“Our research team is very small – just 3 people – so we play a lot of roles,” Dr. Alam said. “We really needed a grants and awards management system that wasn’t just efficient but that would allow us to deliver grants more effectively and will help us to track the impact of our research investments over a long period of time.”
Before ProposalCentral, the MS Society used to track outcomes and outputs manually, which “was tedious and time consuming.”

“We really like the ability to link the ORCID ID of applicants and reviewers directly in PC. This will help us expedite and streamline our tracking processes.”

How has the transition gone? In a word, smoothly. “We had very good guidance throughout our transition to ProposalCentral. All throughout the product orientation, launch, and up to our first competition last year.”

Continuously Assessing Grant Impact

With the transition to ProposalCentral completed, Dr. Alam and her colleagues in research are now gearing up to tap into the power of Altum Analytics and Altum Insights, so that they can strategically and continuously assess the impact of their grants.

To do that, the MS Society team is working with Altum’s customer success team to identify “the ideal data to collect during the application process so that we can further assess our impact.”

“We are excited to use Altum Insights to track the follow-on funding that our researchers have received as a product of our grant. We also plan to track whether our trainee awards have made an impact on the training of future MS researchers.”

About the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada

Motivated to mobilize a nation to accelerate multiple sclerosis breakthroughs, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada has invested over $200 million dollars in research since its inception in 1948. The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada provides services to people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and their families, and funds research to find the cause and cure for this disease.

To ensure that momentum in MS research continues, the MS Society administers an annual research competition that provides support for researchers whether they are in the early stages of graduate school or conducting research as an independent investigator. Funding researchers across the academic and clinical spectrum enables education and training for the next generation of MS leaders, while reinforcing their passion for the field.