Funding Eligibility
The AKC Canine Health Foundation provides a range of funding opportunities to support research aimed at improving the health of dogs. This includes graduate student salary support, as well as guidelines for allowable expenses related to salary, equipment, and indirect costs.
All funded projects must comply with CHF’s Humane Use of Animals Policy, which ensures ethical treatment and care for all animals involved in research. We strongly encourage investigators to carefully review the full eligibility criteria to ensure their project meets CHF’s funding guidelines and policies.
Items Ineligible
for Funding
Please carefully review the following list of ineligible expenses. We encourage all investigators to carefully review the FAQ section on our website for detailed information. If you do not find your answer there, please contact chfgrants@akcchf.org.
Animals
- Projects that do not comply with CHF’s Humane Use of Animals Policy
- Projects involving dog research colonies or any non-client-owned dogs (i.e. participating dogs must have owner consent)
- Projects involving disease induction or injury models
- Transportation of live or deceased dogs
Salary and Personnel Expenses
- Salary of full-time university or industry faculty or professional, salaried staff (non-profit or for-profit)*
- Tuition or registration fees for classes or training
- Graduate student expenses related to coursework and teaching responsibilities
*Rising Researcher Principal Investigator applicants may request salary support for their research activities related to the proposed project if well-justified in the grant narrative and reasonable by the outlined work to meet the project’s goal.
Travel
- Travel expenses related to research project objectives, such as sample procurement or presentation of research findings, will be considered on a case-by-case basis
Indirect Costs
- The maximum allowable indirect costs request is 15% of the total grant budget.
- CHF does not allow indirect costs on sub-awards to be included as direct costs on awards
Equipment
- Purchase or rental of laboratory equipment or non-disposable parts
- Repair or maintenance of laboratory equipment or non-disposable parts
- General-purpose computer equipment, including desktops or laptops, is ineligible unless specifically required for research activities (e.g. for specialized software, statistical analysis, or other research-specific computing needs). Such expenses will be evaluated based on the specific needs of the project.
- Development of custom-designed computer software
Graduate Student Salary Support
The AKC Canine Health Foundation provides salary support for graduate students engaged in canine health research and working under the guidance of their mentors. This support is based on a sliding scale that aligns with the student’s progression in the laboratory and is designed to assist students at various stages of their graduate program, fostering the development of the next generation of leading canine health investigators. All studies involving animals must adhere to CHF’s Humane Use of Animals Policy, ensuring ethical treatment and care.
| Year of Graduate Student | Percentage of Allowable Salary in Budget |
|---|---|
| 1 | 25% |
| 2 | 50% |
| 3 | 50% |
| 4 | 90% |
| 5 | 90% |