Clinical Research in Northern BC

Call for Seed Grant Applications — 2026 / 2027

1.  About the Seed Grant Program

The Northern Centre for Clinical Research (NCCR) Seed Grant Program is sponsored by the Northern Health – UNBC Memorandum of Understanding. It is the first seed grant program offered by the NCCR.

The purpose of this program is to enable clinicians practising in Northern BC to initiate new clinical research projects that address questions arising from their own practice and their communities. The program is specifically designed to be accessible to clinicians who are not yet experienced researchers, including residents and clinical fellows. Applications that build new research teams, engage patients and communities, and create lasting research capacity in the North are strongly encouraged.

Guiding Principles

This program is guided by the following principles:

•       Clinical research that addresses the real-world needs and realities of Northern BC — including rural, remote, and Indigenous communities — through respectful engagement and attention to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

•       Mutual respect for and acknowledgement of the skills and expertise that researchers, patients, families, community partners, Knowledge Users, and health system staff bring to each project.

•       Building sustained clinical research capacity in Northern BC, including through the development of early-career and trainee researchers.

•       Creating a culture of learning, mentorship, and knowledge sharing.

2.  Who Can Apply

This program is open to clinicians located and practising in Northern BC. Clinicians are encouraged to apply whether or not they have previous research experience.

The Principal Investigator (PI) must:

•       Hold an active, professional licence to practise in British Columbia (e.g., physician, nurse practitioner, midwife, or other regulated clinician);

•       Be actively practising within the Northern Health Authority service area at the time of application and for the duration of the award;

•       Be a clinical faculty member, resident, clinical fellow, or other clinician-trainee with the support of their training program and supervisor.

Trainees as PIs: Residents and clinical fellows may apply as Principal Investigator, provided they identify a named faculty Research Mentor or senior Co-Investigator who will co-sign the application and support the project. This requirement is meant to enable trainee leadership, not replace it.

Teams: Applicants are strongly encouraged to include Co-Investigators, Knowledge Users (see Glossary), patient or community partners, and collaborators from NH, UNBC, UBC Faculty of Medicine, First Nations Health Authority, or other organizations.

One application per PI: An individual may submit only one application per competition in the role of Principal Investigator but may appear as a Co-Investigator or collaborator on other applications.

Definition of "Northern BC": For the purposes of this call, Northern BC means the service area of the Northern Health Authority. If you are unsure whether your site qualifies, please contact the NCCR before submitting.

3.  Award Details

Number of awards: Up to three (3) research teams will be funded in the 2026 intake.

Maximum amount: $10,000 CAD per award.

Duration: Up to 12 months, beginning October 1, 2026.

MITACS matching: Where an eligible graduate-student trainee is engaged, this funding may be matched through a MITACS Accelerate internship, effectively doubling the amount available. If you think MITACS matching may apply to your project, please contact the NCCR (see Section 13) before submitting — we can help determine eligibility and timing.

4.  Research Themes

The proposed research must address a clinical or health challenge identified in Northern BC and must fit within one of the following two themes. Applicants will be asked to identify the theme they are applying to on the Application Cover and Signatory Form.

Theme 1: Acute, Emergency, and Critical Care in Rural and Northern Communities

This theme supports research that addresses the realities of delivering urgent, emergency, and critical care. Projects may examine any stage of the acute care journey, from first presentation through resuscitation, stabilization, critical care, transfer, and return to the community.

Examples of questions that fit this theme:

•       How do clinicians in small and rural emergency departments, ICUs, and acute care wards make resuscitation, stabilization, transfer, and treatment decisions when resources are limited?

•       How can point-of-care tools (POCUS, rapid labs, telehealth and tele-ICU consultation, decision-support) improve care in low-volume and resource-limited sites?

•       How do patients, families, and communities experience medevac, inter-facility transfer, critical care repatriation, or prolonged ICU stays far from home — and how can these processes be improved?

•       How can we better support rural acute, emergency, and critical care teams, including recruitment, retention, training, simulation, debriefing, moral distress, and wellbeing?

•       How do time-critical presentations — sepsis, stroke, STEMI, trauma, obstetric, pediatric, and geriatric emergencies, mental health and substance use crises — play out differently in Northern settings, and what supports are needed to close outcome gaps?

Theme 2: Living with Cancer and Chronic Disease

This theme supports research on the experience and care of Northern patients living with cancer or chronic conditions — cardiovascular, respiratory, diabetes and endocrine, kidney, chronic pain, neurological disease, and others where distance from specialist services shapes diagnosis, treatment, follow-up, and outcomes. Projects may focus on patients, caregivers, clinicians, or the systems that connect them.

Examples of questions that fit this theme:

•       How can more care be delivered closer to home — through virtual specialty consultation, shared-care models, community-based follow-up, or expanded primary care, nursing, paramedic, and allied health roles?

•       How does the time, cost, and disruption of travel for care (sometimes called “time toxicity”) affect treatment decisions, adherence, outcomes, and family wellbeing?

•       What supports do patients, families, caregivers, and Elders need when treatment requires long absences from community?

•       How can palliative care, advance care planning, and end-of-life support be strengthened for people who wish to remain close to home?

•       How can we address gaps in early detection, screening, and timely diagnosis in communities without on-site specialists or diagnostics?

Note: Both themes welcome a wide range of approaches — including implementation studies, pilot clinical studies, patient-oriented research, mixed methods, qualitative studies, and analyses using existing data. Applicants are not expected to conduct a large clinical trial within the scope of this award.

5.  Key Competition Dates

6.  What to Submit

A complete application consists of the following five items, submitted together as a single PDF:

•       Application Cover and Signatory Form (Appendix 1 — 2 pages)

•       Research Proposal and Budget (maximum 7 pages combined: proposal up to 5 pages, budget up to 2 pages)

•       CVs or biosketches for the PI (maximum 2 pages each; CCV biosketch or free-form acceptable)

•       Letters of support or commitment from patient, community, or clinical collaborators (where applicable)

•       Appendices (optional; maximum 7 pages; may include references, tables, figures, surveys, or questionnaires)

Formatting requirements

•       Single-sided, 8.5” x 11” (US Letter) pages

•       Minimum 11-point font (Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman)

•       Single-spaced text with 1-inch (2.54 cm) margins on all sides

•       Consecutive page numbers in the lower right

•       Header with project title in the upper left of each page

•       Black text only; figures may be in colour

7.  Research Proposal Guidance

Use the following headings in your proposal. Reviewers will use these same headings to assess your application, so it is important to address each one clearly. If a section does not apply to your project, say so briefly and explain why.

a.  Purpose and Objectives

What is the question you want to answer, and what do you hope to achieve? Please state this in plain language — reviewers include people who are not specialists in your clinical area.

b.  Significance and Context

•       Explain how the proposed work addresses a clinical or health challenge identified in Northern BC.

•       Identify which of the two research themes your project fits under.

•       Briefly describe what is already known about this issue, and what gap your project will address.

•       Note any anticipated challenges or barriers, and how you plan to address them.

c.  Approach and Methods

Describe how you will do the work. Address the following where applicable:

•       Research question(s) or hypothesis

•       Study design (e.g. pilot study, chart review, qualitative interviews, mixed methods)

•       Study site(s) and participants

•       Data collection approach

•       Data management and analysis plan

•       Ethical considerations, including equity, diversity, and inclusion, and any planned engagement with Indigenous communities (see Section 10)

d.  Timeline

Provide a simple timeline of the major activities planned over the 12-month funding term. A table or Gantt-style chart is fine and may be placed in the appendix if space is tight.

e.  Research Team

List each team member, their role, and their expected contribution. Include the PI, any Co-Investigators, Research Mentor (if PI is a trainee), Knowledge Users, patient or community partners, and research staff or students.

f.  Outcomes and Knowledge Translation

Describe the expected outcomes of the study and how findings will be shared with:

•       Patients, families, and communities involved in the work;

•       Clinical and health-system partners who can act on the findings;

•       The broader research and academic community.

 Awardees are expected to present their work at an NCCR Knowledge Translation event during or after the funding period.

8.  Budget Guidelines

Provide an itemized budget up to a maximum of $10,000 CAD. Briefly justify each budget item. For contracted services (e.g., a meeting facilitator, transcription, statistical consulting), include supporting documentation where possible. All expenses must comply with the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration.

Eligible expenses

•       Salaries, benefits, and stipends for research assistants, students, and trainees

 •       Goods and services from contracted personnel (facilitation, transcription, translation, statistical support, etc.)

 •       Travel and accommodation for research team meetings, community engagement, or data collection (within Canada), or virtual meeting technology

•       Materials and supplies directly required for the project

•       Data and sample acquisition costs

•       Honoraria for patient, family, community, and Elder participation

•       Publication fees for peer-reviewed articles arising from the research

•       Knowledge translation activities (e.g., workshops, plain-language summaries)

Ineligible expenses

•       Salaries of the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigators

•       Capital or equipment purchases (e.g., computers, software licences, office furniture)

•       Rent, utilities, or other institutional overhead

•       International travel

•       Costs incurred before the funding start date or after the end date

9.  Evaluation Criteria

Each application will be reviewed by a panel that includes clinicians, researchers, a Knowledge User, and a patient or community partner. Reviewers will score applications against the five criteria below. The weightings are indicative and may be adjusted by the panel where a given criterion does not fully apply.

The review panel also considers whether the application reflects the program's guiding principles (Section 1), including attention to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and — where applicable — respectful engagement with Indigenous communities.

10.  Ethics, Indigenous Research Protocols, and Institutional Approvals

Research ethics approval

All projects involving human participants, identifiable data, or human biological samples must receive approval from an appropriate Research Ethics Board (REB) before any participant is approached or data collected. Applicants are not required to have REB approval at the time of application, but funds will not be released until:

•       REB approval from the UNBC Research Ethics Board and/or the UBC Behavioural Research Ethics Board (as applicable), and

•       Operational approval from the Northern Health Research Review Committee (where research is conducted within NH facilities or involves NH patients, staff, or data)

are in place. Quality improvement projects that fall outside the scope of REB review must still obtain appropriate institutional sign-off.

Indigenous research

Research involving Indigenous individuals, communities, or data must be conducted in partnership with the relevant Nation(s) or Indigenous organization(s), and must be consistent with:

•       The TCPS 2 Chapter 9 (Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada);

•       The OCAP® principles of the First Nations Information Governance Centre (Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession);

•       Local protocols of the Nation(s) or community(ies) involved.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to engage the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) and local Nations early — ideally before writing the proposal and to include a letter of support from the relevant community partner(s). The NCCR can help connect applicants with appropriate contacts; please reach out well before the deadline.

Conflict of interest

All applicants must disclose any real, perceived, or potential conflicts of interest on the Application Cover and Signatory Form. Reviewers likewise declare and manage conflicts.

Data management

Applicants should briefly describe how research data will be stored, protected, and — where appropriate — shared, consistent with the Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy.

11.   Support for First-Time Applicants

This program is specifically designed to welcome clinicians who are new to research. The following supports are available:

•       Information session: A virtual session will be held in May, to walk through the call, answer questions, and connect clinicians interested in applying. Information session date will be made available through the NCCR website. Northern Centre for Clinical Research

•       Logistical support: NCCR staff will offer limited support for investigators to help them connect to potential collaborators, engaging patients, and providing logistic guidance.

12.  Conditions of Funding

The grant will be administered by the PI's host institution. Award recipients are expected to:

•       Begin the project within three months of the funding start date;

•       Submit a final report and financial report (using templates provided) within six weeks of project completion;

•       Return any unused funds to the NCCR at the end of the funding term;

•       Acknowledge NCCR funding and the Northern Health in all publications, presentations, and knowledge translation products arising from the research;

•       Notify the NCCR of publications and other outputs as they arise;

No-cost extensions of up to six months may be granted at the discretion of the NCCR, subject to a written request submitted at least 30 days before the end of the funding term.

13.  Submission and Contact

Deadline: Applications must be received by 17:00 Pacific Time on June 15, 2026.

How to submit: Submit the full application as a single PDF attachment by email to the NCCR Secretariat (see contact below). You will receive an email acknowledgement within two business days; if you do not, please follow up.

Contact for questions:

•       Tatiana Barcelos Pontes, Regional Research Manager, NCCR - NH

•       Email: infonccr@northernhealth.ca

Appeals: Unsuccessful applicants may request written feedback and, if there is a concern about the review process, may submit a written appeal to the NCCR within 30 days of the funding decision.

14.  Glossary

This glossary is provided to support clinicians who may be new to research terminology. Definitions are kept brief; fuller definitions are available from the Tri-Agency and NCCR on request.

Appendix 1 — Application Cover and Signatory Form

NCCR Seed Grant 2026/2027

A. Project Information

B. Principal Investigator