Discovery Award 2027

Eligibility

Eligible applicants must:

• be a biomedical or health researcher;
• be within the first three years of their first academic appointment (Assistant Professor or equivalent) at a Canadian university or research institute, and have begun that appointment within eight years of completing their most recent graduate or professional degree (PhD, MD, or MD/PhD);
• have not received external peer-reviewed grant funding (e.g., from CIHR, NSERC, or SSHRC) at the time of application (support from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is exluded); and
• have been awarded no more than $50,000 per year in external non-peer-reviewed funding (i.e., funding from sources outside the home institution) as of the application deadline, regardless of when the funding becomes available.

If external research funding exceeds $50,000 per year, the candidate may still apply for up to $30,000, provided that total operating funds, including the Banting Discovery Award, do not exceed $80,000 in the funding year.
 

The eligibility window can be adjusted for eligible leaves (e.g., maternity, parental, medical). No adjustments will be provided for professional leaves (e.g., training, sabbatical, administrative), time spent on non-research related duties, or the pursuit of non-research related career activities.

To ensure broad and equitable representation across institutions, only one (1) candidate per primary appointment University Department, Division, or single Department Faculty may be nominated per competition cycle. The primary appointment Department, Division, or single Department Faculty is the principal academic unit to which the applicant is responsible to and/or paid from or where most of the applicant's grants are held.

Summary

The Discovery Award grant is intended to support researchers at a pivotal moment in their careers: the early stages of establishing an independent research program. The program provides feasibility and pilot grants to help early-career researchers (ECRs) establish independence and build their research programs. Funding supports essential research needs, from hiring trainees to acquiring equipment, enabling researchers to pursue bold ideas and advance health and biomedical science.

Submission Process

Notice of Intent (NOI)

A Notice of Intent (NOI) must be submitted to the funding sponsor by October 19, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. (MT). Submission occurs via Banting's NOI Portal.

• A department head will be permitted to nominate only one potential applicant. In the case of non-departmentalized faculties, only one nomination can go forward from the faculty.
• The NOI form requires the applicant to acknowledge that the plan to submit a proposal has been discussed with the respective Department Chair/Head (or equivalent).

As the department/division head may nominate only one applicant per competition year, departments or the faculty (for non-departmentalized faculties) should contact Katie Cupello (katie.cupello@ucalgary.ca) by October 15, 2026 to advise that an NOI is going forward to the agency. The intent of this notice is to ensure that no more than one application is put forward per department/division. Please provide the following:

• Principal Investigator's name
• Faculty and Department
• Project Title

Full Application (if eligibility confirmed)

1. Applications must be submitted to Research Services (RSO) for institutional approval and mandatory administrative review through the Research Management System (RMS) by January 20, 2027 at 12:00 p.m.
2. Complete a Pre-Award/Application record in RMS and 'Submit for academic approvals' (Under Save & Progress) in good time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the RSO internal deadline.
3. Upon review and approval, the PI may submit the application to the funding sponsor.

Overhead

Pre-application deadlines

Pre-application program deadline

Application deadlines

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

Additional application deadlines

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