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Grants, awards and scholarships

The Owerko Centre offers a number of funding opportunities to support and recognize the achievements of trainees, early career researchers, and research staff. 

Next deadline for applications: Monday, February 10, 2025, 11:59 p.m. (MT)

Eligibility

There are various awards, grants and scholarships available to Owerko Centre trainees, early career researchers, and research staff. Be sure to review the info provided for each funding opportunity to confirm your eligibility. 

Application

Review the information provided for each funding opportunity. Send a completed application form along with all other materials as a single PDF. 

Deadline

There are February and June application intake periods each year. Applications for the next round of awards will open in April 2025. Stay tuned for details.  

Upcoming Funding Opportunities

Applications for the following awards will open in spring 2025: 

Owerko Centre Graduate Scholarship Awards are internal awards that provide stipend support to trainees currently pursuing graduate research. These awards are intended to support graduate students who do not currently hold any other competitive scholarship funding. The goal of these awards is to ensure that the Owerko Centre continues to build a diverse and inclusive training community of graduate students.

  1. Details

    Number of awards available: 8

    Award amount: $10,000

  2. Eligibility

    • All applicants must have an Owerko Centre investigator as their primary supervisor
    • Registered thesis-based graduate student (Masters, PhD) at UCalgary with a minimum of 12 months left in their program.
    • May not hold other internal or external competitive scholarships at the time of receiving the award
    • Applicants cannot have held a graduate tri-council award at any time
    • Only one Owerko Centre Graduate Scholarship per trainee’s level of study will be awarded

The Owerko Centre Knowledge Dissemination and Engagement Award recognizes individuals or groups who have developed and implemented community-oriented projects that showcase the Owerko Centre’s commitment to studying neurodevelopment and/or child mental health in a creative and impactful way.

  1. Details

    Number of available awards: 1

    Award value: $500 

  2. Eligibility

    • All applicants must have an Owerko Centre investigator as their primary supervisor
    • Registered students (Masters, PhD) and Post-Doctoral and Clinical Fellows at the University of Calgary
    • Applicant must have been either a full-time post-doctoral /clinical fellowship, or graduate student (MSc and PhD student) in good standing at the time of project

The Owerko Centre Trainee Publication Award recognizes trainees who have first‐authored papers focused on neurodevelopment and/or child mental health.

  1. Details

    Number of available awards: 2

    Award value: $500 each

  2. Eligibility

    • All applicants must have an Owerko Centre investigator as their primary supervisors
    • Registered graduate students (Masters, PhD) and Post‐Doctoral and Clinical Fellows at the University of Calgary
    • Applicant must have, as first author, a paper published in a recognized, peer‐reviewed journal during 2023.

The Owerko Centre Research Staff Award is a unique award aimed at recognizing the excellence of research staff. The primary purpose of this award is to honour and publicly recognize the achievements and contributions of research staff in service, leadership, and teamwork that supports the values, mission, and goals of their labs.

  1. Details

    Number of available awards: 2

    Award value: Up to $150.00 in value from the UofC bookstore

  2. Eligibility

    • Research staff currently employed within the research group of an Owerko Centre member
    • Examples of research staff include: Lab Manager, Research Coordinator, Laboratory Technician, or Research Assistant
    • Maximum one nomination per lab

Applications now closed

The next round of these awards will open in early 2026

The Owerko Centre Trainee and Education Grant provides an opportunity for Owerko Centre graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to obtain further training in new methods and techniques that will enhance their research skills and projects. The training and education opportunities must be external to the University of Calgary, thereby giving recipients access to a broader set of experiences not currently available at the University of Calgary.

  1. Details

    Number of awards available: 2 

    Award amount: Up to $5,000 each

  2. Eligibility

    • Registered graduate student (Master's, PhD) and Postdoctoral Fellows at the University of Calgary. 
    • Must have an Owerko Centre investigator as one of your supervisors. 
    • Only one Owerko Centre Training and Education Grant awarded per trainee’s level of study. 

The Owerko Centre Trainee Spark Grant provides an opportunity for Owerko Centre graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to expand their research scope and skillset beyond their current expertise. The purpose of this award is to support successful applicants in initiating new techniques, experiments, and collaborations that will complement their current thesis/research projects.

  1. Details

    Number of grants available: 1

    Grant amount: Up to $5,000 

  2. Eligibility

    • Registered graduate student (Master's, PhD) and Postdoctoral Fellows at the University of Calgary. 
    • Must have an Owerko Centre investigator as one of their supervisors. 
    • Only one Owerko Centre Trainee Spark Grant awarded per trainee’s level of study.  

The Owerko Centre Trainee and Community Partnership Grant provides support for graduate student trainees and postdoctoral fellows to access opportunities in the community to enhance their research training by partnering with community partners. Examples include shadowing a community service provider to understand the treatment of children with neurodevelopmental disorders, partnering with community association on education events or materials, working with an advocacy group on policy improvement, developing systematic reviews and evaluations, bringing scientific evidence to the organization, or accessing community groups for networking or recruiting opportunities. 

  1. Details

    Number of grants available: 1

    Grant amount: Up to $5,000 (a portion of the budget should include a contribution to the community partner)

  2. Eligibility

    • Registered graduate students (Master's, PhD) or Postdoctoral Fellows at the University of Calgary. 
    • All applicants must have an Owerko Centre investigator as one of their supervisors.  
    • Only one Owerko Centre Trainee and Community Partnership Grant awarded per trainee’s level of study. 

The purpose of this grant is to enable promising early-career investigators to conduct research in areas aligned with the Owerko Centre mandate of advancing neurodevelopment and child mental health. This grant can be used to conduct studies to collect preliminary/pilot data or to extend current work where funding for exploratory or novel studies is limited. This grant is intended to provide a mechanism for fellows and research associates to launch the next independent phase of their career. 

  1. Details

    Number of grants available: 4

    Award value: Up to $25,000

  2. Eligibility

    • Completed a doctoral (PhD) or equivalent degree (MD) and be a current research associate, postdoctoral fellow, or clinical fellow at the University of Calgary. 
    • Be a PDF or research associate employed within the research group of grant tenure or have an identified mentor in place for clinical fellows. 
    • At the time of application, the applicant will have at least 9 months in the current position remaining and have 50% protected research time. 
    • Candidates should be maximum 6 years post-degree, with exceptions made on a case-by-case basis for parental, caregiver, medical leave or other circumstances, with proven scientific excellence and high potential for innovation, transformation, and knowledge dissemination.