Catalyst Grant: Reimagining acute care (2026)

Eligibility

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

1. The Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) must be one of the following:
   1. an 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); or
   2. an individual affiliated with an Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research and/or knowledge translation mandate; or
   3. an Indigenous non-governmental organization in Canada with a research and/or knowledge translation mandate.
2. The NPA must have a substantive role in Canada for the duration of the requested grant term.
3. The Institution Paid receives and administers the funds on behalf of the NPA and therefore must be authorized to administer CIHR funds before the funds can be released.
4. For application to the Cross-disease funding pool (A), the application must include the NPA and at least one (1) Principal Applicant (PA). The NPA and the PA should have complementary expertise in the relevant Eligible research fields
5. For application to the AI and computational science funding pool (B), the application must include the NPA and at least one (1) Principal Applicant (PA). The NPA and the PA should have complementary expertise in the relevant Eligible research fields and AI or computational science, as defined in the funding pool.
6. For application to the AI and computational science AND cross-disease funding pool (C), the application must include the NPA and at least two (2) Principal Applicants (PAs). The NPA and the PAs should have complementary expertise in the Eligible research fields and AI or computational science, as defined in the funding pool.
7. The application must include an early career researcher identified as NPA or PA.
8. For any research applications involving First Nations, Inuit, and Métis populations, the research team must include:
   1. A Principal Applicant (PA) or a Principal Knowledge User (independent researcher and/or knowledge user) who self-identifies as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) or provides evidence of having meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples, or both (see How to Apply for more details).
   2. An Indigenous Elder and/or an Indigenous Knowledge Holder as Co-Applicant or Collaborator.
9. The NPA and PAs 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. (Updated: 2026-04-10)
10. An individual or an indigenous organization cannot submit more than one application as Nominated Principal Applicant. If the Nominated Principal Applicant submits more than one application, CIHR will automatically withdraw the last application(s) submitted based on the timestamp of submission.

Summary

This Catalyst Funding Opportunity is part of CIHR-ICRH's Reimagining Acute Care Initiative, focused on delivering better outcomes for all Canadians through research and evidence-informed decision-making in the research areas defined by ICRH's mandate: the heart; brain (stroke); lung; blood and blood vessels; sleep and critical care.

This funding opportunity will foster collaboration between researchers from different research fields, at different stages of their career, and promote research on different phases of the care continuum. It will also harness new technologies leading to more impactful research within ICRH's mandate area. This will be achieved through a coordinated approach utilizing diverse funding pools, each tailored to the collaboration-readiness of participating teams. Ultimately, the funding opportunity is intended to prepare the research community to become more competitive for cross-pillar, interdisciplinary networks, a critical aspect through which the Reimagining Acute Care Initiative, will fund and foster projects within ICRH's mandate.

Strengthening interdisciplinary collaborations will enable Canadian researchers and the healthcare sector to improve evidence-based decision-making along the care continuum and lay the foundation to reduce the burden of disease, improve treatment outcomes and accelerate recovery.

A- Phases of Care

Projects must integrate a minimum of two (2) of the three (3) phases of the care continuum listed below. This requirement applies to all projects, irrespective of the funding pool chosen. The phases of the care continuum are:

1. Pre-acute care phase: The objective is to prevent hospitalization for at-risk patients. Areas of focus include but are not limited to pre-clinical disease markers, primary or secondary prevention, and access to care.
2. Acute care phase: The objective is to improve outcomes from medical and interventional procedures. Areas of focus include but are not limited to drug discovery, precision care, and medical and interventional outcomes.
3. Post-acute care phase: The objective is to enhance sustainable and effective health recovery. Areas of focus include but are not limited to multi-morbidity, recovery and prevention of rehospitalization.

B- Eligible Research Fields

In addition to the phases of the care continuum listed above, projects must have a primary focus aligned with one or more of the following seven (7) Eligible research fields, as required by the selected funding pool:

1. Heart: Conditions of the heart, including myocardial dysfunction and heart failure, valvular, structural and congenital heart disease, congenital and acquired arrythmias, coronary disease and cardiac arrest.
2. Blood vessels: Conditions of the vascular system, including hypertension and atherosclerosis.
3. Brain (stroke): Limited to vascular aspects of brain health, including vascular, thrombotic and hemorrhagic stroke and vascular contribution to dementia.
4. Lung: Conditions of the lung, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and cystic fibrosis. This research field also includes the impact of inhaled toxic exposure to nicotine, vaping, inhalable drugs, air pollution and forest fires on the respiratory system, such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema, as well as aggravation of underlying chronic respiratory disease. (Updated: 2026-04-10)
5. Sleep: Conditions of sleep, including sleep disordered breathing. This research field also includes the study of circadian rhythms.
6. Critical care: This research field includes intensive care and complications during intensive care, including sepsis, organ transplantation, surgery, pre- and post-operative care, anesthesia, trauma and life-support.
7. Blood: Conditions related to blood biology and function, including thrombosis, hemostasis, coagulation disorders, anemias, sickle cell disease and blood transfusion science.

Conditions leading to complications in several of the above-mentioned Eligible research fields (ex: sepsis or sickle cell disease) are eligible under the cross-disease funding pools (A and C, see below), only if the research proposal addresses complications in a minimum of two (2) different Eligible research fields.

Note: The following research fields not in ICRH's primary mandate areas, are NOT relevant to this funding opportunity. These include projects where:

• The primary research focus is cancer.
• The primary research focus is infection and immunity, unless directly linked to sepsis in critical care.
• The primary research focus is diabetes.
• The primary research focus is obesity and metabolic disease.

Overhead

n/a

Pre-application deadlines

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.

Submission Process:

Registration due directly to CIHR via ResearchNet by 6:00PM Calgary time on June 3, 2026. No RMS needed for this step.

Full application, plus approvals in RMS, will be required by RSO by noon on July 20, 2026. 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 July 23, 2026.

WEBINAR

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

English Session
When: Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 11:00 AM MT | Register here
Duration: 60 minutes

NOTE: This funding opportunity uses the tri-agency CV (TCV). For opportunities requiring the Tri-Agency CV, a Research Contributions attachment, or a Most Significant Contributions statement, applicants can refer to the Narrative CV Support webpage. 

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