Health Research

Please see below for competition timelines for the CIHR Project Grant: Fall 2021 competition. 

The Project Grant program is designed to capture ideas with the greatest potential for important advances in fundamental or applied health-related knowledge, health care, health systems, and/or health outcomes by supporting projects of research proposed and conducted by individual researchers or groups of researchers in all areas of health. The best ideas may stem from new, incremental, innovative, and/or high-risk lines of inquiry or knowledge translation approaches. 

The Project Grant program is open to applicants in all areas of health research that are aligned with the CIHR mandate: "To excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health care system". 

Applications involving interdisciplinary research are accepted and encouraged. Furthermore, for the Fall 2021 Project Grant competition, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) launched a pilot Tri-Agency Interdisciplinary Peer Review Committee (TAIPR). 

UPEI Application Process 

The application process for this funding opportunity is comprised of two steps: Registration and Full Application, to be completed using ResearchNet.   

Registration  

In order to be eligible to apply to the full application, a Registration must be submitted by August 18, 2021.  Applicants are not required to submit their registration to Research Services for review and approval. 

Full Application 

1) UPEI internal approval
Applicants must submit a penultimate copy of their application using the UPEI Romeo Researcher Portal and selecting the "Research Funding Administrative Approvals Form for GRANT Applications (rev Dec 2020)".  Instructions for using the Researcher Portal can be found here.  Applicants are requested to submit by September 8, 2021, ensuring that the application is received by Research Services by September 10, 2021. 

2) Online submission
In order to provide the Office of Research Services sufficient time to access and submit applications, applicants are requested to submit using ResearchNet by September 14, 2021.  Research Services will forward the application to CIHR by the agency deadline of September 15, 2021. 

Webinars 

CIHR will be hosting the following webinars to support participants with the requirements of the Fall 2021 Project Grant competition. 

English Sessions
Thursday, August 12, 2021 at 2:00 – 3:00 PM (Atlantic Time) Join
Wednesday, August 25, 2021 at 12:00 – 1:00 PM (Atlantic Time) Join 

French Sessions
Thursday, August 12, 2021 at 12:00 – 1:00 PM (Atlantic Time) Join
Wednesday, August 25, 2021 at 2:00 – 3:00 PM (Atlantic Time) Join 

The New Frontiers in Research Fund has launched a rapid response competition: the 2021 Innovative Approaches to Research in the Pandemic.  All competition documents are available on the NFRF website, and the Convergence Portal is open. 

The goal of this rapid response call is to accelerate the exploration of new approaches and the development and testing of new directions in research methodologies. It is expected that this call will predominately support new ways of conducting community and field-based research, since the pandemic has had the greatest impact on researchers’ ability to collect data and conduct this type of research. 

Rapid response grants will support projects to continue work that was interrupted or stalled by the pandemic and that trial and test a novel and innovative research approach with the potential to benefit Canada and the world. Proposals must be time sensitive and demonstrate a new way of doing research in situations where conventional or established research methods cannot be used due to COVID-19-related restrictions. 

Applications to this call may be submitted by either a nominated principal investigator (NPI) alone or by a team, which may include up to one co-principal investigator (co-PI) and any number of co-applicants and/or collaborators. Individuals may participate in only one application to this competition, in any role. 

The maximum budget for the direct costs of the research project is $200,000. Awards are one-year grants and are eligible for an automatic one-year extension. Indirect costs must be included in the requested budget at the maximum allowable rate, which is 25% of the direct costs. Indirect costs funding must be used only to pay for eligible expenses as outlined on the Research Support Fund website.  

The competition has 2 stages: 

1) Notification of Intent to Apply (NOI) stage with a deadline of September 21, 2021  

2) Full Application stage with a deadline of October 26, 2021  

Each stage must be submitted by Research Services; therefore, applicants must follow the UPEI process below. 

UPEI Application Process: 

Stage 1 (NOI) 

Applicants must submit their NOI using the UPEI Romeo Researcher Portal for internal review and approval by September 14, 2021 and ensure that it reaches Research Services for review by September 16, 2021. 

Deadline for applicants to submit the NOI in the Convergence Portal: September 20, 2021. 

Stage 2 (Full Application) 

Applicants must submit their application using the UPEI Romeo Researcher Portal for internal review and approval by October 19, 2021 and ensure that it reaches Research Services for review by October 21, 2021. 

Deadline for applicants to submit the application in the Convergence Portal: October 25, 2021. 

NOI Stage Webinars 

French session: 

Date: August 12, 2021 

Time: 11:00am – 1:00 PM (Atlantic Time) 

Meeting link – Event password: pbVE336Nmpy 

English session: 

Date: August 12, 2021 

Time: 2:00 – 4:00 PM (Atlantic Time) 

Meeting link – Event password: CPmZji4aJ23 

Webinars will be recorded and distributed to Research Offices after the session.  If you would like a copy of the recording and presentation slides, please email lcudmore@upei.ca.  

CIHR would like to provide information to the research community on one upcoming funding opportunity, as part of Government of Canada's continued response to address the health challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. In late July 2021, we will launch a second competition "Operating Grant: Emerging COVID-19 Research Gaps and Priorities Funding Opportunity" that will focus on new priority research areas.

We are providing preliminary information at this time to allow the research community to prepare and respond to an expedited process.

Funding opportunity: Emerging COVID-19 Research Gaps and Priorities – July 2021 competition

As the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved, so have the research needs of decision makers. There are important research gaps in Canada's response that have become evident; gaps that need to be addressed rapidly and in a sustained manner to respond effectively to the pandemic. In order to achieve these goals, this funding opportunity will support research aimed to tackle priority areas to effectively mitigate the rapid spread of COVID-19 and minimize its direct and indirect impacts on individuals and communities within and across jurisdictions in Canada and globally. Mitigation and recovery strategies require a coherent and integrated response from all Canadians, and especially from health care workers, researchers, public health authorities, industry, policymakers, decision makers at all levels, and the health system.

Objectives

1. Accelerate the availability and use of high-quality and real-time evidence and/or solutions to support Canada's ongoing response to the pandemic in order to better prevent, detect, treat and manage COVID-19; and
2. Generate evidence related to one or more diverse population(s), including for instance: Black and other communities marginalized by race; First Nations, Inuit, Metis and Urban Indigenous; communities historically excluded from research; those experiencing health inequity; persons with disabilities and individuals across diverse health status (e.g. high risk populations, individuals with comorbid conditions); those experiencing gendered impacts of the pandemic;  and those in life stages that have been underrepresented in research (e.g. pregnant people, children, older adults). Across all populations, researchers are encouraged to consider a lifecycle approach (from preconception to older adulthood).

Research areas

Please note that to be eligible to the competition applications must address both objectives AND respond to at least one (1) of the eleven (11) specific research areas bulleted below. Note that additional research areas may be added if additional funding partners participate.

Structural inequities in the COVID-19 response and ethics

• Develop, implement and/or evaluate community-driven solutions to structural inequalities, including systemic racism, that continue to hamper the response and recovery from COVID-19 for Indigenous Peoples as well as Black and other communities marginalized by race.
• Understand and/or address the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Indigenous Peoples, racialized minorities, LGBTQIA2S, persons with disabilities, incarcerated individuals, children and older adults, including physical health, mental health, and access to health care services.
• Understand and/or address the impacts of COVID-19 on the health and well-being of urban populations, including those who have been historically excluded and underserved (e.g. homeless populations and Indigenous Peoples).
• Research on ethical criteria for scarce healthcare resource allocation (e.g., ICUs, ventilators, PPEs, vaccine) in a public health emergency to inform the development of national triage protocols. Research to understand and/or address equity in access to proven COVID-19 interventions and health services internationally and the ethical implications of vaccine nationalism for LMICs. [Supported by the CIHR Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies]
• Understand the underlying biological interactions between HIV and SARS-CoV-2 co-infection as it relates to (1) the impacts of living with HIV on SARS-CoV-2 infection, including effect of HIV and/or antiretroviral treatment on mutation, evolution and fitness of SARS CoV-2, COVID-19 disease severity, development of post-COVID-19 conditions, and COVID-19 vaccine safety, efficacy, and long-term durability of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, and/or (2) the impacts of SARS-CoV-2 infection on people living with HIV as it relates to treatment response, disease progression and development of co-morbidities; and/or understand how public health and infection control measures in response to COVID-19 have impacted the underlying social and behavioral factors affecting the risk of infection with HIV and other STBBI, and access to prevention, testing and treatment services for HIV and STBBI, including in remote locations or Indigenous communities. [Supported by the CIHR HIV/AIDS Research Initiative]

Ongoing impact of COVID-19 in health systems and services

• Understand and address the impact of COVID-19 on health care systems and services including developing and implementing evidence-based interventions (policy, practice and/or models of care) to minimize harms, address backlogs, and effectively address unmet needs during and after the pandemic, including those experienced by historically excluded or underserved populations.
• Research on models of support services and clinical care / management and rehabilitation strategies, including for historically excluded or underserved populations (e.g. First Nations, Inuit, Metis or Urban Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, immigrants and refugees, or other groups who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19) experiencing post COVID-19 condition in the Canadian context.

Societal reopening in the context of COVID-19

• Understand and improve immune responses to vaccines (immunobridging, annual boosters, boosters against variants, heterologous prime-boost); long term immune responses of SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination and duration of protection; and rate of vaccinated people developing severe diseases (1-2 doses) due to variants infection or difference in immune response.
• Develop, implement and/or evaluate social and behavioural science approaches to inform interventions that will be needed to help people adjust to a non-pandemic situation. Targeted interventions will be needed for all age groups and all demographics: older adults, adults, and children, as well as socio-economic, geographic and cultural backgrounds (e.g. Northern contexts, rural or on-reserve vs urban, lower SES neighbourhoods).
• Are the core public health and control measures (e.g. ventilation, movement restrictions) adequate/appropriate? Implementation science to inform scale up/adaptation of effective approaches to prevent future infections and outbreaks in high risk settings (childcare settings, schools, workplaces, jails, acute and long-term care settings, among migrant workers, homeless shelters, First Nations reserves). These include regular screening strategies, science communication, and/or roll out of mitigation plans in the case of isolated new cases.
• Identify and evaluate the best methods for vaccine distribution to both "hard to reach" and those at risk of accelerating community spread, particularly among children, taking a holistic approach that considers barriers and facilitators at the individual, family, community, provincial and structural levels.

Availability of funds

The total funding amount available for this and upcoming COVID-19 competitions is approximately $88M. The amount invested in this competition will not be the full $88M and the final amount will depend on the number and quality, as assessed by peer review, of applications received to this and other COVID-19 competitions. This amount may increase if additional funding partners participate.

The maximum amount per grant that can be requested for a clinical trial or a randomized control trial is $1,000,000 over one year and the maximum amount per grant that can be requested for all other types of research is $500,000 over one year.

Preliminary application details

• Application requirements for the application process will be outlined in the Funding Opportunity details to come. The application process will be comprised of two steps: Registration and Full Application and will be very similar to the Operating Grant : Emerging COVID-19 Research Gaps and Priorities Funding Opportunity (March 2021) instructions. We encourage you to visit these instructions to familiarize yourself to what is to come.

Expected key dates

• Launch of funding opportunity: week of July 26, 2021
• Registration deadline: week of August 9, 2021
• Application deadline: week of September 13, 2021
• Anticipated notice of decision: week of December 20, 2021
• Funding start date: December 1, 2021

The 2021 Exploration stream competition of the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) was launched on June 22. All competition documents are available on our website, and the Convergence Portal is open.

The competition has 2 stages:

1.       Notification of Intent to Apply (NOI) stage with a deadline of August 10, 2021 (at 8 p.m. Eastern Time)

2.       Full Application stage with a deadline of October 19, 2021 (at 8 p.m. Eastern Time)

Applications at each stage must be submitted by the RGOs.

RGOs are free to set their own internal deadlines.

In preparation for the NOI deadline, we encourage all applicants interested in submitting a NOI, as well as the research administrators, to participate in one of the two upcoming webinars. Below are the dates, times and links to the webinars.

July 13^th – 2021 Exploration NOI – French

10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern Time

Meeting link – Event password: GpBTpRMB572

July 13^th – 2021 Exploration NOI – English

1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern Time

Meeting link – Event password: KcwdeVSs354

Webinars will be recorded and they will be made available along with the presentation slides to the research administrators after the session.   

For more information, please contact: NFRF-FNFR@chairs-chaires.gc.ca.

Competition Timelines:
Full applications due: June 23, 2021
Results announcement: late October, 2021
Anticipated start date: November 1, 2021

Internal Deadlines:
Applicants must submit a penultimate copy of their application for approval using the UPEI Romeo Researcher Portal by June 16, 2021, and ensure that it reaches Research Services by June 18, 2021.  

The call is open! Mitacs Globalink Research Internship (GRI) is now accepting faculty project submissions for Summer 2022. 

Please distribute to faculty. The call is open! Mitacs Globalink Research Internship (GRI) is now accepting faculty project submissions for Summer 2022. GRI pairs faculty in Canada with international undergrads for 12-week research projects from May to October. The Globalink program builds international networks and experiences, and positions Canada as a top destination for innovation and research among students from abroad.   All disciplines are eligible Top-ranked senior undergrads travel from Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Taiwan, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and United States. Faculty can submit multiple projects and re-submit projects from previous years Submit projects by June 9, 2021 at 1 p.m. PT. Questions? Visit our website or contact helpdesk@mitacs.ca.   Mitacs recognizes that due to the pandemic and the uncertainties it has created, you may be operating with limited ability to plan future research projects. Mitacs is moving forward and planning for in-person internships next summer, but we will also prepare in case travel and public health restrictions are still in place. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at helpdesk@mitacs.ca. Thank you,   Ana Majstorovic Proposals Office proposalsoffice@mitacs.ca Mitacs would like to thank the Government of Canada, along with provincial governments, for their support of the Globalink Research Internship program. In addition, Mitacs is pleased to work with international partners including Universities Australia, Brazil’s Araucaria Foundation and University of São Paulo, the China Scholarship Council, the Embassy of France in Canada, France’s University of Grenoble Alpes, University of Bordeaux, and University of Lorraine, Germany’s DAAD, the University of Hong Kong, the All India Council for Technical Education and the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute,  Mexico’s Secretariat of Public Education, Monterrey Institute of Technology, EDUCAFIN - Government of the State of Guanajuato, Technological University of El Retoño, Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University; Tunisia’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Mediterranean Institute of Technology (Medtech), The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Universities UK International, and Fulbright Canada.   About Mitacs | Contact Mitacs | Privacy Policy | Manage your preferences | Unsubscribe Copyright © 2021 Mitacs, All rights reserved.