CANARIE, a vital component of Canada’s digital infrastructure supporting research, education and innovation, today announced a call for proposals for development of software tools to support a strong research data management (RDM) ecosystem in Canada.

The call for proposals supports the development of RDM software that encourages the adoption of RDM best practices, specifically the FAIR Principles, which state that research data should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. The tools developed through this call are intended to enable compliance with evolving policy guidelines and international data management standards.

Research data management in Canada is evolving. While some elements that support RDM have been developed, there are still significant gaps in the ecosystem. CANARIE conducted a community consultation to identify these gaps and priority areas for software development. The community’s responses were assessed by CANARIE’s Research Data Management Advisory Committee and eight themes were identified as priority areas for the development of software tools (more detail on these areas may be found in call documents):

• Enriching (Meta)Data and Discovery
• Federated Repositories/Interoperability
• Domain-specific Repositories
• Data Deposit and Curation
• Preservation
• Persistent IDs/Citability
• Data Access and Analytics
• Data Privacy and Security

This call focuses on projects that respond to gaps in these theme areas.

“Effective research data management is critical for the collaborative and multidisciplinary research needed to create new knowledge that drives innovation,” says Dr. David Castle, Vice President, Research at the University of Victoria and a member of the CANARIE Board of Directors and Research Data Management Advisory Committee. “We thank the community for helping to identify areas in the RDM ecosystem that can be strengthened through the development of new software tools.”

This call for proposals closes on June 20th. More detailed information on the call, including scoring criteria, FAQs and supporting documents may be found here. Additionally, interested participants are invited to attend an informational webinar to discuss and ask questions about the call. Participants may register for the webinar of their choice by using the links below: 

• May 16^th, 2018 13:00 Eastern Time | Register here: canarie.ca/rdm-call-webinar-1
• May 17^th, 2018 13:00 Eastern Time | Register here: canarie.ca/rdm-call-webinar-2

Funding for transformative, novel, high-risk, high-reward translational research projects on neurodegenerative diseases of aging.

Applications in this round must relate to one of the following disease(s): Parkinson’s disease, Progressive supranuclear palsy, dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple systems atrophy, prodromes and/or vascular contributions to these diseases.

Funding Available: $200,000 to $1,500,000 over up to 3 years.

The project structure (i.e. the frequency and detail of the go/no go milestones) and the quality of the preliminary data should commensurate with the size of budget.

Project Eligibility: Project must involve the development of either a therapeutic, a tool, select complementary approaches, or a combination of the above to help accelerate the development of therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases of aging.

NEW for 2018/2019:
Certain complementary approaches (i.e., diet, physical activity, sleep and nutritional supplements) will be eligible for funding through the Transformational Research program, if applications meet our disease and project scope criteria.

We encourage applications that bring in expertise, technologies or approaches in the following areas to advance the development of therapeutics and tools for neurodegenerative diseases of aging: Artificial Intelligence, big data, machine learning, data science, computer science, medicinal chemistry, biostatistics and engineering. Read more.

Please see the Request for Applications or visit our website for more information.

Seed funding for novel, high-risk, high-reward translational research projects on neurodegenerative diseases of aging. Preliminary data is not required.  

Applications in this round must relate to one of the following disease(s): PD, PSP, DLB, MSA, prodromes and/or vascular contributions to these diseases.

Funding Available: Up to $200,000 over up to 18 months.

Project Eligibility: Project must involve the development of either a therapeutic, a tool, select complementary approaches, or a combination of above to help accelerate the development of therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases of aging.

NEW for 2018/2019:
Certain complementary approaches (i.e., diet, physical activity, sleep and nutritional supplements) will be eligible for funding through the Rapid Response program, if applications meet our disease and project scope criteria.

We encourage applications that bring in expertise, technologies or approaches in the following areas to advance the development of therapeutics and tools for neurodegenerative diseases of aging: artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning, data science, computer science, medicinal chemistry, biostatistics and engineering. Read more.

Please see the Request for Applications or visit our website for more information.

The International Energy Demonstration Fund will provide financial support to Ontario companies that have developed innovative clean energy technologies for new markets. Developed in collaboration with industry partners and the federal government, the fund will give clean technology innovators the opportunity to increase their capacity to bring their advanced energy solutions to new markets, while helping solve global energy challenges, such as emissions from energy generation and access to clean, reliable energy.

Applications are now open online, and will close on July 19, 2018. Eligible clean energy technology projects could include microgrid, solar, storage, smart meter data and nuclear projects.

Please note that universities can participate in these projects as well.

FY18 MSRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on Grants.gov.

As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency (DHA), J9 Research and Development Directorate manages the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation. The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

Applications submitted to the FY18 MSRP must address at least one of the following Focus Areas:

1) Obstacles to Remyelination and/or Obstacles to Axonal Protection in MS

• Examples of acceptable studies include, but are not limited to, the roles of inhibitory factors, trophic factors, cell-cell interactions, and cell intrinsic factors.
• Utilization and/or development of models that reflect the disease progression and translational approaches to evaluate benefit are encouraged.

Note: Projects addressing the basic mechanisms of demyelination and neurodegeneration, inflammation or prevention of secondary injury following inflammation will not be considered for funding.

(2) Correlates of Disease Activity and Progression in MS

Studies may identify or validate correlates of disease activity and progression using pre-existing specimens and/or data acquired from well-characterized, adequately controlled, and sufficiently powered patient cohorts.

• Correlates include clinical outcome measures, patient self-reported measures, and imaging and non-imaging biomarkers.
• Examples of acceptable cohorts for study include controlled clinical trials, observational studies, and registries. Analyses may utilize existing clinical data and outcome measures, specimens, and/or imaging data.

Note: The study must leverage pre-existing specimens and/or data that are available at the time of application submission; collection of additional data on the existing cohort is allowed.

(3) Biology and Measurements of MS Symptoms (Exploration – Hypothesis Development Award ONLY!)

• Symptoms may include pain, fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, visual impairment, motor impairment, impaired mobility, loss of bladder control, sexual dysfunction, depression, and anxiety.
• Examples of acceptable studies include, but are not limited to, the following: development of measurements for future interventional studies to alleviate symptoms, rehabilitation, mechanisms underlying symptoms of MS, development and/or validation of outcome measures and tools for symptoms, and observational studies on the prevalence or significance of symptoms.

Note: Studies of disease-modifying or regenerative therapies that secondarily impact symptoms will not be considered for funding.

http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/msrp

Exploration - Hypothesis Development Award – Preproposal due June 26, 2018

Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

• Pre-application submission is required; application submission is by invitation only.
• Supports the initial exploration of innovative, high-risk, high-gain, and potentially groundbreaking concepts in the MS research field.
• Preliminary data and/or published data not required.
• Anticipated that budgets will not exceed $150,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
• Period of performance not to exceed 2 years

·         Clinical trials not allowed.

Investigator-Initiated Research Award – Preproposal due June 26, 2018

Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)

• Pre-application submission is required; application submission is by invitation only.
• Supports highly rigorous, high-impact research with the potential to make an important contribution to MS research and/or patient care.
• Preliminary and/or published data required.

• Anticipated that budgets will not exceed $600,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)

• Period of performance not to exceed 3 years

·         Clinical trials not allowed.

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) at https://eBRAP.org prior to the pre-application deadline. All applications must conform to the final Program Announcements and General Application Instructions available for electronic downloading from the Grants.gov website. The application package containing the required forms for each award mechanism is also found on Grants.gov. A listing of all CDMRP funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420.

Applications must be submitted through the federal government’s single-entry portal, Grants.gov. For email notification when Program Announcements are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under “Email Subscriptions” on the eBRAP homepage at https://eBRAP.org. For more information about the MSRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (http://cdmrp.army.mil).

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Help Desk
301-682/5507
help@eBrap.org

FY18 PRCRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on Grants.gov. 

As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency, (DHA) J9, Research and Development Directorate manages the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation.  The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

Congressionally Directed Topic Areas:  To be considered for funding, applications for the FY18 PRCRP must address at least one of the Topic Areas as directed by Congress.  Research applications in the areas of breast, prostate, lung (excluding mesothelioma), kidney, or ovarian cancer will not be accepted.

*The definition of adolescents and young adults is derived from the National Cancer Institute (https://www.cancer.gov/types/aya) and can be considered to be people between the ages of 15-39 years.  Cancers studied under this Topic Area should be within the scope of the Congressional language and the intent of the Program Announcement(s)

^†As derived from the National Cancer Institute Dictionary of Cancer terms (http://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms).  Immunotherapy is a type of biological therapy that uses substances to stimulate or suppress the immune system to help the body fight cancer.  Cancers studied under this Topic Area should be within the scope of the Congressional language and the intent of the Program Announcement(s).

The FY18 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Areas are listed below:

To address the cancer health needs of both deployed and non-deployed personnel, their dependents, retirees, and Veterans, the FY18 PRCRP seeks to support studies that are responsive to at least one of Military Relevance Focus Areas listed below:

• Militarily relevant risk factors associated with cancer (e.g., ionizing radiation, chemicals, infectious agents, environmental carcinogens, and stress)
• Gaps in cancer prevention, screening, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and/or survivorship that may impact mission readiness and the health and well-being of military members, Veterans, and their beneficiaries and the general public

http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/prcrp

Career Development Award – Letter of Intent August 28, 2018

Principal Investigator (PI): Independent early-career investigator within 10 years of completing terminal degree (excluding time spent in medical residency or on family medical leave) at the time of the application submission: time spent as a postdoctoral fellow is not excluded.

Postdoctoral fellows are not eligible.

Career Guide: Investigators at or above the level of Associate Professor (or equivalent); must have a proven publication and funding record in cancer research 

The PI and the Career Guide do not need to be located at the same organization.

·         Supports independent, early-career investigators to conduct impactful research with the mentorship of an experienced cancer researcher.

·         Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Topic Areas.

·         Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Areas.

·         Preliminary data are not required.

·         Clinical trials are not allowed.

·       Maximum funding for the entire period of performance is $360,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·       Maximum period of performance is 3 years

Idea Award with Special Focus – Preproposal due June 20, 2018

Independent investigator with a faculty-level appointment (or equivalent)

Only one pre-application per PI is allowed.

·         Supports innovative, untested, high-risk/potentially high-reward concepts, theories, paradigms, and/or methods in cancer research relevant to Service members, Veterans, other military beneficiaries, and the American Public.

·         Emphasis on innovation and military relevance/impact.

·         Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Topic Areas.

·         Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Areas.

·         Inclusion of preliminary data discouraged.

·         Clinical trials are not allowed.

·       Maximum funding for the entire period of performance is $400,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·       Maximum period of performance is 2 years

Translational Team Science Award – Preproposal due June 20, 2018

At least two and up to three PIs must partner in one overarching correlative or translational research study in at least one  of the required FY18 PRCRP Topic Areas.

The PIs must be at or above the level of Assistant Professor or equivalent.

At least one military/Department of Veterans Affairs investigator is encouraged to be included as an equal partner.

·         Supports hypothesis-driven translational studies associated with an ongoing or completed clinical trial and are focused on research for the next-phase clinical research.

·         Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Topic Areas.

·         Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Areas.

·         Encourages research in quality of life, longitudinal cancer risk studies, and risk straficiation for primary and metastatic disease.

·         Preliminary data are required.

·         Clinical trials are allowed.

·       Maximum funding for the entire period of performance is $1,000,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·       Maximum period of performance is 4 years

Impact Award – Preproposal due June 20, 2018

Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent).

Only one pre-application per Principal Investigators (PI) is allowed.

• Supports hypothesis –driven high-impact research.
• Encourages application that support the ideas that specifically focus on critical scientific and clinical cancer issued.
• Emphasis on impact, transformation, and continuity of research.
• Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Topic Areas.
• Must address at least one of the FY18 PRCRP Military Relevance Focus Areas.
• Preliminary data are required.
• Clinical trials are allowed.
• Maximum funding for the entire period of performance is $1,000,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
• Maximum period of performance is 3 years.

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) at https://eBRAP.org prior to the pre-application deadline.  All applications must conform to the final Program Announcements and General Application Instructions available for electronic downloading from the Grants.gov website.  The application package containing the required forms for each award mechanism will also be found on Grants.gov.  A listing of all CDMRP funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420. 

Applications must be submitted through the federal government’s single-entry portal, Grants.gov.  For email notification when Program Announcements are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under “Email Subscriptions” on the eBRAP homepage at https://ebrap.org/.  For more information about the PRCRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (http://cdmrp.army.mil).

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Help Desk

301-682-5507
help@eBrap.org

FY18 LCRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on Grants.gov. 

As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) J9, Research and Development Directorate manages the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation.  The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

Applications submitted to the FY18 LCRP must address at least one of the eight Areas of Emphasis listed below:

• Identify, develop, or optimize noninvasive or minimally invasive tools to improve the detection of the initial stages of lung cancer, such as, but not limited to, optimizing strategies for management of indeterminate nodules.

·         Identify, develop, and/or build upon already existing tools for screening or early detection of lung cancer. Screening may include, but is not limited to, imaging modalities, biomarkers, genetics/genomics/proteomics/metabolomics/transcriptomics, and assessment of risk factors.

·         Understand the molecular mechanisms of initiation and progression to clinically significant lung cancer.

·         Identify innovative strategies for prevention and treatment of lung cancer.

·         Understand predictive markers to identify responders and nonresponders.

·         Understand mechanisms of resistance to treatment (primary and secondary).

·         Understand contributors to lung cancer development other than tobacco.

·         Identify innovative strategies for lung cancer care delivery (clinical management/ surveillance/symptom management).

http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/lcrp

Concept Award – Letter of Intent due July 26, 2018

·         All investigators at or above the level of postdoctoral fellow (or equivalent)

·         Supports highly innovative, untested, potentially groundbreaking concepts in lung cancer

• Emphasis on innovation
• Projects involving human subjects or human biological substances must be exempt under 32 CFR 219.101(b) or be eligible for expedited review under 32 CFR 219.110 or 21 CFR 56.110.
• Clinical trials not allowed

·         Preliminary data discouraged (not consistent with intent of award mechanism)

·         Military relevance strongly encouraged

• Maximum funding of $100,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·         Period of performance should not exceed 1 year

Career Development Award – Letter of Intent due September 6, 2018

·         Principal Investigator:  Independent investigators at the level of Assistant Professor, Instructor, or equivalent; must be within 5 years of first faculty appointment

·         Must not have received a Career Development Award previously from any program within the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs.

·         Must not have received more than $300,000 in total direct costs for previous or concurrent lung cancer research as a PI of one of more federally or privately funded, non-mentored, peer-reviewed grants

·         Mentor: At or above the level of Associate Professor (or equivalent);

·         Must have a  strong publication and funding record in lung cancer research

·         Supports early-career, independent researchers to conduct research under mentorship of an experienced lung cancer researcher

·         Clinical trials not allowed

·         Preliminary data not required

·         Military relevance strongly encouraged

·         Maximum funding of $250,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·         Period of performance should not exceed 2 years

Idea Development Award – Preproposal due June 26, 2018

• Established Investigators:  Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent); or
• New Investigators:  Investigators that meet the following criteria at the application submission deadline date:

o   Have not previously received a LCRP Idea Development Award or Early Investigator Synergistic Idea Award

o   Be within 10 years of first faculty appointment (or equivalent)

• Supports new ideas in the early stages of development representing innovative, high-risk/high-gain research
• Emphasis on innovation and impact
• New Investigators: Supports applicants early in their faculty appointments or in the process of developing independent research careers
• Clinical trials not allowed
• Preliminary data required, but may be from outside of lung cancer

·         Military relevance strongly encouraged

·         Maximum funding of $350,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)

·         Period of performance should not exceed 2 years

Investigator-Initiated Translational Research Award – Preproposal due June 26, 2018

• Independent investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
• Supports translational research that will develop promising ideas in lung cancer into clinical applications.  Translational research may be defined as an integration of basic science and clinical observations
• Intended to fund a broad range of translational studies.
• Clinical trials not allowed.
• Preliminary Date required, but may be from outside of lung cancer.
• Military relevance strongly encouraged.

·         Maximum funding of $400,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)

• Period of performance should not exceed 2 years

Translational Research Partnership Award – Preproposal due June 26, 2018

• Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
• Supports partnerships between clinicians and laboratory scientists that accelerate ideas in lung cancer into clinical applications
• One partner is strongly encouraged to be from a Department of Defense military treatment facility or laboratory, or Veterans Affairs medical center or research laboratory.
• Non-Traditional Partnerships are encouraged.
• Clinical trials are allowed.
• Preliminary data required, but may be from outside of lung cancer
• Maximum combined funding of $900,000 in direct costs (plus indirect costs)
• Maximum period of performance is 3 years
• Military relevance strongly encouraged

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) at https://eBRAP.org prior to the pre-application deadline.  All applications must conform to the final Program Announcements and General Application Instructions that are available for electronic downloading from the Grants.gov website.  The application package containing the required forms for each award mechanism will also be found on Grants.gov.  A listing of all CDMRP funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420. 

Applications must be submitted through the federal government’s single-entry portal, Grants.gov.  For email notification when Program Announcements are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under “Email Subscriptions” on the eBRAP homepage at https://eBRAP.org.  For more information about the LCRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (http://cdmrp.army.mil).

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Help Desk
301-682-5507
help@eBrap.org