GRAND RESEARCH

Alliance Projects (SPARK-GAP) Large-scale, high-profile research collaborations tightly coupled with industry partners

SPARK-GAP projects represent the natural evolution of GRAND networking activities. These large-scale, high profile collaborations formalize relationships between researchers and partners who have identified a common, challenging, high-risk, and high-impact research objective that spans the competencies of the GRAND network and beyond. These projects tap into the broad research infrastructure used by all GRAND partners to fast-track results while also contributing back to that shared infrastructure. SPARK-GAP projects also require fully engaged industry champions who help lead the project, and who contribute significant in-kind and cash support.

The name comes from a combination of Strategic Projects Accelerating Receptor Knowledge (SPARK) that emphasizes the importance of impact on the receptor community, and GRAND Alliance Project (GAP) that emphasizes the importance of partnering with the receptor community from the outset. The impact of SPARK-GAP projects is envisioned to be great – reaching researchers, industry, and society with demonstrable outcomes and clear mechanisms for knowledge mobilization. The scope and crosscutting nature of these projects will also significantly impact the Canadian digital media sector, providing a competitive alternative to other research acceleration programs. The first of these new projects, SYNTHIUS, forms a template for future SPARK-GAP projects. By the end of Phase 2, these projects are expected to account for more than half of the research program’s funding.

PROJECTS

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