Catalyst Grant: Moving Upstream: Structural Determinants of Health (2024)

Eligibility

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

1. The research proposed must be co-led by an independent researcher and knowledge user* who have direct experience in the relevant research area and meet the requirements outlined below:
   • The Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) must be independent researcher or a knowledge user 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).
   • If the NPA is an independent researcher*, then the knowledge user must be identified in the Principal Knowledge User role.
   • If the Nominated Principal Applicant is a knowledge user, then the independent researcher must be identified in the Principal Applicant role.

*The knowledge user is a person with  lived or living experience (PWLLE)  in the content area (structural determinant or relevant health inequities), setting and/or population under study. This includes a community leader, citizen, public health practitioner/employee, decision-maker in a public health authority, or policy maker.

2. The NPA 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 by the funding start date.
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 (see How to Apply section). Please select and complete the training module most applicable to your research project. For additional information on sex, gender and health research, applicants are encouraged to review the "How to integrate sex and gender in research" section on the CIHR website.
5. The team is encouraged to include a co-applicant who is:

   1. A researcher working in a municipal, provincial or territorial government in Canada where the activity which forms the subject matter of the funding is not being funded by specific programs of those municipal, provincial and territorial governments. Researcher refers to someone who has completed a doctoral or post-doctoral degree and has made identifiable contributions within an area of research.

      AND/OR

   2. An Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada or a Canadian non-governmental organizations (including community organizations and regional health authorities) with a research and/or knowledge translation mandate.

      AND/OR

   3. an individual affiliated with an Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research and/or knowledge translation mandate.
6. For applications to the Indigenous Health and Wellness pool and/or involving Indigenous health research:

   1. The NPA must self-identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit, or provide evidence of having meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples (see How to Apply).

      AND

   2. Must include at least one (1) of the following: Indigenous Elder, Indigenous Knowledge Keeper, Indigenous person with lived/living experience, or Indigenous scholar identified on the application in any role.

Summary

The overall purpose of this opportunity is to support robust interdisciplinary research to analyze, contextualize and/or evaluate how structural or “system-level” drivers (e.g., legislation and policies, governance structures, ecological and commercial determinants, etc.) can create, maintain or exacerbate health (in)equity and population health across sub-groups, regions, contexts and settings. These grants are intended to encourage research designs, theories, methods, and approaches to generate evidence on the structural determinants of health and their relationship to health (in)equity. The desired outcome is to contribute to the evidence base in Canada on the structural drivers that improve, sustain, or deteriorate population health and health equity by bringing together health research with other disciplines.

Proposals should focus on the analysis and/or evaluation of StDOH and their effect on health (in)equities. This could be analyzing existing or proposed policies, an analysis of governance processes and structures, or the actions of key actors (e.g. commercial actors, lobbying groups, political actors, etc.) across time and space (e.g. an analysis of COVID-era economic policies and their effect on health inequities, an analysis of Health In All Policies (HiAP) applications and their success or challenges across populations or health issues). Within scope are policy studies at the community (rural and urban), municipal, regional, provincial/territorial, national, and international levels, including comparative analyses across and within Canadian and international jurisdictions.

A broad range of research approaches are eligible, including community-based and participatory research, economic analyses, epidemiological studies, prospective and retrospective policy analyses, population-based cohort studies, comparative studies, and measurement and surveillance studies. Interdisciplinary research is encouraged, such as research from (non-exhaustive list): public health, epidemiology, health systems and services, gender and health studies, economics, political science, mental health, health policy studies, Indigenous health, sociology, geography, cultural studies, anthropology, and more. Original and synthesis research qualify equally.

Proposals must apply an equity-focused lens⁶ in their research design and/or in the examination of the StDOH impacts in or across specific contexts, settings, and populations (e.g., equity-deserving groups – this includes, but are not limited to, women, persons with disabilities, members of visible minority/racialized groups and members of 2SLGBTQI+ communities).

Overhead

n/a

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.

Webinar

CIHR will be hosting the following webinar to support participants with the requirements of this funding opportunity and to answer questions on how to apply.

When: TBD

Submission Process:

Registration due directly to CIHR via ResearchNet by 6:00PM Calgary time on September 11, 2024. No RMS needed for this step.

Full application, plus approvals in RMS, will be required by RSO by noon on October 4, 2024. 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 October 9, 2024.

RESOURCES 

Support for projects involving Indigenous Research: 

Support with the development of your grant application is available through the Indigenous Research Support Team (IRST). Applicants can reach out by email to IRST at IRST@ucalgary.ca in advance of the RSO internal deadline. For more information about IRST, please visit the IRST webpage. 

Support for Knowledge Engagement: 

Support for knowledge mobilization/engagement/translation, community partnerships, and responsible research assessment (DORA) is available through the Knowledge Engagement Team. Applicants can reach out by email to the KE team at knowledge.engagement@ucalgary.ca. For more information, please visit the KE team webpage. 

Support for Research Data Management: 

For information on research data management plans, processes, or best practices for your research program, please contact research.data@ucalgary.ca OR research.data@ucalgary.libanswers.com. 

Support for EDI in Research: 

RSO can provide resources and support to research teams on the integration of equitable and inclusive practices in research design and research practice. Contact Erin.OToole@ucalgary.ca for more information. 

Support for Research Security: 

The Research Security Division is available to offer guidance and support on safeguarding research and ensuring that principles of research security are upheld while conducting leading edge research. Learn more on their webpage or contact researchsecurity@ucalgary.ca.  

Reminder: The sooner the researcher engages with RSO units, the more help we can be! 

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application