the ontario institute for cancer research (oicr) window-of-opportunity (woo) network is inviting concept submissions for woo trials, which target the ‘window’ of time after cancer diagnosis, typically prior to initiation of cancer therapy (usually surgery with curative intent). in presurgical woo trials, patients with treatment naïve or early-stage disease are treated for a brief ‘window’ period with a novel therapy followed by surgical resection.
 
funding support is provided to prioritized trial concepts that meet funding criteria. investigators will present their concepts during the woo network meeting on thursday, february 9, 2023. once prioritized, further trial development is engaged, facilitated and iterative.
 
woo trial criteria

• design: multi-centre, presurgical randomized window trial with less than 100 patients
• disease: early-stage disease (newly diagnosed treatment naive or early recurrent cancer)
• drug: if drug intervention is considered, demonstrated drug safety profile is available, along with evidence of strong support of the trial concept and timely drug availability by industry partners
• feasibility: patient accrual completion within two years, with ethics approval and study start-up within six months after funding approval
• focus: immunomodulation with identification of novel biomarkers of immune response

eligibility

the woo network invites trial concepts from investigators at ontario academic centres and hospital research institutes. funding is only tenable in ontario. for profit entities are not eligible to receive oicr funding.  

the network is focused on building woo study capacity in ontario, and strongly encourages including early career investigators/clinicians as part of the study team.

funding available

successful woo trials will be funded to a maximum of $400,000. note that oicr does not provide overhead for clinical trials. funding is contingent upon available funding from the government of ontario via the ministry of colleges and universities.

ontario is now accepting applications for the 2023-2024 species at risk stewardship program, part of the province’s continued action helping protect and recover species at risk and their habitats.

the species at risk stewardship program (sarsp) supports strong environmental stewardship by funding a diversity of projects that help protect and recover ontario’s species at risk. these projects are led by individuals, communities and groups across the province.

applications must be received electronically through transfer payment ontario (tpon) by 3:00 p.m. (et) on october 20, 2022.

all applicants are required to create a one-key account and to register for tpon. please follow the steps outlined online to access, register and submit for funding from the ontario government. we recommend completing these registration steps as soon as possible, as it may take up to five business days to be granted access.

once logged on to tpon, you can access the 2023-24 sarsp application form and supporting materials to complete and submit your project application. 

the 2023-2024 species at risk stewardship program guidelines can be accessed online through the listing of available funding opportunities webpage and are also attached here. the guidelines outline program requirements and other important details, including the annual funding priorities. applicants are asked to carefully read the guidelines before completing and submitting an application. 

for more information about the sarsp, please contact the species at risk stewardship program team at sar.stewardship@ontario.ca or call 705-313-2585.

building upon the original goals of the bwf preterm birth initiative, a recently convened pregnancy think tank has helped shape the next generation of bwf preterm birth awards. growing evidence suggests the interrelatedness of the duration of pregnancy, fetal growth, and adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, stillbirth, and maternal medical complications including maternal mortality.

other areas of interest are climate change and environmental impact on pregnancy, complications associated with art, and epigenome-wide association studies.

we seek to expand the scope of this award mechanism to capture these and other pregnancy outcomes as we believe they will be mutually informative and accelerate discovery. each award will continue to provide up to $500,000 over a four-year period ($125,000 per year).

the initiative is designed to stimulate both creative individual scientists and multi-investigator teams to approach healthy and adverse pregnancy outcomes using creative basic and translation science methods. the formation of new connections between reproductive scientists and investigators who are involved in other areas is particularly encouraged.

for more information, please contact jill sherman, international research facilitator, at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca.

the natural sciences and engineering research council of canada (nserc) is pleased to announce that the joint call for canada-germany research proposals on sustainable processes and chemistry is now open.

last year, nserc and the german research foundation (deutsche forschungsgemeinschaft or dfg) renewed their decade long partnership, agreeing to expand the scope of their collaboration to support joint research projects, underpinned by a streamlined application and review process. this joint call is the first between nserc and dfg to accept a single collaborative research proposal from research teams in canada and germany that will undergo a scientific review process led by dfg.

the proposed canada-germany collaborative research projects must focus on basic and fundamental research and are expected to generate new knowledge and address one or more research challenges related to environmental sustainability.  canadian academic researchers may receive up to $100,000 per year for up to three years from nserc to support their participation in the collaborative research project while german researchers may receive funding from dfg. this call for proposals includes a two-stage application process whereby canadian researchers must first submit a modified alliance international collaboration grant application to nserc by december 7, 2022. for more information, please read the funding opportunity on nserc’s website.

please contact jill sherman, international research facilitator, at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca for more information.

we are pleased to announce a call for applications for the 2023 tanaka fund grant to support promising junior japanese studies scholars. this competition will be dependent on the covid-19 pandemic and any travel restrictions imposed by the government of canada or the government of japan.

annual value: a total of $60,000 is available for this year’s awards.

value of grants: grants up to a maximum of $10,000 are available

who is eligible: masters or pre-dissertation doctoral 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 with a research focus on japan, using methods from the social sciences and humanities

duration: a maximum of three months in japan

application deadline: january 8, 2023

for more information, please consult the tanaka fund guidelines.

for more information, please contact jill sherman, international research facilitator, at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca.

the r&d partnership fund – electric vehicle (ev) – stream 2 program supports projects related to the development and demonstration of technologies in electric vehicles (ev) and battery manufacturing technologies in the following priority areas:

• mass light vehicles, such as cars, trucks and vans
• heavy duty vehicles, including commercial vehicles, trucks, buses, recreational vehicles (rvs), and others used for goods movement
• charging infrastructure
• intelligent transportation systems (its)
• transit-supportive systems and vehicles

the r&d partnership fund – c/av and smart mobility – stream 2 program supports projects related to the development, testing, validation, and demonstration of connected and autonomous vehicle (c/av) and smart mobility technologies in the following priority areas:

• mass light vehicles, such as cars, trucks, and vans
• heavy duty vehicles, including commercial vehicles, trucks, buses, recreational vehicles (rvs), and others used for goods movement
• transportation infrastructure
• intelligent transportation systems (its)
• transit-supportive systems and vehicles

designed to help launch the careers of outstanding researchers who are within the first 6 years of their initial academic appointment

• amount: $200,000
• duration: up to 4 years
• eligibility: within the first 6 years of initial faculty position