Margaret Gunn Endowment for Animal Research (MGEAR)

The Vice-President (Research) awards the grants, based on the recommendation of the Margaret Gunn Endowment for Animal Research (MGEAR) Committee.

Funding is available in two categories: 

Animal Health Research Grants

Award is to support significant research initiatives in animal health and behaviour.  Award amounts will be determined by the Committee.  Awards are for up to two years and to be used for operating support of the project.  Funding available is normally up to $60,000 over two years.

Animal Health Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2024: NO INTAKE)

The award amount is to be determined by the Vice-President (Research), in consultation with the University Animal Welfare Committee.  The award is for two years, renewable once (for a total of 4 years; a second application for renewal will be entertained where the Fellow is enrolled in a PhD program), with payments made on an annual basis. NOTE: This position is presently filled.

Applicants for Animal Health Research Grants can hold either of the following types of appointments: (1) Regular and (2) Adjunct.  In the case of Adjunct appointments, the Principal Investigator must indicate who their collaborator is and note that they have a Regular appointment.

Please attach the items listed on the checklist to a new RMS record. Find and select the funding opportunity for MGEAR 2023 and submit for internal application approvals. Please note that approvals on the application does not constitute an award of funding, this is merely approval of the proposal. 

Applications are judged according to the following criteria:

• The scientific merit of the proposal.
• The degree to which the work will further one or more of the program’s purposes.
• The applicant’s record of research accomplishments.
• The contribution to training advanced students in issues of animal health and behaviour.
• The prospect that the award will attract further support from other sources.

Award recipients must observe all the University policies and procedures, including ethics approval for their projects. 

Please note that MGEAR funding is intended to support research activities that will successfully conclude within two years. Extensions requested on the basis of a formally documented leave where research duties are interrupted (e.g. medical or family-related leave, under Article 18 of the collective agreement) can be granted for a period equal to that of the leave up to twelve additional months (thirty-six months maximum total award period). Requests must be submitted no later than three months before the original end date, and RSO is authorized to deny any extension request that does not meet this deadline. Extensions requested on any other basis (e.g. extenuating circumstances with no formal leave but submitted with a written rationale) or with modifications to budget will be forwarded to the MGEAR Chair for a ruling. Modified budget requests must clearly reflect the original objective of the grant. Please submit all requests in letter format to the attention of the MGEAR Chair c/o rsogrants@ucalgary.ca.

The Chair of MGEAR will report annually to the Vice-President (Research).  The report will include a listing of awards made in the preceding year, in a form prescribed by the Vice-President (Research).

PREVIOUS MGEAR FUNDING
Please provide a list of any MGEAR research grant support held in the past 5 years. A final or progress report is required on previous grants. An applicant must be completed their active MGEAR project and submitted a final report to Research Services to be eligible for future competitions.

Comment on whether the grant(s) have led you to seek external research funding and indicate the source of the external funding.

Provide a brief summary of the research project outcomes that have arisen with the Endowment’s assistance.

OTHER INTERNAL FUNDING

Please list other internal funding you have applied for or hold for this project. 

EXTERNAL FUNDING

Please list any external funding you have applied for or hold for this project. 

Use of Funds - General Principles:

Expenditures may be made only for those cost elements identified in the application or given in the Notice of Award.

Transfer of funds from one budget category to another is permitted according to the needs of the research as it progresses provided not more than 10% of any budgeted item is altered.  The use of funds for previously unspecified costs or new budget items requires Committee approval.

Expenditures must comply with the University’s general regulations regarding the use of grant funds.

If you have received funding for a similar project from another source, the budget page and proposal summary for that project must be attached.  The link between this proposal and other sources of funding must be explained.

Allowable Expenditures: 

Personnel:

Contribution to the training of highly qualified personnel is important to the Committee

Personnel employed with grant funds are not University employees and are not covered by the provisions of the University’s collective agreement.

Research assistants should not be expected to do work that appropriately belongs to the principal investigator(s).

Graduate students may be paid from MGEAR funds.  Please refer to the University of Calgary, Graduate Studies website for information on graduate student employment policies.

Foreign students/visitors/workers: Project employers are responsible for ensuring that the individual is eligible and properly documented for employment.  Evidence of a Canadian social insurance number is not sufficient.  For more information, refer to “Project Employment Guide” on the web.

Rates of Pay:  Please refer to Tri-Council websites for student stipend guidelines.  Please ensure that you have calculated 12% for employee benefit costs (Employment Insurance, Workers Compensation and Canada Pension Plan). 

Please describe the responsibilities and tasks to be carried out by the employee and their relationship to the applicant’s activities on this project.

If the research assistance is provided by a student, specify what skills and training are to be gained/developed by the student.

Travel - These costs may include travel and accommodation costs to conduct field work, travel costs for visiting researchers or travel costs to collaborate with peers.

Equipment Purchases, Materials and Services – For equipment purchases over $3,000, a price quote/invoice must be included with the application.

Upon completion of the project, items are to be transferred to the control of the applicant’s department.

Supplies - must be directly used in the research project and must be itemized and well-justified.

Ineligible Costs - Tuition and course fees, entertainment, page charges, publication subventions, report writing and copying expenses, subscriptions and retroactive expenses.

Electronic Communications - Telephone lines, equipment, voice mail, internet and similar electronic monthly or connection charges.

• Maximum 4 pages including figures
• Maximum 1 page for list of references cited
• Please use a type font of 11 pt, with 1 inch margins

The Committee must make its judgment on what is presented.  Excellent projects may not receive funding because of careless presentation.

The budget qualifies the work in terms of personnel, materials, services or other requirements general terms, the proposal describes the work, proceeding from general theoretical considerations to the specific project, culminating in a budget.

It is important that there be a link between the proposal and the budget, including what work is required of an assistant, what basis the applicant used to calculate the time needed for an assistant, how the equipment will be used, etc.

The form and order of presentation of the material may vary according to the nature of the project and in the interests of clarity.  However, certain essentials must be covered, including the problem or topic to be researched, the hypothesis or theoretical framework which will form the study, and what will be done, when and how, and what resources are required.

Define the problem or subject to be researched clearly and concisely, providing any background information essential to understanding the importance of the work.  Include a statement of the potential significance, future use, relevance or application of the results.

Define the hypotheses or theoretical framework:  The choice of methodology, data to be collected, the structure and procedure of experiments, analysis to be done, are all to some extent based on assumptions, theoretical considerations or hypotheses. A statement of these is essential to understanding the proposal.

Set out and describe the methods and procedures that will be used (how the research will be done), the sequence of events, the resources required, personnel, facilities, equipment, materials, etc., which are included in the budget.

Justify the choice of methodology and explain the specific procedures to be used.  It is equally important to explain how the data will be analyzed and why these techniques are appropriate and to illustrate the contributions that will contribute to the advancement of knowledge.

Include reference in the description, where appropriate, to similar or related work.  If the field is largely untouched, this should be indicated.  A bibliography, as such, is not required.  Key words may be cited in a short list or narrative at the end or in an appropriate place in the text.

On a separate page, please provide a summary of your proposal suitable for public release – (must be suitable for electronic scanning).  Please briefly describe the proposed research project using the format provided below.  This summary is intended to explain your proposal in language the public can understand and may be released to the public if the project is funded.

FORMAT

Name:

Title of Project:

Summary for Public Release:

To be completed by applicants who hold a non-tenured or contractually limited appointment

Departmental Sponsorship

TO BE COMPLETED BY HEAD OR DEAN - Sponsorship by the applicant’s academic unit indicates the unit’s willingness to make its facilities and services available in the same manner and to the same extent as to other researchers within that unit and ensures that the applicant has the opportunity to pursue independent research.   Opportunity means that the applicant has the time (or will be allocated the time) to pursue independent research within the normal work schedule.  It also means that the results of independent research are considered by the academic unit for the purposes of appointment, reappointment, promotion, and tenure.  An extra page or separate letter may be appended.