Parkinson Canada New Investigator Award

Eligibility

If you currently hold another Parkinson Canada grant as a PI or Co-PI or have pending final reports from a Parkinson Canada grant or award you are not eligible to apply. Individuals wishing to be involved in an application proposal must be listed as collaborators.

Applicants must hold an MD or PhD degree (or equivalent degree) and be graduates of a university recognized by Parkinson Canada. Applicants must be university faculty members with a position ranking of Associate Professor or less, in the first five years of their career, and must be conducting research for the following institutions and organizations (an “Approved Institution”).:

• Canadian post-secondary institutions and their affiliated institutions including hospitals and research institutes; or
• Other equivalent organizations, as determined by the Research Policy Committee of the Board of Parkinson Canada in consultation with the Advisory Council, provided that the applicant’s research or research-related activities fall within the mandate of Parkinson Canada.

Applicants must be able to clearly demonstrate their potential to become an independent investigator during a period of supervised research. Parkinson Canada expects that the applicant is within 5 years of obtaining an independent faculty position at a university at the time of application deadline.

Leaves of absence will be taken into consideration in calculating the 5 years eligibility criteria. Applicants must state the reasoning for the leave of absence.

Applicants in junior faculty positions outside of Canada and scientists transferring into the fields of Parkinson’s research from another field are both eligible for this award but are subject to the same eligibility criteria established by Parkinson Canada for other eligible candidates and described in this Request for Applications.

Summary

Parkinson Canada is pleased to present the New Investigator Award Program (the “Program) as part of its revitalized Research Grant Program. Parkinson Canada offers this strategic initiative to provide investigators with an early opportunity, upon completing his or her research training, to develop and demonstrate his or her ability to initiate and conduct independent health research, as typically expected of university faculty members. Parkinson Canada anticipates that in the initial period of their independent careers, new investigators are in a good position to formulate innovative and fertile research projects. The Program is offered specifically to university faculty applicants who are currently in the first five years of their career as research scientists in Canada. An applicant will typically have completed one or two periods of post-doctoral training and will have a staff appointment that allows the applicant an opportunity to initiate and direct his or her own independent lines of research. The Program provides new researchers with an opportunity to enter into the area of Parkinson’s research, without having to compete with established researchers for grant monies. Parkinson Canada wishes to encourage continued growth and revitalization in the field of Parkinson’s research in Canada by supporting individual researchers in their professional development.

Parkinson Canada intends to provide awards for the support of projects with funding of up to $45,000 per year over a three-year term to outstanding applicants who meet the eligibility criteria of the Program and who have been approved by its Scientific Advisory Council (the “Advisory Council”). Funds awarded under the Program are to be used to cover operating expenses, technical support staff salaries and equipment costs for research grants in Parkinson’s-related areas.

Parkinson Canada invites grant applications (“Applications”) from applicants committed to conducting research in areas relevant to the cure, cause, prevention, improved treatment and/or understanding of Parkinson’s disease, other related disorders including: Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), other Parkinson’s conditions and its implications on society. Parkinson Canada encourages Applications from the fields of biomedicine, health services and systems research,
population studies, and clinical research.

Full guidelines available here

Overhead

Not eligible

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 Info:

1. Complete Full Application on the Parkinson Canada Smart App platform
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 November 30, 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 December 5, 2023 by 9:59PM Mountain Time via the Smart App platform.