McGill.CA / Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives / Funding Opportunities / Neuro Commercialization Grants

Neuro Commercialization Grants - Ignite

 

Please note that this program is currently inactive and not accepting new submissions.

Funds available

Up to $50,000 for 6 months.

Funding is non-renewable.

Timeline

 Please note that this program is currently inactive and not accepting new submissions.

Application process

Prerequisite: A report of Invention (ROI) must have been filed with the Innovation and Partnerships Office at McGill (I+P).

  1. Applicants will be required to meet with NeuroSphere staff prior to submitting an application to determine stage of readiness and fit for the program;
  2. Applications will be reviewed internally for eligibility and relevance;
  3. Applications will be sent to a review committee, which will review the application for program relevance and project advancement. The most promising applications will be submitted to the HBHL Innovation Committee (IC);
  4. The IC will make a recommendation for funding to the HBHL Strategic Steering Committee (SSC);
  5. Successful applicants will be required to submit a final report to HBHL and meet with NeuroSphere at the end of the granting period to discuss their results and whether they are ready to submit an application to the Accelerate phase.

Submission

Submission for this program is currently closed.

Overview

The Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives (HBHL) initiative is a high profile, high priority multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral initiative located at McGill University made possible with support from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF). The HBHL Strategic Research Plan outlines the vision, deliverables, and overall goals of the initiative, and the research priorities of its four research themes.

Ignite grants represent the first of two phases in the HBHL Neuro-Commercialization Grants program. The objective of the Ignite grant is to support small-scale validation/proof-of-principle efforts in the development of a neuroscience-related technology.

Process

1. Meet with NeuroSphere staff and obtain invitation to apply

Applicants must meet with the NeuroSphere team to discuss their application to ensure eligibility for funding and alignment with HBHL goals.

2. Eligibility review

The NeuroSphere team will assess the eligibility of applications based on the following criteria:

Applicant eligibility:

  • Applicant: The applicant must be a McGill researcher who is eligible to hold Tri-Agency research funding (students and postdoctoral researchers are not eligible).
  • Co-applicants: Co-applicants must be researchers from McGill University or from one of our CFREF partner institutions (Western University, Université de Montréal, University of British Columbia or Montréal Polytechnique). Grant funding may NOT be transferred to co-applicants from other institutions.

Intellectual Property:

  • A report of Invention (ROI) must have been filed with the Innovation and Partnerships Office at McGill (I+P). If a McGill-affiliated researcher decides to manage IP by him/herself, without I+P, he/she will not be eligible. Even if projects adhere to guiding principles of Open Science, a ROI must be filed.
  • The technology must also not yet be licensed or optioned.

Application completeness:

For an application to be considered complete, it must include:

3. Relevance Review

The NeuroSphere team will evaluate the relevance of applications based on the following criteria:

  • Alignment: The project must be within the field of neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, mental health or neuroinformatics and align with HBHL's Strategic Research Plan.
  • Allowable Costs: Funding must go towards direct support of technology maturation (i.e., personnel, materials and supplies). Business case and model evaluation and strategic planification could also be considered as allowable costs. Equipment is not an eligible expense. Other non-eligible expenses include market studies, patent searches or filling, maintenance costs, or salaries associated with commercial development. Although these activities are not eligible, I+P and NeuroSphere staff can provide assistance in these areas. Funds cannot be used for compensation/salary for principle investigators, co-investigators or collaborators.

4. Peer Review

Once the eligibility and relevance has been validated, a peer review committee will be formed to review the application based on the following criteria:

  • Program relevance;
  • Project advancement and translational potential (clinic/market);
  • Appropriateness of the proposed budget.

5. Strategic Selection and Final Approval

The NeuroSphere staff will submit a pre-selection of the most promising, high-priority projects to the HBHL Innovation Committee for final approval. Final authorization of funds will be made by the HBHL Strategic Steering Committee.

6. Results and Post-Awards

  • All applicants will be notified by email of the results of the competition by the end of January 2020.
  • Successful applicants will be sent a Notice of Award. It is the applicant’s responsibility to complete the Acceptance of Award form and other required documents including the McGill Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) checklist, by the indicated date.
  • Project start date must fall after the award has been approved.

7. Responsibilities of Successful Applicants

Successful Principal Investigators are required to:

  • Spend all awarded funds within the granting period—no extensions will be permitted except in extremely extenuating circumstances;
  • Provide a final report to HBHL within 30 days of the end of the granting period to retain access to all other HBHL funding programs; and
  • Meet with the NeuroSphere business development team at the end of the granting period to discuss results and potential to apply to the Accelerate grant phase;
  • Funded researchers, their collaborators and trainees are encouraged to attend educational, training and entrepreneurship events and or co-investigators and workshops offered by NeuroSphere.

Application

All applications must be submitted online through the Ignite grant application form as a single PDF document. Please use the templates provided below.

Proposal

Access the Proposal template (upload as part of single PDF application package)

In a maximum of 5 pages, describe the research project for which funding is requested. Refer to the evaluation criteria. Number the pages and indicate the Applicant’s name in the top right corner of each page. The Research Project should contain the following sections (with required space limitations):

  1. Overview (1 page) Should include:
  • Description of the technology/invention and justification on how the requested funds will contribute to the maturation/commercialization of the technology/invention
  • Possible business opportunity and end-user(s)
  1. Advancement of the project and objectives (2 pages) Should include:
  • Background and context of the technology/invention
  • Currents results and stage of development
  • Competitive advantages and limitations of the technology/invention
  • What needs to be accomplished in order to move the technology/invention into a feasible maturation/commercialization path to ultimately solve an identified medical problem/need
  1. Research and Technical plan (2 pages) Should include:
  • Description of technical/scientific and commercial requirements to move the technology/invention forward
  • Explain how the R&T plan will address these requirements and facilitate the transition towards maturation/commercialization
  • Timelines and deliverables
  1. SGBA+ and EDI (1/2 page) Should include:
  • Sex- and Gender-based Analysis Plus (SGBA+) : Describe how sex as a biological variable, gender as a socio-cultural determinant of health and/or other relevant factors (e.g. race, age, Indigeneity, ability) have been considered in the research so far and how they will be integrated into the work going forward (if applicable). If none of the above factors were considered, provide an evidence-based justification for this decision. The applicant must attach to the application an electronic certificate of completion, showing their name and date completed, from at least one of CIHR’s Online Training Modules on Integrating Sex and Gender in Health Research
  • Describe the manner in which the activities of your research team, and the team(s) of any collaborators, advance McGill’s commitment to Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (EDI). View examples of practices that you may wish to refer to in your response, and implement if you have not already

Note: Applicant must include all the necessary information (including tables, figures and a list of references) within 5 pages (additional 1/2 page permitted for project SGBA+ and EDI description). Please note that extra pages will be removed from your application.

Budget

Access the Budget template (upload as part of single PDF application package)

Provide details of the anticipated expenses, and how they were calculated. Justify why these expenses are necessary to the project. Mention any relevant quotes from suppliers for materials or services >$10,000. Specify any co-funding contributions from collaborators, industrial partners or foundations.

Biosketch(es)

Access the Biosketch template (upload as part of single PDF application package)

For each applicant and co-applicant, provide a maximum 2-page biosketch that includes: Name, Affiliation; Education/training; Employment/affiliations; Research funding in the past 4 years; Most significant contributions (e.g. publications) (up to five).

Applicant and co-applicant(s) are invited to describe any career interruptions to explain impact on productivity. If this option is chosen, an additional maximal half page (only for this purpose) may be added to their 2-page CV.

Note: Please do not submit biosketches for collaborators.

 

Back to top