Overview |
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Deadline |
This competition is currently closed to new proposals. |
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Value & Duration |
CDN $20,000 for up to 12 months + $1,000 for a trainee travel award. |
The Data Sciences Institute (DSI) is a central hub and incubator 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 promote positive social change.
In partnership with the McLaughlin Centre, whose mission is to advance genomic medicine through research and education, the DSI is launching a seed funding competition to stimulate research on polygenic scores that includes grant support for research funding and training in the area of polygenic scores.
The potential for polygenic scores in precision health is at a tipping point. Large omic studies and big health and population data platforms have generated massive amounts of data. This brings unprecedented potential to extract useful information from this data, galvanizing interest for the application of polygenic scores to a broad range of research and applied contexts.
The purpose of the DSI-McLaughlin Centre Polygenic Risk Score Grant is to leverage these opportunities by providing seed funding to emerging research and capacity in the area of polygenic scores.
Applicants proposing projects in the domain of polygenic score methodologies and applications can apply for this grant. Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows are encouraged to apply as Co-PIs. Each grant has a value of $20,000 + $1,000 for a trainee travel award and needs to be used over 12 months by successful applicants. The DSI will fund up to four projects.
Ideal candidates are developing or applying statistical, mathematical, or computational methods to polygenic score applications. Successful applicants should state clearly the novelty of their proposed method and/or application and the expected substantive payoff for their project.
Eligible expenses are to be consistent with the appropriate tri-agency guidelines for NSERC Discovery grants, CIHR Project Grants, or SSHRC Insight grants, with the exception of laptops which should only be included in application budgets when required for project-specific purposes (as opposed to general research). Proposals should clearly describe what role all research personnel will play in the research project. Questions on eligible expenses should be directed to awards.dsi@utoronto.ca.
Successful applicants will be required to:
In addition, awardees may be called upon to act as reviewers for future DSI award competitions.
The DSI is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from racialized persons / persons of colour, women, Indigenous / Aboriginal People of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ2S+ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.
The award is open to NPIs who meet the following criteria:
*Faculty budgetary appointments for the University of Toronto are continuing, full-time academic appointments with salary commitments from a University of Toronto academic unit.
Co-PIs can include researchers who also meet the above eligibility requirements as well as Ph.D. students who are enrolled at the University of Toronto or postdoctoral fellows who hold their fellowship at the University of Toronto or an external funding partner institution.
Applications are submitted via the DSI Good Grants application portal.
Register an account and select “Start Application” for “DSI-McLaughlin Centre Polygenic Risk Score Grant.”
The application is divided into tabs; each tab includes a set of instructions and fields to fill out. These instructions are also highlighted below.
Applicants will need to complete the following fields.
Tab 1: Start Here
The DSI will form a Review Committee to lead the review of all eligible proposals received by the submission deadline. Reviewers are asked to consider the following categories:
All application materials can be submitted directly onto the form. Certain fields on the form ask for uploads and require the following templates:
