “big questions” events. Researchers can also consult our Initiatives and Support Protocols web page to learn about forming a collaboratory, developing teaching materials and developing other types of partnerships. Here are the types of proposals we are prioritizing for this coming academic year:
- Projects: Do you have a research project you would like to start that would bring researchers together and develop a new agenda? AI4Society has set aside funding for seed grants for research initiatives associated with the existing collaboratories. AI4Society will provide up to $15,000 in funding and in-kind support to viable projects that fit our mandate and which have the potential to develop into self-funded projects. The proposal should identify grant programs that the team plans to apply for funding the activities of the research beyond the seed funding allocated by AI4Society.
- Grant Preparation Support: Are you thinking of writing a grant? AI4Society can help you with mentoring, peer review and with funding for grant preparation activities. Depending on the size of the grant you plan to apply for AI4Society can provide up to $2,000 in preparation support. (Talk to us if you are preparing a very large grant and need more; we can help get you support.)
- Big Questions for Society: Are there interesting questions you would like to see addressed in public? AI4Society seeks proposals for questions, formats and potential speakers to address these questions. AI4Society will support the organization and fees of three public events. We encourage researchers to think big and to talk to us about potential events that could involve the public.
Amount: Up to $2,000
Help make our campuses more sustainable and make your ideas come to life with our Campus Sustainability Grants.
Projects should use a campus-focused lens to improve operations and practices, advance the stewardship of our natural environment, conduct collaborative research in sustainability, encourage integrated and collaborative solutions to sustainability problems, or advance a culture of sustainability on our campuses.
Amount: Up to $1,000
These are small grants to supplement a department’s/unit’s already funded visit with bringing individuals (which may include scholars, leaders, and/or Indigenous knowledge keepers) to campus whose unique, diverse knowledges and lived experiences will shape, inform, and support teaching and learning within the discipline and/or identified demographic.
NSERC SSHRC General Research Fund
Amount: No set amount
The General Research Fund (GRF) is intended to be reinvested by the University of Alberta to support and enhance the quality of research and training in the fields of natural sciences and engineering or social sciences and humanities. The funds may be used to provide small start‐up grants to new professors or professors changing their research direction, bridge funding to professors who are between applications, or additional funds to further support existing research programs.
Amount: Up to $7,000
In general terms, the Fund fosters the development of research initiatives to promote transformative scholarship and discoveries at the leading edge of particular fields. Transformative research enhances the research profile of the scholar and the institution and is likely to attract significant funds to establish and sustain the research program. Selection criteria emphasize the impact and quality of scholarship over quantity and encourage cross-disciplinary activity.
The Killam Research Fund supports research initiatives that are expected to increase the University’s success in obtaining funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) as well as other national and international peer-reviewed funding competitions. The Killam Research Fund assists researchers in developing leading, recognized and externally financed programs of research.
Amount: Up to $2000
Kule Dialogue Grants support research meetings, networking, outreach, and conferences to help researchers organize, present, or disseminate research.
Criteria: Potential to help a team to organize, present, or disseminate research. Potential to build research capacity at the University of Alberta.
Amount: Up to $7,500
Kule Research Team Grants support the formation of interdisciplinary research teams that have the potential to achieve national or international research recognition.
Amount: $5,000 - $20,000
Funds are intended to support the development of teams to apply for large-scale national/ international competitive funding (e.g. CIHR team grants, training grants, network grants; New Frontiers in Research, Genome Canada). Consideration will also be given to teams applying for large provincial funding opportunities, such as PRIHS.
Team composition should reflect the competitive funding opportunity requirements and must be co-led by investigators from both ACHRI and WCHRI (i.e. nominated principal investigator from one institute, principal investigator from alternate institutes).
Trainee Outcome Presentation Program
Amount: Up to $750
Funding is available for in-training members to share their research outcomes in women and/or children’s health. Research outcomes supported through this program include in-person (oral or poster) abstract presentations at conferences and scientific sessions or publication in peer-reviewed journals. This funding program is non-competitive and offered as a benefit of WCHRI membership.