Overview
Interdisciplinary Challenge Teams (ICTs) are integrated teams of researchers from different disciplines and users who work together to address specific questions, achieve relevant deliverables and, ultimately, reduce the carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions of Canada’s agriculture and food systems. The ICTs will provide genomic solutions to help implement agriculture and food production systems that are climate-resilient, socially responsible, economically viable and environmentally sustainable, and that contribute to the mitigation of climate change impacts.
Funding Highlights
Registration deadline: CLOSED
Project Envelope Range: $1,000,000 – $3,000,000
Total Funding Available: $24,000,000
Complete List of Project Timelines
Activity |
Date |
| Initiative launched | May 2022 |
| Full applications due to Genome Alberta | January 2023 |
| Notification of decisions | March 2023 |
| Teams convene | May 2023 |
Objectives
The ICT funding opportunity supports teams using omic approaches to achieve the overall objective of the Initiative, which is to develop and apply genomic tools and technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the carbon footprint of Canada’s food systems to ensure resilience, economic viability and environmental sustainability.
Parameters
The scope of this funding opportunity included areas where genomic technologies help achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and reduce the carbon footprint of Canada’s agriculture and food production system. Projects were required to seek solutions that increase the value created by production systems without increasing greenhouse gas emissions or amplifying negative impacts on the natural environment. Furthermore, projects had to demonstrate how their outputs could be translated into reduced emissions, by considering the various dimensions of the food system value chain: production, processing, distribution and consumption.
Project Eligibility
Applicants were required to demonstrate how their proposal had significant potential to achieve concrete deliverables by the end of the funding period. Proposals that made strong cases that their deliverables would translate into strong social and/or economic benefits that aligned with the Initiative’s overall intended impact (i.e., the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to lessen the carbon footprint of Canada’s agriculture and food production systems) within the shortest time frame possible after the end of the project, were particularly encouraged. Consideration was given to what was reasonable for different research areas.
All applications had to address the evaluation criteria established for the competition, as outlined in the funding opportunity.
Funding Available and Term
- Approximately $24 million was made available for the ICTs from Genome Canada.
- Genome Canada’s maximum contribution to a project was $3 million.
- Genome Canada’s minimum contribution to a project was $1 million.
- A project’s eligible costs were required to be co-funded from eligible sources, such that the co-funding was at least equal to the Genome Canada contribution.
- Successful teams were awarded funding for a term of up to four years.
Documents & Resources
For more information on funded projects, please visit our Projects Portfolio.
Link to Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems Funding Overview
Link to Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems ICTs
Link to Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems KMIC
Link to Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems DCC
Link to Guidelines for Funding PDF
Funding Contact
Genome Alberta
Email
