Engagement Award: Capacity Building -- Fall 2024 Cycle

Eligibility

What and Who We Fund

Private Sector

Public Sector

US Organizations

Must be recognized by the Internal Revenue Service

Foreign Organizations and Nondomestic Components of US Organizations

Foreign organizations and nondomestic components of US organizations must provide a thorough and thoughtful justification for the research’s ability to benefit the US healthcare system and must show that the engagement plans include US patients and stakeholders and are relevant to the US healthcare system.

Individuals

Not permitted to apply

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National Priorities for Health and Topic Themes

PCORI’s funding announcements align with our National Priorities for Health and Topic Themes. The goal is to make sure funded projects address the health and healthcare challenges facing the nation today and in the years ahead. PCORI welcomes Engagement Award LOIs on any topic that meets the Engagement Award Program guidelines, but please be aware of the following National Priorities for Health and Topic Themes when developing your application:

• National Priorities for Health. These are PCORI’s goals that focus on impact, guiding our research funding and other initiatives to improve patient care and health outcomes. The priorities were developed with input from stakeholders.
• Topic Themes. These address specific populations, health behaviors and health conditions. Populations of interest include children, youth and older adults. The Topic Themes also address urgent topics such as substance use, mental and behavioral health and violence and trauma, as well as widespread conditions including cardiovascular disease, pain management and sleep health. These current themes include four ongoing topics – preventing maternal morbidity and mortality, improving outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, addressing COVID-19 and addressing rare disease.
• Applicant-Initiated Topics: This funding opportunity is not limited to the topics described above. PCORI welcomes all applications that meet Engagement Award Program guidelines. Topics should address healthcare issues important to patients, families, caregivers and the broader health and healthcare community.

Summary

The Engagement Award Program is now accepting Letters of Intent (LOIs) for the Engagement Award: Capacity Building funding opportunity. This opportunity aims to build the capacity and skills of patients and stakeholders to engage in all phases of patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER). All proposed projects must show how they will help to build capacity for patient-centered CER. (Previous funding announcements used the term “PCOR/CER.”) You may propose projects that will last up to two years and cost up to $300,000.

The Engagement Award: Capacity Building funding opportunity focuses on capacity building for patient and/or stakeholder engagement in patient-centered CER. This refers to projects that:

• Help patients and/or stakeholders who are not researchers engage as partners in patient-centered CER. These projects will help the various stakeholder communities partner in a meaningful way with researchers throughout the patient-centered CER process.
• Strengthen the skills of researchers to be better partners with patients and other stakeholders involved in patient-centered CER.
• Allow prior Engagement Award Program awardees returning as applicants to grow the impact of their work building capacity for patient-centered CER.

Projects must build capacity for patient and/or stakeholder engagement in patient-centered CER. Projects must also show:

• An understanding of patient-centered CER basics.
• A need for additional patient and/or stakeholder capacity to take part in future patient-centered CER.
• A connection to future opportunities to take part in patient-centered CER.
• Generation of transferable information and learnings that must be of interest or use to the applicant organizations and to others doing related work. PCORI is committed to using and sharing successful approaches. See the PCORI Engagement Tool and Resource Repository for examples.
• The organization’s relationship to the population.
• The organization’s track record in engagement.
• Commitment from the patient and/or stakeholder communities to be involved in the project and clear patient and/or stakeholder involvement/leadership in all stages of the project from beginning to end.

Projects should use existing engagement tools and resources when possible, rather than develop new products and tools. These tools, processes or programs can be used alone or combined; they may also be used in a new population or geographic area.

Patient and Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholders include patients, their families, caregivers, organizations that represent patients, clinicians, community members, healthcare purchasers, payers, industry, hospital and other health systems, policy makers and training institutions.

Patients and other stakeholders who have a connection to, expertise in or lived experience related to the focus area and patient-centered CER should be partners in the project. Projects should include shared leadership and planning teams. The stakeholder groups must be engaged throughout the project. This includes developing the LOI and full proposal, planning and participating in the project and evaluating and sharing project results.

You must submit letters of support from partners, including patients and/or stakeholders, with your full proposal.

Overhead

PCORI has a 40 percent indirect cost cap. Indirect costs are calculated by using PCORI Allowable Direct Costs (effective 2022). This direct cost excludes equipment costs, patient-related costs and any subcontractor costs over $25,000 of total costs (indirect and direct) for each subcontract. 

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.

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.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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.

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award LOI

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application