(Deadline: November 16, 2020)
*** For complete instructions, download the complete Request for Proposals (PDF) at the bottom of this page ***
Background
The current Request for Proposal (RFP) provides the details to apply for round three of the McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity (MI4) Seed Fund Grant (SFG) competition.
The overarching goal of MI4 is to bring together investigators from across the McGill community and its partners to foster interdisciplinary research aiming to discover, develop and implement innovative solutions for infectious and immune threats to human health across the lifespan.
All proposals must be aligned with one of the following two broad thematic areas: Infection or Immunity. There will be a maximum of five grants funded under this RFP. All applications will be ranked by the same criteria described in Section 8.2 below, and the two highest-ranked submissions in each thematic area will be funded. The final grant will be awarded according to its ranking within the pool of all submissions, irrespective of choice of thematic area. At least one SFG will be awarded to a team that includes an early stage investigator (less than 10 years from first faculty appointment). If none of the highest-ranked submissions in each thematic area is awarded to a team that includes an early stage investigator, the final remaining grant will be awarded to the highest ranked submission which includes an early stage investigator, irrespective of choice of thematic area.
Given MI4’s substantial investment in COVID-19 research through the Emergency Coronavirus Research Fund opportunities, proposals with a specific focus on COVID-19 will NOT be eligible for this round of the SFG competition.
Global Health Programs-MI4 Steinberg Seed Fund Grant
In addition to the five grants under MI4 SFG Round 3, MI4 is pleased to collaborate with McGill Global Health Programs (GHP) to co-sponsor one additional SFG with support from the Steinberg Fund for Interdisciplinary Global Health Research. This grant will support a new, interdisciplinary global health research project focusing on infection or immunity. Note that there is a separate RFP for the GHP-MI4 Steinberg SFG, and a separate timeline of key dates. CLICK HERE to access the Request for Proposals for the GHP-MI4 Steinberg Seed Fund Grant.
Key Dates
- Launch of MI4 SFG – Round 3: October 7, 2020
- SFG application deadline: November 16, 2020, 11:59 PM Eastern Time
- Evaluation period: November 17 to February 28, 2021 (to be confirmed)
- SFG announcement to applicants: March 1, 2021 (to be confirmed)
Objectives of the SFG Program
- To establish new, interdisciplinary translational research teams across multiple McGill sites. MI4 uses the contemporary definition of interdisciplinary as: combining or involving several academic disciplines or professional specializations in an approach to a topic or problem.
- To support preliminary and proof-of-concept studies by these collaborative research teams that will position them to secure external funding. The goal is to seed new research, not to replace conventional sources of funding for already-established programs and teams, or serve as bridge funding for established programs.
Scope
The SFG program supports innovative approaches that address one or more of the MI4 thematic areas. The proposed research must be interdisciplinary and the two co-PIs should represent different fields of expertise. Examples include, but are not limited to: fundamental immunology and biostatistics, applied immunology and social science or health economics. As noted above, COVID-19-focused proposals are not eligible in this competition.
Team Composition
The SFG program is co-funded by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC-RI) and McGill University. Accordingly, an SFG requires two co-Principal Investigators: one from the MUHC-RI, and one from McGill University (any non-MUHC-RI site). An investigator’s location is defined as the primary location where their research team is located. The inclusion of other McGill community investigators as collaborators is encouraged, but only two co-Principal Investigators are permitted. Investigators external to the McGill community are welcome to join the project team as collaborators, but may not be co-Principal Investigators. Subcontracts to investigators outside McGill University and its affiliated institutions are only permitted under exceptional, well justified conditions, subject to MI4 approval.
Eligibility
The Principal Investigators must meet the conditions of University Researcher or Clinical University Researcher as defined by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec (frqs-generales-communes). In accordance with the appropriate RI-MUHC and McGill policies, a researcher devotes more than 50% of their time to research and teaching.
A researcher may participate in two SFG applications but will only be eligible to receive 1 SFG award per cycle as co-Principal Investigator, to a maximum of two concurrently-held SFG awards.
Available Funds and Grant Term
In the current round of the MI4 SFG program, funds are available to support up to five grants for a maximum of $150,000 each for a grant term of 18 months. MI4 SFG awards are non-renewable and unspent funds must be returned to the source from which the funds originated (either MUHC-RI or McGill) at the end of this period.
Submission Deadline
The deadline for submissions is November 16, 2020 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
Instructions for Submission
For instructions for submission, please download the Request for Proposals (PDF) via the below link.
Contact
Please direct any inquiries regarding this RFP to admincoordmcgilli4.med [at] mcgill.ca. Generally, a response will be provided within one business day.
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