Accelerate Grant Program

Accelerate Grants focus on basic and applied research across physical, life, computational, and social science domains relevant to, but not limited to the following:

• the development of self-driving labs (SDLs) or the development of the artificial intelligence (AI) and automation tools required to build SDLs,
• the use of SDLs for materials or molecule discovery,
• policy or other frameworks to support the ethical use and uptake of SDLs, or
• the implications (ethics, economic, social, etc.) of AI and automation for accelerated discovery and the community-based use of these technologies.

Ultimately the end use of the research should support advances in sustainability or human health.

‍Start your application now by submitting a 3-page notice of intents (NOI) that will be used to evaluate project eligibility and quality.

This program supports investigators from all career stages, including early career researchers. Successful applicants will become full members of the AC and will support adjudication of future awards.

We encourage researchers from all disciplines to apply. In particular, Indigenous Science and Technology and community-engaged research are important focus areas for the Acceleration Consortium, and applications in these areas are strongly encouraged.  

Important Dates:

• Applications open: May 30, 2024
• NOI due: August 9, 2024
• NOI notification: August 25, 2024
• Full proposal: Nov 18, 2024
• Funding notification: Dec 9, 2024
• Funding released: Jan 1, 2025

About the Grants

Accelerate Seed Funding builds accelerated discovery capacity at the University of Toronto by helping faculty enter the field or collaborate with those already doing accelerated discovery. It offers data generation for larger projects or can help adapt a research project to leverage autonomous discovery.  

• Maximum $125,000, direct research costs
• One year (Jan 2025-Dec 2025)

• TRL 1-2

Accelerate Moonshot Funding supports high-risk, high-reward grants that will make significant contributions to the development or use of SDLs.  

• Maximum $500,000 ($250,000 per year), direct research costs
• Two years (Jan 2025-Dec 2026)

• TRL 2-4

Accelerate Translation Funding grants support accelerated discovery projects with clear commercialization goals and justified/demonstrated market potential, the implementation or scaling of knowledge mobilization activities, training, and community engagement, and positioning discovery to receive investment from VCs or partners.

• Up to $500,000 ($250,000/year) with the possibility of additional 300k funding for equipment, direct research costs
• Two years (Jan 2025-Dec 2026)
• Or three years at $166,667/year

• TRL 3-6

Accelerate Social Science & Humanities Funding supports social science and humanities lead and focused projects*

• Up to $50,000, direct research costs
• One year (Jan 2025-Dec 2025)

* Social science and humanity grants that requireAdditional resources can apply to the Seed moonshot and translation competitions instead of the social science/humanities category. We encourage all AC research projects to integrate Social Sciences and Humanities elements where appropriate.  

Total funding will be ~$1.9M. Funding is expected to be extended to ~ 10-15 grants.

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How to apply

• Submit ~3-page notice of intents (NOI) that will be used to evaluate project eligibility and quality

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Eligibility

• Lead principal investigators (PIs) must meet the University of Toronto’s eligibility guidelines and be eligible to hold tri-agency funding

• PIs can only submit one application as a lead applicant
• PIs from other Canadian universities can be co-investigators and can receive funding via an inter-institutional agreement
• PIs can only be listed as lead or co-principal investigator on up to three proposals across all AC grant types (Seed, Moonshot, Translation) per application year. Individuals on multiple grants will need to justify their participation.

• There is no limit to the number of AC grants principal investigators join as collaborators (no funding received)  

• PIs leading a current (2023) AC grant will not be eligible to apply for a 2024 grant as a lead, with the exception of a seed grant growing to a moonshot.  

• Seed grant holders applying for a moonshot or translation grant will need to provide a 2-page report on the progress and outputs from the seed grant.  

• AC Staff Scientists are eligible co-applicants (procedurally, funding would flow to their lab).  

• We encourage applicants to consider working with the AC Staff Scientists. A list can be seen here.  

Evaluation process

Evaluation Process Document (PDF)

Applications will be reviewed by the AC’s Scientific Leadership Team’s Awards Sub-Committee and additional experts as identified by the Scientific Awards Sub-Committee. The recommendations from the review panel are then submitted to the AC’s Board of Directors for final review and approval. Due to the number of grants to review NOIs and full proposal applications may not receive comments.  

Preference will be given to grants that include teams of researchers from disparate disciplines that have not collaborated previously.

The NOIs will be evaluated on project eligibility and quality and to identify applications that could be merged. Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

Research Excellence

Alignment: Research outcomes must significantly advance the AC’s mission and overarching themes.  

Research Design and Methods: Logical and clearly described research design, methodologies, and data sources. Methodological choices provide confidence for a successful research project. Novelty is appreciated.  

EDI in Research: As applicable, the design includes the appropriate and explicit incorporation of community engagement, Indigenous science and technology studies, or sex- and gender-based analysis/GBA+ (gender-based analysis plus).

Clear and impactful research goal: High-quality research proposal with clearly articulated goals that address significant needs.

Ethical Discovery: AC-funded research should ultimately support the goals of economic, environmental, and social sustainability and/or advance human health. Projects that score low on this criterion of Ethical Discovery will not be funded.

Team and EDI

Team & Collaboration: The project team is appropriate, and their scientific excellence, roles, and complementarity are clearly described. A demonstration of how the project will increase the breadth and depth of collaboration/collaborators in the AC network. The development of new collaborations is encouraged.  

EDI in Research Practice: The team has identified and described proactive and intentional efforts to engage researchers and trainees from under-represented groups and to create an equitable and inclusive research environment.

Milestones & Deliverables: Appropriate timelines with detailed and measurable milestones and deliverables.  

Budget

Feasibility & Budget: Budget is appropriate, and the project plan is feasible. Leveraged resources (additional resources) that will increase the impact of the project are valued.

Learn about the recipients of the 2023 grants here.

Information for successful NOIs

Successful NOIs will be asked to submit short applications outlining a deliverable-based research project with a timeline and budget, along with CVs for each of the grant’s principal investigators and co-investigators.

Funding

• All funds are to be spent at the participating academic institution(s) except as noted in the submitted budget  
• Eligible expenses must align with U of T's Guide to Financial Management and CFREF eligibility guidelines. Please see the CFREF Financial Administration Guide.  

Ethical Discovery

• AC research should ultimately support the goals of economic, environmental, and social sustainability and/or advance human health. Technologies developed with AC funding should be evaluated for the potential to cause indirect harm, create positive community impact, and be sustainable throughout its complete lifecycle. These aspects can be part of or a focus of an AC research project.

Intellectual Property

• The AC supports open science approaches for early-stage research and encourages applicants to publish all data sets, software, and blueprints, particularly for the development of platform technologies such as SDL. However, open approaches are not required for all grants, especially Translation grants.  

Responsibilities to the CFREF funding bodies

• At the end of the funding period, sign off on the report of budget expenditures report provided by departmental administrative staff.
• Completion of a short report describing the progress against the objectives and milestones and the research and training impact achieved with the funding, including trainees hired, publications, leveraged funding, etc.
• Report on the research impact achieved from the grant until the end of the CFREF funding period (2024) via a short online survey. Metrics include, but are not limited to publications, patents, startups, leveraged funding, and progress to EDI goals.
• Support the University of Toronto’s and AC’s EDI principles, programs, objectives and reporting obligations.
• Adhere to the Acceleration Consortium’s goal that all materials developed should support the public good. This means that research projects funded by the AC should consider, to the extent that it is possible, the ultimate social, economic, and sustainability of the materials or molecule being researched and any potential indirect harms these materials or molecules could have.  
• Acknowledgment of the Acceleration Consortium and CFREF in all presentations and publications. This assists us in measuring the impact of our programs and supports future funding.

The following text can be used along with the Acceleration Consortium logo:

• This research was undertaken thanks in part to funding provided to the University of Toronto's Acceleration Consortium from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund

• Grant number - CFREF-2022-0004

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