Discovery Research Grants

• Plain Language Summary
• Research Proposal
• Figures, References, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) in Research, and Research Timeline
• Addressing Reviewers’ Recommendations for resubmissions only; CV for the Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator(s), and Co-Applicant(s); Relevant Publications
• Required Signatures and Appendix

Who is eligible?

• Principal Investigators.
• Co-Principal Investigators who meet the eligibility criteria of a Principal Investigator.
• Co-Applicants with an appointment in a university department, including postdoctoral fellows in the same university department as the Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator.
• Canadian institutions recognized by the Tri-Council Agencies as official recipients of grants.

Who is not eligible

• Applicants not considered eligible by their institution to apply for a research grant.
• Applications from institutions that are not Canadian and recognized by the Tri-Council Agencies.
• Applications with more than one Principal Investigator.

Eligible expenses

• Research-related activities and project costs
• Trainee support, when needed for the project

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Indirect costs

Eligible geographic areas

• Canada
• Saskatchewan, for partnership funding consideration

• Scientific reviewers assess research approach, originality, impact of research, investigator(s), resources and environment, and budget.
• Community representatives assess relevance to the critical needs and challenges faced by people affected by MS.
• Community representatives also assess potential impact on health and quality of life and the comprehension and accessibility of the plain language summary.
• Applications receive preliminary scores and enthusiasm ratings, and final funding decisions consider both scientific and community representative scores.
• Applications below 3.5 from both the primary and secondary scientific reviewer, or below a cut-off determined by MSC with the review committee Chair, might not be discussed at the review meeting.

• Create a ProposalCentral profile and complete your Professional and Institutional Profiles before starting an application.
• Connect your ORCiD identifier to your ProposalCentral profile.
• Review the MSC Discovery Research Grant Policies before submitting.
• In ProposalCentral, click Grant Opportunities, search for MS Canada, and apply to Discovery Research Grant.
• Complete all required information and upload the required documents, then use Validate to check for missing information or files.
• Submit the application; changes cannot be made after submission, and a confirmation email will be sent.

• Applications are reviewed by members of an independent review committee selected by MSC.
• Each application is reviewed by two scientific reviewers and one community representative.
• The review committee discusses the applications, and final funding decisions consider both scientific and community representative scores.
• If the plain language summary of an approved grant is deemed unsatisfactory by a community representative, the applicant will receive conditional approval and funding is subject to receipt and approval of a revised plain language summary.
• All applicants are notified of the funding status of their applications and receive anonymized reviewer comments.
• For successful applications, MSC posts limited information on the website.

• MSC accepts applications in French, and French applications may be translated into English to align with reviewer expertise.
• Applications that are incomplete, do not adhere to the format and page limits, or are submitted after the deadline may be disqualified.
• Discovery Research Grant applications can be resubmitted twice, for a total of three submissions.