Latest news

The Marsden Fund recently published a virtual roadshow for the 2021 application round that has just opened:

https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/marsden-fund-application-process/information-for-applying-to-the-marsden-fund-in-2021/

There is also a second video for Vision Mātauranga on the same page that I recommend everyone watches.

Virtual Q&A sessions are being held via Zoom. Registration for these sessions is on the webpage above (scroll down a bit to the relevant section).

Marsden applications are fully electronic, and applicants will need to register to get onto the portal (each year a fresh registration is required). Please send an email to research@otago.ac.nzto register, stating your name, department and whether you are applying for a Standard or Fast Start Marsden.

The application comprises of sections of the application that have to be uploaded and the sections that have to be filled in directly on online. **The guidelines and templates cannot be accessed until an applicant is registered. I recommend you register asap, ideally by noon Friday 18 December 2020.

Fast Start applicants will need to provide confirmation that they are a permanent staff member, or get HOD and PVC approval to enable registration. The Research Office can provide a template letter for the HOD/PVC approval.

NOTE: As PIs and AIs cannot be changed between the Preliminary and Full Proposal stages and strict budget caps are in place, costing worksheets are required at the Preliminary stage. We can help with these.

Final draft Preliminary Proposals and costing sheets must reach us by Thursday 4 February 2021. Then final Preliminary Proposals must be marked as ‘COMPLETED’ online, Thursday 11 February 2021 (internal UO Research Office deadline). Early drafts and costing sheets are always appreciated (they will get more attention too. Due to the volume of applications, anything received after 4 February may not receive feedback and simply be ‘processed’. Non-compliant applications will not be submitted). The Research Office retains the right to not submit applications forwarded to the Research Office after 11 February.

Cancer Research Trust NZ (CRTNZ) funds research across the Cancer Control spectrum, from prevention, through diagnosis and treatment to end of life care.

CRTNZ is offering two $200k research project awards, one each in the fields of cancer-related Public Health and Cooperative Group Clinical Trials. Although this is a one-off initiative, it may be repeated in the future.

While it is envisaged that salary costs will be the major component of these awards (for Public Health in particular), expenses can also be included.

The awards will be for two years ($100k per year, per project) but could be over a longer period if necessary.

Applications should be made on the Research Project application form on the Trust’s web site and submitted by April 1^st 2021. We are currently modifying the application form and this will be available in January 2021 https://www.cancerresearchtrustnz.org.nz/ . The peer-review period will depend on the number of applications received but will be no longer than 3 months.

To aid in planning please let Douglas Ormrod know if you are going to apply douglas.ormrod@crtnz.org.nz

All eligible applications (including all cancer types) will be considered. Winning proposals should meet the following criteria:

• They have the potential to address a significant, unmet clinical need or to inform treatment decisions.
• Both tumor tissue and blood or plasma samples are available.
• They present a novel idea for using Signatera to answer a clinical question.
• Preference to retrospective proposals matched with defined clinical outcomes.
• The deadline for application submissions is December 4, 2020, at 11:59 pm (PST).