Fall 2023 Prader Willi Research Grants

Eligibility

Principal Investigators must have a primary faculty appointment at the level of Instructor or higher.  This grant program will be useful for junior faculty in the early stages of their careers, established investigators in other areas of research who wish to enter the field of PWS research, or investigators in the PWS field who are seeking funding to support pilot studies in a new area of PWS research. FPWR seeks to support innovative, high-risk/high reward research.

Summary

The Foundation for Prader-Willi Research (FPWR), a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting research to advance the understanding and treatment of Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), announces the availability of funds to support innovative PWS research.  FPWR is particularly interested in supporting projects that will lead to new treatments to alleviate the symptoms associated with PWS.  Funding priorities include:

• Genotype to phenotype: understanding PWS genetics / how loss of PWS-critical region genes leads to the phenotype
• Neurobiology of hunger / feeding behavior in PWS
• Neurobiology of cognitive deficits, maladaptive behavior and mental illness in PWS
• Clinical care research: evaluation of existing drugs and interventions to improve health and quality of life in PWS
• Therapeutics development for PWS- Genetic therapies; novel pharmaceuticals; drug repurposing for PWS

A full description of FPWR's funding priorities can be found here. 

Funds Available:  Applicants may request up to $150,000 USD in direct costs for the initial 18 months of support, with the possibility of a second grant period of 18 months of funding upon competitive renewal. Indirect costs of up to 8% are allowed. Applicants may choose to request a smaller budget and/or shorter duration, for example, for a higher risk / highly innovative project.

Application Submission

The application process will be completed in two-stages:

1. Letters of Intent.  Letters of intent (LOI) should be submitted through FPWR’s on-line applications system at
ProposalCentral (https://proposalcentral.altum.com/). LOIs will be reviewed for innovation and potential impact, merit and relevance to the mission of FPWR. 

Applicants must obtain institutional approval from the University of Calgary prior to submitting their LOI to the sponsor. Initiate required University of Calgary internal approvals by completing a Pre-Award/Letter of Intent record in RMS (https://my.rms.ucalgary.ca/)/. Attach a copy of your completed EOI form and submit for approvals from your department head and/or faculty Associate Dean (Research). Please ensure that you allow time for academic approvals prior to the Research Services Office internal review deadline of 12:00pm MT, September 5, 2023.

2. Full Proposals. Selected LOIs will be invited to submit a full grant proposal. Full grant proposals meeting the technical requirements will be reviewed on the basis of merit by scientific reviewers with expertise in the research area.  An advocate reviewer will evaluate the relevance of the proposed research to the PWS community.  Final funding decisions will be based on scientific merit, relevance and the suitability of the research with respect to the programmatic goals of FPWR.

Applicants invited to submit full proposals should email Chantal Lemire (chantal.lemire@ucalgary.ca) for additional information on the next stage of this competition.

Overhead

8% of direct costs.

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Pre-application program deadline

Application deadlines

RSO detailed review deadline

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.

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.

Additional Resources

Instructions for Letters of Intent

Instructions for Full Proposal