neurodegenerative diseases are debilitating and largely untreatable conditions that are strongly linked with age. worldwide, there are estimated to be 50 million people with alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, the most common group of neurodegenerative diseases. this figure is expected to double every 20 years as the population ages. with very few causal treatments being available today, neurodegenerative diseases have high personal, societal and economic impact.

in this context, the eu joint programme - neurodegenerative disease research (jpnd) has been established to better coordinate research efforts across countries and disciplines to find causes, develop cures and identify better ways to care for people with neurodegenerative diseases.

it is known that the onset of neurodegenerative diseases occurs years before the appearance of the first clinical symptoms. however, our current understanding on the biological, psychological and social mechanisms that determine early disease progression as well as our ability to precisely monitor the course of the disease at pre-symptomatic stages is very limited. delayed detection of disease progression may be the reason for the multiple failures observed in clinical trials during the past years. in this context, improving our understanding of the crucial biological mechanisms and psychosocial factors determining risk and resilience for neurodegenerative diseases is needed along with an enhanced measurability of disease progression through the establishment of advanced biological and psychosocial markers. respective advancements may allow a more accurate identification of pre-symptomatic disease stages and a reliable monitoring of disease progression, thereby enabling a better prediction of disease trajectories and paving the way for new therapeutic and preventive approaches.

for this reason, cihr is joining jpnd on their launch of this joint transnational call with the aim of improving the understanding of disease mechanisms and advancing measurability of disease progression at early and pre-symptomatic stages of neurodegenerative diseases.

for more information, please consult the jpnd call for proposals.

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

the hfsp fellowship program supports proposals for frontier, potentially transformative research in the life sciences. applications for high-risk projects are particularly encouraged. the projects should be interdisciplinary in nature and should challenge existing paradigms by using novel approaches and techniques. scientifically, they should address an important problem or a barrier to progress in the field.

hfsp postdoctoral fellowships encourage early career scientists to broaden their research skills by moving into new areas of study while working in a new country.

two different fellowships are available:

long-term fellowships (ltf) are for applicants with a phd on a biological topic who want to embark on a novel and frontier project focussing on the life sciences.

cross-disciplinary fellowships (cdf) are for applicants who hold a doctoral degree from a non-biological discipline (e.g. physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering or computer sciences) and who have not worked in the life sciences before.

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

the specific objectives of this funding opportunity are to:

• generate new knowledge through olmc researcher-led teams to advance our understanding of the health care issues facing canadians living in official language minority communities.
• cultivate collaborations that build and/or strengthen co-design and partnerships between researchers and the olmc health care community (i.e., policy and decision-makers) with a shared goal in supporting evidence-informed solutions to the health issues experienced within official language minority communities.
• maximize research impact and knowledge mobilization to facilitate the integration and use of evidence to inform health policy, program development and system improvements.
• foster a high-quality, interdisciplinary training and mentoring environment that actively engages trainees and early career researchers to increase capacity and prepare a diverse next generation of leaders to address olmc health priorities.

the specific objective of this funding opportunity is:

• to provide important early career development support to child health researchers and enhance their ability to compete for future research grants.

canada-china scholars’ exchange program is part of global affairs canada’s international scholarships program.

global affairs canada and the ministry of education of the people’s republic of china are offering short-term scholarships to canadians wishing to pursue post-secondary studies, research or chinese language training or a combination of these activities at institutions in china. established in 1973, the canada-china scholars’ exchange program (ccsep) was the result of an undertaking by then chinese premier zhou enlai and canadian prime minister pierre elliott trudeau. over the past 50 years, more than 1,100 scholars have participated in the program. canadian scholars have brought new perspectives to their host country and returned to canada with enhanced knowledge and understanding of china.

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

eurogia , the eureka cluster focused on clean technologies, has launched their 25th call for collaborative research and development project proposals.

eurogia is a flexible, industry-driven eureka cluster program whose aim is to promote innovative, collaborative, international and close-to-market r&d projects in clean technologies.

sector of focus

clean technologies in, but not limited to, the following areas:

• carbon-free energy supply
• green mobility and smart cities
• smarter housings and constructions
• bio resources and environment

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

the purpose of this fellowship program is to highlight the role of women in devising scientific solutions to problems confronting humankind in the 21st century.  the program supports major research projects undertaken by women scientists at the postdoctoral level in canada.

veterans affairs canada invites applications for participatory research that explores the biopsychosocial impacts of pelvic health issues for women veterans across the life span. the goal of this research funding opportunity is to support exploration of the risk factors, biopsychosocial impacts and associated burden of pelvic health issues for women veterans. the due date for applications is 23 february 2024 at 11:59 pm (pst).

capacity building initiative (cbi) - master’s 

capacity building initiative (cbi) - doctoral