Research Grants Program

SDS-Canada is committed to supporting research to benefit people with this genetic disease. We accept applications for research ranging from basic science projects at the molecular level (eg. identification of the gene) through to very applied projects aimed at enhancing the quality of life for people with SDS. We strive to support good, "hypothesis driven" science.

Our priority is "seed funding" i) to encourage startup of a program for new investigators; or ii) to allow established investigators to establish a new research direction. This seed money allows investigators to establish a research base and/or pilot data from which they could apply for grants from larger agencies such as CIHR.

The awards have a maximum of term of three years, although one and two-year proposals are encouraged and will be considered. For exceptional proposals and where justified, a maximum of $25.000/y will be awarded.

All applications are scientifically peer-reviewed. While researchers are important in the peer-review process (especially in specialized adjudication of proposals), policies are in place to ensure that conflict-of-interest does not arise.

Successful applicants will be required to submit a yearly report prior to renewal. Tri-council ethics guidelines (CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC) will apply to research carried out with funds granted by SDS Canada. Further, research activities will comply with policies and procedures of sponsoring institution.

Grants Awarded to Date

To date, we have raised and disseminated over $400,000 for research. Many of the projects we have "seed" funded have subsequently gone on to lever our investment by obtaining major national grants. Our seed funding provided the resource base for pilot work which was instrumental in the success of the larger national grants.

Please click here to see descriptions of some specific research projects we have funded

Application Forms (MS-Word format)

Due to a surplus of excellent project proposals approved to date with multi-year funding, we will not be calling for research project proposals until further notice.

However, we are still funding PhD studentship applications and would be quite enthusiastic to receive high quality submissions for studentships. Direct relevance of the project to Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome, quality of the training environment and student excellence are all essential criteria for these applications.

With suitable justification, we might consider a trainee at a level other than PhD. Our key aim in directing funding at the PhD student level is to build a supply of independent researchers who will ultimately study SDS as a major portion of their research programs in the future.

Download the form to use for a letter of Intent

Read the most recent call for letters of intent

If the project outlined in the letter of intent fits within our mandate, we will reply with a request for a full application.

Download a copy of the full application form

As outlined above, we are currently encouraging applications for scholarships for Doctoral candidates whose thesis topic is relevant to SDS.

Download a copy of the application for a PhD fellowship

Researchers seeking further information on how to apply may contact: