Ministry of Health Research Seed Grant Program

The Ministry of Health Research Seed Grant Program provides funding to universities in British Columbia to produce research that responds to the Ministry of Health’s research questions.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

In partnership with the Ministry of Health, UBC Health is offering funding of up to $50,000 to researchers from UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan to address a specific research question identified by the Ministry of Health.

The call for proposals is now closed. The notification of competition results will be made in April 2024.

Please consult the program timeline for key dates. If you have any questions, contact Aoife Tierney, Project Coordinator, UBC Health at aoife.tierney@ubc.ca.

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Program Goals
  • Generate new research that responds to the Ministry of Health’s current needs
  • Produce research proposals that are informed by policymakers
  • Build a knowledge transfer pathway from researchers to the Ministry of Health
  • Build relationships between Ministry of Health staff and researchers and between BC’s research universities and the Ministry of Health
  • Increase transparency of how the Ministry of Health uses research and evidence
  • Increase exposure and understanding of research and the research process across Ministry of Health staff
Program Benefits
  • Ministry of Health program areas gain evidence to use in policy and planning
  • New relationships between researchers and the Ministry of Health
  • Researchers gain an understanding of Ministry of Health research needs, and Ministry of Health staff gain an understanding of the academic research environment
  • Researchers can access funding and support for existing or new research projects that are in alignment with Ministry of Health interests
  • Researchers can launch research that can then be leveraged to support larger funding applications and projects
Researcher Opportunity

Participating researchers will have the opportunity to:

  • Receive up to $50,000 from their institution to carry out a research project over 12 months that responds to a Ministry of Health research question
  • Work directly with Ministry of Health staff to learn more about their specific research interests and how resulting evidence will be used
  • Share research directly with end-users in the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions
Researcher Commitment

Participating researchers will:

  • Meet with Ministry of Health staff a minimum of three times during the research process (from proposal planning to final report)
  • Complete the research project within 12 months of receiving the funding
  • Upon completion of the research project, provide the Ministry of Health with a final research report
  • Upon completion of the research project, submit a financial and impact report and return any unused funds to UBC Health
  • Alert the Ministry of Health and UBC Health about and acknowledge both organizations in publications and other outputs produced as a direct result of the research project (e.g., conference papers, presentations, knowledge translation activities, etc.)
Call for Proposals

In partnership with the Ministry of Health, UBC Health is offering funding of up to $50,000 to researchers from UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan to address a research question identified by the Ministry of Health.

The call for proposals is now closed. Applicants will be notified of the competition results in April 2024.

Timeline
October 4, 2023 Call for proposals (Notice of Intent) opens
October 18, 2023 Notice of Intent submission deadline
November 1-10, 2023 Consultations between shortlisted project leads and Ministry of Health
November 17, 2023 Project leads invited to submit full application
December 15, 2023 Deadline for full application submission
January-February 2024 Adjudication
April 2024 Notification of competition results
April-May 2024 Public announcement of funding recipients
Research projects begin
June 31, 2025 Deadline for final deliverables
Research Questions

For the 2023/24 funding round, the Ministry of Health has prioritized the following research questions:

  1. How do we assess and rank communities’ needs and readiness for mobile mental health crisis services in BC?
  2. Hospital at Home provides acute care to eligible patients in the comfort of their homes. Could mass-market or medical wearable devices be deployed by health authorities to provide patient-centred and efficient Hospital at Home patient monitoring? If so, which devices are the most patient-centred?
  3. The issue of polypharmacy in long-term care is well-researched in Canada and internationally. Recent literature defines polypharmacy as the use of five or more prescribed and nonprescribed medications by a single individual. The Beers List is a consensus list of potentially inappropriate medications for seniors and provides evidence-based information supporting the need to reduce and/or eliminate medications for seniors that lack evidence of efficacy over time. What strategies have demonstrated success in the long-term care sector (nationally or internationally) to reduce and sustain reduction in these medications? What aspects of these strategies demonstrated greatest effectiveness?
  4. What is pharmacists’ perception of quality of care in the context of prescribing for minor ailments and contraception? What are enablers and barriers to pharmacists providing quality prescribing? What provincial strategies are needed to support quality prescribing by pharmacists?
  5. What are the barriers and facilitators in pharmacists assessing and prescribing contraceptives since the expanded scope of practice on June 1, 2023? What strategies should be implemented to mitigate identified barriers? 
  6. How has the contraceptive coverage policy and pharmacist prescribing for contraceptives through the Minor Ailments and Contraceptive Services changed access to contraception care for teens and young adults in BC? 
  7. What are the treatment challenges faced by small water system operators relating to water quality (e.g., turbidity) stemming from climate change induced risk amplification of extreme precipitation events, flooding, or draughts, and what actions have been shown to increase their resilience?
  8. What is the burden of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in BC drinking water? This includes investigating the concentrations of PFAS in drinking water and its sources across BC, the capacity of BC laboratories to test for PFAS, the costs of sampling and testing in different jurisdictions, treatment needs and cost-effective mitigation methods for systems exceeding the proposed Health Canada objective for PFAS, training needs, and implementation best practices.
Eligibility

For an application to be considered, the proposal must meet the following minimum requirements:

  1. The principal applicant must be a faculty member at UBC Vancouver or UBC Okanagan. (see the FAQs for more information)
  2. The proposed project must directly address one of the Ministry of Health research questions.
Selection

Applications that meet the above minimum eligibility requirements will be evaluated based on the following differentiating criteria:

  • Demonstrated research experience and expertise of team members
  • Quality, excellence, and rigour of the proposed research
  • Feasibility of the proposed research
  • Alignment and responsiveness to Ministry of Health question
  • Capacity and preparedness to collaborate with Ministry of Health knowledge users
  • Capacity and planning for health research knowledge translation (including the likelihood of generating post-funding outcomes)
  • Evidence of equity, diversity, and inclusion with respect to the research design and research team

A review committee convened by UBC Health will evaluate the proposals and recommend proposal selection and prioritization to the Associate Vice-President, Health. Upon approval, the Ministry of Health will review the recommendations and make the final decision.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible to apply? 
Faculty members who hold a tenure-stream position at UBC, including Professors, Associate Professors, Instructors, Senior Instructors, and Professors of Teaching, are eligible to apply as the primary applicant. Those with term appointments or affiliations with UBC (including Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, Instructors, Senior Instructors, Professors of Teaching, Adjunct Professors, Clinical Faculty, Honorary and Partner Faculty, and Research Associates) are also eligible to apply, provided that they have written approval from the appropriate UBC Department Head and Dean. Written approval must be submitted alongside the application. Students and visiting scholars are not eligible to apply.

Do I need to include a reference list with my application?
Consistent with the character limits, extensive referencing is not required for the application. Key references may be cited within the character limits or be included as in-text citations in APA style (i.e., first author last name, publication year). While this is not an expectation or requirement, applicants may submit a reference list by email as a PDF before the submission deadline.

Do I need to complete a Research Project Information Form (RPIF) before I submit my application?
No. This process will begin after review committee funding recommendations are approved.

Past Recipients