Owerko Education Awards
The Owerko Centre offers a number of funding opportunities to support and recognize the achievements of trainees, postdoctoral associates and research staff.
Eligibility
There are various awards, grants and scholarships available. Be sure to review the info provided for each funding opportunity to confirm your eligibility. All applications must align with the Owerko Centre’s research mandate in child neurodevelopment and mental health.
Application
Review the information provided for each funding opportunity. Send a completed application form along with all other materials as a single PDF.
Deadline
Applications for the current round of awards are due Tuesday, June 3, 2025, 11:59 p.m. (MT)
Funding Opportunities
Applications for the following awards are open until June 3, 2025, 11:59 p.m. (MT)
Owerko Centre Graduate Scholarships 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.
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Details
Number of awards available: 8
Award amount: $10,000
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Eligibility
- All applicants must have an Owerko Centre investigator as their primary supervisor
- Must be a registered thesis-based graduate student (Master’s, PhD) at the University of Calgary with a minimum of 12 months remaining in their program
- Applicants may not hold other internal or external competitive scholarships or award(s) totaling or exceeding $5,000 within the calendar year (at the time of receiving this award, except for UCalgary awards exempt from the graduate award restriction)
- Applicants must not have held a graduate tri-council award at any time
- Each applicant may receive this award only once per level of study
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.
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Details
Number of available awards: 1
Award value: $500
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Eligibility
- All applicants must have an Owerko Centre investigator as their primary supervisor
- Must be a registered graduate student (Master’s, PhD), Post-Doctoral Scholar or Clinical Fellow at the University of Calgary
- Applicant must be a full-time student or fellow in good standing at the time of the project and the award granting
- Each applicant may receive this award only once per level of study
The Owerko Centre Publication Award recognizes trainees who have first-authored papers focused on neurodevelopment and/or child mental health.
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Details
Number of available awards: 2
Award value: $500 each
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Eligibility
- Applicants must have an Owerko Centre investigator as their primary supervisor
- Must be a registered graduate student (Master’s, PhD), postdoctoral scholar or clinical fellow at the University of Calgary
- The applicant must be the first author on a paper published in a recognized, peer-reviewed journal during the eligibility period
- Must have been either a full-time student or fellow in good standing at the time of publication and receiving this award
- Each applicant may receive this award only once per level of study
The Owerko Centre Research Staff award recognizes 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 support the values, mission, and goals of their labs.
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Details
Number of available awards: 1
Award value: Up to $150.00 in value from the UCalgary bookstore
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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. Post-doctoral fellows are not considered research staff for the purposes of this award or are part of this staff category.
- Maximum one nomination per lab
Upcoming funding opportunities
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.
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Details
Number of awards available: 2
Award amount: Up to $5,000 each
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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.
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Details
Number of grants available: 1
Grant amount: Up to $5,000
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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.
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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)
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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.
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Details
Number of grants available: 4
Award value: Up to $25,000
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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.