Grants and Contributions

The Project Grant program is expected to:

• Support a diverse portfolio of health-related research and knowledge translation proposals at any stage, from discovery to application, including commercialization;
• Promote relevant collaborations across disciplines, professions, and sectors; and
• Contribute to the creation and use of health-related knowledge.

The objective is to invest in targeted COVID priority research areas from the Fall 2020 Project Grant competition such as vaccine hesitancy, pregnant women and children, racialized populations, Indigenous, confidence in science and SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are:
• To provide recognition and funding to academic researchers;
• To provide a reliable supply of highly skilled and qualified researchers.

• The CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity (CIHR-III) will offer funding for an application determined to be specifically relevant to CIHR-III broad mandate as described below:
o The Institute of Infection and Immunity (III) supports research and helps to build research capacity in the areas of infectious disease and the body's immune system. Through the Institute's programs, researchers address a wide range of health concerns related to infection and immunity including disease mechanisms, disease prevention and treatment, and health promotion through public policy.

The objective is to invest in targeted COVID priority research areas from the Fall 2020 Project Grant competition such as vaccine hesitancy, pregnant women and children, racialized populations, Indigenous, confidence in science and SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) is a national coalition of federal, provincial and territorial partners (patients and informal caregivers, provincial health authorities, health centres, charities, philanthropic organizations, private sector, etc.) dedicated to the integration of research into care. Its vision is that by 2025, Canada will have demonstrably improved health outcomes and enhanced the health care experience for patients through the integration of evidence at all levels of the health care system.

As outlined in the SPOR Patient Engagement Framework, patient-oriented research refers to a continuum of research that engages patients as partners, focusses on patient-identified priorities and improves patient outcomes. This research, conducted by multidisciplinary teams in partnership with relevant stakeholders, aims to apply the knowledge generated to improve healthcare systems and practices.
As a partner in SPOR, CIHR will provide bridge funding for fundable applications that are below the competition funding cut-off and aligned with the SPOR vision and the SPOR Patient Engagement Framework. Categories are described in the Funds Available section.

Applications must ensure relevance to all objectives:
• To enable a comprehensive and timely understanding of the biological, clinical, social, and population health implications of emerging SARS-CoV-2 VOCs and their relevance for public health, health systems and policy through the establishment of an interdisciplinary CIHR Network for Emerging Variants Research;
• To provide an integrated platform within Canada to coordinate across different research areas that focus on emerging VOCs research through coordination across different disciplines and pillars of research and integrating surveillance efforts through a sustained collaboration/partnership with the VOCN and other relevant local, national, and international partners; and
• To swiftly provide high-quality and real-time data on urgent and emerging research priorities in support of Canada rapid response to emerging SARS-COV2 variants, through building and activating as needed, a rapid response capacity in Canada which can coordinate and conduct all aspects of VOC related research.

The objectives of Stream 1 are:
•Accelerate rapid research on SARS-CoV-2 variants in Canada to contribute to the national and global efforts to address SARS-CoV-2 variants; and
•Generate timely evidence on SARS-CoV-2 variants that will show impact within 3-6 months and is relevant to biological, clinical, health system, and public health strategies.

Stream 1 applicants are strongly encouraged to consider maximizing impact by outlining how they intend to participate in:
1.The formation of a network (Stream 2) or participating in a network formed by another NPA (Stream 2); and,
2.The CIHR Network for Emerging Variants Research once established.

The objective is to invest in targeted COVID priority research areas from the Fall 2020 Project Grant competition such as vaccine hesitancy, pregnant women and children, racialized populations, Indigenous, confidence in science and SARS-CoV-2 variants.

• The CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes (INMD) will provide funding for applications in which the objectives and aims are determined to be largely and directly relevant to the INMD mandate as described below:
o CIHR-INMD supports research to enhance health in relation to diet, digestion, excretion, and metabolism; and to address causes, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation for a wide range of conditions and problems associated with hormone, digestive system, kidney, and liver.
• These grants afford principal investigators an opportunity to resubmit their research proposal without the loss of momentum, staff or trainees.