Health Research Foundation (HRF) Health System Solutions Grant

Eligibility

Eligible applicants include:

• Academic and research institutions
• Health system organizations and providers
• Not-for-profit and community-based organizations
   

Projects must include active participation from health system partners and demonstrate:

• A clear pathway to implementation within real-world health system settings
• Strong operational and stakeholder engagement
• Relevance beyond a single institution or localized context where appropriate
• Potential for broader system adoption, scalability, or transferability

Stage 1: Letter of Intent (LOI) Application

Stage 2: Full Application (By Invitation Only)

Summary

The Health Research Foundation (HRF) invites proposals under its Health System Solutions Grant program for projects that develop, implement, and evaluate ways to address challenges affecting the adoption, delivery, and real-world impact of innovative medicines within the Canadian health system.

The HRF seeks projects that move beyond describing health system challenges to generate new evidence, test innovative approaches, and identify practical solutions that can improve patient access to innovative medicines and strengthen health system performance.

Projects funded through the program are expected to move beyond problem identification to develop, test, implement, and evaluate practical solutions that generate actionable evidence and can be integrated into routine health system delivery and scaled across jurisdictions, populations, or care settings where appropriate. The ultimate aim is to improve health system performance, implementation effectiveness, patient outcomes, and long-term health and economic value for Canadians.

Projects must align with one of the two Applied Research Pillars pillars and for Pillar 1, find novel ways to address the priority research area of Care Pathways, Referral, and Coordination.

• Pillar 1: Health System Factors Affecting Real-World Use and Outcomes
• Pillar 2: Improving the Coherence and Performance of Review and Reimbursement Processes

Funding tiers and duration:
 

• Tier 1 (smaller time-limited projects): Up to $50,000 with a duration of 6-12 months. These projects should focus on clearly defined questions, testing assumptions and/or feasibility, or incubating larger initiatives.

   

• Tier 2 (larger applied projects): Up to $250,000 with a duration of 18-24 months. These projects typically involve multiple sites, jurisdictions, or complex system questions requiring deeper engagement.
   
• Funding model: Milestone-based, tied to defined KPIs and deliverables
   
• Co-funding and in-kind contributions are encouraged.

Applicant Guide 

Overhead

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

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.

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 LOI

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application