2025 ‘A’ Award Grant

Eligibility

Applicant Eligibility: must be met at the time of application
• Applicant institutions must be based in the United States or Canada. Applicants need not
be United States citizens. Funds must be granted to nonprofit institutions or
organizations.
• Applicants must have an MD, PhD or MD/PhD (DO, MBBS or equivalent) and be within
five years of their first faculty appointment as an Assistant Professor at the time that their
application is submitted as well as:
o MD and MD/PhD must be within ten years of their terminal research degree or
end of post-graduate clinical training (whichever date is later).
o PhD must be within ten years of their terminal research degree.
• More senior Assistant Professors, as well as Associate and Full Professors, are ineligible.
If still at the Instructor level, the applicant must have a firm commitment from the Department Chair/Division Chief at the time of grant submission for an Assistant Professor position within one year of receiving the award.
• A minimum of 75% of the applicant’s time during the ‘A’ Award period must be allocated as non-clinical protected time for all research activities. This percentage of time includes both ‘A’ Award activities and the applicant’s other research responsibilities.
• Mentor(s) must be identified and must be in the applicant’s home institution. A comentor whose research expertise is aligned with the application could be added from an outside institution. 

Scope of Proposal 
• Proposals must fall within the scope of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation’s mission, focused on childhood cancers. Proposals with a sole/primary focus on patients >19 years of age will not be considered.

Summary

’A’ Award Grant Program Description
The purpose of the ‘A’ Award Grant is to advance ALSF’s mission to find cures and better treatments for childhood cancers by providing support to early career scientists who want to establish a career in pediatric oncology research. The ideal applicant has an original project that is not currently being funded. Demonstration of a future commitment to pediatric cancer investigation as well as institutional support for the career development of the investigator are
critical components of a successful application. A mentor is required, and a career development plan must be included. 

Overhead

Indirect costs are not allowed for this grant. 

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.

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.

Application Package Instructions
• All sections described below should be combined into one PDF (max 20 MB) and uploaded to the ALSF online application form (see Application Submission instructions).
• All templates mentioned can be found on ALSF’s Resources for Grant Applicants page.

Format Instructions
• PAGE HEADER: All pages of the application should be numbered; the name of the principal investigator should appear in the upper right-hand corner of each page.
• FORMAT: Follow NIH format guidelines: Arial, Helvetica, Palatino Linotype, or Georgia fonts with a font size of 11 points or larger with a minimum of ½ inch margins.
• ORDER & LENGTH: The order of the application should be followed, adhering to the maximum number of pages allowed for each subsection indicated in parentheses.
• Appendices are not allowed.

Additional Resources

Using RMS:

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award LOI

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application

Support for projects involving Indigenous Research:

Support with the development of your grant application is available internally 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 is available internally through the Knowledge Engagement Team. Applicants can reach out by email to the KE team at knowledge.engagement@ucalgary.ca in advance of the RSO internal deadline. 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@libanswers.ucalgary.com and/or visit https://libguides.ucalgary.ca/researchdatamanagement.

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.