Deadline: 01-Aug-2020
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) is currently inviting applications for the 2020 Connection Grants.
These grants 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;
- intersectoral 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.
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 timeframe.
- 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;
- epresentatives from community-based, local or regional non-academic organizations; and/or
- students at all levels.
Eligibility Criteria
- Projects whose primary objective is to conduct research activities (e.g., literature reviews, field work, data collection, interviews) or to develop stand-alone volumes are not eligible for funding under this funding opportunity.
- Applications may be submitted by institutions or by individual applicants and teams (consisting of one applicant or project director and one or more co-applicants and/or collaborators).
- 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. The term “institution” from hereon in this description refers to both postsecondary institutions and not-for-profit organizations.
- Individual Connection Grant applicants (except postdoctoral researchers) must be affiliated with an eligible Canadian postsecondary 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. In the case of a team approach, all team members must meet the eligibility criteria specific to their role.
- Researchers who maintain an affiliation with a Canadian postsecondary institution, but whose primary affiliation is with a non-Canadian postsecondary institution, are not eligible for applicant or project director status.
- Applicants or project directors who have received a SSHRC grant of any type but have failed to submit an end of grant report by the deadline specified in their Notice of Award are not eligible to apply for another SSHRC grant until they have submitted the report.
- Postdoctoral researchers are eligible to be applicants if they have formally established an affiliation with an eligible institution within three months of the grant start date, and maintain such an affiliation for the duration of the grant period.
- Students enrolled in a program of study are not eligible to apply. However, Connection Grant proposals led by students may be submitted, provided the proposals involve both students and researchers and are submitted on behalf of the student by a faculty member at an eligible Canadian postsecondary institution. Students may be collaborators, but not co-applicants. Students who are collaborators on a project team cannot be paid a stipend or wage by the grant.
- 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 postsecondary institution; not-for-profit organization; philanthropic foundation; think tank; or municipal, territorial or provincial government.
- International: Postsecondary institution.
- An individual (including postdoctoral researchers) is eligible to be a co-applicant if they are formally affiliated with any of the following:
Evaluation Criteria
The following criteria and scoring scheme are used to evaluate the applications:
- Challenge—The aim and importance of the endeavour (40%):
- relevance of the proposal to the objectives of the Connection program;
- expected contribution to the preservation of, access to and/or mobilization of research knowledge;
- quality of the proposed project and appropriateness of the approach;
- quality and significance of the research being mobilized;
- quality of training and mentoring to be provided to students, emerging scholars and other highly qualified personnel, and opportunities for them to contribute; and
- potential for the project results to have influence and impact within and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community.
- Feasibility—The plan to achieve excellence (30%):
- appropriateness of the proposed timeline and probability that the objectives will be met;
- appropriateness of the requested budget and justification of proposed costs; and
- indications of other planned resources including leveraging of cash and in-kind support from other sources.
- Capability—The expertise to succeed (30%):
- quality, quantity and significance of past experience and published and/or creative outputs of the applicant / project director and any co-applicants relative to their roles in the event or activity and to the stage of their career;
- evidence of past knowledge mobilization activities (e.g., films, performances, commissioned reports, knowledge syntheses, experience in collaboration / other interactions with stakeholders, contributions to public debate and the media) and of impacts on professional practice, social services and policies, etc.; and
- quality and quantity of past contributions to the training and mentoring of students, postdoctoral researchers and other highly qualified personnel.
For more information, visit https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/programs-programmes/connection_grants-subventions_connexion-eng.aspx#4