2025 R Accelerated 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 ten years of their first faculty appointment at the Assistant Professor level (higher academic ranks allowed) at the time that their application is submitted.
• Applicants cannot be lead PIs on active ALSF funded grants concurrent with the R Accelerated Award.
• Applicants must be a PI or co-PI of their first independent award such as R01 and must be within five years of the notice of award. A Notice of Award document from the NIH or other funding organization must be submitted with the application. There must be clear documentation of how scientific and budgetary overlap will be avoided.
• R01 equivalent NIH awards include the DP1, DP2, DP5, R37, R56, RF1, RL1, U01 and selected R35 activity codes. Applicants with a K99/R00 award are eligible, if the PI is in the R00 phase of the award at the time of submission. Please read the ALSF R01 equivalency policy for more details.
• Funding from other agencies should be peer-reviewed awards of $200,000 (USD) or more a year for 4 or more years. R01-equivalent grants cannot be mentored-career development awards.
• If applicant's RO1 equivalent award is not listed above or in the ALSF R01 Equivalency policy, prior approval is required, reach out to Margaret Poore at M.Poore@AlexsLemonade.org at least 4 weeks before application due date.

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

R Accelerated Grant Program Description 
The purpose of the R Accelerated Award Grant is to advance ALSF’s mission to find cures and better treatments for childhood cancers by providing support to scientists focused on pediatric oncology research. Applicants must have an original project that is not currently being funded that has a clear focus on accelerating the discovery of more effective, less toxic therapies for childhood cancers. Research projects should address a testable hypothesis based on strong scientific rationale. Applicants must be a first-time PI or co-PI of a pediatric cancer researchfocused NIH R01 award or equivalent independent award. Demonstration of continued commitment to pediatric cancer investigation as well as institutional support are critical components of a successful application. The R Accelerated Award is a four-year grant.

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.

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.