Arthritis Society Canada Strategic Operating Grant 2023

Eligibility

To be considered eligible for this award:

• Applications must be submitted by an eligible Principal Investigator (PI) an eligible Canadian Host institution as defined by Arthritis Society Canada.

The roles and responsibilities of the Principal Investigator and Host Institution in the management of Arthritis Society Canada’s research and training funds are defined on the Arthritis Society Canada website.

There is a limit of one SOG application per Principal Investigator/Co-Principal Investigator in a competition.

NEW! A PI can hold only two Arthritis Society Canada-funded grants or awards across all Arthritis Society Canada or partnered competitions as PI/Co-PI at any time. PIs/Co-PIs can apply to only two competitions per year. Applications for subsequent funding can be submitted in the final year of a current grant. Applicants will be required to declare all funding in the "Other Funding" section of their application forms. 

Summary

The Strategic Operating Grant (SOG) program provides funding to support research proposals aligned with Arthritis Society Canada's priorities. Arthritis Society Canada’s new Strategic Plan 2020-2025: Accelerating Impact - Research Strategy aims to identify research avenues that focus on areas of highest priority to patients and achieve the highest levels of scientific excellence and rigour.  Applications must focus on innovative research efforts in the following priority areas.

• Arthritis pain research in:
  • Improving our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of pain
  • Translating basic science discoveries into practice
  • Improving techniques to measure pain
  • Developing new and more personalized treatment approaches
  • Alternative approaches to pain management including research on medical cannabis from basic science, clinical, health services and policy perspectives
  • Improving self-management tools and technology enablers to help manage and communicate about pain
• Osteoarthritis (OA) research in:
  • Improving our understanding of what cause different forms of OA, including the underlying biological mechanisms and how the disease progresses
  • Understand sex and gender differences in patients with OA
  • Developing new and more personalized treatment approaches
  • Developing more effective self-management tools
  • Improving health services and systems
  • Reducing health disparities in vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations
• Inflammatory arthritis (IA) research in:
  • Improving our understanding of what causes different forms of IA, including the underlaying biological mechanisms and how the disease progresses
  • Developing new and more personalized treatment approaches
  • Improving strategies to manage symptoms
  • Developing more effective methods to support patient-physician communications
  • Improving health services and systems
  • Reducing health disparities in vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations
• Childhood arthritis research in:
  • Improving our understanding of what causes childhood arthritis, how to detect it earlier, and diagnose it most effectively
  • Developing new and more personalized therapies that are safe and effective
  • Innovations to improve transitions in care as children navigate from pediatric to adult healthcare settings and improve unique quality of life issues through other life changes (e.g. education, employment)
• Work-related research in:
  • Providing a strong evidence base to inform arthritis-related workplace policies and accommodations
  • Ensuring that employees and employers have effective tools and resources to communicate how to manage chronic conditions in the workplace
  • The prevention of workplace disability and the most effective accommodations

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Pre-application program deadline

Application deadlines

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

LOI Stage:

1. Complete LOI application on the Arthritis Society Online Grant portal system.
2. Upload a copy of your final and complete LOI application to the RMS Application record, and submit for academic approvals.  Please ensure that you allow enough time for academic approvals prior to the Research Services (RSO) final internal deadline of NOON, April 4, 2023.
3. RMS will notify you that institutional approval has been provided. No signatures are required at this stage. You may now submit on or before April 10, 2023 at 3:00PM Mountain time.

For Full Application:

1. Complete Full Application on the Arthritis Society Online Grant Portal system
2. To initiate internal approvals, complete the Pre-Award/Application record in RMS (https://research.ucalgary.ca/conduct-research/additional-resources/resea...), attach your completed Application, and submit for approvals from your department head and/or faculty Associate Dean (Research). *Important: when submitting in RMS, please ensure that you allow time for academic approvals prior to the Research Services review deadline of 12:00pm on August 29, 2023
3. Once these approvals are obtained, RMS will automatically forward the Application record to Research Services for institutional review and approval.
4. Research Services will review, provide feedback (by email) if necessary, and will provide the institutional approval. If digital or wet-ink signatures are required, we will provide the capping institutional signature and will advise when ready.
5. Full Applications, including any supplementary documentation, should be submitted to the agency via the portal on September 1, 2023 by 3:00PM Mountain Time.