To enable and advance health research in Windsor-Essex, WE-SPARK is focussed on increasing competitiveness in major granting competitions and on building an academic healthcare culture for our region. The WE-SPARK Grants Program ensures there are dedicated grant opportunities to support local researchers at all stages of their career.
WE-SPARK grant applications undergo a rigorous multi-step review process to determine eligibility for funding.
Applications are first submitted to members of our Multidisciplinary Research Assessment Committee (MRAC) who declare conflicts of interest and areas of expertise. This Committee is formed yearly based on the expertise needed for grant review.
Applications are then assigned a Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary reviewer.
MRAC discusses and scores the applications. Consolidated scores are calculated, and the grant applications are ranked against scores, priority streams and partner institutions.
Grants are then recommended for funding and approved by the Advisory Board.
The WE-SPARK Incentive Grant Program was established to support health research projects that have been unsuccessful towards recent external National/ International health funding competition and will be resubmitted to subsequent application rounds.
The WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grants Program was established as an annual grant program to invest in emerging, innovative and novel health research and education projects that are aligned with WE-SPARK HEALTH Institute’s mission and strategic priorities.
The Igniting Discovery Grants will provide source funding to promote the development of early-stage, innovative health research and health education projects in Windsor-Essex. These projects may include studies related to emerging topics in health, addressing gaps in healthcare needs, igniting new health ideas, generating and disseminating knowledge, and sparking collaborations. The intent is to:
These grants are intended to provide seed funding which could potentially be leveraged to generate interest and eagerness in the Windsor-Essex health research environment, result in practice changes and/or policy reform, create a wider and all-encompassing health research portfolio in Windsor-Essex, and obtain new funding from other sources. Proposals must also describe a clear plan for knowledge dissemination and future plans following the grant period, including plans addressing how results will be leveraged.
Incentive Grants The WE-SPARK Incentive Grant Program was established to support health research projects that have been unsuccessful towards recent external National/ International health funding competition and will be resubmitted to subsequent application rounds. While many proposals to these funding agencies (e.g., Canadian Institutes of Health Research) are worthy of funding, not all are successful because of steep competition and/or insufficient funds. The WE-SPARK Incentive Program is designed to support researchers and enhance their health research programs in an effort to increase the prospect of their success for future external funding. Research Areas Each of the additional participating partners have tailored this funding opportunity to meet the needs of their respective communities. Funds Available WE-SPARK and partner(s) financial contributions for this program are subject to availability of funds. The amount available for this funding opportunity may increase if additional funding partner(s)…
Igniting Discovery Grants The WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grants Program invests in emerging, innovative and novel health research and education projects.
