2026 Google Carbon Removal and Superpollutant Elimination R&D Awards

Eligibility

Applications are open to individuals at universities, research institutions, non-profit organizations, social enterprises or businesses focussed on advancing research or innovation. Individuals from businesses, non-profit organizations, or social enterprises should have a comparable level of experience in R&D to a researcher at a university or research institution. In all cases, applicants are expected to have a clear record of community engagement and open science.

Eligible projects include anything under the broad scope of Research and Development (R&D), including but not limited to: theoretical, laboratory or field-based academic research; literature review or meta-analysis (where this clearly meets the stated objectives of a priority research area); engineering research or prototyping; a data or modelling study.

Summary

Both carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and superpollutant emissions abatement are critical strategies for addressing climate change and achieving a global net-zero scenario under which temperatures are stabilized. This call for proposals seeks research and development (R&D) projects that target breakthroughs in our understanding of the fundamental science underlying mitigation strategies, or in their ability to be implemented in the real world. These breakthroughs may originate from a broad range of disciplines, including (but not limited to) theoretical, laboratory or field-based academic research, literature reviews or meta-analyses, engineering research and prototyping, and modeling or data analysis.

Research areas are outlined below, and applicants are encouraged to submit proposals for R&D projects that clearly meet the objectives of a specific area. All priority research areas are scoped around one, or both, of the following themes:

Enhancing the certainty (both of climate impact, and in the ability to measure this) of a given mitigation strategy;
Enhancing the scale of a given mitigation strategy¿targeting gigatonne scale for CDR, and megatonne scale for superpollutant emissions abatement.
Proposals with objectives beyond the priority research areas may consider their eligibility under the Open call. Proposals that meet the objectives of the priority research areas will be prioritized for funding before projects in the open call are considered.

Overhead

40%

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.

RESOURCES

Reminder: The sooner the researcher engages with Research Services, the more help we can be!

Contact the following Research Service units for support with:

Projects Involving Indigenous Research:

Support with incorporating wise practices in Indigenous research, community engagement, and Indigenous data management 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.

Knowledge Mobilization, Research Impact Assessment, DORA:

Support for knowledge mobilization/engagement/translation, community partnerships, research impact, responsible research assessment (DORA), and open science, is available through the Knowledge to Impact team.

Applicants can reach out by email to the KI team at knowledge.impact@ucalgary.ca.

For more information and access to resource archives, please visit the KI team webpage.

Research Data Management:

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

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 edi.rso@ucalgary.ca for more information.

Research Security:

The Research Security Division is available to ensure researchers adhere to research security guidelines and policies, including the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships (NSGRP) and the policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC).

Visit the Research Security website to learn more or contact researchsecurity@ucalgary.ca.

Pre-Award Submissions:
RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application