Genome Canada 2012 Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (B/CB) Competition –
Request for Applications
(http://www.genomecanada.ca/en/portfolio/research/2012-bcb-competition.aspx)
Genome Canada (GC), in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR),
is seeking proposals from all GC sectors (i.e. agriculture, energy, environment, fisheries,
forestry, human health and mining) for research projects in bioinformatics and computational
biology, as they relate to genomics. Applications should propose new approaches to data
analysis and interpretation, including the development of software tools and algorithms, and
meet the competition’s two main objectives:
 Support the development of next generation bioinformatics and computational
biology tools and methodologies that will be required by the research community to
deal with the influx of large amounts of data produced by modern genomics
technologies; and,
 Provide broad access of these new tools to the research community.
Funding will be available in two categories:
1. SMALL-SCALE INNOVATIVE PROJECTS (SIPs): Research projects designed to explore
innovative or transformative ideas, with the potential for being disruptive.
 Individual projects can receive a maximum of $250K from GC/CIHR (total funding
available = $2.25M);
 Co-funding from outside sources is not required;
 Projects requiring less than $125K will not be considered unless very well-justified;
 Project term: Up to two years.
2. LARGE-SCALE APPLIED PROJECTS (LAPs): Research projects involving multidisciplinary, collaborative teams that will address large-scale, complex problems and result
in applied outcomes. Longer-term funding will allow for the development of robust, userfriendly tools needed by the genomics research community and provide the opportunity to
propose projects that are part of larger national and international research initiatives.
 Individual projects can receive a maximum of $500K from GC/CIHR (total funding
available = $4M);
 Projects must secure at least 50% co-funding from other sources;
 Project term: Up to three years.
Ineligible items:
 Salaries, benefits, and associated costs for the performance of wet lab work;
 Costs for high performance computing infrastructure.
Submission Deadlines:
 July 6, 2012 – One-Paragraph Project Outlines due to Office of Research Services
 July 18, 2012 – Registrations due to ORS
 July 20, 2012 – Registrations due to Genome Centres
 September 17, 2012 – Full Applications (upon invitation) due to Genome Centres
All projects must produce deliverables with practical applicability and which benefit the genomic
research community in Canada and worldwide. Preference will be given for proposals with a
high potential for community impact and/or uptake, so applications must include a plan for
how the deliverable will be transferred, disseminated, used and/or applied to realize
benefits to the genomics community. Previous GC competitions have emphasized end-user
engagement during project development and the identification of clear short-term
deliverables/benefits as key components of successful applications. Knowledge translation and
the wide dissemination of project findings to the genomics research community have also been
identified as key components of this competition. Researchers are strongly encouraged to
address these areas in the earliest stages of project development.
Note:
Genomics is defined as the comprehensive study, using high-throughput technologies, of the
genetic information of a cell or organism, including the function of specific genes, their
interactions with each other, and the activation and suppression of genes. It includes
bioinformatics, epigenomics, metabolomics, metagenomics, nutrigenomics, pharmacogenomics,
proteomics, and transcriptomics.
Bioinformatics is defined as the development and application of computation tools and
approaches for maximizing the use of genomics data.
Computational Biology is defined as the development and application of theoretical dataanalytical methods, mathematical modeling, and computational simulation techniques in the
context of the study of biological systems.
For more information, please contact Robert Senkiw, Special Projects Officer (Institutional
Programs) at 474-9019 or Robert.Senkiw@ad.umanitoba.ca.