Current Emerging Team Grant funding opportunities can be found in CIHR's Funding Opportunity Database (use the "Program Type" search option, select "Emerging Team Grant " from the drop-down menu and click on "Search").

Description

The purpose of the Emerging Team Grant program is to strengthen Canadian health research by supporting new and emerging research teams conducting high-quality research and providing superior training opportunities. The program is expected to enhance the understanding and accelerate the resolution of health issues through new directions of research proposed. It is expected that this investment will further the Canadian capacity for high-quality, problem-based research on relevant health, health care and health system issues.

This program is intended to fund the creation or further development of research teams undertaking collaborative research relevant to a significant health problem or issue. Eligible teams will consist of at least three independent investigators who will form an integrated and effective research team. It is expected that this program will enable such teams to build or strengthen capacity and add expertise, develop strategies for knowledge translation, provide superior training and mentoring environments and achieve research excellence.

Through the Emerging Team Grant program CIHR intends to fund a variety of new and emerging research teams (uni-disciplinary teams, multi-disciplinary teams, trans-disciplinary teams, partnered teams, academic-industry teams, etc.). Proposals that represent active and meaningful partnerships between community organizations and research teams based in institutions (including universities, colleges, hospitals, and affiliated research institutions) are welcome.

Background

"Blueprint", CIHR's strategic plan through 2008, states that: "The complexity and scale of today's research challenges increasingly require that researchers and countries reach out beyond their own areas of expertise and that we experiment with new models to bring people and sectors together. This work will be enabled through the technological advances that support virtual networks. Partnerships and shared vision will underpin the most successful health research stories of the 21st century in ways unimaginable in the 20th century."

"Blueprint" commits CIHR to "Continue to catalyze and encourage the convergence of disciplines that underlie the most exciting and important discoveries in health research, and to resolve ever-more complex health problems."

CIHR takes a problem-based and multidisciplinary approach to the health challenges facing Canadians. CIHR's broadened, problem-based mandate reflects a deliberate strategy to reach out to all disciplines and research approaches that are relevant to the challenges of human health and disease, and the efficient delivery of effective and appropriate health care services.

The introduction of the Emerging Team Grant program puts this commitment into action. The purpose of this program is to strengthen Canadian health research by supporting new and emerging research teams (uni-disciplinary teams, multi-disciplinary teams, trans-disciplinary teams, academic-industry teams, and partnered teams, etc.) conducting high-quality research and providing superior training opportunities for graduate and post-doctoral trainees, as well as independent investigators who are new to the team's area of research. The program is expected to enhance the understanding and accelerate the resolution of health issues through new directions of research proposed by each team. It is expected that this investment will further the Canadian capacity for high-quality, problem-based research on relevant health, health care and health system issues.

Impact on Other CIHR Programs:

In 2000, during the transition from the Medical Research Council (MRC) to CIHR, a number of grant programs supporting health research teams were announced. Since that time, CIHR introduced new collaborative research program "tools" such as New Emerging Teams (NET), and Interdisciplinary Capacity Enhancement (ICE) Team Grants. Through introduction of the Emerging Team Grant, CIHR intends to simplify its program offerings in support of facilitating collaborative research, while retaining sufficient flexibility to accommodate all desirable aspects of collaborative research, including the importance of ensuring the meaningful participation by community partners who play a vital role in the planning, execution, dissemination and application of health research.

The Emerging Team Grant program is intended as a replacement for, and enhancement of, funding programs such as the New Emerging Teams (NET) and Interdisciplinary Capacity Enhancement (ICE) Team Grants.

Funds Available

• The maximum amount awarded for a single Emerging Team Grant is $ 500 000 per annum for 5 years. The maximum amount and term of grants may vary according to the funding opportunity launched through the Emerging Team Grant program. The equipment amount, where applicable, is awarded in year one. In the case of 5 year grants, the final two years of funding are subject to a satisfactory progress review in the third year of funding.
• Emerging Team grants may be renewable, subject to launch of a relevant competition in the future and success through a competitive peer review process.

Objectives

CIHR's collaborative programs focus on support of research teams and a problem-based research culture.

Through the Emerging Team Grant program it is the intent of CIHR to fund the creation or development of research teams of investigators undertaking collaborative research relevant to a significant health problem or issue. This grant will enable such teams to:

• Strengthen capacity and add expertise relevant to a significant health problem or issue;
• Develop strategies for knowledge translation and exchange;
• Provide a superior training and mentoring environment;
• Achieve research excellence so that at the end of the limited funding period they are competitive for funding through other major competitions.

Proposals that represent collaborations between community organizations and research teams based in institutions (including universities, colleges, hospitals, and affiliated research institutions) are welcome.

For community-focused proposals, the guiding principle for participation is that community groups are active, influential and ongoing participants in the research, training, mentoring and knowledge translation activities, and that their roles have been formally agreed upon in the spirit of ensuring equity and mutual benefits from the collaboration.

It is expected that the partners will contribute to:

• Formulating research agendas;
• Providing input into the development of research and training projects;
• Synthesizing and disseminating findings;
• Applying the research findings to inform policies, programs and/or practices;
• In some cases, conducting the research.

For more information about knowledge translation consult Defining and Framing Knowledge Translation of the CIHR Knowledge Translation Strategy 2004-2009.

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.

Each eligible Emerging Team Grant application will include:

• A Team Leader who meets the criteria of "Principal Applicant" as described in the Participant Categories for CIHR Grants  and who will assume administrative responsibility for the grant as nominated Principal Applicant. In addition, the Team Leader must be a researcher with proven leadership capabilities and experience who will act as research program director.
• At least two additional independent investigators who meet the criteria of "Principal Applicant" as described in the Participant Categories for CIHR Grants who together with the Team Leader will form an integrated and more effective research team. Teams with a nucleus of experienced and productive investigators are encouraged to include some promising, new investigators in the Team.

The following special conditions apply:

Members of a Team may be located in one or more departments, faculties or CIHR-eligible institutions in Canada. As well, international or private sector collaborators who make a substantial intellectual contribution to the research program may be listed as additional Team members.

Guidelines

The Emerging Team Grant Program adheres to the CIHR Guidelines for Grant Programs. Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate the use of Gender and Sex-Based Analysis in applications.

Allowable Costs

Applicants should review the Use of Grant Funds section of the Tri-Agency (CIHR, NSERC ad SSHRC) Financial Administration Guide for a complete listing and description of allowable costs and activities.

Through the Emerging Team Grant program, funding can be used to support:

• Research operating costs for the proposed collaborative research program (where an application includes overlap with an existing CIHR grant, and that application is successful in the Emerging Team Grant competition, continued funding of the ongoing grant will be reviewed).
• Purchase of equipment and maintenance contracts for common services and shared facilities.
• Costs of data collection, database and maintenance of information holdings directly related to the Emerging Team Grant research program.
• Costs of regional, national and international networking activities, including collaboration, planning, and knowledge exchange activities, directly related to the Emerging Team Grant research program.
• Salaries of research assistants, technicians and other personnel (eligible to receive salary) who will enhance the collaborative research productivity of the Team
• Support of research trainees, at the rate specified by CIHR for trainees paid from research grants.
• Salary of a professional coordinator and/or administrative assistant.
• Minimal operating costs for planning and pilot projects.
• Release time stipends to enable employees of community partners to participate in the research program, limited to 50% of their current salary and up to an overall maximum of $50,000 per year.
• A maximum of $20,000 annually for a release time stipend for the Nominated PI/Team Leader.
• Establishment funds and salary for New Investigators joining the team (New Investigators are within the first five years of their independent research careers). Salary contributions paid for by the Emerging Team Grant must not exceed the stipend paid to CIHR New Investigators. Those paid from the Emerging Team Grant cannot also hold a Canada Research Chair or another salary award. Note that new investigators paid from the grant can not be listed as co-applicants on the grant application. Similarly, they can not be listed as co-investigators on the grant after it is approved; however they can be considered members of the team.
• Costs involved in linkage with and dissemination of research findings to those who use the results, as appropriate for the research program, (including other researchers, the public, practitioner and policy communities, and the industrial sector).

Co-applicants may not receive a salary, stipend, or honorarium from CIHR grants, with the exception of co-applicants who are trainees or research associates, and the release time stipends for the team leader and employees of community partners as described in Participant Categories for CIHR Grants.

Conditions of Funding

All conditions specified in CIHR General Grants and Awards Policies shall apply to applications funded through this Funding opportunity. Conditions cover areas such as Applicant and Institutional Responsibilities, Ethics, Official languages policy, Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Acknowledgement of CIHR's 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.

Communication Requirements

In addition to following the policies relating to the Public Communication and Acknowledgment of CIHR's Support, Emerging Team Grant recipients will also be required to adhere to special branding requirements as a condition of receiving a CIHR Emerging Team Grant. The official name of the team is "CIHR Team in (area of research)." In cases where there is another major funding partner a shared title should be considered. The format of a shared title is "CIHR/(partner name) Team in (area of research)." The name of the Team must be used in all communication and promotion relating to the CIHR Emerging Team Grant. A team name must be proposed as part of the application for a CIHR Emerging Team Grant. Successful applicants and their host institutions will be required to agree in writing to proper use of the team name as well as the CIHR (and applicable partners) logo(s) on appropriate communications materials such as brochures, letterhead, publications and media materials. Recognition guidelines, including instructions on logo use, will be provided to successful applicants as part of the approval package.

Review Process and Evaluation Criteria

Relevance Review

Relevance review of Emerging Team Grant applications will occur. Please refer to the "Review Process and Evaluation Criteria" section of individual funding opportunities for further information.

Peer Review

Once review of LOIs is completed, selected applicants will be invited to submit a full application. The names of teams invited to apply and the topic of their research will be published on the CIHR Website.

Each Emerging Team Grant application will be evaluated as a single, integrated entity: the Team research program and the collaborative aspect. It is critical to demonstrate that the Emerging Team Grant will strengthen capacity and bring added value, in terms of the approach to the health and disease, health care or health system issue, and the speed and efficiency with which new knowledge will be generated, or translated into improvements in health or the health care system, through the new directions of research proposed by the team.

Applications will be reviewed by specifically-constituted, multidisciplinary peer review committee(s) designed specifically for the review of Emerging Team Grants. Committee members are selected based on suggestions from many sources including the institute(s) / portfolio(s) and partner(s), following CIHR's Policy on Confidentiality, Conflict of Interest and Privacy Issues in Peer and Relevance Review (CCIP). For information on CIHR's peer review process in general, see the Peer Review section of CIHR's Website.

Evaluation Criteria

General criteria for assessing applications are listed below. CIHR recognizes that applicant Teams will emphasize different approaches to research and to knowledge translation, thus it is understood that reviewers and committees will weight criteria such as these differently from one application to another.

Impact

• How important and original are the contributions expected from the research proposed? What is the potential for important new knowledge or impact on health and health research?

Innovation

• Does the proposed program challenge the current research thinking and paradigms and/or address unexplored areas?
• How important, novel and/or original are the hypotheses or the questions to be addressed, and how clearly are they formulated?
• How will a Emerging Team Grant add value by bringing together researchers, in a meaningful collaboration to advance our understanding of the health problem or issue?

Methodology

• Is the health and disease, health care or health system issue approached through an original, cohesive/integrated and feasible research plan that will generate valid, reliable and useful knowledge?
• Has the Team identified the roles and contributions of all the parties in planning, execution, and evaluation as well as management activities?
• Does the Team have a plan for engaging and linking with, and a description of the approaches that will be taken, to reach those who will utilize and apply the results?

Applicant's Productivity, Experience and Training

• How appropriate to the research proposed is the training or track record of the applicants?
• Have team members demonstrated sustained productivity, creativity and originality in their research?

Environment

• Has the Team demonstrated the potential for excellence through their approach to recruiting members and providing a superior training opportunity for graduate and/or post-doctoral trainees, as well as independent investigators who may be new to the team's area of research?

For those engaged with partners:

• Are governance and management structures in place to ensure the meaningful integration of community partners in the decision-making process?
• To what extent are partners involved and committed to formulating the research agenda, providing input into the development of research and training projects, disseminating findings, and applying the outcomes of research?
• Does the proposal demonstrate the involvement of the necessary local, regional, provincial/territorial, national and/or international partners in the planning and execution of the research plan, and the application of the research results? Will this involvement permit research activities and outcomes that would not otherwise be possible?

Additional Information

Problem-based: A problem-based approach reflects a deliberate strategy to reach out to all disciplines and research approaches that are relevant to the challenges of human health and disease, and the efficient delivery of effective and appropriate health care services.

Partnered teams: Partners may include decision-makers (individuals who make decisions about, or influence, health policies or practices) , program administrators, care givers, policy makers and practitioners working in health-oriented community organizations, community-based foundations and organizations (having a mandate for the promotion of health, diagnosis, treatment or palliation of ill-health or avoidance of illness), local, provincial/territorial and national health charities and non-profit organizations, hospital and research institute foundations, municipal and regional health authorities, public health departments, district health councils, and federal/provincial/territorial government agencies.