Opportunities knock at the Ocean Frontier Institute

The Dal-led Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) has launched a new funding mechanism that will enable Dal faculty to participate in ocean research projects that traditional funding mechanisms wouldn’t allow.  

The OFI Opportunities Fund provides a unique opportunity for Dal researchers to link their expertise to externally led projects. Awards, which range from $30,000 to $75,000, enable research that would not have been supported through traditional funding mechanisms because of the transnational or time-sensitive nature of the unique opportunity.

“The OFI Opportunities Fund creates new opportunities for Dal researchers, making it possible for them to participate in once-in-a-lifetime research that advances our collective understanding of the ocean,” says Anya Waite, Dal’s AVP of ocean research and OFI’s scientific director.

“It encourages international collaboration, and the sharing of resources with a range of ocean researchers who are working external to Dal. This means we can benefit from research essentials such as data management, ship time, tools and technology that are being used by other research teams.”  

The Opportunities Fund is open to current faculty at Dalhousie University. Proposals must be aligned with OFI’s research priorities and complement an emerging program led by a Canadian or international institution in which the Principal Investigator receiving the Opportunities Fund grant would otherwise be unable to participate.

Funding priority will be given to initiatives that:

• Support OFI's geographic focus of advancing the sustainable development of the North Atlantic and Canadian Arctic Gateway
• Leverage significant resources from external (national or international) research projects, including current OFI partners 
  
• Build strong connections with public and/or private sector researchers
• Achieve the efficient and effective transfer of research results and technology to identified receptors in the public and/or private sector
• Support the development of highly qualified personnel, consistent with the future human resource requirements in the public and/or private sector
• Involve Dalhousie University researchers who are not currently OFI Principal Investigators
  

Applications for the Opportunities Fund are now being accepted. The call for submissions will remain open until all funds have been allocated, allowing researchers to take advantage of unique, time sensitive opportunities as they arise.