Catalyst Grant: SPOR Innovative Clinical Trials (iCT)

Eligibility

For an application to be eligible, all the requirements stated below must be met:

1. The Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) must be one of the following:
   1. an independent researcher or a knowledge user (including a PWLE) affiliated with a Canadian postsecondary institution and/or its affiliated institutions (including hospitals, research institutes and other non-profit organizations with a mandate for health research and/or knowledge translation) at the time of funding.
      • if the NPA is a knowledge user, there must be at least one Principal Applicant who is an independent researcher;
      OR
   2. an individual affiliated with an Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research and/or knowledge translation mandate;
      OR
   3. an Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research and/or knowledge translation mandate.
2. The NPA (individual) must have their substantive role in Canada for the duration of the requested grant term.
3. The Institution Paid must be authorized to administer CIHR funds before the funding can be released (see Administration of Funds).
4. The NPA* must have successfully completed one of the sex- and gender-based analysis training modules available online through the CIHR Institute of Gender and Health and submit a Certificate of Completion. Select and complete the training module most applicable to your project. Applicants are encouraged to review the page "How to integrate sex and gender in research" on the CIHR website. See How to Apply for more details.

   *Organizations as NPAs: For organizations applying as the NPA, a representative of the organization must complete the training module on the organization’s behalf.

5. The research team must include at least four distinct Principal Applicants (PA) /Principal Knowledge Users (PKU) (the NPA can count as one of these applicants), covering each of the categories listed below:
   1. A Patient (PWLE)
   2. One researcher;
   3. A health care provider (e.g., physicians, nurses, occupational therapists, traditional healer, pharmacists, social workers, physiotherapists, psychologist, and other health professionals).
   4. A health system decision maker (i.e., individual empowered to engage with the research project and serve as a conduit of information to and from their respective health system, health care institution, health care centre [including health or wellness centres on-reserve or in urban centres], etc.).
6. For any application involving research with Indigenous Peoples, including applications to the Indigenous Health Research Pool:
   • A member of the research team (the NPA, PA or PKU) must self-identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Métis or Inuit) and/or provide evidence of having meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous communities. A one page document describing how they meet this requirement must be submitted as an “Other” attachment (see How to Apply for more details).
   • In addition, for the Indigenous Health Research Pool, at least one knowledge user must be affiliated with First Nations, Inuit or Métis and/or urban Indigenous communities or organization. This may be an Indigenous Elder and/or an Indigenous Knowledge Keeper.
7. An applicant can only submit one application as an NPA but can participate in any number of applications in other applicant roles.

Note: Participants, including Elders and/or Indigenous Knowledge Keepers, may participate on an application in a Collaborator role without the need to secure a CIHR PIN. Follow the instructions in the How to Apply section that pertain to Collaborators and indicate their role in the participant table. Elders and/or Indigenous Knowledge Keepers' contributions to the proposed activities and their meaningful engagement must also be captured in the research proposal to address the points outlined in the evaluation criteria. Please note, names of Collaborators do not appear in CIHR funding decision databases and documents.

Summary

The Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) is a national coalition of federal, provincial and territorial partners (including a diversity of patients and informal caregivers, health authorities, academic health centres, charities, philanthropic organizations, private sector, etc.) dedicated to the integration of inclusive patient-oriented research into care.

SPOR-funded research requires the inclusion of a diversity of patients (including PWLE) in health research in culturally safe, equitable and accessible ways.

This catalyst grant funding opportunity aims to provide seed funding for the development of research collaborations across disciplines, including collaborations with PWLE, and to develop novel research perspectives in early research stages in preparation for larger SPOR iCT multi-year grants or operating grant applications. Catalyst grants support developing new and transformative methods relevant to iCTs, with the potential to generate high impact results.

Overhead

n/a

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.

Submission Process:

Full application, plus approvals in RMS, will be required by RSO by noon on Friday July 14, 2023. Please be sure to select "Submitted for approvals" (Under Save & Progress) in RMS in enough time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the internal RSO deadline. Consult your department and faculty for more information on their approval processes and timelines.

Do not submit through ResearchNet until RSO's signature has been granted!! 

Once institutional signature has been obtained, a copy of the CIHR signature page will be available via the RMS record, under Documents. Upload the CIHR signature page and routing slip in the Print/Upload Signature Pages task in ResearchNet by 6:00PM Calgary time on Wednesday July 19, 2023.