Stimulus Grant Initiative

Stimulus Grant

About

The UBC Department of Psychiatry, in partnership with the UBC Institute of Mental Health (UBC IMH) and BC Children’s Hospital, have launched the Stimulus Grant Initiative, which aims to increase research capacity and support for clinicians and for junior academics who wish to undertake:

(a) Small, self-contained studies without other funding

(b) Pilot studies toward the pursuit of more comprehensive initiatives and/or grant applications

The Stimulus Grant Initiative comprises three streams: the Stimulus-Clinician Grant, the Stimulus-Junior Academic Grant, and the Stimulus-Child & Youth Mental Health Grant.

Applications to each stream will be assessed separately based on criteria that embrace equity, diversity, and inclusion in addition to scientific merit. The proposed projects in the Clinician and Junior Academic Streams can be on any topic that is directly related to mental health. The Stimulus-Child & Youth Mental Health Grant is sponsored by the BC Children’s Hospital Chair in Pediatric Mental Health, and proposed projects should focus exclusively on topics that are related directly to child and adolescent mental health.

Eligibility Criteria

Stream-Specific Eligibility Criteria for the Principal Applicant

Stimulus-Clinician Grant

The principal applicant:

  • Must have a clinical, non-academic position
  • Can be at any career stage including being a resident in the General Track of the UBC Psychiatry Residency Program Must have a primary affiliation with the UBC Department of Psychiatry

Stimulus-Junior Academic Grant

The principal applicant:

  • Can be a Postdoctoral Fellow, Research Associate/Scientist, Assistant Professor (academic or partner track), or Resident in the Research Track of the UBC Psychiatry Residency Program.
  • Must have a primary Affiliation with the UBC Department of Psychiatry

Stimulus-Child & Youth Mental Health Grant

The principal applicant:

  • Can have a clinical, non-academic position at any career stage including residents in the main or research track
  • Can be a Postdoctoral Fellow, Research Associate/Scientist, or Assistant Professor (academic or partner track)
    Must be connected to the BC Children’s Hospital Healthy Minds Centre

Eligibility Criteria Common to all Streams

  • Each application must have only ONE Principal Applicant fulfilling the criteria shown above
  • Each application must have only ONE Co-Applicant; the Co-Applicant must be either an Associate Professor or a Full Professor at the UBC Department of Psychiatry
  • Each application can have multiple collaborators; collaborators can be clinicians or academics of any stage; collaborators can be from any UBC department or any institution in Canada or abroad
  • Both the Principal Applicant and the Co-Applicant must confirm that no other funding is available or pending for the proposed project at the time of submission; the Stimulus Grants cannot be used to supplement existing funding
  • Maximum Duration of each proposed project: 24 months
  • Maximum Budget for each Project: $20,000 covering only eligible costs
  • The same application cannot be submitted to more than one of the Stimulus Initiative Streams

Eligible Costs

  • Salary support for the Principal Applicant
  • Salary support for personnel essential for conducting the study (other than the Principal Applicant); can include salary support for research assistant or technician
  • Lab costs or neuroimaging costs essential for the project
  • Equipment or software licenses that are necessary for the project
  • Cost of animal care/procurement if essential for the project
  • Participant reimbursement essential for the project
  • Expenses for training courses if essential for the project
  • Travel expenses for the Principal Applicant if essential for the project (e.g., for data collection or training) (excludes any conference attendance)
  • Expenses to cover open-access publishing for work resulting directly from the project (up to 3500 USD per article)

Non Eligible Costs

  • Salary support for the Co-Applicant or the Collaborators
  • Any travel expenses for the Co-Applicant or Collaborators
  • General equipment (e.g., laptops, personal computers)
  • Any expenses associated with attendance at scientific conferences (i.e., registration, accommodation, travel fares)

Application Material

Each Application Package must include:

A three-page APPLICANT PROFILE for each principal applicant (max. 2). Download and edit the PDF template

A three-page PROJECT PROPOSAL. Download and edit the PDF template

Please submit your application package as a single PDF document to Margaret Koshi at margaret.koshi@ubc.ca. Only applications using the templates provided will be considered. Should you have any specific questions about the Stimulus Grants, please direct them to Dr. Sophia Frangou at sophia.frangou@ubc.ca.

Application Dates

Each year, applications for the Stimulus Grant Initiatives will be accepted between June 1st  and October 1st.