working together, the governments of canada and the united kingdom (uk) aim to foster and support collaborative industrial research and development (r&d) projects with a high potential for commercialization. this call for proposals is open to organizations from canada and the uk who wish to form project consortia to perform collaborative projects focused on developing innovative products, processes, or technology-based services in the area of critical minerals technologies.

the national research council of canada industrial research assistance program (nrc irap) has identified japan as a priority market to assist canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (smes) to engage in co-innovation partnerships to access japanese global value chains. in japan, much of the innovation activity and budget resides with its large corporations. as a result, nrc irap has developed a program to support canadian smes to engage in a collaborative research and development (r&d) project with japanese multinational corporations.

this program is designed to help canadian smes adapt, validate and integrate their technologies with japanese corporate partners. successful applicants that can develop a co-innovative proof of concept project with japanese partners may be eligible to receive nrc irap funding support to execute the project.

although this call invites proposals related to any technological or market area, priority is being given to the following sectors:

• digital industries
• clean technologies
• advanced manufacturing
• natural resources and energy
• health and life sciences
• agriculture and food
• transportation

eureka has launched a globalstars call for proposals for joint research and development (r&d) projects in the high tech and sustainability sectors. all consortia projects must have at least 1 eligible taiwanese partner. participating countries include austria, canada, finland, the netherlands, sweden, and taiwan. this call for proposals is open to organizations who wish to form project consortia to perform collaborative projects focused on developing innovative products, processes or technology-based services.

global affairs canada has opened the call for the 2024-25 faculty mobility program to latin america and the caribbean.  grants of up to $7,000 are made for stays of 3-8 weeks at lac institutions of higher education to conduct research and/or teaching activities a long with partnership development activities.  applications must be submitted by the program coordinator at lakehead, jill sherman, intl.research@lakeheadu.ca.   click here for the application and instructions.  (internal deadline: 25 november 2023; external deadline : december 5, 2023)

the objectives of this funding opportunity are to fund new research that will improve health and achieve more equitable outcomes in nutrition, metabolic health, and chronic high burden diseases, as well as stbbi, across the life course of diverse groups of people in canada by:

1. developing precision medicine approaches to characterize the variability that underlies mechanisms of disease, to prevent, detect, and intervene effectively in terms of disease susceptibility, progression, resilience and reversibility, and treatment
2. increasing our understanding of interactions between structural, social, environmental, and biological determinants of health in indigenous communities that underlie heterogeneity in health and disease
3. increasing our understanding of interactions between structural, social, environmental, and biological determinants of health with particular emphasis on a diversity of populations who have historically experienced inequitable outcomes in canada and at-risk groups that underlie heterogeneity in health and disease

note that applicants will not be required to meet all the objectives in their respective application, but all objectives will be met through the funding opportunity.

xecs, the eureka cluster focused on electronic components and systems (ecs), has launched their third annual call for collaborative research and development project proposals.

sector of focus

micro and nano-electronics and photonics with applications in the following areas:

• agrifood and natural resources
• digital industry
• digital society
• energy
• health and well-being
• mobility

working together, the governments of canada and the united kingdom (uk) aim to foster and support collaborative industrial research and development (r&d) projects with a high potential for commercialization. this call for proposals is open to organizations from canada and the uk who wish to form project consortia to perform collaborative projects focused on developing innovative products, processes, or technology-based services in the area of critical minerals technologies.

the cfwh general research grant

the cfwh general research grants are awarded to those committed to finding solutions to the reproductive health issues that face women both in canada and around the world. open to any area within the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, these grants aim to help make further advancements in women’s health treatment, research, and education.

the cfwh will grant up to $10,000 for the cfwh general research grant.

applicants must be affiliated with a canadian university or health care institution

the kitty carr fund

the conventional understanding of women's health - which mainly centers on reproductive and maternal health - must be redefined: the health of women includes the overall health and well-being of women's bodies and minds across their life course, as well as the consideration of sex and gender in all aspects of disease and treatment. when using the term women in the context of ‘women's health' we are also inclusive of both sex as a biological variable and gender as a social variable across the life course (including girls and adolescents) and people assigned female at birth, transgender women, transgender men, and non-binary people.

tailoring prevention, screening, diagnostics, and treatments for diseases and conditions to account for sex and gender differences, as well as for women's context and environment, is crucial to support their health and well-being. by addressing intersectional and underlying social and structural factors, we can empower women to make informed decisions, pursue their ambitions, and live healthier lives. when women globally have access to appropriate, high-quality care, they can plan their families, increase their households' resilience to shocks, and advance their education. as women frequently serve as family caregivers, healthy mothers contribute to healthier households with better nutrition, improved child development and education, and higher household earnings. healthy women transform societies.

women's health is currently an underserved area for innovation, facing disproportionately low r&d funding relative to its burden. as recently as 2020, the bill & melinda gates foundation (bmgf) and the u.s. national institutes of health (nih) represented nearly 60% of funding for sexual and reproductive health r&d.[1] while stakeholders are beginning to address innovation gaps in women's health, no coordinated agenda across sectors with a global focus exists to align their efforts. the result is less innovation in the women's health space and limited data to support business cases for new products.

to address this need, the bill & melinda gates foundation and the u.s. national institutes of health initiated an inclusive, consultative, cross-sector effort to generate a women's health innovation opportunity map 2023 as a collaborative framework to advance women's health innovation. the opportunity map was created by the innovation equity forum (ief) - a group of 250 stakeholders in women's health from across sectors and over 50 countries. the aim of the ief was to bring a broad range of multidisciplinary expertise from various levels and sectors of the biomedical enterprise to provide diverse viewpoints in order to develop an inclusive, globally-focused, and widely accepted opportunity map of topics in women's health r&d.

the opportunity map has three main components. first, it establishes broad topics of women's health r&d with unique challenges, needs, and goals. topics fall into two categories -

• cross-cutting topics include data and modeling, research design and methodologies, regulatory and science policy, innovation introduction, social and structural determinants, and training and careers.
• issue-specific topics include communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases and chronic conditions, and female-specific conditions.

second, each topic identifies leading opportunities based on their potential for impact, readiness to scale, innovation feasibility, focus on women's unmet health needs, and ability to improve health equity. finally, example specific solution strategies articulate actionable ways to realize each opportunity and create impact within the next 15 years. the full opportunity map can be found here.

the challenge

the women's health innovation team at the bill & melinda gates foundation is looking for innovations and ideas that address opportunities outlined in the opportunity map. while not all opportunities in the opportunity map are in scope for this rfp (see list below and table 1), we are looking to fund proposals that address a wide range of issues. 

the ultimate goal of this rfp is to kickstart work to address gaps in women's health r&d. the overall objectives are to: 

• advance bold ideas that address opportunities in the opportunity map
• enhance overall funding and resources for women's health r&d
• demonstrate effectiveness of investments in women's health r&d