Science Research Partner Grant Kemp: A passionate advocate for research success

Grant Kemp brings international experience and a collaborative spirit to his role as a research partner for the Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta. An Edmonton native and proud alumnus, Grant earned both his BSc (2007) and PhD (2013) in biochemistry at the U of A before embarking on an international career.

With nearly a decade of international experience at Stockholm University in Sweden, Grant developed his expertise in biochemistry and research mentorship. He is passionate about supporting academic communities. Throughout his career, he has championed the needs of students, postdoctoral fellows and early-career researchers nationally and internationally by fostering collaboration, mentorship, and providing technical feedback to help teams succeed. Now back in Edmonton, Grant is connecting with researchers and assisting them in crafting compelling grant applications. His enthusiasm for new ideas and aligning them with sponsor expectations make him an invaluable resource for researchers. 

Research partners are the first point of contact for researchers seeking grant development support and play a pivotal role in advancing institutional research goals. They also have portfolios of specialization, providing guidance on funding opportunities, application strategies and proposal development to researchers across the whole university. Grant’s specialization is in international opportunities, especially Horizon Europe. Embedded within faculties, research partners provide support through advocacy, strategic planning and tailored resources such as workshops, peer review, and unsuccessful grant analysis, helping researchers secure funding and academic success.

Learn more about Grant and the work he does with the research community in the Faculty of Science.

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What is your first U of A memory?

I have a sweatshirt that my parents bought me when I was first accepted to the U of A for my undergrad in the Faculty of Science in 2002. I still wear it today. I've had a long history with the U of A and who I am today has been significantly influenced by the time that I’ve spent here.

How do you support researchers in the Faculty of Science?

The role of the research partner network is to act as a bridge between the research community and funding opportunities, sponsors, and the research administration infrastructure at the university. We also connect researchers with faculty- and college-level resources, so they don’t have to navigate these alone. We aim to provide equitable support across the entire university while building personal connections to researchers in specific faculties — like the Faculty of Science for me. Our goal is to make it as easy and enjoyable as possible for researchers to secure the funding they need, freeing them to focus on their proposals, mentoring students, teaching, and managing the countless other responsibilities they have. I love that I get to engage with a wide range of researchers, support diverse projects, and foster connections that catalyze groundbreaking work.

What can you support researchers with that they may be surprised or interested to learn?

If a researcher has an idea, but it doesn’t fit any funding opportunity that they know about, or if they are looking to find a collaborator in a different discipline at the university and they don't know where to look, I invite them to have a conversation with me to discuss options.

What’s your favourite part of your job?
I love that every day is different. There’s always an interesting question that I don't expect, and then I get to learn about how that works at the university and help a researcher navigate through it.
As someone who spent more than 15 years as a researcher myself, I like getting questions, finding solutions and problem-solving on the fly. I also love to hear about all the amazing research that happens at the U of A. As a researcher, it’s easy to get stuck in the weeds of your own work and it can be hard to see the bigger picture let alone what’s going on outside of your subfield. Now I'm zoomed out and I get to hear about so many cool projects and I am blown away by the amazing research that is happening. It’s given me an even bigger appreciation for how amazing the researchers are at the U of A, but it also feeds my researcher soul and keeps me connected to that part of myself. I get a lot of satisfaction sharing a very small part of that success with them.

What is your main goal or priority as a research partner?
My main goal is to help the university increase its success and bring in more external research funds, which can only happen if researchers feel supported in applying and not just squeezed to apply more. I want to get researchers interested in and applying for different opportunities that they didn't know existed and to help build their capacity to take on more things without being overburdened. It can be very stressful to add more to your plate, so energizing researchers for new projects by making applications smoother is definitely a goal.

Do you have any upcoming projects or initiatives you are looking forward to?
Having spent 10 years as a postdoc and senior researcher in Sweden, I am very excited to be responsible for supporting international opportunities, and in particular, Horizon Europe. In July, Canada became an associated country to the EU's major funding program. I'm very excited to work with our colleges, faculties and the VPRI to put together what our strategy will be for pursuing this funding and getting more of our researchers plugged in and engaged in that regard. I think this dovetails nicely with my connection to the Faculty of Science, where there are many researchers whose work nicely aligns with Horizon Europe’s goals and I hope to help build connections all across campus to help the U of A take advantage of this new opportunity.