Funding Opportunities: Researchers

Welcome to the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy Researcher Funding Opportunities Index. We have included a number of relevant opportunities for our Faculty based on current research programs. This list is not exhaustive, and we recommend using the comprehensive funding opportunity resources below.

All Applicants submitting through the University of Toronto MUST have submitted their application information online via the My Research Applications (MRA) portal.

Additional comprehensive funding opportunities are available here:

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Internal Opportunities

LDFP BMS Small Equipment Award (Internal Only)

The purpose of the Small Equipment Award is to support the purchase and repair of necessary research equipment for the research and training of Highly Qualified Personnel. The Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy will provide up to $5,000 for successful applications that demonstrate need and where funding for equipment is a challenge to obtain.

Deadline:

Offered 4 times per year: January 31st, April 30th, July 31st and October 31st

Value:

Up to $5,000

For more information, please review the Program Guidelines and the Application Instructions. Contact Mike Folinas (m.folinas@utoronto.ca) or Sam D'Alfonso (sam.dalfonso@utoronto.ca) with any additional questions.

LDFP CSAP Research Award (Internal Only)

The purpose of the Clinical, Social and Administrative Pharmaceutical (CSAP) Sciences Research Award competition is to support research excellence where funding is not currently held, e.g., pilot project, expand currently funded research, explore new areas of research. The objective of the program is to increase CSAP's research impact by supporting research excellence that leads to publications and externally funded research proposals. Capacity building is encouraged, yet not required.

Deadline:

Offered twice yearly: April 30th and November 30th.

Value:

Up to $10,000

LDFP Near-Miss Pilot Award

The purpose of the LDFP Near-Miss Pilot Award is to provide pilot funding for meritorious, unfunded CIHR Project Grant applications from LDFP faculty. This initiative is designed to support high-potential projects, ensuring they have the resources needed to succeed in a subsequent funding competition.

Eligibility:

The University of Toronto recognizes that diversity is essential to the creation of a vibrant intellectual community that allows our researchers to maximize their creativity and their contributions. All full-time LDFP faculty members (tenured or tenure-stream) and teaching-stream are eligible to apply. Status-only and adjunct professors at LDFP are not eligible to apply for this award.

Value of the Award:

The value of each award is up to $5,000. It is expected that at least 2 applications will be funded through the program yearly. One award will be funded after the Fall and another after the Spring CIHR Project Grant competition.

Competition Deadline:

The LDFP Near-Miss Pilot Award will be held biannually. The application deadlines are February 25th and August 25th each year. If the date falls on a weekend or statutory holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.

Please contact Lia Cardarelli for more information.

External Opportunities

ABF & ALS Research Grants for Early-Career Investigators

The American Brain Foundation (ABF) and ALS Association are seeking applications for two career development awards supporting early-career investigators conducting clinical or preclinical research on the mechanisms, diagnosis, or treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Funding Opportunities

1. Next Generation Research Grant in ALS

Duration: 2 years

Award Value: 150,000 USD (75,000 USD/year)

Eligibility: Applicant must have completed residency or PhD on or after July 1, 2022

Duration: 3 years

Award Value: 240,000 USD (80,000 USD/year)

Eligibility: Applicant must have completed residency or PhD on or after July 1, 2020.

Applicants must:

Hold an MD, PhD, or equivalent terminal clinical or research degree.
Be affiliated with an accredited U.S. or International institution. There is no citizenship requirement
Have 70% of protected research time

Submission Process

Applications are submitted internally for approval, through the My Research Application (MRA) system, and to the sponsor through Proposal Central. U of T-based applicants should select “The Governing Council of the University of Toronto” as their institution in Proposal Central.

Internal Deadline: October 5, 2026

By this date, the MRA must be submitted for approval and the application must be completed in Proposal Central

Sponsor Deadline: October 8, 2026

For additional program details and guidelines, please click here

Acceleration Consortium Caregiver Research Support Grant

The Acceleration Consortium is pleased to announce Care-Giver Research Support Grants are now open for applications.

Value: up to $90,000 for Associate and Assistant Faculty to provide additional support to maintain the productivity of their research group while on long-term leave.
Duration: One year

Purpose: As the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted, caregiving responsibilities produce inequitable impacts on researcher productivity, especially early and mid-career researchers, threatening to widen existing gaps. Funded by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF), the AC’s caregiving grants will provide research funding support to Associate and Assistant Professors members on leave due to caregiving responsibilities. These resources aim to mitigate the impact of caregiving duties by maintaining research group productivity during caregiving leave.

Eligibility Requirements: To be eligible for funding, applicants should be:

An Associate or Assistant professor at the University of Toronto.
On a long-term (>3 months) parental, pregnancy, or caregiving leave. Training, sabbatical, or administrative leaves are not eligible.
A full or affiliate member of the Acceleration Consortium (AC). The AC’s membership definitions, requirements and application can be found here.
Planning to support research relevant to the AC. This can include research across all research domains, but not limited to, the following:
- the development of self-driving labs (SDLs) or the development of the AI and automation tools required to build SDLs;
- the use of SDLs for materials or molecule discovery;
- policy or other frameworks to support the ethical use and uptake of SDLs, or
- the implications (environmental, economic, social, etc.) of AI and automation for accelerated discovery and the community-based use of these
technologies.

Eligible Expenditures: Associate and Assistant Faculty can apply for up to $90,000 for one year to provide support to maintain the productivity of their research group while on long-term (>3 months) leave.

This funding is primarily intended for compensation for lab personnel and can support but is not limited to the following:

Research Associate
Post-Doctoral Fellows
Lab Manager
Other supports that facilitate research group productivity during the absence of the principal investigator

Application method: Application form

Evaluation Criteria Applications will be evaluated based on the case made for utility/benefit the funding will provide, and the relevance of the PI’s research to the AC.

Deadline: Funding applications will be accepted twice a year. Deadline for this call is September 18th, 2026.

Acceleration Consortium Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Initiate Grants – Call for Applications

The Acceleration Consortium is pleased to announce applications for its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (AC EDI) Initiate Grants are open.

Value:

Applicants may request up to $20,000.

Duration:

1 year, with possible no-cost extensions or funded renewals.

Purpose:

Funded by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF), AC EDI Initiate Grants provide dedicated funding to faculty members and trainees who are launching new projects, programming, or events that address EDI barriers and challenges in the AC’s focus areas. The grants will support members of the University of Toronto community in becoming EDI champions and fund new initiatives that lead to positive culture change in the research ecosystem by advancing EDI, accessibility, anti-racism work, and pathways to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and communities.

Eligibility:

Applications are open to individuals or teams of individuals who hold an eligible faculty appointment or who are currently trainees (undergraduate students, graduate students, or post-doctoral fellows) at the University of Toronto.

Trainee-led projects must identify at least one faculty member who will champion the initiative and serve as the administering Principal Investigator on the awarded funds.

In cases where a faculty member has not been identified at the time of the application, the program will assist, when possible, to match the project team with an appropriate faculty member.

Initiatives must advance EDI and address barriers to participation for current and future researchers and/or community members in one of the AC’s research areas:

the accelerated development of self-driving labs, integrating chemistry, materials science, AI, robotics, and advanced computing
the application of self-driving labs to the development of sustainable products in areas such as renewable energy, recyclable plastics, drug discovery, medical technologies, electronics, building materials, and transportation
the economic, social, and ethical implications of self-driving labs, including technology and materials adoption, organizational change, and ethical uses of AI
co-creation with Indigenous communities and the meaningful integration of Indigenous knowledges in substance creation and chemical management

See the full call and eligibility criteria on our website for more details.

How to Apply:

Application form

Deadline: September 18th, 2026

Acceleration Consortium: 2026 Research Funding Opportunities

The Acceleration Consortium (AC) is pleased to announce the 2026 Accelerate research grants. These grants provide funding for research across physical, life, computational, and social science domains relevant to, but not limited to the following:

the development of self-driving labs (SDLs) or the development of the artificial intelligence (AI) and automation tools required to build SDLs,
the use of SDLs for materials or molecule discovery,
policy or other frameworks to support the responsible use and uptake of SDLs, or
the implications (economic, social, etc.) of AI and automation for accelerated discovery and the community-based use of these technologies.

End-uses of the research should support advances in sustainability, wellbeing, or human health. Applications from all disciplines are encouraged. Indigenous science and technology and community-engaged research are focus areas for the AC.

VALUE:

Moonshot Funding:

Accelerate Moonshot Funding: maximum $500,000 (2 years)
Joint CRAFT-AC Moonshot Funding: maximum $500,000 (2 years). Collaborative program with the Centre for Research and Applications in Fluidic Technology (CRAFT). Applications submitted to this stream will also be considered for the Accelerate Moonshot Funding stream

Translation Funding:

Accelerate Translation Funding: up to $500,000 (2 years) with the possible addition of $300,000 for equipment.

SUBMISSION DEADLINES:

NOI Application Deadline: Aug 7th, 2026
Full Application Deadline: October 26th, 2026
How to apply: Submit a 2-page notice of intent (NOI) that will be assessed for project eligibility and quality, and to identify grant applications that can be merged.

ELIGIBILITY:

Lead principal investigators (PIs) must meet the University of Toronto’s eligibility guidelines and be eligible to hold Tri-agency funding.
Please review the full grant guidelines for additional eligibility requirements including additional requirements for the joint CRAFT-AC Moonshot Grants.

MORE INFORMATION

Please contact acceleration@utoronto.ca if you have any questions.

Alliance International Collaboration Program

We are pleased to share details regarding the reopening of the Alliance International Collaboration program, scheduled for September 2, 2026. Please note the following has changed:

Given the increased demand, the program will now operate on a competitive basis, with three proposal submission deadlines per year. The deadline for the 2026 competition is November 25, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. ET. Deadlines for 2027 will be announced in January 2027.
In light of the competitive process, the maximum time allowed between the official award letter received by the international collaborator and the submission of the Canadian application to NSERC has been extended to 120 days.
As a transitional measure intended to include Canadian researchers who were unable to submit an application by the May 20, 2025 deadline, the requirement to submit an application to NSERC within 120 days of the award date of the corresponding international grant will not apply, provided that applications are submitted to NSERC no later than November 25, 2026, 8pm ET. All such applications must meet the program requirements, and the proposed collaborations must remain viable, particularly where the grant awarded to the international collaborators was awarded more than 120 days earlier. Applications submitted by the May 20, 2025 deadline that were not selected for funding are not eligible for resubmission.
Proposals submitted to NSERC will now be evaluated internally using two criteria: Impact and Benefit to Canada (60%) and Quality of training in Canada (40%), including considerations related to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in training opportunities.
A copy of the international proposal and the official award letter must be included in the NSERC application. If these documents are not in English or French, applicants must provide a translation of the award letter and of all sections of the international proposal that describe at a minimum the Canadian team and its role in the global project.
To ensure balanced participation, each party’s budget (Canadian and international) must represent at least 25% of the total project budget—for example, if the combined Canadian and international budget is CAD $200,000, the budget submitted to NSERC or to the international funding agency must be at least $50,000.
Information webinars will be held on September 25 and 26, 2026. Additional details and registration links will be posted on the program webpages when the program reopens.

Anthropic Economic Futures Research Fund - Request for Proposal

The Anthropic Economic Futures Research Fund is a $200 million fund that supports ambitious external research on interventions designed to prepare society for the economic impacts of AI. The Fund supports research on programs that could make the economy more flexible and resilient, ensure the benefits of AI are shared broadly, and minimize the harm that AI-driven disruption could cause. As AI capabilities continue to advance, we do not yet know how quickly AI will diffuse throughout the economy, how it will evolve over time, or what its economic impacts will be. In their Economic Policy Framework (EPF), Anthropic proposed policies for different AI-driven scenarios. However, more evidence is needed to identify interventions that might work best in an AI-powered economy. The goal is to build that needed evidence so workers, businesses, and governments can adapt effectively.

Research Priorities

The Fund will support evidence-based research across five key priority areas:

Shaping AI's impact on workers at the firm and workplace level
Equipping people to navigate AI-driven transitions
Modernizing income support for AI-driven displacement
Building worker stakes in AI-driven growth before disruption arrives
Generating new evidence on public investments

See their full Research Agenda for additional details and examples of fundable projects within each priority area.

Award Size and Duration

They expect to primarily fund projects in the $5 million to $30 million range. Small-scale research projects are out of scope for this RFP and projects below $1 million will not be considered. Projects are expected to run 24–48 months from contracting close, ideally with initial results available within the first 12 months.

Timeline

Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis through the online application form and will be reviewed as they come in. Depending on the volume of applications, we may not be able to respond to every one.

Contact Information

econ-futures-fund@anthropic.com

Full program information: https://www.anthropic.com/news/economic-futures-research-fund-agenda

Please note: the applicant must also upload and submit the application through the university's My Research Application (MRA) System. The MRA approval process should be started well in advance in parallel to ensure a successful submission since it can take several business days to complete the approval process.

No deadline applies, as the sponsor accepts applications on a rolling basis.

Berlin's Humboldt University Seed Funding for U of T Collaborations

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), one of Germany's leading research universities, has announced the availability of flexible grants aimed at initiating or enhancing collaborations with strategic partners, including the University of Toronto.

The call welcomes collaborative projects encompassing diverse formats, such as the development of research collaboration, preparation of joint publications, joint teaching activities, organization of workshops and exhibitions, and staff exchanges.

Funding

Up to €2,500 (about CAD $4,000) may be awarded to approved projects
Funds are provided by HU and managed by HU's applicant's department

Eligibility

This opportunity is open to faculty, researchers, and non-academic staff, depending on the type of project

Application Deadline

November 1, 2026

Submission

Applications are submitted by HU's applicant.

For more information on this call, including detailed submission instructions, please visit U of T's External Grants webpage.

If you have questions, please contact Elina Tulla, Regional Lead, Office of the Vice-President, International, at elina.tulla@utoronto.ca.

Faculty are encouraged to review U of T’s safeguarding research resources when developing their proposals.

The Brain Tumour Charity - Translation Award

The Translational Award supports projects that bridge the gap between laboratory discoveries and the clinical development of new treatments, diagnostics, drug delivery technologies, and medical devices for brain tumours. The program is designed to accelerate promising innovations toward patient benefit by supporting key translational proof-of-concept studies and generating the data required to secure further funding and advance projects into clinical testing.

This funding opportunity provides a unique translational development pathway, combining research funding with guidance and support from The Brain Tumour Charity to strengthen projects and optimize their route toward clinical application. The application process is intentionally iterative, with support provided to successful applicants invited to the full application stage.

Funding Available

Up to £400,000 per project.
Funding duration of 12–18 months.
Supports development of novel diagnostics, therapeutics, devices, and drug delivery mechanisms for primary brain tumours.

Program Scope

Projects should:

Focus on any type of primary brain tumour.
Have a clear pathway to patient benefit.
Include strong target validation and robust preliminary data generated in clinically relevant models.
Generate the data package needed to support future clinical development and secure onward funding.

For therapeutic projects, applicants are expected to demonstrate evidence of efficacy, blood-brain barrier penetration where appropriate, and identification of a lead candidate. The scheme is intended to support projects that are sufficiently mature for translational advancement but not yet ready for clinical studies.

Eligibility

Open to academic researchers and, on a case-by-case basis, biotechnology companies.
International researchers and organizations are eligible to apply.
Principal applicants may submit only one proposal per funding round.
Collaborative teams should demonstrate the expertise required to advance discoveries toward patient benefit.

Patient and Public Involvement Applicants are strongly encouraged to engage individuals affected by brain tumours through The Brain Tumour Charity’s Involvement Network and incorporate patient and public involvement into project design and development.

Important Dates

Stage 1 Outline Application Opens: October 14, 2026
Stage 1 Outline Application Deadline: November 25, 2026 (13:00 GMT)
Invitation to Full Application: March 17, 2027
Stage 2 Full Application Deadline: May 12, 2027 (13:00 BST)

For More Information:

Please visit the sponsor website.

BrightFocus Foundation Funding Opportunities

The BrightFocus Foundation is offering the following funding opportunities in the areas of Glaucoma and Alzheimer’s research, in the form of standard awards or postdoctoral fellowships.

1. Standard Awards

These programs are designed to provide seed funding for novel, high-risk/high-reward projects that can generate preliminary data for future large-scale funding opportunities.

Alzheimer's Disease Research Standard Award supports innovative research focused on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). The award is offered through early career and independent investigator tracks
National Glaucoma Research Standard Award supports independent investigators conducting research that advances understanding of the causes, prevention, or treatment of glaucoma

Standard Awards provide up to 300,000 USD over three years.

Azheimer’s Disease Research Fellowship supports postdoctoral researchers conducting studies related to the biological causes, prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Fellows must generally be within five years of receiving their terminal degree or completing clinical training
Macular Degeneration Research Fellowship supports postdoctoral researchers investigating the biological mechanisms or clinical treatment of age-related macular degeneration. Applicants must generally be within four years of earning their terminal degree or within two years of completing final clinical training

Fellowships provide up to 200,000 USD over two years.

Applications are prepared and submitted through Proposal Central. U of T-based applicants should select “The Governing Council of the University of Toronto” as their institution in Proposal Central. Deadlines are organized by area of research.

Glaucoma Research

Internal Deadline: September 22, 2026

Sponsor Deadline September 24, 2026

By the internal deadline, the MRA must be submitted for approval and the application completed in Proposal Central.

Note: Applicants should read the Foundation's Terms & Conditions and IP policy prior to applying, as they are non-negotiable.

For more information, please click here.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s (CIHR) - Free online training on patient engagement

Click here to start any module of the course.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s (CIHR) Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA) has developed a set of online, self-directed, free modules related to Patient Engagement (PE) in research! IMHA’s patient partners identified a need for more training in patient engagement and set to work filling the gap for practical tools and resources to help people do patient engagement in research. Modules must be completed in chronological order; after completing each module, you will receive a certificate. While the modules have been developed by IMHA, they are not disease- or condition-specific and are applicable to any research where patient partners are engaged.

Course: A How-to Guide for Patient Engagement in Research

Module 1: What is patient engagement?
Module 2: The research process: (a) Understanding the research process for patient partners and (b) Supporting patient partners throughout the research process for other members of the research team
Module 3: Setting up a research project for a successful partnership
Module 4: Patient engagement for research teams: (a) Being part of a research team for patient partners, and (b) Engaging patients on your research team for other members of the research team

If you have any questions about the training or accessing the modules, please contact imha-iala@cihr-irsc.gc.ca and follow @CIHR_IMHA for related announcements!

CANSSI Ontario AI Applications in Statistical Sciences Research Grant

The Ontario Regional Centre of the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute (CANSSI Ontario) is pleased to share the following funding opportunities with the University of Toronto research community.

CANSSI Ontario AI Applications in Statistical Science Research Grants:

Offering funding of up to $12,500 for one year to support early-stage research using AI to enhance statistical methodology or theory. The goal of the program is to support nascent research programs and proof-of-concept projects that may lead to larger-scale funding opportunities.
Applications are due by February 1, 2027. Click here to learn more.

Banting–CANSSI Discovery Awards in Biostatistics:

Offering up to $30,000 for one year to support early-career investigators in biostatistics who collaborate with scientists in fields related to biomedicine, occupational health, or environmental health. Notice of Intent is due in November 2026. Click here to learn more.

CANSSI Ontario Benchmarking AI Capability in Statistics and Data Science:

Offering funding of $10,000 for one year for projects that create high-quality benchmarks based on representative dataset slices to enable the evaluation of new AI models, while also developing AI-ready annotated and curated datasets.
Applications are due by September 30, 2026. Click here to learn more

CANSSI Ontario Postdoctoral Fellowship in Genome Data Science:

Open to postdoctoral fellows undertaking full-time research at a CANSSI Ontario-partner university or at its affiliated research institutes. This fellowship supports research in genomics and data science, with an emphasis on new genomic technologies and multi-gnomic integration, and provides up to $50,000 per year for two years.Applications due Mar. 1, 2027. Click here to learn more.

CANSSI Ontario Postdoctoral Fellowship in Statistics:

Offering up to $70,000 per year in salary support for up to two years for postdoctoral fellows conducting full-time statistics research at a CANSSI Ontario-partner university. While theoretical statistics is the primary focus, other statistical research areas will also be considered.

Faculty proposals are due October 1, 2026.
Postdoctoral applications are due November 2026 to January 2027. Click here to learn more.

Application process:

Please follow the instructions provided in each funding opportunity announcement.

An MRA is not required for these funds as awards from CANSSI Ontario are not set up in a restricted research fund.

For more information about the above funding opportunities, please contact: Esther Berzunza at: esther.berzunza@utoronto.ca

CIFAR Global Scholars Program (2027-2029 Cohort)

CIFAR has launched the call for applications for the 2027-2029 CIFAR Global Scholars Program: an opportunity designed to support early-career researchers.

The program provides:

$100,000 CAD in unrestricted research funding over two years
Leadership development and mentorship through a CIFAR research program
Opportunities to apply for time-limited seed funding to support interdisciplinary collaborations

Applicants may be based anywhere in the world and must:

Hold a PhD (or equivalent); postdoctoral fellows are not eligible to apply
Hold a full-time position at an institution of higher education or research
Have started their first position no earlier than July 1, 2022 and no later than December 31, 2026 (special consideration may be given to those who have taken leaves)
Be leading independent research and supervising/teaching degree-seeking graduate-level trainees (e.g. Assistant Professor level or equivalent)

Applicants’ research interests must align with one of the following eligible CIFAR research programs for 2026/2027:

Internal Deadline: October 28, 2026, 5:00 pm EST. Submit an MRA through the My Research system that includes a near-final draft of your CIFAR application.

Sponsor Deadline: November 4, 2026, 12:00 pm EST. Applications must be submitted online using the form linked at cifar.ca/global-scholars. Note, among other components, applications must include two letters of recommendation.

Resources:

CIFAR Global Scholars Program website
Detailed Overview document: contains program details, eligibility requirements, and application instructions
Instructions for starting your application: here
Contact scholars@cifar.ca for questions regarding the CIFAR program and application process

Collaborate2Commercialize (C2C): Funding Industry-Academic Collaborations

The Ontario Centre of Innovation’s Collaborate2Commercialize (C2C) program helps Ontario researchers and industry partners work together to solve real-world business challenges and accelerate the commercialization of innovative technologies and intellectual property. The program supports collaborative R&D projects that leverage the expertise, talent, and specialized infrastructure available at Ontario’s post-secondary institutions and research hospitals.

Why researchers and companies choose C2C:

Up to $150,000 in project funding
1:1 industry matching requirement, with up to 50% of the company contribution eligible as in-kind support
Close to 90% application success rate
Fast application processing, typically 6–8 weeks
Supports industry-academic collaborations with strong commercialization potential

Industry Partner Eligibility

To participate, the industry partner must be:

An Ontario-based, for-profit company
Incorporated for at least two years
Employing 5–499 employees globally
Maintaining at least 50% of its workforce in Ontario

NSERC Alliance Stream

Individual proposals can request from $20,000 up to $50,000 from NSERC Alliance grants and from $20,000 up to $50,000 from OCI C2C, with a corresponding $20,000 to $50,000 from the industry partner (at least 50% must be cash provided to the academic institution).

If you are a researcher with an industry partner interested in collaborating on an innovation or commercialization project, please contact Joco Amante at jamante@oc-innovation.ca to discuss eligibility and application opportunities.

Learn more: https://www.oc-innovation.ca/programs/collaborate-2-commercialize/

2026-27 Connaught Innovation Award

The Connaught Innovation Awards provide one-time funding of up to $150,000 to support technology validation, product development, and commercialization for projects at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 and above as defined by:

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) for software and engineering.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) for therapeutics, medical devices and diagnostics.

Successful projects will have strong socio-economic and/or commercial potential, enabling the technology to make a positive impact on society.

The total funding available for this year’s program is $1,500,000. Applicants can request up to $150,000 per project. Applicants requesting more than $100,000 require strong evidence of industry interest, leveraged funding opportunities, or investment.

Projects must be led by a full-time faculty member whose primary employer is the U of T, and who is Tri-Agency active.

Proposed projects must be based on an existing invention disclosure filed to and approved by IPO by September 14, 2026, and cannot have been used as the basis for previously funded Connaught Innovation Awards.

A Notice of Intent (NOI) must be submitted to the Connaught Secretariat for each project by September 25, 2026. Full applications are by invitation only and will be accepted following NOI approval. The deadline for full application submissions is October 26, 2026.

For more information please see the Fund Opportunity

Connaught Mid-Career Award

The Connaught Mid-Career Researcher Award is a nomination-based program that provides one-time funding of up to $250,000 to support mid-career researchers in leading significant, innovative research and continuing to grow their research programs, with the goal of attracting large scale external research funding, particularly from the Tri-Agencies.

Nominations must be submitted through one of two streams:

Accelerator stream: for those investigators aiming to lead larger or significantly different research programs than they have previously, while developing leadership skills and training the next generation of scientists/scholars. Goals may include but are not limited to: establishing national/international networks, changes in research direction or incorporating new disciplines.
Resurgence stream: for those investigators experiencing mid-career challenges, including but not limited to: expanding team sizes, increased committee/administrative duties, or a lack of success in securing external funding in an increasingly competitive climate.

In both streams, nominees are required to indicate, amongst other objectives, at least one specific external research funding opportunity that they intend to apply for. Priority should be given to Tri-Agency funding programs given the importance of these in driving CRC and other allocations for the University.

Mentorship is a critical component of this program, and nominees must identify one or more faculty members who will provide professional and academic mentorship during the Connaught-funded project.

Eligibility for the Mid-Career Researcher Award is limited to tenure-stream faculty members at the University of Toronto in any discipline, who hold the rank of Associate Professor and are between 5 and 15 years of their first academic appointment.

Nomination Package and Submission of Interest

Interested researchers may submit the following for internal review:

In one page, please address the following:

Indicate the stream you are considering applying for:
1. Accelerator stream: for those investigators aiming to lead larger or significantly different research programs than they have previously.
2. Resurgence stream: for those investigators experiencing mid-career challenges.
Excellence and impact of their research achievements (overview)
Future research plans, identifying both short-term and long-term objectives
demonstrated need for the funding
CV (separate document)

Nomination packages are to be submitted electronically to Mike Folinas by October 16, 2026. by the academic division to the Connaught Secretariat (Connaught.secretariat@utoronto.ca) by December 14, 2026.

Applicants will be notified by October 31st.

CRIS Leadership & Personal Effectiveness Fall Webinar Series

Join the Centre for Research & Innovation Support (CRIS) for an online workshop series focused on enhancing leadership and personal effectiveness for researchers. Each themed session begins with a faculty peer panel sharing experiences and strategies, followed by an interactive workshop for participant collaboration and discussion.

Addressing Ableism in Academia

This workshop explores critical issues of ableism – the discrimination or prejudice against people with disabilities – within academic research environments and advances strategies for inclusive change. This session provides an opportunity for researchers, including those with lived experiences of disability and those working with team members with disabilities, to explore how ableism impacts academic institutions and research teams.

Featured Speakers:

Terry Gardiner, Director, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education
Chavon Niles, Assistant Professor, Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, Temerty Faculty of Medicine
Tanya Titchkosky, Professor of Disability Studies, Department of Social Justice Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Date and Time: Thurs Oct 2, 1:00-2:30 pm
Format: Virtual
Registration: Session Information and Registration

Building Thriving Research Teams

This workshop engages faculty with approaches and strategies to lead inclusive research teams that thrive. This interactive peer-to-peer session will engage faculty with team leadership reflection, approaches and strategies to foster research environments where inquiry and belonging can work together.

Featured Speakers:

Kelly Arbour-Nicitopoulos, Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education
Joanne Chung, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, UTM
Christina Guzzo, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, UTSC and Immunology, Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Date and Time: Thurs Nov 20, 1:00-2:30 pm
Format: Virtual
Registration: Session Information and Registration

Questions about registration for either session can be directed to cris@utoronto.ca. For additional program and event information, visit our Programs Page.

Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs

The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) originated in 1992 to foster novel approaches to biomedical research in response to the expressed needs of its stakeholders - the American public, the military, and Congress.

Housed within the US Department of Defense (DoD), CDMRP has released additional funding opportunities for the following programs:

Descriptions of each of the funding opportunities, eligibility, key mechanism elements, and funding can be found in the respective Program are found here.

Neurofibromatosis Research Program (NFRP)

Exploration Hypothesis Development Award
Investigator-Initiated Research Award
Neurofibromatosis Research Award (NFRA)
NFRA Leadership Award
NFRA Scholar Award
Synergistic Idea Award

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Research Program

Idea Development Award
Clinical Translation Research Award

Parkinson’s Research Program

Early Investigator Research Award
Investigator-Initiated Research Award

Combat Readiness—Medical Research Program

Translational Research Award

Orthopaedic Research Program

Applied Research Award
Clinical Research Award

Rare Cancer Research Program

Concept Award
Idea Development Award
Resource and Community Development Award

Reconstructive Transplant Research Program

Concept Award

Application Process

Funding opportunities have a two-stage application process with pre-application, and then selected applications invited to full application.

UofT campus-based faculty members should select Toronto, University of for the institution and indicate the appropriate Research Services Office contact (see below) as the Business Official in their pre-application in the eBRAP System.

Krista Montgomery (krista.montgomery@utoronto.ca): for UofT faculty appointed within Dalla Lana, Applied Sci & Eng, Dentistry, Kinesiology & PE, Nursing, Pharmacy, UTM, and Medicine (last names A-M only).
Corinne El-Feghali (corinne.feghali@utoronto.ca): for UofT faculty appointed within Architecture, Arts & Science, Law, Rotman, Information, Social Work, OISE, UTSC, Music, and Medicine (last names N-Z only).

Faculty members whose primary appointment is with an affiliated hospital should reach out to their hospital research office to confirm their institutional details in eBRAP and the submission process.

Data Sciences Institute – Claude API Credit Award

The University of Toronto Data Sciences Institute (DSI) is pleased to announce our Claude API Credit Award competition.

OVERVIEW

Claude Code Projects: Up to $10,000 worth of API credits

Claude Research Projects: Up to $100,000 worth of API credits

Duration: 1 year

Purpose: Claude API Credit Awards provide access to Anthropic’s Claude API to support multi/interdisciplinary training and collaborative research in data sciences that include faculty from the University of Toronto and funding partner research institutions.

The competition is divided into two streams:

Claude Code projects. This stream is for researchers who wish to use the API credits for the Claude Code platform. Awards are limited to $10,000 and may be granted on a rolling basis.
Claude Research projects. This stream is for researchers who wish to use the API credits for research workflows, such as those described in the Claude for Life Sciences documentation. Awards are limited to $100,000 and will be granted only after the application deadline.

See the full call on our website for more details.

Application Deadline: September 25, 2026, 23:59 ET

How to Apply: Access the complete application guidelines and online portal via the DSI website.

About the Data Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto

The Data Sciences Institute is a hub for data science research, training, and partnerships at the University of Toronto. Its goal is to accelerate the impact of data sciences across disciplines to address pressing societal questions and to drive positive social change. DSI is focused on training the next generation of data science scholars. To learn more about the DSI, visit our website: datasciences.utoronto.ca.

Data Sciences Institute - Research Software Development Support Program – Call for Projects

The University of Toronto Data Sciences Institute (DSI) is pleased to announce a new call for Research Software Development Support.

Purpose

The aim of the DSI Research Software Development Support Program is to help researchers refine existing research software, build new research software, or disseminate research software beyond the research space in which it is created.

The Program provides research groups access to a professional research software developer. The research software developer will work alongside the research group on a part-time (up to a 0.5 FTE) basis for 2 to 6 months. Only open-source projects are considered for support so that we can disseminate research software beyond the research space in which it is created.

Application Deadline: October 16, 2026, 23:59 ET

How to Apply: Access the complete application guidelines, online portal, and required templates via the DSI website.

About the Data Sciences Institute
The DSI is an institutional strategic initiative for data science research, training, and partnerships at the University of Toronto. Our goal is to accelerate the impact of data sciences across disciplines to address pressing societal questions and to drive positive social change.

Developing Medicines through Open Science (DMOS) - Call for Letters of Intent

Conscience Medicines Network is excited to share that applications are now open for the second round of the Developing Medicines through Open Science (DMOS). The program aims to foster collaborations that undertake preclinical and clinical work to develop drug candidates in areas of unmet medical need, establish proof of concept (POC) for an open science path to drug development and further translate innovations into affordable medicines, generate economic activity, and support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Canada.

With total funding of $15M, this program supports projects focused on life-threatening or severely debilitating diseases that have demonstrated strong target validation and tractability to enable clinical proof of concept and undertake either IND-enabling preclinical studies or human safety and efficacy studies.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for DMOS funding, applicants must:

Propose a preclinical or clinical research plan in an area of unmet medical need with a commitment to developing accessible medicines
Conduct research at Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 2-7
Include at least one Canadian SME
Provide proof of matching funds to cover the remaining cost, as Conscience will fund a maximum of 33% to researchers, academic institutions, and large enterprises, and 50% to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
Commit to Open Science Policy

Learn More and Apply:

The application process consists of two key phases: a Letter of Intent (LOI) application, followed by an invitation for selected applicants to submit a full proposal. Proposals are accepted on a rolling basis until all funding is allocated.

Detailed information about the application process, including required documents and evaluation criteria, can be found at the official website: Conscience Medicines Network.

For any program-related questions, please refer to the FAQs, watch the Virtual information session, or contact the Senior Program Manager, Resham Chhabra, at resham.chhabra@conscience.ca.

The applicant must also upload and submit the application through the university's My Research Application (MRA) System. The MRA approval process should be started well in advance, in parallel, to ensure a successful submission, since it can take several business days to complete the approval process.\

DFG and SSHRC joint initiative - German-Canadian International Research Training Group

SSHRC and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) have announced that they have launched a new joint initiative, German-Canadian International Research Training Group (IRTG). The deadline to submit the required draft proposal is March 31, 2027, and the deadline to submit the full proposal is April 1, 2028. IRTGs are structured doctoral programs run by German universities in conjunction with institutions abroad. The German-Canadian IRTG will be run by two teams of participating researchers, one in Germany and one in Canada.

Summary of application process:

The German-Canadian consortium will first need to submit a joint IRTG draft proposal to the DFG. The draft proposal is submitted to the DFG by the German host university on behalf of the consortium. The lead principal investigator in Canada must be affiliated with a Canadian SSHRC eligible post-secondary institution, and the proposal must align with SSHRC’s subject matter eligibility guidelines. On average, approximately six to nine months are needed for the review of the draft proposal. If the DFG concludes the review with a positive decision, the consortium will be invited to submit a joint establishment proposal according to the above-mentioned timeline. The joint establishment proposal must be submitted to the DFG in accordance with the DFG’s guidelines and through the established submission system. Should the joint establishment proposal be successful, the DFG will issue a grant to the team in Germany, and, following the submission of additional administrative documents, SSHRC will issue a grant to the team in Canada. Renewal proposals for the second funding period are submitted about one year before the end of the first funding period. They are submitted by the German host university to the DFG.

Funding available for the Canadian team:

SSHRC will support one meritorious German-Canadian IRTG, covering costs related to Canada’s participation in the research training group. Applicants in Canada can request up to $236,000 per year for total of up to $2,124,000 over 9 years (5 years plus an additional 4-year grant dependant on a successful renewal proposal).

MRA requirement:

Eligible UofT faculty members acting as the Canadian team's PI on an application for this funding opportunity are asked to have a submitted and approved MRA in place two weeks prior to the sponsor's March 31, 2027 deadline for the draft proposal (so by March 17, 2027).

Information session:

DFG will host a virtual information event in collaboration with SSHRC on 29 September 2026, 5–6 p.m. (CEST), which is 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. in Toronto (EDT). The dial-in information will be posted here a few days before the event (though any updates/changes would be posted on the DFG website for this funding opportunity). Registration is not required.

For more information, including full guidelines, eligibility rules, and application instructions, please visit the DFG's website for this funding opportunity here.

For questions to the sponsor, please contact partnerships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.

GlycoNet: Current Funding Opportunities

The Canadian Glycomics Network (GlycoNet) mobilizes Canada’s glycomics expertise into transdisciplinary, focused research and development programs to deliver breakthrough solutions for human and animal health and sustainable agri-food systems.

GlycoNet funds projects along the following research innovation continuum: translational research and development, clinical engagement, technology development, and knowledge mobilization.

GlycoNet currently has several open grant competitions.

Key program information is summarized below, and detailed Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are available on GlycoNet’s website.

Rolling Call Competitions:

These programs operate on a rolling basis, with proposals reviewed quarterly until the funds are fully allocated:

Translational Grant

These grants seek to fund multidisciplinary projects with clear endpoints to advance and de-risk them to a state at which translation is possible and could attract partners. Maximum request: $150,000 for one year, 1:1.5 matching required.

For more details, see the Translational Grant RFP and the LOI Template.

Strategic Initiatives Grant

These grants fund partner-led or initiated projects designed to meet partners’ needs. Maximum request: $150,000 for one year, 1:1.5 matching required.

For more details, see the Strategic Initiatives RFP and the LOI Template.

Questions about project suitability and eligibility can be directed to the GlycoNet Administrative Centre at info@glyconet.ca.

Halo Science: Various Research Funding Opportunities

Halo Science provides a platform where companies seeking scientific engagement can post their research needs and offer sponsored research opportunities to address them. Halo features a growing list of partner companies across a broad spectrum of fields. These partners contribute to a dynamic list of projects that require academic involvement.

There is no cost to academic researchers to join the mailing list or to respond to opportunities presented at Halo. U of T investigators are invited to register and propose solutions to posted challenges in their respective fields by submitting a brief, non-confidential summary. Companies may then reach out directly to engage in standard sponsored research arrangements.

Since responding to an opportunity is primarily an expression of interest and not a commitment of resources, an MRA will only be required once any subsequent discussion with the sponsoring company proceeds to the stage of budgeting and contract negotiations.

Halo Science sends out periodic lists of open projects to registered investigators and institutions. However, researchers can browse the Halo website at any time for open opportunities of interest.

As the list of opportunities offered by Halo clients is constantly evolving, researchers are encouraged to use the direct link to check their marketplace for current opportunities.

Halo hosts webinars with their partners to discuss their opportunities. By signing up on their portal (which is free), you will receive invitations to register for upcoming webinars.

Horizon Europe Consortium - Development Seed Grants

The Office of the Vice President, International (OVPI), in collaboration with the Division of the Vice President, Research & Innovation (VPRI), are hosting a call for proposals from Principal Investigators (PIs) who are forming international consortia for a Horizon Europe Pillar II proposal.

Funds from this grant must be used to support U of T PIs in consortium building and/or Pillar II proposal development activities.

Eligibility:

All U of T faculty members who meet the University’s definition of a Principal Investigator (PI) are eligible to apply.

Application Deadlines:

Thursday, November 19, 2026

Value and Duration

Maximum seed grant is $10,000 CAD, to be spent by April 30, 2027.
Can be used as matching funds for SSHRC Destination Horizon Grants.
Pillar II grants typically range from €4-15 million.

Questions? For more information on this call, including detailed instructions on how to submit an application, please see the funding opportunities page.

If you have questions, please be in touch with Elina Tulla, Research Officer, Office of the Vice-President, International at elina.tulla@utoronto.ca.

Faculty are encouraged to review U of T’s safeguarding research resources when developing their proposals.

Do not use MRA to submit this application.

Horizon Europe Matchmaking Events in Clusters 1, 4 and 5

Horizon Europe matchmaking events are a cornerstone of the European research community’s approach to research partnerships. Network with researchers, companies, and stakeholders, find existing research teams who may need your expertise, and build strong grant proposals. Here is a selection of upcoming ones in clusters 1, 4, and 5, presented chronologically.

UnILiON Brokerage Event on Cluster 4: Digital, Industry and Space

This event will provide an overview of the European policy agenda in digital, industry and space, followed by a guide to upcoming funding opportunities in Cluster 4 provided by a Horizon Europe National Contact Point.

Date: Sep 30, 2026 (matchmaking and workshops active through to spring 2027)
Time: 4-6am EDT (10am-12pm CET)
Place: Online
Organizers: Universities Informal Liaison Offices Network (UnILiON)

More information and registration

Horizon Europe Info Days: Cluster 4 (Digital, Industry and Space)

Learn about upcoming research and innovation funding opportunities to develop a competitive, digital, low-carbon and circular industry.

Date: Oct 14-15, 2026
Time: 3-11am EDT (9am-5pm CET) both days
Place: Online (Streaming via Webex. Q&A sessions via Slido. Brokerage event to be organized.)
Organizers: European Commission

More information and registration

Horizon Europe Info Days: Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy, and Mobility)

Learn about research and innovation funding opportunities in climate, energy and mobility pursuing the twin green and digital transitions and climate neutrality. This event will take place in a hybrid format, hosted at the Charlemagne conference facility in Brussels and streamed online via the European Commission’s web platform.

Date: Nov 19, 2026
Time: 3:30-11am EST (9:30am-5pm CET)
Place: Brussels and Online
Organizers: European Commission

More information and registration

Horizon Europe Info Days: Cluster 1 (Health)

Learn about the 2027 funding opportunities of the forthcoming Health Work Programme. The info day follows a Nov 24-25 online brokerage event dedicated to helping researchers, innovators and stakeholders build strong international consortia for the upcoming Cluster 1 Health calls.

Dates: Brokerage event Nov 24-25, 2026. Info day Nov 26, 2026
Time: 3-11am EST (9am-5pm CET)
Place: Online
Organizers: European Commission

More information and registration

For further details about Horizon Europe Pillar II, please visit the VPRI Funding Opportunity page.

ISI Defence & Sovereignty Network (DSN) Seed Funding Program

The University of Toronto’s (U of T’s) Institutional Strategic Initiatives (ISI) Office is launching the Defence & Sovereignty Network Seed Funding Program to strengthen U of T’s capacity for interdisciplinary research in defence, sovereignty, and dual-use innovation.

Aligned with the ISI mandate to launch, grow, and sustain large-scale interdisciplinary strategic research networks, the program will support the development of cross-divisional research networks positioned to respond to priorities emerging from Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy and related funding and partnership opportunities. These networks will become part of a broader "network of networks" under the U of T Defence & Sovereignty Network (DSN), connecting expertise across the University and strengthening U of T’s ability to develop and lead ambitious collaborative research initiatives in defence and sovereignty research, including but not limited to research in the following areas:

Technological capability: Artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, robotics and aerospace
Health and emergency preparedness: Biosecurity, health systems resilience and related areas of public health readiness
Human performance: physical readiness, injury prevention, mental resilience, environmental adaptation
Arctic and environmental research: Atmospheric composition, climate dynamics and environmental change in the North
Democratic resilience and governance: Cybersecurity, public trust, policy development and responses to disinformation and surveillance

Seed Funding for Network Development
This competition will offer up to two years of funding support to develop networks of U of T researchers that can develop and lead large collaborative research programs in response to existing and emerging defence and dual-use funding and partnership opportunities from BOREALIS (DISH), IDEaS, MINDS, Mitacs, NSERC Alliance, Horizon Europe and others. Networks should also be competitive for other large-scale collaborative research funding opportunities such as NFRF Transformation and CFREF. Funding will support network-building and the development of plans to secure significant external funding.

Amount: Up to $70,000 per network

Duration: 12 to 24 months

Application deadline: October 26, 2026

Program Guidelines and Application Instructions:
https://research.utoronto.ca/secure/institutional-strategic-initiatives/defence-sovereignty-network-seed-fund

Information Session
The Institutional Strategic Initiatives Office will be hosting an online information session about the program on Wednesday, September 23, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. For more information and registration, please visit the event webpage.

VPRI Contact
Institutional Strategic Initiatives Office (ISI)
strat.initiatives@utoronto.ca

KU Leuven Global Seed Fund 2027 – U of T Matching Funds

The Office of the Vice-President, International (OVPI) is offering matching funds for University of Toronto (U of T) researchers participating in successful 2027 KU Leuven Global Seed Fund projects. These funds are intended to support U of T researchers in carrying out activities related to the funded collaboration.

Eligibility:

All U of T faculty members who meet the University’s definition of a Principal Investigator (PI) are eligible to apply

Important Dates:

Expression of interest deadline – October 5, 2026
Proposals deadline – October 8, 2026

Funding & Duration:

Up to $15,000 CAD per project for U of T PIs.
Matching funds must be spent by December 31, 2027.

For more information on this call, including detailed instructions on how to submit a proposal, see the?funding opportunities page.

If you have questions, please contact Elina Tulla, Research Officer, Office of the Vice-President at elina.tulla@utoronto.ca.

Faculty are encouraged to review U of T’s safeguarding research resources when developing their proposals.

Do not use MRA to submit this application.

Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation

Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation of Vancouver, BC would like to welcome research groups to apply for funding opportunities in the field of major illnesses with a primary focus in oncology. We specialize in providing support to research projects that are novel and innovative and/or that otherwise experience difficulties in receiving support from other sources, potentially resulting from the inability to create intellectual property or from lack of peer support – in other words, high-risk, unconventional and disruptive research.

Because of that premise, the research project must be of high quality. We welcome all spectrums of experimental design initiatives, from meta-analyses and pilots to randomized controlled double-blinded trials and operational support; both pre-clinical and clinical projects are invited, with preference being given to clinical trials.

Deadlines:

Currently, applications are reviewed three times per year, and the potential for funding starts in April, August, and December for successful applicants.

Submission Guidelines:

Applicants should telephone the Foundation to discuss their project before submitting a proposal. If appropriate, a letter of intent and supporting documents will be requested.

Additional Information:

For more information, please email anakonechnaya@hecht.org or visit our website at hecht.org.

Examples of previously funded research include:

Lessening organ dysfunction/injury with vitamin C (LOVIT trial) / University of Sherbrooke / ClinicalTrials ID – NCT03680274
Phase II randomized crossover study of the efficacy and safety of omega-3 fatty acid supplements on lung cancer-promoting inflammatory markers in heavy smokers / BC Cancer
Histamine receptor 2 antagonists as enhancers of anti-tumour immunity / Dalhousie University, through a collaboration with the Canadian Cancer Society
Fecal microbial transplantation in combination with immunotherapy in melanoma patients (MIMic trial) / Lawson Health Research Institute / ClinicalTrials ID – NCT03772899

Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation - Basic Research

The Hecht Foundation invites proposals for proof-of-principle basic science and preclinical research with a primary focus on cancer and a secondary emphasis on other devastating diseases (e. g. diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, opioid drug use, etc.). This funding opportunity is designed to support non-mainstream hypotheses and original projects that fall outside traditional funding mechanisms and have not previously received grant or award support.

In 2026, the Hecht Foundation will award up to $450,000 CAD per project over a three-year period.

Objectives

This initiative seeks to catalyze high-risk, high-reward research by attracting emerging ideas that challenge conventional paradigms. Preliminary data is not required; however, proposals must be substantiated through:

Extensive literature review
Logical rationale for the hypothesis
Demonstrated feasibility through cited publications or relevant unpublished data

Applicants must also clearly articulate the capabilities and management of the research team, including relevant expertise, available infrastructure, and access to necessary resources.

Eligibility and Scope for Basic Science Proposals

All submissions must comply with the general eligibility requirements. In addition, basic science competition-specific eligibility may be found below.

Proposals may originate from early-career or established investigators, and may be inspired by:

Innovations from adjacent or unrelated disciplines
Collateral findings discovered serendipitously
Novel methodologies or conceptual frameworks

This funding stream will not support lead investigator salaries, large equipment, and overhead institutional expenses.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

For basic proposal-specific guidelines, please email health@hecht.org.

Lund University Seed Funding for Research Collaborations

Lund University in Sweden is launching the Get Started Funding. This is a seed funding program designed to stimulate new international research collaborations with partner universities, including the University of Toronto. Its aim is to help researchers build partnerships that can lead to larger externally funded projects, joint publications, and long-term research engagement.

The grant covers costs for visits related to workshops and meetings, including travel, accommodation, and subsistence, and is administered by Lund University.

To be considered for funding, please contact your Lund University collaborator or find new collaborators in Lund’s research portal.

Funding

Up to SEK 75,000 (about CAD 10,000) per project
Funds are provided and administered by Lund University

Eligibility

Applicants need to have a doctoral degree and be employed at Lund University
U of T collaborators need to have a doctoral degree and be employed at U of T

Application Deadline

October 20, 2026

Submission

Only Lund University researchers can submit an application.

For more information on this call, including detailed submission instructions, please visit U of T's External Grants webpage.

If you have questions, please contact Elina Tulla, Regional Lead, Office of the Vice-President, International, at elina.tulla@utoronto.ca.

Faculty are encouraged to review U of T’s safeguarding research resources when developing their proposals.

Mexico–Canada Research and Development Partnership Platform

The Embassy of Canada in Mexico invites University of Toronto researchers to visit the Mexico–Canada Research and Development Partnership (RPP) Platform, a binational matchmaking and collaboration tool connecting Canadian and Mexican researchers to initiate joint research and development projects.
The platform currently hosts seven research areas:

Semiconductor
Cybersecurity
Renewable energy
Agrotechnology
Indigenous knowledge and language preservation
Radical political ideology

By facilitating direct engagement, this platform supports efforts to develop talent pipelines, enhance innovation ecosystems, and highlight the leadership of both nations in these sectors.

Click here to access the Mexico–Canada RPP Platform.

MITACS Elevate proposals are now accepted year-round

As of today, the Mitacs Elevate program will be open all year round to provide more flexibility and unlock more opportunities for postdoc researchers across the globe!

This evolution is part of an ongoing effort to make Mitacs Elevate a more inclusive and accessible program and support academic-industry collaboration throughout the seasons. Plus, the evergreen Elevate program now offers the following benefits:

No more deadlines — apply anytime
Elevate proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis.

A more efficient and accessible application process
Proposals can now be submitted through the Registration and Application Portal (RAP) for quick and easy access.

Agile research projects, $60K/year in funding
One-year projects will now be accepted for a standard $60,000 award per year to allow more researchers to participate in training and gain valuable experience. Two-year projects are also still available as per previous guidelines.

Open to all sectors and disciplines
To simplify requirements, the thematic award will no longer be offered. This means postdocs from any sector or academic discipline can apply anytime.

For detailed program and application information, please visit: https://research.utoronto.ca/funding-opportunities/db/mitacs-elevate

Please note: the applicant must also upload and submit the application through the university's My Research Application (MRA) System. The MRA approval process should be started well in advance, in parallel, to ensure a successful submission, since it can take several business days to complete the approval process.

New NIH Funding Opportunity: Collaborative International Research Project

NIH has now released its first funding opportunity under the new PF5 activity code allowing for the participation of foreign institutions (including the University of Toronto) as funded collaborators: the NIH Collaborative International Research Project.

In September 2025, NIH announced a new application structure for NIH-funded international collaborations, replacing the previous foreign subaward structure that had been cancelled by NIH earlier that year. Under this new structure, the only mechanism by which foreign institutions can receive NIH funds from awards led by United States based institutions (i.e., sub-awards) is through funding opportunities under the new activity codes: PF5 (for grants) and UF5 (for co-op agreements).

This newly-launched PF5 funding opportunity (#PA-26-002) is intended for projects involving a funded collaboration with a foreign institution. Applications must be led by an eligible U.S. entity and include at least 1 foreign subproject. The proposed project must relate to the programmatic interests of one or more of the participating NIH Institutes/Centers/Offices (ICO). The application will follow the instructions for a multi-project application and the application details are outlined in the funding opportunity.

Once awarded, the U.S. lead and each foreign (subproject) institution will receive a separate Notice of Award (NOA).

Timelines

Application Due Dates			Review and Award Cycles
New	Renewal / Resubmission / Revision (as allowed)	AIDS - New/Renewal/Resubmission/Revision, as allowed	Scientific Merit Review	Advisory Council Review	Earliest Start Date
September 25, 2026 *	September 25, 2026 *	January 07, 2027 *	March 2027	May 2027	July 2027
January 25, 2027 *	January 25, 2027 *	May 07, 2027 *	July 2027	October 2027	December 2027
May 25, 2027 *	May 25, 2027 *	September 07, 2027 *	November 2027	January 2028	April 2028
September 25, 2027 *	September 25, 2027 *	January 07, 2028 *	March 2028	May 2028	July 2028
January 25, 2028 *	January 25, 2028 *	May 07, 2028 *	July 2028	October 2028	December 2028
May 25, 2028 *	May 25, 2028 *	September 07, 2028 *	November 2028	January 2029	April 2029
September 25, 2028 *	September 25, 2028 *	January 07, 2029 *	March 2029	May 2029	July 2029
January 25, 2029 *	January 25, 2029 *	May 07, 2029 *	July 2029	October 2029	December 2029

Important NIH Applications & Awards Policy Updates for Fiscal Year 2027

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have recently announced two policy updates that will affect grant applications and award management beginning in Fiscal Year (FY) 2027.

1. Letters of Support to be Replaced by Letters of Collaboration With the implementation of Application Forms J in FY2027, NIH will no longer accept traditional Letters of Support. Instead, applicants must use Letters of Collaboration to document planned access to materials or collaborations with individuals that are not identified in the application as senior/key personnel or other significant contributors. These letters must be limited to a brief statement of intent (maximum 100 words) and may not include endorsements or evaluations of the proposed project. Applications that continue to include Letters of Support after implementation may be returned without review.

2. Updated Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan Requirements NIH is also implementing a new standardized DMS Plan format for all applications and awards subject to the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy. Beginning in FY2027, investigators with active awards and pending applications will be required to transition to the updated format according to NIH's implementation schedule. In addition, effective October 1, 2026, recipients will report DMS Plan changes and data-sharing progress through the RPPR, eliminating the need for prior approval requests for DMS Plan modifications.

Researchers planning NIH submissions or managing active NIH awards are encouraged to review these notices and prepare for these changes ahead of FY2027 implementation.

More information:

For additional information & guidance on this new funding opportunity, please see here.

Reopening of NSERC Alliance International

Please note that the website for the Alliance International Collaboration program now up to date and that the NSERC Online application system will accept applications in this program as of September 2, 2026.

UofT Internal Deadline:

Please send an email to IPO of your intent to apply at your earliest convenience: innovations.partnerships@utoronto.ca
The applicant must also upload and submit the application through the University's My Research Application (MRA) System. The internal deadline for institutional authorization (via MRA) is November 18, 2026.
The MRA approval process should be started well in advance in parallel to ensure a successful submission since it can take several business days to complete the approval process.

Changes to the Alliance International Program:

Given the increased demand, the program will now operate on a competitive basis, with three proposal submission deadlines per year. The deadline for the 2026 competition is November 25, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. ET. Deadlines for 2027 will be announced in January 2027.
In light of the competitive process, the maximum time allowed between the official award letter received by the international collaborator and the submission of the Canadian application to NSERC has been extended to 120 days.
As a transitional measure intended to include Canadian researchers who were unable to submit an application by the May 20, 2025 deadline, the requirement to submit an application to NSERC within 120 days of the award date of the corresponding international grant will not apply, provided that applications are submitted to NSERC no later than November 25, 2026, 8pm ET. All such applications must meet the program requirements, and the proposed collaborations must remain viable, particularly where the grant awarded to the international collaborators was awarded more than 120 days earlier. Applications submitted by the May 20, 2025 deadline that were not selected for funding are not eligible for resubmission.
Proposals submitted to NSERC will now be evaluated internally using two criteria: Impact and Benefit to Canada (60%) and Quality of training in Canada (40%), including considerations related to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in training opportunities.
A copy of the international proposal and the official award letter must be included in the NSERC application. If these documents are not in English or French, applicants must provide a translation of the award letter and of all sections of the international proposal that describe at a minimum the Canadian team and its role in the global project.
To ensure balanced participation, each party’s budget (Canadian and international) must represent at least 25% of the total project budget—for example, if the combined Canadian and international budget is CAD $200,000, the budget submitted to NSERC or to the international funding agency must be at least $50,000.

NSERC Full Application Q & A Sessions

NSERC offers a series of pre-recorded videos followed by Q&A sessions which are meant to assist the research community on how to complete an application using the Research Portal and the NSERC Canadian Common CV (CCV). You will find below the pre-recorded videos as well as the dates and registration links for these upcoming Q&A sessions.

Federal Q&A Sessions

NSERC also holds Q&A sessions for both its Discovery and RTI programs. Details of upcoming sessions are below:

Northern Research Supplements Program and Ship Time - Bilingual Session

Northern Research Supplements (pre-recorded video): Northern Research Supplements program - Overview

Ship Time (pre-recorded video): NSERC Ship Time Program Overview

Discovery Grant - English Session

Pre-recorded video: Discovery Grants – How to Submit a Full Application

Discovery Grant - French Session

Thursday, September 17, 2026, 1-2:30pm EDT - Link to registration and submitting a question

Pre-recorded video: Subventions à la découverte – Comment préparer une demande complète

Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) - English Session

Thursday, September 24, 2026, 1-2pm EDT - Link to registration and submitting a question

Pre-recorded video: YouTube – How to apply for the Research Tools and Instruments Grants program

Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) - French Session

Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 1-2pm EDT - Link to registration and submitting a question

Pre-recorded video: YouTube – Comment présenter une demande au Programme de subventions d’outils et d’instruments de recherche

For more information on the NSERC Discovery program, please visit the NSERC website and UofT's Funding Opportunities page.

For more information on the NSERC RTI program, please visit the NSERC website and UofT's Funding Opportunities page.

For more information on addressing EDI considerations in your applications, please see the VPRI EDI in Teams & Training handbook.

NSERC 2027 Discovery Grants Competition: Update to IECA Requirements

NSERC has announced an update to the Indigenous Engagement and Collaboration Agreement (IECA) requirements for the 2027 Discovery Grants competition.

Following feedback from the research community regarding implementation challenges and varying levels of institutional readiness, NSERC has reverted to the approach used in the 2026 Discovery Grants competition.

What has changed?

An IECA is now required only for applications involving Indigenous research, as defined on the NSERC website.
An IECA is no longer required solely because research activities will take place on lands or waters in which Indigenous Nations or communities have interests or rights.

While this requirement has been removed for the 2027 competition, NSERC continues to encourage researchers to reflect on the relationship between their proposed research and the lands and waters on which it will be conducted, and to consider whether engagement with relevant Indigenous communities would be appropriate.

The updated IECA template and application instructions specific to the IECA requirements are now available on the NSERC website within the "Instructions for completing the full application" section.

For questions, please contact IndigenousInitiatives@nserc-crsng.gc.ca.

NSERC Discovery Grant and Research Tools & Instruments: Strategies for Success

The Division of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation is hosting two webinars on the upcoming 2026 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant (DG) and Research Tools & Instrument Grant (RTI) programs.

Intended for the University of Toronto research community, each session will feature a faculty panel of a recent member of the respective NSERC evaluation committee and a successful grant applicant. Panelists will share their experiences participating on the evaluation committee and tips for writing a strong proposal.

A Q&A period will follow each session.

NSERC Research Tools and Instruments: Strategies for Success

Date and time: September 18, 2026 | 10:30am–12:00pm

Session Information & Registration

Questions about registration can be directed to cris@utoronto.ca. For additional program and event information visit the Centre for Research & Innovation Support Programs Page."

Ontario Centre of Innovation: Collaborate 2 Commercialize - Call for Applications

The Ontario Centre for Innovation’s Collaborate 2 Commercialize program (C2C, formerly VIP) supports Industry/Academia collaboration solving an industry-based problem and driving the commercialization of Intellectual Property [IP]. The institution leverages the unique skills and specialized infrastructure instrumental in streamlining internal innovations and commercialization needs. Benefits include targeted training of individuals and direct engagement with Industry to work on commercially viable solutions.

Grant Program: Collaborate 2 Commercialize (C2C, formerly VIP)

C2C has two variants/options:

1: C2C R&D Standalone Grant

OCI cash contribution $20K-$150K (Industry Direct Cash $10K-$75K + in-kind, cash matched 2:1 by OCI) Project duration 6-24 months
companies of any size, but with a demonstrated receptor capacity
More info: https://www.oc-innovation.ca/programs/collaborate-2-commercialize/

2: C2C grant combined with NSERC Alliance Grant

OCI cash contribution $20K-$30K (Industry Direct Cash $10K-$15K + in-kind, cash matched 2:1 by OCI, and also matched 2:1 by NSERC for an additional $20K-$30K Project duration 6-12 months
Companies must be Ontario SMEs (global headcount <500 employees)
More info: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Innovate-Innover/VIP-BIP_eng.asp (NSERC website may still refer to VIP rather than C2C)

For full application information and guidelines, please visit: https://research.utoronto.ca/funding-opportunities/db/ontario-centre-innovation-collaborate-2-commercializ.e

Please note: the applicant must upload and submit the application through the university's My Research Application (MRA) System. MRA is the internal University approval system that confirms support for your application from your department/faculty.

Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) - Clinical Translation Pre-Clinical Acceleration Team Award (Pre-CATA)

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) is accepting applications for its Clinical Translation Pre-Clinical Acceleration Team Award (Pre-CATA) program. This funding opportunity is designed to accelerate the translation of promising cancer biomarkers toward clinical application by supporting preclinical research that advances biomarker development and validation. The program focuses on biomarkers that have progressed beyond initial discovery and have sufficient preliminary evidence to support translational advancement.

The award is part of OICR’s Clinical Translation (CT) initiative, which supports preclinical and early clinical studies aimed at developing and validating innovative approaches to cancer detection, treatment, and monitoring. Through partnerships among researchers, clinicians, and patients, the program seeks to advance clinically relevant discoveries with the potential for meaningful patient impact.

Funding Available

Up to $225,000 per year per project (inclusive of eligible overhead costs).
Funding duration of up to two years.
Maximum award value of $450,000 per project.
OICR intends to fund up to four projects through a total funding envelope of $1.8 million.

Project Levels

Level I – Development Projects

Supports biomarker confirmation and assay development activities required to establish analytical and translational readiness.

Level II – Validation Projects

Supports retrospective validation studies designed to generate evidence for future prospective clinical testing or integration into clinical practice.

Eligibility

Applicants must be investigators at Ontario academic institutions, hospital research institutes, or government research organizations.
Applications must include collaborators from multiple institutions and a patient partner.
OICR funding is only tenable in Ontario.

Important Dates

Concept Submission Deadline: September 17, 2026, 5:00 p.m. ET
Concept Feedback to Teams: Week of November 16, 2026
Prioritized Concept Meetings: December 1, 2, or 4, 2026

Additional Information:

Please visit the sponsor website.

Ontario Pork Call for Letters of Intent - 2027

Ontario Pork is pleased to announce a call for Letters of Intent (LOI) for research projects that focus on the Ontario swine industry and meet the overarching research objectives of:

Innovation of technology and automation
Trade policy, economics, and consumer studies
Testing potential improvements to current swine industry practices

*Note: Consultation with Swine Health Ontario preferred on this topic. Please reach out to Jessica Fox at jessica.fox@swinehealthontario.ca for further information.

All research projects that align with these objectives will be considered, including, but not limited to, swine health, swine welfare, swine nutrition, swine husbandry, swine reproduction, barn design and management, employee health and safety, meat quality and safety, marketing and consumer trends and environmental and economic sustainability. Highest priority is given to projects that demonstrate scientific merit as well as strong identification of the benefit of project results to Ontario pork producers and an indication of input or support of a project from swine industry members outside of academia. Specific details of what is expected can be found in the Outline for completion of the Ontario Pork LOI.

Letters of intent should be completed electronically through the Ontario Pork research portal. Prior to applying, applicants should review Ontario Pork’s conditions of funding approval. These conditions and the outline for completing the LOI can be found on the application portal and on the main Ontario Pork website:

https://research.ontariopork.on.ca

http://www.ontariopork.on.ca/Research/Call-for-Proposals

Timelines for the 2027 call for research:

October 13, 2026 - LOI due by 12:00pm (noon)

Week of December 14th, 2026 - Researchers notified of LOI outcome

January 22, 2027 - Full proposal due by 4:30pm on this date for selected LOIs

February 2027 - Short presentations to the Committee for selected proposals

Week of March 15th, 2027 - Researcher notified of full proposal outcome

Please direct any questions pertaining to the research funding process of Ontario Pork to research@ontariopork.on.ca.

Open Science Framework (OSF) - Changes

Open Science Framework (OSF) has announced plans to phase out the OSF Projects workflow. Researchers currently using OSF Projects should consider whether any data management procedures and/or regulatory or compliance documentation (e.g., ethics protocols) referencing OSF Projects require updating.

Important dates to note:

November 16, 2026: No new projects can be created.
February 19, 2027: All projects will become read-only. Existing content, links, and DOIs will remain accessible, but no further changes can be made.

Registrations and preprints are unaffected and continue to operate as before.

Further information is available at cos.io

In need of a new data repository? Our institutional data repository, U of T Dataverse in Borealis, may meet your needs.

Questions? Contact rdm@utoronto.ca

Research in Health: Funding Opportunities to Collaborate with Inserm (France)

The French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale, Inserm) has announced two funding opportunities to support collaboration with foreign researchers, including those based in Canada: First Step supports new collaborations and the International Research Project program supports existing partnerships.

1. First Step

First Step is an exploratory program designed to launch new international collaborations between young Inserm researchers and foreign teams.

Program focus: Projects are intended to begin and develop scientific and technological exchanges of excellence between two research laboratories and must demonstrate potential for complementary expertise.

Award value & duration:

€10,000 over 18 months.

Eligibility:

The French coordinator must have been working permanently in an Inserm laboratory for less than 5 years. See call for more details.

Key Dates:

Internal deadline: September 16, 2026, 5:00 pm (EDT); submit MRA
Sponsor deadline: September 21, 2026, 5:00 pm (CEST) (11:00 am EDT)

How to Apply:

Canadian researchers should reach out to their (potential) Inserm collaborator and discuss this opportunity. Applications are submitted by the Inserm researcher, but the project is co-designed with the international partner. See call for all application materials.

Resources:

2. International Research Projects (IRP)

This program supports existing and emerging promising partnerships by providing the means to establish long-term collaboration between teams from at least two countries.

Program focus: The goal is to consolidate a partnership established between an Inserm team and a foreign team(s). Special attention will be paid to projects with low-income or middle-income countries (LMICs).

Award value & duration:

€60,000 (for IRPs in Europe) and €75,000 (for IRPs outside of Europe) over 5 years.

Eligibility:

The French coordinator must be a researcher with a permanent position at an Inserm laboratory in France. See call for more details.

Key Dates:

Internal deadline: September 25, 2026, 5:00 pm (EDT); submit MRA
Sponsor deadline: September 30, 2026, 5:00 pm (CEST) (11:00 am EDT)

How to Apply:

Canadian researchers should reach out to their Inserm collaborator and discuss this opportunity. Applications are submitted by the Inserm researcher, but the project is co-designed with the international partner. See call for all application materials.

Resources:

Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative- New Ideas Award

The Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) is now accepting applications for its New Ideas Award, a funding opportunity designed to support bold, exploratory research that advances the basic science of autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs).

Overview

The New Ideas Award provides early-stage funding for innovative projects that:

Test novel hypotheses
Open new conceptual or experimental directions
Challenge existing assumptions in the field of autism and NDD research

Proposed research may draw from any scientific discipline, including (but not limited to) genetics, neuroscience, computation, behavioral science, psychiatry, and interdisciplinary approaches, and may involve human or model systems at any scale of analysis.

Funding Details

Up to USD $300,000 per year
Maximum duration: 2 years
Total maximum award: USD $600,000 that includes up to 20% indirect costs

Application Process

Letters of Intent (LOIs): Accepted on a rolling basis beginning April 29, 2026
Initial LOI decisions are typically provided within 3–4 months
Selected applicants are invited to submit a full proposal (4-week submission window).

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted through the Simons Award Manager. Full program details and application materials are available here.

South Africa-Canada Seed Grant for Collaborative Research Joint Initiative

A new joint funding opportunity between SSHRC and South Africa’s National Research Foundation has been launched.

South Africa-Canada Seed Grant for Collaborative Research

South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) are partnering to launch the South Africa-Canada Seed Grant for Collaborative Research funding opportunity. This joint initiative will support collaborative research in areas of mutual interest between South Africa and Canada, while also building capacity, fostering new and existing partnerships, and developing networks and/or consortia among the Canadian and South African research communities. For this funding opportunity, applicants based in Canada must partner with South African applicants and submit a joint application through the NRF’s application portal.

Funding

For each funded project, NRF and SSHRC commit to supporting the teams in their respective country. The value of the SSHRC grant for the Canadian teams is set at $100,000 over three years.

Themes

Projects must address one of the following themes:

Theme 1: Just and Resilient Societies
Theme 2: Environmental Sustainability
Theme 3: Artificial Intelligence
Theme 4: Sustainable Growth
Theme 5: Mathematics Education

Additional information

Further details, including application information, are available on the NRF website at the following link (funding call titled SA Canada Funding Framework): https://www.nrf.ac.za/funding/nrf-call-for-proposals-for-funding-in-2026-and-2027/?hilite=NRF+Call+Proposals+Funding+2026

Should you have questions related to Canadian eligibility requirements, please contact partnerships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca. For all program-related questions, please contact the NRF directly at VL.Mashiloane@risa.nrf.ac.za.

SSHRC Connection Grants – New joint initiative - Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative

Starting with the August 2026 Connection Grants competition, SSHRC is launching a new initiative: the Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative (SARI).

The SARI Connection Grants are intended to support events and outreach activities geared toward short-term, targeted knowledge mobilization initiatives, bringing together those working to advance sustainable agricultural sectors and food systems to support a just transition to net-zero in Canada.

Workshops, conferences, colloquiums, forums, summer institutes, documentaries, and other events or outreach activities.
Activities at agricultural exhibitions, fairs, demonstration farms, and farm shows.
Interdisciplinary exchanges integrating social sciences, natural sciences, engineering and other fields.

Applications:

Learn more about the Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative Connection Grants or contact partnerships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca for more information.

Complete the regular Connection Grants application on the SSHRC Web CV portal https://webapps.nserc.ca/SSHRC/faces/logon.jsp?lang=en_CA)
Select "Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative Connection Grants" in the Joint/Special Initiative field
Add "Sustainable Agriculture" in the Keywords section
Matching funds: minimum 25% (not 50%, as required for regular Connection Grants) of amount requested from SSHRC
Detail benefits as they relate to SARI objectives in the Expected Outcomes module
Describe how activities support SARI objectives in the Description of Project module
To request >$25K for an event, select 'Outreach Activity' as project type

Additional information:

Approximately 32 projects expected to be funded
Earliest project start date: October 1, 2026
One-year extension option available with no additional funding
Can also apply to regular CG in same year — if objectives differ and no duplication of funding

Applicable links:

Main SSHRC Connection Grants website (with guidelines and instructions, and link to the SSHRC application portal)
Dedicated website for this Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative
UofT Research and Innovation funding opportunities database and its SSHRC CG webpage (for internal deadlines for UofT applicants)

SSHRC - Indigenous Capacity and Leadership in Research Connection Grants and Indigenous Innovation and Leadership in Research Network Grants – Stage 1

SSHRC has updates on the recently announced Indigenous research funding opportunities from Canada’s Tri-Agencies: NSERC, SSHRC, and CIHR. As announced in Budget 2024, the federal government committed $30 million to support and increase Indigenous participation in research. In response, and following extensive engagement with Indigenous research partners, the Tri-Agencies have introduced a suite of new programs to strengthen Indigenous leadership and capacity in the research ecosystem. For First Nations and Métis as well as Indigenous post-secondary institutions and not-for-profit research organizations serving more than one distinction, these include:

Indigenous Capacity and Leadership in Research Connection Grants – Now open. These grants aim to contribute to growing the capacity and leadership of First Nations and Métis communities to conduct research and partner with the broader research community. Webinars for the ICLR Connections Grants were presented at the end of June. To receive a copy of the webinar information, please contact SSHRC.

Indigenous Innovation and Leadership in Research Network Grants – Stage 1 – Now open. These institutional grants will support will fund networks for Indigenous-led research that support Indigenous research methodologies and knowledge systems.

Important note: These grant funds can only be administered by a Canadian, Indigenous postsecondary institution or Indigenous not-for-profit organization that holds SSHRC institutional eligibility, so these grants cannot be applied for or administered through the University of Toronto, but this funding opportunity is being shared with the University of Toronto research community for informational purposes only in case there are researchers who would like to connect with other, eligible institutions that may be interested in applying.

SSHRC Insight Grant competition: Open for Applications; SSHRC Info sessions

SSHRC has updated the Insight Grant (IG) competition guidelines for the 2026 competition. Insight Grants support long-term research initiatives in the social sciences and humanities. They offer awards from $10,000 to $500,000 over 2 to 5 years, with a maximum annual budget of $125,000. Funding is available to emerging and established scholars for projects conducted by an individual researcher or team of researchers.

For full IG guidelines, please visit the SSHRC website here (which also has the link to the now open online application form through the SSHRC site and the IG application instructions).

Deadlines:

Monday, September 21, 2026 (noon) - receipt of approved MRA
- An approved MRA must be received by Research Services (MRA may take several days for divisional approval, please submit well in advance). The MRA should include at least a draft proposal and finalized budget amount (but check with your department/administrative unit if more details are required, or if they have an earlier internal deadline). For instructions on how to submit an MRA, please see this webpage, and for technical assistance, please contact raise@utoronto.ca.
Monday, September 28, 2026 (9 am) - online submission of final SSHRC application via the SSHRC site
- Applicant must submit their completed SSHRC application via SSHRC's application site (please note, submitting after this time may reduce our ability to submit your application to SSHRC by their deadline of Oct 1st, as Research Services must complete an administrative review of all applications before forwarding them to SSHRC through the SSHRC site.)

For details on the submission process and institutional approval, and for links to other resources, please see the UofT Research & Innovation Funding Opportunity webpage for the SSHRC IG: https://research.utoronto.ca/funding-opportunities/db/insight-grants.

Additional Information:

For any questions about the IG, please contact SSHRC by email at: insightgrants@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca or call 1-855-275-2861 option 5 . For this and any other upcoming webinars hosted by SSHRC, please go to the SSHRC webinar webpage.

The above details and other resources (including links to register for the UofT-hosted IG sessions) are available on the UofT Research and Innovation IG webpage.

For full guidelines for this funding opportunity, please see SSHRC's IG webpage.

SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis Grants: Changing Nature of Security and Conflict - Joint initiative with NordForsk

SSHRC, in partnership with NordForsk (the Nordic research council), has launched a Knowledge Synthesis Grants (KSG) competition to mobilize, examine and synthesize social sciences and humanities research on The Changing Nature of Security and Conflict. The resulting syntheses will help identify roles the academic, public, private and not-for-profit sectors could play in promoting more inclusive and equitable societies; and could inform development of effective tools and technologies, robust policies, and sustainable practices needed to support the path toward a diverse and inclusive future for all. For a full description, please visit the SSHRC KSG website here.

SSHRC and NordForsk have partnered on this funding opportunity to support research that will foster a deeper understanding of the state of knowledge about the global challenge of The Changing Nature of Security and Conflict. This competition includes two streams:

Stream 1 (domestic) will be reserved for applications submitted by an applicant affiliated with an eligible Canadian institution. SSHRC may fund up to 16 grants of $10,000 to $40,000 per project for one year each.
Stream 2 (international) applications must include two applicants, with one based in Canada and one based in one of the Nordic countries, as well as a co-applicant from a different Nordic country. The applicants and co-applicant must be affiliated with eligible institutions in their respective countries. SSHRC, along with NordForsk, may co-fund up to 15 grants of $10,000 to $78,000 per project for one year each. If you are looking for a new or additional Canadian or international team member for this funding opportunity, SSHRC and NordForsk have set up a networking form that one can add their research interests and contact information to.

Please note that Knowledge Synthesis Grants are not intended to support original research. Rather, they are intended to support the synthesis of existing research knowledge and identify knowledge gaps. This call is particularly focused on the state of research produced over the past 10 years. Successful applicants will (among other things) be required to complete a synthesis report (max 40 pages, due May 2028) and two-page evidence brief (due Dec 2027). For full expected outcomes, please see the description on the KSG webpage.

Deadlines

Internal deadline #1 (MRA) - noon, Tuesday, November 24, 2026:

receipt by Research Services of an approved MRA - please include at least a draft application and finalized budget amount (note that after you submit it, your MRA may take several days to receive approvals from department, division etc. so please submit it well before the deadline)

Internal deadline #2 (full application submission on SSHRC's convergence portal) - 9 am, Tuesday, December 1, 2026

applications submitted on the convergence portal through UofT by eligible PIs (as per SSHRC eligibility guidelines, but also UofT PI eligibility guidelines) by this Dec 1, 2026 internal deadline, for which an MRA has been received (as above), will go through an administrative review by UofT Research Services prior to being forwarded to SSHRC by SSHRC's final deadline of Dec 3, 2026.

For full competition details and to access the form and application instructions, please visit the SSHRC KSG website here.

For information on internal deadlines for UofT applicants for this KSG competition, please visit the UofT Research and Innovation website here.

Webinars

The following webinars have been scheduled by SSHRC. Note that registration is required:

NordForsk hosted webinar on Aug 25, 2026 - Registration and webinar link
October 8, 2026 at 11 am (bilingual) - Registration and webinar link

Additionally, NordForsk has created a webpage for this KSG funding opportunity, which you can see here. That website includes information concerning a webinar that NordForsk will be hosting for Nordic researchers interested in the call:

SSHRC Partnership Engage Grants - update on the value of PEGs

SSHRC has announced that the value of its Partnership Engage Grants (PEG), starting in the March 2026 PEG competition, will be increased to $10,000 - $50,000 (previously, they were valued at $7,000 - $25,000), and will continue to be one year in duration.

As per SSHRC's PEG website, PEGs provide short-term and timely support for partnered research activities that will inform decision-making at a single partner organization from the public, private or not-for-profit sector. The small-scale, stakeholder-driven partnerships supported through Partnership Engage Grants are meant to respond to immediate needs and time constraints facing organizations in non-academic sectors. In addressing an organization-specific need, challenge and/or opportunity, these partnerships let non-academic organizations and postsecondary researchers access each other’s unique knowledge, expertise and capabilities on topics of mutual interest.

Deadlines: SSHRC PEG competitions occur quarterly (in March, June, September and December). Final SSHRC deadlines are available on the SSHRC PEG website, but for UofT applicants, internal deadlines (including for MRA and the final submission on the SSHRC site) can be seen on the UofT Research and Innovation funding database here.

For more information on the PEG program, please visit SSHRC's PEG website.

SSHRC Partnership Development Grants - November 2026 competition now open

SSHRC has now released the updated guidelines and application instructions for the November 2026 Partnership Development Grants competition.

SSHRC's Partnership Development Grants provide support to:

develop research and related activities in the social sciences and humanities, including knowledge mobilization and the meaningful involvement of students and new scholars, by fostering new research partnership activities involving existing and/or potential partners; or
design and test new partnership approaches for research and/or related activities that may result in best practices or models that either can be adapted by others or have the potential to be scaled up at a regional, national or international level.

Highlights

Proposals to this funding opportunity can have a duration of 1-3 years with a budget that can range between $75,000 and $250,000 (***NOTE that this has been increased from the previous maximum amount of $200,000). Applicants are required to secure Cash/In-Kind contributions towards their proposal but no minimum value is required. Partners, as outlined in the proposal, must provide evidence that they have entered into a formal partnership.

For UofT applicants: Information on internal deadlines (including the required MRA), proposal development and editorial review options, any upcoming and previous webinars, and links to other resources may be found on the SSHRC PDG listing on the UofT Research and Innovation Funding Opportunities Database

Webinars

SSHRC will be holding the following PDG webinars:

English:

Date and time: Sept 24, 2026, 11 am - 1 pm
Link: As of 26 June 2026 the registration and webinar link on the SSHRC PDG page was inactive. Please check back on that page in the future for an active link in order to register for it prior to the session.

Partnership Development Grants

(English)

September 24, 2026

11:00 am to 1:00 pm (EDT)

https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/f2e18669-70a6-4920-81b8-10c4b82c8b15@fbef0798-20e3-4be7-bdc8-372032610f65

French:

Date and time: Sept 25, 2026, 11 am - 1 pm
Link: As of 26 June 2026 the registration and webinar link on the SSHRC PDG page was inactive. Please check back on that page in the future for an active link in order to register for it prior to the session.

Partnership Development Grants

(French)

September 25, 2026

11:00 am to 1:00 pm (EDT)

https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/ebaca824-067b-43cf-b620-6af7f8ff6104@fbef0798-20e3-4be7-bdc8-372032610f65

Stem Cell Network - New National Research Funding Competition in Regenerative Medicine

Stem Cell Network (SCN) is pleased to announce the second of two national research funding competitions planned for SCN’s 2025-2029 funding cycle. This new competition will support world-class, translational regenerative medicine research across the research continuum to facilitate health, social and economic benefits for Canadians.

The competition will officially open on Monday, August 31, 2026, and offers 22-month awards.

SCN is proud to collaborate with two organizations to offer joint-funding award opportunities:

Azrieli Foundation

Breakthrough T1D

Four regenerative medicine research programs are available that focus on innovation, translation toward the clinic, and policy and societal impact:

Accelerating Clinical Translation Awards (up to $700,000)

Early Career Researcher Jump Start Awards (up to $270,000)

Impact Awards (up to $290,000)

Impact Awards: Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) & Health Economics (HE) Stream (up to $215,000)

The Letter of Intent (LOI) submission process for Round 1 is open as of August 31, 2026, and is mandatory for all SCN funding programs.To be clear: applicants MUST submit an LOI to be considered for the full application stage of the research competition.

LOIs will be used to identify peer review requirements, gauge the level of interest in SCN’s programs, and ensure projects fall within SCN’s regenerative medicine mandate.

Important Dates:

LOI submission deadline is Monday, September 21, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. PDT.

Full application submission will open to eligible LOI applicants on Wednesday, October 7, 2026.

Full application submission deadline is Tuesday, November 24, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET (3:00 p.m. PDT).

For detailed application information, please visit:https://stemcellnetwork.ca/news/stem-cell-network-launches-new-national-research-funding-competition-in-regenerative-medicine/

T-CAIREM–C-AIM Collaborative Innovation Grants for AI in Healthcare

The Temerty Centre for AI Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM) at the University of Toronto and Nanyang Technological University's Centre of AI in Medicine (C-AIM), Singapore, have launched the inaugural 2026 T-CAIREM–C-AIM Collaborative Innovation Grants for AI in Healthcare. Four grants of CAD $50,000 or SGD $50,000 are available to support collaborative, interdisciplinary AI-driven healthcare research projects.

Objectives

The program aims to:

Support innovative collaborative AI healthcare research between T-CAIREM and C-AIM investigators.
Foster interdisciplinary partnerships across medicine, engineering, computer science, public health, and health systems.
Accelerate translational and implementation-focused AI solutions with global relevance.
Promote knowledge exchange and trainee engagement between Canada and Singapore.
Generate pilot data and collaborative outputs that position teams for larger international funding opportunities.

Who Should Apply?

Researchers working at the intersection of AI and healthcare, particularly those interested in international collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches to addressing healthcare challenges.

About the Partners

T-CAIREM (University of Toronto) brings together computer scientists, clinicians, researchers, trainees, and industry partners to advance health through artificial intelligence.
C-AIM (NTU Singapore/National Healthcare Group) focuses on AI-enabled innovation and implementation research to address global healthcare challenges.

Application Deadline: October 2, 2026, at 11:30 PM ET.

More Information & Application

https://tcairem.utoronto.ca/news/t-cairem-c-aim-collaborative-innovation-grants-ai-healthcare-deadline-oct-2

UC Chile Avanza 2026 Research Competition – U of T Matching Funds

Avanza UC 2026 is a research and creation competition organized by the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC Chile). The Office of the Vice-President, International (OVPI) is offering matching funds for University of Toronto researchers participating in successful Avanza UC 2026 Research Competition projects. These matching funds are intended to support U of T researchers in carrying out activities related to the funded collaboration.

Funding

Depending on the number of winning applications - up to $10,000 CAD per project, for U of T PIs

Eligibility

Individuals who meet the University’s definition of a Principal Investigator (PI) are eligible to apply
PIs must hold an appointment for the full duration of the grant funding period plus one year

Important Dates

Expression of interest deadline for U of T PIs: Monday, September 28, 2026
Deadline for UC Chile PIs to submit proposals to UC Chile: Wednesday, September 30, 2026, 11:59 PM
Project start date: April 12, 2027
Project completion date: October 16, 2028

Submission

For more information on this call, including detailed submission instructions, please see the Joint Calls for Proposals page.

If you have any questions, please contact Joseph Connolly (Regional Lead, The Americas, Office of the Vice-President, International) at joseph.connolly@utoronto.ca.

U of T - University of Illinois Call for Expressions of Interest: Quantum Science and Technology

The University of Toronto (U of T) and the University of Illinois System (U of I) are contributing matching funds to support collaborative research projects on quantum science and technology. An initial online workshop will be held to assist with matchmaking between PIs from the two institutions.

Eligibility:

Faculty members who meet the University’s definition of a Principal Investigator (PI) are eligible to apply.

Important Dates:

Expression of interest deadline – September 18, 2026
Invitations extended to online workshop – October 2, 2026
Online workshop – October 28, 2026 at 3:00-5:00pm EST

Funding & Duration:

Following the online workshop, teams of researchers from both U of I and U of T may submit formal joint research proposals. Up to two (2) joint proposals will be chosen to each receive up to USD $25,000 of funding from U of I and up to CAD $37,500 from U of T.
Funds must be spent by December 31, 2027.

For more information on this call, including detailed instructions on how to submit a proposal, see the Joint Calls for Proposals page.

If you have questions, please contact Joseph Connolly (Regional Lead, The Americas, Office of the Vice-President, International) at joseph.connolly@utoronto.ca.

Faculty are encouraged to review U of T’s safeguarding research resources when developing their proposals.

National Taiwan University – U of T Joint Call for Research Proposals

The University of Toronto (U of T) and National Taiwan University (NTU) are hosting a joint call for proposals to support collaborative research initiatives that aim to strengthen institutional ties, explore complementary research strengths, and catalyze future collaboration.

The fund is open to proposals in all research areas.

All U of T employees who meet the University’s definition of a Principal Investigator (PI) are eligible to apply
NTU applicants must be tenure-track faculty members
Each application must include one PI from U of T and one from NTU. Early Career Researchers are encouraged to apply.

Important Dates:

Deadline for submission: October 30, 2026
Notification of results: Early December 2026
Funding period: January 1 to December 31, 2027

Value & Duration:

Up to seven proposals will be selected
Each project may receive up to CAD $10,000 from U of T and up to NTD $230,000 (approximately CAD $10,000) from NTU
Funding supports travel, workshops, and related activities to develop sustained research collaboration

For more information on this call, including detailed instructions on how to submit an application, please see the Joint Calls for Proposals page.

If you have questions, please contact Luke Li (Regional Lead, East Asia, Middle East, and North Africa, Office of the Vice-President, International) at luketx.li@utoronto.ca.

Faculty are encouraged to review U of T’s safeguarding research resources when developing their proposals.

National University of Singapore - U of T Joint Call for Proposals

The National University of Singapore (NUS) and the University of Toronto (U of T) are opening a joint call for proposals to support collaborative research initiatives. The aim of the fund is to provide initial support for the development of research links and catalyze further collaboration in the following research areas:

Decarbonization and Sustainability
AI for Science – Materials Discovery and AI

Funding and Duration

Up to five successful proposals in each theme will be funded for a maximum duration of 18 months in the following way:

NUS will provide each approved project up to SGD $25,000 to support NUS applicants
U of T will provide each approved project up to CAD $25,000 to support U of T applicants

U of T faculty members who meet the University’s definition of a Principal Investigator (PI) are eligible to apply. PIs must hold an appointment for the full duration of the grant’s funding period plus one year
NUS PIs must be full-time academic staff with contracts exceeding the project period
Proposal must include one PI from U of T and one from NUS

Timeline

Applications open: September 1, 2026
Applications close: November 1, 2026
Projects start: February 15, 2027
Projects end: August 1, 2028

Submission

A joint application should be submitted by the U of T and NUS PIs. For more information on this call, including detailed submission instructions, please see the Joint Calls for Proposals page.

If you have any questions, please contact Alicja Sobecka (Regional Lead for Southeast Asia, Japan, and Oceania, at the Office of the Vice-President, International), at alicja.sobecka@utoronto.ca

Faculty are encouraged to review U of T’s safeguarding research resources when developing their proposals.

University of Osaka Workshop and Joint Seed Fund

The University of Osaka (UOsaka) and the University of Toronto (U of T) Seed Fund has been established to develop collaborative research and education initiatives between the two institutions, and strengthen or initiate connections, by enabling researchers to jointly undertake preliminary research or pilot initiatives, and organise meetings, workshops and events.

The joint call invites proposals in Health, Material Science, AI and Quantum, including interdisciplinary areas.

Online Workshop

All interested faculty members are invited to register for an online workshop, which will take place on Monday, September 28, 7:00pm - 8:30pm.

The workshop will provide an opportunity to connect with researchers from UOsaka, learn more about the funding opportunity, and explore potential collaborations. Please fill in the Registration Form by September 24 to receive a link to the session.

Seed Fund

Funding and Duration

In this round, up to three proposals will be funded for a maximum duration of 12 months
UOsaka will provide each approved project up to JPY 1,000,000 (approx. CAD 9,000) to support UOsaka participants
U of T will provide each approved project up to CAD 15,000 to support U of T participants

Eligibility

U of T faculty members who meet the University’s definition of a Principal Investigator (PI) are eligible to apply
PIs must hold an appointment for the full duration of the grant’s funding period plus one year
PIs must be able to hold funds at U of T

Important Dates

Applications open: September 28, 2026
Applications close: December 15, 2026
Project start: April 1, 2027
Project end: March 31, 2028

Submission

A joint application should be submitted by the U of T and UOsaka PIs. Please use the call guidelines and templates published on OVPI website

If you have any questions, please contact Alicja Sobecka, Regional Lead for Southeast Asia, Japan, and Oceania, at the Office of the Vice-President International, at alicja.sobecka@utoronto.ca

Faculty are encouraged to review U of T’s safeguarding research resources when developing their proposals.

U of T Public Policy Reports Collection: Call for Submissions

The Division of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation (VPRI) and University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) is calling for submissions to the U of T Public Policy Reports Collection.

This collection assembles public policy research reports produced by the U of T community that are categorized as grey literature (research not published through traditional channels like academic journals). This collection improves the discoverability of U of T contributions to public policy at all levels, while also providing a frequently updated, permanent and search engine-optimized host. The reports are housed on TSpace, a free and secure high-traffic research repository established by UTL to disseminate and preserve the scholarly record of U of T.

Eligibility:

Public policy reports are eligible if they meet the following criteria:

At least one author was a faculty, fellow, student or staff at U of T when the report was issued.
They have not been published in an academic journal in an identical format.

There is no submission deadline.

For more information and instructions for submitting public policy reports to the collection, please visit: https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/tspace/deposit

Overton Policy Database: U of T offers access to Overton, the world’s largest searchable policy database and tool for measuring your research impact. Log in here to see how your work is influencing public policy documents, government, NGO proceedings, clinical guidelines and white papers globally.

UofT Research Security Self-Assessment Tool

The Division of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation is pleased to announce the launch of the Research Security Self-Assessment tool.

Before applying for federal or provincial research funding, researchers are strongly encouraged to use this tool to help them identify research security policies that may be applicable to their project.

Researchers applying for research funding or requesting non-funded agreements may access this tool directly from the Research Security web page or via a new page in My Research Applications & Agreements (MRA). The new page in MRA provides helpful resources and does not collect new information for your application/agreement.

If you have questions, U of T’s Research Security Team is here to help you navigate research security requirements for funding applications and non-funded agreements. For assistance, please contact them early in your application process at researchsecurity@utoronto.ca.

Awards

McLean Award

The purpose of the award is to support outstanding basic research at the University of Toronto in the following fields: physics, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, engineering sciences, and the theory and methods of statistics. One award of $150,000 will be made annually to an outstanding researcher relatively early in their career, to attract and support graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.

Eligibility for the McLean Award is limited to full-time faculty members whose primary employer is the U of T and are within twelve years or less of having received their Ph.D., as of the submission deadline.

Submission is by nomination only. Eligible nominators include Chairs/Directors of academic units, or Deans/Principals of non-departmentalized divisions. As only one award is available each year, nominators are encouraged to be selective. Nomination packages are to be submitted electronically to the Connaught Secretariat (Connaught.secretariat@utoronto.ca) by November 17, 2026.

Program Materials:

McLean 2026-27 Nomination Guidelines

NSERC Geoffrey Hinton Prize

New for the 2026 Fall Discovery Grant Competition, NSERC has announced the launch of the Geoffrey Hinton Prize to recognize Discovery Grant applicants whose creative application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the natural sciences and engineering (NSE) has generated or is poised to generate significant impact.

Named in honour of Nobel laureate Dr. Geoffrey Hinton, the prizes aim to accelerate discovery and innovation across the NSE by recognizing and supporting early-stage researchers from any NSE discipline who are leveraging AI in novel, innovative, and impactful ways. Each year, up to three prizes, valued at $100,000 each, will be awarded.

Value and duration

$100,000 research grant paid over a period of 2 years

Up to three prizes per year

Applicant Eligibility

Applications for the Geoffrey Hinton Prize are open only to researchers who have submitted their Fall 2026 Discovery Grant applications via the NSERC Research Portal. Interested applicants must submit their full Discovery Grant application package to NSERC by the competition deadline of November 2, 2026 at 8 pm EST. In order to apply in November 2026, applicants must have an appointment start date on or after December 1, 2016. The 10-year eligibility window may be adjusted if applicants experienced an eligible delay in research.

Eligible delays or leaves of absence may include maternity and parental leaves, personal illness, chronic illness or disability associated with reduced research activity, leaves taken for family-related illness or bereavement, or delays related to COVID-19. If you had an eligible delay in research, NSERC will extend your eligibility window by twice the length of your leave. For example, if you took a 7-month parental leave after starting your appointment, your eligibility window would be extended by 14 months. NSERC does not extend the eligibility window for professional leaves (for example, training, sabbatical or administrative leaves).

You are ineligible to receive a Geoffrey Hinton Prize if you have received an Arthur B. McDonald Fellowship.

Applications of AI must be within the natural sciences and engineering.

Application deadline

You must submit your supporting document and the terms and conditions form for the Geoffrey Hinton Prize before 8 pm EST on November 5, 2026.

For additional information, please see the Research Funding Opportunity , the NSERC newsletter announcing the award and the NSERC funding opportunity page.

Interested applicants should attend one of the following virtual information sessions:

English: October 5, 2026, from 12 pm to 1 pm (ET) French: October 6, 2026, from 12 pm to 1 pm (ET)

For any questions or to register for an information session, please contact hinton@nserc-crsng.gc.ca.

Education Awards

Access Programs University Fund (APUF)

The Access Strategy & Partnerships Office (ASPO) defines “Access Programs” as initiatives that support traditionally underrepresented groups with pathways and opportunities for post-secondary education. Currently, there are over 100 access and outreach programs at U of T. Please see our Access Programs Database for more information.

APUF funds new and enhanced programs, including transition to university, bridging programs for adults with diverse educational backgrounds, and exposure to career paths for underrepresented youth. Access also involves service-based planning and programming within university divisions, departments, learning approaches, technologies, and student services.

APUF priorities include expanding existing programs, developing new initiatives, improving current programs, fostering community partnerships, and providing experiential learning opportunities for U of T students.

Eligibility

Submissions will be accepted from University of Toronto faculty and staff with continuing appointments.

The primary beneficiary of the proposal must be domestic or permanent resident status learners from Ontario who are underrepresented at universities and who might not access or thrive in post-secondary education without the provision of supports, pathways, structured programs and/or opportunities to continue learning at the post-secondary level.

Application Timeline

Anticipated Spring 2026

Additional information

Please visit the APUF website for more information about this program. Please also visit the APUF Funded Initiatives to learn more about the past projects.

International Student Experience Fund (ISEF)

The goal of the International Student Experience Fund (ISEF) is to foster a supportive environment on U of T’s campuses by funding initiatives that enhance the experience of the university’s international students, in alignment with the U of T’s international strategy. The ISEF supports two streams of activities; Seed ($5,000-$15,000 per year) and Impact ($15,000-$75,000 per year). This two-tiered system is intended to provide opportunities for projects that explore, implement, and scale up promising practices at different stages of their development and implementation, and create a pathway for projects from their initial inception to their full potential. ISEF grants are awarded for a maximum of 2 years.

Thematic Areas

All proposals should address one or more of the following themes:

Programs, Services, and Policies

Identification and leveraging of existing forums and channels for dialogue. Addressing barriers to participation.

Intergroup interaction across biographies (multilingual speakers/unilingual speakers of English, Canadian/international, interaction amongst communities from various regions of the world, etc.).

Listening to and encouraging the voices of international students

Shift from deficit mindset/approach (international students as a problem to solve) to one of global inclusion (international students as valuable members) among faculty, staff, and students.

Interactional Diversity – Required in a learning environment at a global university

Serving all students well through institutional and operational competence. Consideration of existing programs, policies, and practices from the lens of international students (1/3 of the university’s student population) at all points of the student journey, from pre-arrival to preparing for life after U of T.

Changing Mindset – Building an inclusive community and fostering belonging

Eligibility

Submissions will be accepted from U of T faculty and staff with continuing appointments only. The primary beneficiaries of the proposal must be U of T international undergraduate and/or graduate students. Projects must engage each of the U of T’s student, faculty, and staff communities, even if only in an advisory capacity. Projects must also include collaboration with other divisions, either from the start of the project, or as a means of expanding the project in its final year of funding.

Funding Streams

The International Student Experience Fund (ISEF) supports two levels of grant activities:

Seed ($5,000-$15,000) x 2 years maximum Impact ($15,000-$75,000) x 2 years maximum

Impact grants are designed to support large-scale projects with the potential to significantly enhance core elements of international student experience within or across units and divisions at the University. This can range from projects designed to scale, sustain and institutionalize high-impact initiatives that have already experienced successful experimentation in their local contexts, to the development of new mechanisms and tools for proliferating innovative practices.

These two funding streams are intended to provide opportunities for projects that explore, implement, and scale up promising practices at different stages of their development and implementation, and create a pathway from initial inception to a project’s full implementation.

Seed grants are intended to encourage experimentation as a means of fostering small-scale innovations or pilots with the potential for future scalability. These projects should hold significant promise for scalability within their home unit/division or transferability into other University of Toronto contexts.

2025-2026 Application Deadlines

Applications for the two funding streams will be accepted according to the following timelines:

Seed grants ($5,000-$15,000 per year) will be accepted on a rolling basis.
Details on the application can be found here.

Contact

The International Student Experience Fund is sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President International. For additional information regarding the Fund, please contact international@utoronto.ca.

Funding Opportunities: Researchers

Search Pivot Funding Opportunities Database

Internal Opportunities

Deadline:

Value:

Deadline:

Value:

External Opportunities

Funding Opportunities

General Eligibility

Submission Process

Value:

Duration:

Purpose:

Eligibility:

How to Apply:

VALUE:

SUBMISSION DEADLINES:

ELIGIBILITY:

MORE INFORMATION

Funding Available

Program Scope

Eligibility

Important Dates

For More Information:

1. Standard Awards

2. Postdoctoral Fellowships

Application Deadlines

CANSSI Ontario AI Applications in Statistical Science Research Grants:

CANSSI Ontario Benchmarking AI Capability in Statistics and Data Science:

CANSSI Ontario Postdoctoral Fellowship in Genome Data Science:

CANSSI Ontario Postdoctoral Fellowship in Statistics:

Application process:

Why researchers and companies choose C2C:

Industry Partner Eligibility

NSERC Alliance Stream

Nomination Package and Submission of Interest

Addressing Ableism in Academia

Featured Speakers:

Building Thriving Research Teams

Featured Speakers:

Eligibility Criteria

Learn More and Apply:

Summary of application process:

Funding available for the Canadian team:

MRA requirement:

Information session:

Rolling Call Competitions:

Translational Grant

Strategic Initiatives Grant

Deadlines:

Submission Guidelines:

Additional Information:

Examples of previously funded research include:

Objectives

Eligibility and Scope for Basic Science Proposals

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Timelines

Important NIH Applications & Awards Policy Updates for Fiscal Year 2027

UofT Internal Deadline:

Changes to the Alliance International Program:

Federal Q&A Sessions

Discovery Grant - English Session

Pre-recorded video: Discovery Grants – How to Submit a Full Application

Discovery Grant - French Session

Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) - English Session

Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) - French Session

Additional Information

NSERC Research Tools and Instruments: Strategies for Success

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Project Levels

Level I – Development Projects

Level II – Validation Projects

Eligibility

Important Dates

Additional Information:

1. First Step

Award value & duration:

Eligibility:

Key Dates:

Funding Available