Igniting Discovery Grants

Our WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grants provide seed funding to stimulate the development of early-stage, novel, and innovative health research and education projects in Windsor-Essex. These projects may include studies related to emerging topics in health, addressing gaps, catalyzing new ideas, generating and disseminating knowledge, and sparking collaborations. All applications submitted to the Igniting Discovery Grants program undergo a thorough external peer review process. 

Any inquiries about the grants program can be sent to: wesparkgrants@uwindsor.ca.

Guidelines and Forms:

2025 Guidelines - Background, Funds Available, Requirements, Eligibility, Conditions, and Contact Information

Letter of Intent Form - Deadline Friday, April 4th, 2025 by 5:00PM (Submitted online through AirTable)

• LOIs are non-competitive, it is strictly to assign reviewers. If you submit an LOI, you are eligible to submit a full application.

Application Form - Deadline Monday, May, 5th 2025, by 5:00PM (Submitted online through AirTable)

Note: If you've submitted, or been a co-applicant, on an LOI or Application for any previous grant year, an applicant profile has been already created for you! For first time applicants: please create a New Applicants Profile before moving on to the LOI submission. Applicant profiles are required for all applicants and co-applicants.

If you have, or are considering, submitting a grant to a National/International health funding competition, please consider the WE-SPARK Incentive Grant Program which is designed to support researchers be successful for future external funding.

If you are a new or early-career researcher or are considering a low-cost, small-scale research project, pilot study, preliminary investigation, or quality improvement initiative, please consider the WE-SPARK Idea Grants Program, which are designed to help researchers kick-start their ideas, gather initial data, and test hypotheses. 

To view our previously funded WE-SPARK grants, visit our project page, where you can filter by various parameters.