Canada Biomedical Research Fund and Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund—Stage 2: 3. Proposals

3. Proposals

Proposals should present innovative initiatives on a larger scale and higher risk than typically supported via individual research funding agency programs.

Each proposal can include one or more of the following components:

Partnered, applied research in the biomanufacturing and life sciences sector to accelerate the translation of discoveries into products and services to strengthen the sector.
Partnered talent development to provide skills and training needed to drive innovation and growth in Canada’s biomanufacturing industry.
Research infrastructure to support Canada’s biosciences research needs.

Note: Each research infrastructure or talent development component must directly support one or more proposals that include a research component.

While research infrastructure should support training through research, research infrastructure requests exclusively supporting talent development proposals will not be accepted (e.g., mock training facilities).

Activities relying on research infrastructure should take into consideration its availability, including the time necessary to acquire and commission new infrastructure, and consider its impact on the proposed activities.

Proposals must include the expertise and partners required to ensure goals are achieved and results are mobilized to obtain desired impacts. Each partner organization must play an active role in the proposal and support it through financial and/or in-kind contributions. Partners can be from the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors across Canada.

To grow Canada’s domestic biomanufacturing and life sciences sectors and ensure the country’s readiness for future pandemics or other health emergencies, private sector partners must be incorporated pursuant to the laws of Canada and must be doing business in Canada. International partnerships are permitted if they have commercial activities that take place in Canada, such as research and development or manufacturing related to the proposed research, and if the funded activity will result in significant economic benefit to Canada.

Research components should:

present partnered, applied research in the biomanufacturing and life sciences sector that builds capacity to accelerate the translation of promising discoveries into products and services;
support pandemic readiness and emerging health threats by capitalizing on known strengths and/or addressing key research gaps to benefit Canada’s biomanufacturing and life sciences sector;
support training and mentoring of highly qualified personnel, as appropriate, and provide opportunities for them to contribute;
leverage collaboration through cross-sector partnerships to mobilize results;
integrate expertise and insights across disciplines, as required, to achieve expected outcomes;
identify barriers or limitations of the proposed research and provide mitigation/contingency strategies to reach its objectives;
ensure that any materials, processes and procedures used and developed are in accordance with established standards such as GLP and GMP, as applicable; and
present a commercialization approach including considerations for intellectual property, as applicable, for research initiatives that intend to translate their research products into commercial products.

Talent development components should:

present partnered initiatives providing a value-added experience for highly qualified personnel at all levels, as applicable, to transition to careers within and beyond academia;
address the need for talent and skills within the biomanufacturing and life sciences sectors:
- initiatives should focus on skills applicable to the biomanufacturing and life sciences sector such as supporting the development of industry-relevant skills in research, engineering and biomanufacturing, including where appropriate, GLP and GMP laboratories and facilities training;
- initiatives should include training modules, best practices, guidelines, curriculum materials, engagement opportunities such as workshops and conferences; internships with a mentoring component; co-op and outreach programs that promote links between trainees and prospective employers; and
encourage national and, where applicable, international mobility across sectors and disciplines to support experiential learning and knowledge sharing.

Research infrastructure components should:

propose research infrastructure investments to support and strengthen one or more proposals that include a research component to ensure Canada is prepared for future pandemics and can respond to emerging health threats;
enhance the medium- to long-term research capacity of the institution;
support training of highly qualified personnel by providing access to state-of-the-art infrastructure in the biomanufacturing and life sciences sector;
ensure the infrastructure is optimally operated and maintained over its useful life by a team with relevant experience;
build upon and complement existing infrastructure in academia or in government research facilities, encouraging collaboration and avoiding duplication; and
lead to sustained long-term benefits to Canada.