Platform Support Grants (PSG)

Overview of the Platform Support Grants (PSG) program:

Brain Canada’s 2025 Platform Support Grants program is designed to enhance the technical and research capabilities of major neuroscience platforms across Canada. The PSG program provides support through two streams: Stream 1: For platforms that are new or have never been funded under the PSG program. Stream 2: For platforms that have previously received PSG funding and are seeking continued or expanded support. The program addresses the critical need for shared research platforms—such as biobanks, imaging cores, databases, and other specialized infrastructure—that facilitate collaborative, innovative, and interdisciplinary research. The grants aim to increase platform accessibility, improve research quality, reduce duplication of infrastructure, and accelerate neuroscience discovery by offering key services and resources that individual investigators may not otherwise afford. Applicants must demonstrate the platform's added value, sustainability plan, and impact on Canada’s neuroscience capacity. Platforms must support open science principles, ensure equitable access, and integrate considerations of sex, gender, and diversity in both platform design and governance. Funding may be used for infrastructure upgrades, personnel, data systems, and select research projects demonstrating platform utility. The program encourages partnerships with sponsors who can co-invest in platform development. Matching funds are required, and all projects must ensure timely disbursement of federal contributions due to recent policy changes from Health Canada, emphasizing fiscal accountability.

Benefits of the Platform Support Grants (PSG) program:

• Supports the establishment, maintenance, or expansion of neuroscience platforms.
• Improves accessibility to sophisticated research infrastructure.
• Promotes open science and FAIR principles.
• Enhances interdisciplinary and interinstitutional collaboration.
• Provides funding for technical personnel, training, and platform development.
• Builds long-term sustainability and global competitiveness for Canadian neuroscience.
• Encourages early-career researcher engagement and EDI-integrated research design.

Eligibility criteria of the Platform Support Grants (PSG) program:

• Eligible applicants must:
• Be independent researchers (assistant, associate, or full professors) based at Canadian institutions.
• Act as the Principal Investigator and manage the platform and grant.
• Submit only one application per platform.
• Secure matching funds from eligible sponsors.
• Ensure 95% of any previous PSG funding is spent before applying to Stream 2.
• Integrate SGBA+ and EDI in team composition, research design, and platform accessibility.
• Applicable platforms include biobanks, imaging cores, data-sharing systems, informatics platforms, and other neuroscience-related infrastructures that serve the broader research community.