CAIR Startup Award

All future studies must demonstrate a funding source. Investigators who are seeking new funding and require initial data and feasibility of a new MRI protocol or experimental set-up may apply for a CAIR Startup Award.

Scope

Successful preliminary data, proof of concept, and feasibility of experimental setup, design, and data analysis are important components of a funding application. While this may be available for research groups who have an existing track record in MRI, it is more difficult to demonstrate for either researchers new to the field of MRI, or established groups venturing into a new sub-speciality within MRI. To address these case, the CAIR provides limited support in the form of an internal award which effectively covers scanning costs.

Applications should be made in writing to the CAIR Director. This should contain a description of the need for a CAIR Startup Award, why other sources of funding are not available, a brief summary of the study design, and what resources are requested. Scanning time for up to four sessions can be sought, where one session equates to a morning or afternoon slot. All other prerequisits for scanning (see the Scan Enquiries page) including IRB approval, must be met by the investigator.

Towards the end of the scan time provided by an approved CAIR Startup Award, the invesigator must provide a brief written report, describing what has been achieved by the CAIR Startup Award, preliminary results, and a plan for using these results to apply for other sources of funding to continue the study. Until the report has been provided, the same investigators may not apply for additional CAIR awards.

The CAIR Startup Award is intending to help investigators obtain data to apply for external funding. It is not intended to fund entire studies. However, short publications from initial data, and submission of conference abstracts is encouraged as further evidence to be included in future external grant applications.