Deadline: 1 May 2020
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) is seeking applications for its connection grant program to support events and outreach activities geared toward short-term, targeted knowledge mobilization initiatives.
These events and activities represent opportunities to exchange knowledge and to engage on research issues of value to those participating. Events and outreach activities funded by a Connection Grant may often serve as a first step toward more comprehensive and longer-term projects.
Connection Grants support workshops, colloquiums, conferences, forums, summer institutes, or other events or outreach activities that facilitate:
- disciplinary and/or interdisciplinary exchanges in the social sciences and humanities;
- scholarly exchanges between those working in the social sciences and humanities and those working in other research fields;
- inter sectoral exchanges between academic researchers in the social sciences and humanities and researchers and practitioners from the public, private and/or not-for-profit sectors; and/or
- international research collaboration and scholarly exchanges with researchers, students and non-academic partners from other countries.
Events
Events are short-term activities that are usually completed in a week or less (e.g., a two-day conference or a one-week workshop). The bulk of the activities will happen within this short period. As part of the overall proposal, applicants may request support for longer-term activities directly related to the event (e.g., developing proceedings, publications or reports, or other forms of knowledge synthesis).
Proposed events may be:
- face-to-face or involve virtual interaction;
- discipline-specific, or cross-disciplinary and/or cross-sectoral; and
- open- or closed-invitation.
Outreach Activities
Proposed outreach activities must be designed to engage a broader public in social sciences and humanities knowledge through one or a combination of the following: knowledge dissemination, transfer, brokering, translation, synthesis, exchange, networking or co-creation beyond what would typically be achieved through an event. Proposed activities may include, but are not limited to:
- adaptation (including translation, for example, into French, English or Indigenous languages) of texts or presentations for the purpose of broader knowledge mobilization to different audiences;
- development of policy briefs, knowledge syntheses and scoping reviews;
- development of articles for print or online publication in newspapers or weekly or monthly magazines—whether specialized or general interest;
- virtual networking;
- media events (such as television/radio presentations);
- summer schools/institutes;
- speaker series;
- public debates;
- artistic exhibits, performances or festivals;
- development/use of interactive technologies, audio-visual products or software; and/or
- development/use of educational aids, instruments or equipment.
Projects may occur in Canada or abroad. If a proposed project is to occur abroad, the applicant must justify the project’s potential to mobilize Canadian research on an international stage, and why the project must happen outside Canada.
Connection Grants are intended to support applicants and project directors who are running a knowledge mobilization event or outreach activity. Applicants must provide evidence that they are playing an active and significant role in the organization and delivery of the event or outreach activity.
Ineligible Activities
Although applicants can apply for Connection Grants to support eligible events and outreach activities organized by academic associations, the following association activities are not eligible for Connection Grant funding:
- annual general meetings or any other activity directly related to an association’s business meetings;
- book launches or similar report dissemination;
- receptions for association members; and
- any activities normally paid for by the association’s operating fees.
Funding Information
- Connection Grants supporting events are valued at $7,000 to $25,000 over one year.
- Connection Grants supporting outreach activities are valued at $7,000 to $50,000 over one year. SSHRC is willing to consider amounts higher than $50,000, although such applications must satisfactorily justify the need for the higher amount, as well as provide evidence the entire award can be managed within the one-year time frame.
- Applicants must request a minimum of $7,000.
Participants and Audiences
Participants or audiences, in Canada and abroad, for both events and outreach activities, may include, among others, any of the following:
- academic researchers;
- non-academic researchers;
- policy-makers;
- professional practitioners;
- representatives from organizations in the public, private or not-for-profit sectors;
- representatives from community-based, local or regional non-academic organizations; and/or
- students at all levels.
Eligibility Criteria
Applications may be submitted by institutions or by individual applicants and teams.
- Institutional Connection Grant applications must be submitted by an eligible Canadian institution to conduct an event or outreach activity, or series thereof, in order to attain strategic objectives relevant to the institution’s mission and mandate. The project director must be affiliated with the host institution (the applicant), prepare the application on behalf of the host institution and be responsible for the overall leadership of the project.
- Individual Connection Grant applicants (except postdoctoral researchers) must be affiliated with an eligible Canadian post secondary institution at the time of application to conduct an event or outreach activity, or series thereof, that primarily falls within the applicants’ domain of expertise and that will, ultimately, allow them to make a significant contribution to their field of research.
- Co-applicants: An individual (including postdoctoral researchers) is eligible to be a co-applicant if they are formally affiliated with any of the following:
- Canadian: Eligible post secondary institution; not-for-profit organization; philanthropic foundation; think tank; or municipal, territorial or provincial government.
- International: Post secondary institution.
For more information, visit https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/programs-programmes/connection_grants-subventions_connexion-eng.aspx