Institute of Genetics

Request for Applications

Important Dates
Opportunity Launched:	June 2005
Content Last Updated:	May 18, 2006 (Contact Information)
October 1, 2005 February 1, 2006 June 1, 2006	(There are three application deadlines per year). Application Deadline - applications must be courier stamped by this date.
Three months after the application deadline	Anticipated notification of decision. The research visit or attendance at a specialized workshop must take place within a twelve month period after the application deadline. Research visits or attendance at specialized workshops prior to notification of decision are considered eligible for funding.
Within twelve months after the application deadline	Anticipated start date.
Summary
Grants are intended to enable developing or established researchers to spend up to three months in a specific location focusing on the acquisition of new concepts, knowledge or techniques to broaden their research perspectives and skills. Applications are welcome from all areas of the Institute mandate - which is to support research on the human and model genomes and on all aspects of genetics, basic biochemistry and cell biology related to health and disease, including the translation of knowledge into health policy and practice, and the societal implications of genetic discoveries. Funds Available: CIHR's contribution to the amount available for this initiative is subject to availability of funds voted annually to CIHR by parliamentary appropriations, and the conditions that may be attached to them. The total amount available for this initiative is $160,000. This amount may increase if additional funding partners decide to participate. The maximum amount awarded for a single grant is $11,000 for up to three months: Grant: $10,000 Research allowance: $1,000 These grants are not renewable. Applicants who have held such grants in the past may apply for a new grant. However, in no instance will the amount awarded exceed $11,000 in a 12-month period (i.e., within a single calendar year).

 

Table of Contents

Background
Objectives and Relevant Research Areas
Eligibility
Allowable Costs
Peer Review Process and Evaluation Criteria
General CIHR Guidelines
Conditions of Funding
Communications Requirements
Monitoring, Performance Measurement and Evaluation
How to Apply
Contact Information

 

Background

Grants for short-term research visits are a part of the suite of Regular IG Funding Programs, which have continuous launch cycle.

 

Objectives and Relevant Research Areas

The specific objective of this request is:

• To facilitate acquisition of new technologies and/or concepts, within the mandate of the Institute of Genetics. Applications are welcome from all areas of the Institute mandate. The Institute is particularly interested in applications from researchers directed towards one of the six research priority areas of the Institute:
  • Integrating the Physical and Applied Sciences into Health Research;
  • Proteomics and Bioinformatics;
  • From Genes to Genomic Medicine (including Clinical Genetics Research);
  • Population Genetics, Genetic Epidemiology, and Complex Diseases;
  • Health Services for Genetic Diseases, and
  • Genetics and Ethical, Legal and Social Issues.

 

Eligibility

Eligibility criteria for all CIHR research funding programs apply. The business office of the institution of an eligible Nominated Principal Applicant generally administers CIHR funds. Please refer to the Eligibility Requirements for CIHR Grants and Awards regarding the eligibility requirements for individuals and institutions.

Specific Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility requirements specific to this Request for Applications include the following:

Faculty members, clinicians, technicians, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, residents, fellows and community-based researchers currently training at or employed by a Canadian University or Canada-based research institution are eligible to apply.

Eligible types of programs that will be funded include:

• Short sabbaticals for independent investigators in a field outside their current area of expertise.
• Visits that promote cross-disciplinary perspective (e.g. a basic scientist in a clinical lab, clinician in a bioethics centre, etc.)
• Short visits to learn, or gain further experience with, new technologies that will further research in the home lab.
• Attendance at specialized workshops that offer hands-on training experience with new techniques or concepts. Eligible examples include, but are not limited to: Canadian Bioinformatics Workshops.
• Attendance at specialized workshops designed as forums for investigators who are evolving new methods of analysis as well as for those who wish to gain further experience with existing methods. Eligible examples include: The Applied Computational Genomics course (ACGC), Genome Canada.

We will only consider applications to attend workshops that are relevant to the mandate of the CIHR Institute of Genetics. Applicants are encouraged to inquire of the specific workshop eligibility, prior to applying.

The Institute of Genetics will not consider applications for visits focused on activities other than research, e.g. on teaching or other activities.

Visits to other Canadian institutions will be given priority. Applications for visits to institutions outside Canada will be considered if strong justification is provided.

 

Allowable Costs

The Grant (up to $10,000) can be used to cover workshop fees, travel expenses, meals and accommodation costs, if the site being visited is located outside of the grantee's normal city of work and residence, for up to three months. In addition, a research allowance of up to $1,000 may be provided to research visit awardees to cover any direct costs of research not made available by the host institution, if justified.

Applicants should review Use of Grant Funds and Eligibility of Expenses, Employment under Grants within the General Guidelines for All Research Grants for a complete listing and description of allowable costs and activities.

The full application must provide a detailed justification of all costs.

Note: During the peer review process, the peer review committee may, at their discretion, set and apply standard rates for accommodations, meals and travel costs associated with some workshops to ensure consistency across all applications.

 

Peer Review Process and Evaluation Criteria

A CIHR peer review committee will evaluate the applications. A specific peer review committee will be created for this Request for Applications, following CIHR's policy on Conflict of Interest, Confidentiality and Privacy Issues in Peer Review. For information on CIHR's peer review process in general, see Peer Review.

Peer review will be conducted in accordance with The CIHR Peer Review Process: Policies and Responsibilities of Grants Committee Members, including the standard evaluation criteria described under "Factors for Assessment" (section 6.2).

In addition, the following evaluation criteria specific to this Request for Applications will apply. CIHR recognizes that applications will emphasize different approaches to research and to knowledge translation, therefore reviewers and committees are expected to weight criteria such as these differently from one application to another.

• The excellence of the candidate (e.g., productivity, experience and training)
• Appropriateness of the proposed training (i.e., How will the proposed training benefit the candidate's future research project(s)?)
• The proposed area of research may also be taken into consideration as priority is given to applicants applying to the eligible research areas, listed above.
• For research visits: Recognized expertise and excellence of the host research environment.
• For workshop attendance: Excellence of the workshop (e.g., quality, caliber and prestige).

On completion of the review, the Institute of Genetics will receive the ranking lists, peer review ratings and recommendation of the Committee, with regards to term and funding level, for the submitted applications. Applications will be funded from the top-ranked down, dependent on funds available. Applications receiving a score between 3.5 - 3.7 are unlikely to be considered for funding. Applications receiving a score of 3.5 or less will not be considered for funding.

 

General CIHR Guidelines

This Request for Applications will follow the General Guidelines for All Research Funding Grants.

 

Conditions of Funding

 All conditions specified in CIHR General Grants and Awards Policies shall apply to applications funded through this Request for Applications. Conditions cover areas such as Applicant and Institutional Responsibilities, Ethics, Official language policy, Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Acknowledgement of CIHR Support. Successful applicants will be informed of any special financial conditions prior to the release of funds or when they receive CIHR's Authorization for Funding (AFF) document.

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

All personal information collected by CIHR about applicants is used to review applications, to administer and monitor grants and awards, to compile statistics, and to promote and support health research in Canada. Consistent with these purposes, applicants should also expect that information collected by CIHR may be shared as described in Use and Disclosure of Personal Information Provided to CIHR for Peer Review.

CIHR as a federal entity is subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, therefore the requirements of these two statutes will apply to all information located in CIHR's premises including, without limitation, cost-sharing agreements related to this Request for Applications and all matters pertaining thereto.

The Parties, while respecting the application of the Privacy Act to federal entities, will also be bound by the PIPEDA. All personal information (as identified by the PIPEDA) collected, used or disclosed in the course of any commercial activity under cost-sharing agreements related to the Request for Applications will be collected, used and disclosed in compliance with the PIPEDA.

 

Communications Requirements

Grant recipients are required to acknowledge CIHR, its institutes and partners in any communication or publication related to the project. See CIHR General Grants and Awards Policies, Acknowledgement of CIHR's Support for details on CIHR's communication requirements. The contributing institutes / partners will be identified on the Authorization for Funding and decision letter.

 

Monitoring, Performance Measurement and Evaluation

CIHR is committed to demonstrating results to Canadians for the money invested in health research. Therefore, processes for monitoring progress and appropriate use of funds, as well as for performance measurement and program evaluation are in place. As a result, funding recipients must:

• contribute to the monitoring, review and evaluation of CIHR's programs, policies and processes by participating in evaluation studies, surveys, workshops, audits and providing data or reports as required for the purpose of collecting information to assess progress and results;
• encourage their associates, trainees and administration to participate in the monitoring, review and evaluation of CIHR's programs, policies and processes as required.

 

How to Apply

The application process comprises of Full Application only.
Read the application instructions provided in How to Apply for Funding. Select the CIHR Training Module from the Application Packages.

Additional instructions must be followed for this RFA.

1. CIHR Training Module (use the Doctoral Research Awards template), pages 1, 3, 7 and 9 only (of the PDF format), following these additional instructions:

Page 1 (Sections entitled Program(s); Candidate; and Project in the Webform):
• Do not check any Program box (see page 3)
• As the period of support requested could be less than one month, indicate the duration in weeks above the boxes, if necessary (e.g., 3 weeks)
• Proposed Start Date: indicate a date in the period of up to twelve months from the date of application
• Signatures required:
  • The signature of the Head of the Department at the host institution is NOT required.
  • Applications submitted by trainees and technicians must be signed by the candidate and current supervisor.
  • Applications submitted by independent investigators must be signed by the candidate and the Dean of Faculty (or Program Director) at the home Institution.

Page 3 (Section entitled General Information in the Webform):
• Complete as indicated. Check "Strategic Initiative/ RFA " and indicate " Grants for Short-Term Research Visits ".

Page 7 (text to be attached): In a maximum of 2 pages:
• summarize the project or the workshop; and
• describe and justify the funds requested.

Note: Applicant's wishing to attend a workshop series, must clearly justify how all workshops in the series are aligned with the applicant's research and training needs.

Page 9 (Section entitled Reasons for selecting a foreign training environment in the Webform): Complete, as indicated, only if the exchange involves a host institution outside Canada.

Applicant Consent for Use and Disclosure of Personal Information Provided to CIHR for Peer Review (Section entitled Program(s) in the Webform):
• complete as indicated, print; and
• sign; and include only the original, signed copy with application (only one copy is necessary).

2. Common CV Module (Validated for CIHR) for the Candidate.

3. Alignment with Current Research and Needs (maximum of one page):

• For trainees and technicians, a letter must be provided by the current supervisor describing the alignment of the applicant's research and training needs to the training offered during the proposed visit or workshop.
• Independent investigators must provide a letter, in which they align their current work with the experience available during the proposed visit or workshop.

For Visits only (i.e., not attendance at Workshops)

4. A Common CV Module (Validated for CIHR) of the proposed "host" must be included. In the case of a trainee, this will be the supervisor at the host institution. For an independent investigator, this will be the host researcher.

5. Assurance of infrastructure available for the visit must be provided. Include a letter of support (maximum two pages) signed by the proposed supervisor or host describing the space, facilities and personnel support that will be available to the candidate. In addition, the proposed supervisor/host must state that she/he agrees with the project proposed on page 7 of the CIHR Training Module.

For Workshops only

6. Confirmation of registration must be provided. A letter from the workshop organizer indicating the eligibility and registration/ enrollment of the applicant in the workshop is required. If workshop confirmation is not available at the time of submission, this should be sent to CIHR as soon as possible. If the grant is approved by CIHR, funds will only be released after receipt of this confirmation.

Please send the original plus one (1) copy of the application to CIHR, at the address listed below.

Send Application by Courier to:

RE: "Grant for Short-term Research Visits - CIHR Institute of Genetics"
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Room 97, 160 Elgin Street
Address locator: 4809A
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0W9

 

Contact Information

For questions on CIHR funding guidelines, how to apply, and the peer review process contact:

Blanka Finta (Updated: 2006-05-18)
Program Delivery Coordinator
Research Capacity Development
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Room 97, 160 Elgin Street
Address locator: 4809A
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0W9
Phone: (613) 957-0296
Fax: (613) 954-1800
Email: bfinta@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

For questions about this initiative and research objectives contact:

Milka Popov
Assistant Director
Institute of Genetics
Phone: (416) 813-7670
Fax: (416) 813-7673
Email: milkaig@sickkids.ca