The Hyatt Family-Kidney Foundation Award for Kidney Health Innovation

Eligibility

The KFOC defines a Nominated Principal Applicant as an individual who: 

• Is an Independent researcher 
• will be responsible for the direction of the proposed activities; and 
• will assume the administrative and financial responsibility for the grant or award; and 
• will receive all related correspondence from the KFOC.

In cases that more than one individual will be responsible for the proposed activities, you may denote ONE additional team member as a Principal applicant. The KFOC defines a Principal Applicant as an individual who shares responsibility for the direction of the proposed activities. 

Note: A Nominated Principal Applicant or Principal Applicant may apply for the Special call research grant even if they are currently holding another research grant from The Kidney Foundation of Canada. 

A Nominated Principal Applicant or Principal Applicant cannot submit more than two applications to the competition. Please note that KFOC will only interact with a single institution for financial administration.

A (Nominated) Principal Applicant is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident (e.g., a person who has been granted admission to Canada as an immigrant) who is an independent researcher. 

Exception: Applicants with the necessary educational qualifications who are neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents may be (Nominated) Principal Applicants if they are employed or can provide evidence that they will be employed (at the time the grant begins,) by an eligible Canadian institution (please see the CIHR list of eligible institutions: http://www.cihr irsc.gc.ca/e/36374.html) in a position that permits them to engage in independent research activities for the duration of the grant. Note that an independent researcher is someone who is autonomous regarding their research activities (e.g. not a trainee, not a post-doctoral fellow, not a research assistant, and not under the supervision of another person, who is directing the research). 

Summary

The Kidney Foundation of Canada and Hyatt Family Foundation would like to support innovative, transformative, research in kidney health. This includes research that is new, unique, and potentially unconventional. These may be ideas that have the potential for high impact but may span too diverse a range of disciplines, be in developmental stages or be considered too `high risk', for conventional competitions. 

The partners in this opportunity wish to spark new ideas and encourage novel hypotheses and/or generation of new knowledge, concepts and approaches that could ultimately lead to critical discoveries or major advancements to accelerate the field of kidney research and create new innovative options for kidney patients. 

Work does not need to represent end stage development but should stimulate/accelerate interest in kidney health innovation potentially acting as the catalyst for further investment to develop high-impact strategies to combat kidney disease. 

Applicants are encouraged to consider how their proposed work could change practice, or patient experience, with the goal of developing commercially viable, clinically relevant tools, tests, devices, mechanisms or care pathway changes that will shift the paradigm on kidney disease.

Applications for The Hyatt Family-Kidney Foundation Award for Kidney Health Innovation must be completed via the on-line application system ProposalCentral, ProposalCentral.com. To apply through this site, you will have to set up a profile and then search for Kidney under Grant Opportunities and fill out the Letter of Intent (LOI).

Full guidelines available here

LOI Instructions available here

Full application instructions available here

Submission Instructions:

LOI Stage

1. Complete LOI application on the Proposal Central system and download a preview copy as pdf
2. To initiate internal approvals, complete the Pre-Award/LOI record in RMS (https://research.ucalgary.ca/conduct-research/additional-resources/resea...), attach the pdf preview of your completed Application, and submit for approvals from your department head and/or faculty Associate Dean (Research). *Important: when submitting in RMS, please ensure that you allow time for academic approvals prior to the Research Services review deadline of 12:00pm on July 15, 2026
3. Once these approvals are obtained, RMS will automatically forward the LOI record to Research Services for institutional review and approval.
4. Research Services will review, provide feedback (by email) if necessary, and will provide the institutional approval. If digital or wet-ink signatures are required, we will provide the capping institutional signature and will advise when ready.
5. LOI, including any supplementary documentation, should be submitted to the agency via the portal on July 20 2026 by 9:59PM Mountain Time

Full Application Stage

1. Complete Full Application on the Proposal Central system and download a preview copy as pdf
2. To initiate internal approvals, complete the Pre-Award/Application record in RMS (https://research.ucalgary.ca/conduct-research/additional-resources/resea...), attach the pdf preview of your completed Application, and submit for approvals from your department head and/or faculty Associate Dean (Research). *Important: when submitting in RMS, please ensure that you allow time for academic approvals prior to the Research Services review deadline of 12:00pm on September 16, 2026
3. Once these approvals are obtained, RMS will automatically forward the Application record to Research Services for institutional review and approval.
4. Research Services will review, provide feedback (by email) if necessary, and will provide the institutional approval. If digital or wet-ink signatures are required, we will provide the capping institutional signature and will advise when ready.
5. Full Applications, including any supplementary documentation, should be submitted to the agency via the portal on September 21 2026 by 9:59PM Mountain Time

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