Sponsor

1907 Foundation

Program

Trailblazer Award

Description

The 1907 Trailblazer Award was established to encourage high-impact, step-change approaches to research in the brain and mind sciences for mental health. In addition to supporting a specific research project, the Award intends to increase the size of the talent pool of early career investigators researching causes and cures for psychiatric illness. We promote these aims by providing a US$100,000 research grant on an unrestricted basis, a US$20,000 prize to enhance the economic security of the scientist, and travel and expense coverage for attendance to in-person annual meetings. Each winner will be invited to present interim findings (year 1) and final findings (year 2), where they can form scientific relationships with other fellows, our Science Innovation Committee and our Science Selection Committee. We aim to build community and provide value to the scientist in excess of the monetary element.

Projects must be grounded in the study of biological mechanisms underlying brain function, cognitive processes and/or consciousness. We support projects for basic science in addition to near-term applications (e.g. disruptive technologies and potential clinical interventions).

Eligibility

A nominee must:

• be within ten years of the date when PhD/MD degree was awarded (with exceptions for career breaks including maternity and paternity leave). Please use February 23, 2024, as the end date for calculation of the 10-year period.
• be currently employed by a university or public research institute in the US, Europe, Canada or Israel, with full-time employment guaranteed for the duration of the project (tenure or tenure-track and international equivalents).
• have demonstrated independence from senior colleagues. They must be able to initiate and direct their own research as principal investigator, have full responsibility for running their labs and full control of their research funds. Postdoctoral fellows or adjunct faculty are not eligible to apply.
• not have research applications identical to any other currently funded projects, although they can be related.
• Applicants should affirm that they have all of the resources from their research organization to achieve what they endeavor to achieve in their novel idea

Eligible disciplines include but are not limited to neuroscience, neurology, psychology, psychiatry, cognitive neuroscience, clinical psychology, computational neuroscience, neuroimaging, genetics and engineering (including novel technologies and devices). We particularly encourage research that involves human patients, but projects can also focus on well-validated animal models and/or on psychiatrically-relevant research in healthy humans or conceptual/theoretical work. The projects can be framed around a single disorder or can be transdiagnostic, e.g. with an emphasis on shared risk factors (genetic or environmental) or common neural substrates.  For projects in basic science, applicants who provide an in-depth understanding of the disorder(s) they are trying to treat will be prioritized.

Prize

Three recipients will be selected in the 2024 cohort.

How to Apply

The Vice-President (Research) encourages nominations for this prestigious award and will serve as nominator for those nominees recommended by the Honours and Awards Advisory Committee. If you wish to nominate a colleague or to be considered for VPR nomination:

1. We recommend discussing your interest in this award with your College Research Manager and Associate Dean (Research).
2. Complete the Expression of Interest document. 
3. Send the completed Expression of Interest document and a CV to ailsakay@uoguelph.ca and copy your College Research Manager by the internal deadline.

As this is an international prize, the University may engage the Global Excellence Initiative to coordinate external review of nominations.

Career interruptions due to parental leave, family care, extended illness or community responsibilities will not negatively impact the committee’s assessment of a candidate’s research productivity. These will be taken into consideration when EOIs are assessed.

If your nomination will be submitted by a different nominee, and therefore does not require the Vice-President's endorsement, please submit a complete nomination and signed OR-5 to research.services@uoguelph.ca by the external deadline.

For More Information

For more information, contact ailsakay@uoguelph.ca or see the 1907 Trailblazer Guidelines.