Discovery Award

• The applicant must be a health or biomedical researcher.
• The applicant must be within the first three years of their first academic appointment at a Canadian university or research institute (Assistant Professor or non-health care professional).
• The applicant must be within 8 years of completing a PhD.
• The applicant must not have received external peer-reviewed grant funding at the time of application (CFI support does not count).
• At the time of receiving the award, the applicant must not have external research funding exceeding $50,000 per year, unless applying for up to $30,000 and keeping total operating funds (including this award) at or below $80,000 in the funding year.

Who is eligible?

• Health researchers
• Biomedical researchers
• Researchers at Canadian universities
• Researchers at Canadian research institutes

Who is not eligible

• Applicants who have already received external peer-reviewed grant funding at the time of application (excluding CFI support).

Eligible expenses

• Hiring trainees to support the research program
• Acquisition of essential research equipment
• Day-to-day costs of running a research program

Ineligible Costs and Activities

Eligible geographic areas

• Canada (Canadian universities and research institutes)

• Submit an expression of interest by the program deadline.

• Wait for eligibility notification by email (by November 27, 2025).

• If invited, complete and submit the full application by January 26, 2026.

• Receive notice of the final decision in June.

• Applicants are notified by email by November 27, 2025 regarding eligibility.
• Eligible applicants are invited to submit a full application by January 26, 2026.
• Final decisions are communicated in June.

• Success rate for the Discovery Award is under 15%.
• Nearly 90% of recipients secure Tri-Agency funding within five years.
• Applicants are first screened for eligibility before being invited to submit a full application.