SSHRC Insight Development Grant 2019 Competition

1. SSHRC • Insight Development Grant • 2019 Competition

2. Workshop Agenda • 1:00 – 1:30 PM Proposal Planning and Development • Suzanne Jaeger, PhD, Funded Research Officer, A&S • 1:30 – 2:00 PM Eligibility and Submission Processes • Mark Bold, Research Funding Officer, RSO • 2:00 – 2:40 PM SSHRC Adjudication Process • Guest Speaker: Professor Andre Sorensen, Human • Geography, UTSC and 2018 SSHRC IDG adjudication committee • 2:40 – 3:00 PM Q & A

3. Deadlines • 9:00 AM Mon. Jan. 28, 2019 – MRA (My Research • Application) draft submitted and approved • 9:00 AM Fri. Feb 1, 2019 – completed SSHRC • Application (including CCV) submitted via • SSHRC online portal • Feb 2, 2019 – SSHRC agency deadline (Feb 4 because Feb • 2nd falls on a Saturday) • Results announced: June 2019

4. Competition Overview • Value of the IDG grant: Between $7,000 and $75,000 • Duration: 1 to 2 years • Requires the Canadian Common CV (CCV) rather than the regular SSHCR CV used in other SSHRC programs. • Special provision for Emerging Scholars: Separate budgetary envelope for Emerging Scholars (minimum 50% of overall envelope) = Higher success rates for Emerging Scholars in comparison with Established Scholars

5. Emerging Scholars - definition • Someone who has not yet had the opportunity to establish an extensive record of research achievement, but is in the process of building one. • Has not yet applied successfully, as principal investigator or project director, for a grant offered through SSHRC, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, or the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Emerging scholars may, however, have previously held or currently hold knowledge mobilization grants and/or SSHRC Partnership Engage Grants. • In addition, they must meet at least one of the following criteria: • have completed their highest degree no more than six years before the competition deadline (SSHRC considers only the date of completion of the first doctorate); or • have held a tenured or tenure-track postsecondary appointment for less than six years; or • have held a postsecondary appointment, but never a tenure-track position (in the case of institutions that offer tenure-track positions); or • have had their careers significantly interrupted or delayed for health or family reasons within the past six years.

6. Emerging Scholars • The IDG supports high-quality research projects by emerging scholars to develop new research questions and/or approaches. • Projects from Emerging Scholars may build on and further the applicant’s (or team’s) graduate work and/or represent a continuation of their overall research trajectory.

7. Established Scholars • Someone who has established—or who, since the completion of their highest degree, has had the opportunity to establish—a record of research achievement. • Funding support to explore new research questions and/or approaches that are distinct from the applicant’s previous/ongoing research. Research projects should be clearly delimited and in the early stages of the research process. Insight Development Grant funding is not intended to support ongoing research for established scholars.

8. Insight Program Description • Insight Development Grants are expected to respond to the objectives of the Insight program. • The goal of the Insight program is to build knowledge and understanding about people, societies and the world by supporting research excellence in all subject areas eligible for funding from SSHRC. • Insight Objectives include: • Building knowledge and understanding from disciplinary, interdisciplinary and/or cross-sector perspectives through support for the best researchers; • Supporting new approaches to research on complex and important topics, including those that transcend the capacity of any one scholar, institution or discipline; • Providing a high-quality research training experience for students; • Funding research expertise that relates to societal challenges and opportunities; and • Mobilizing research knowledge, to and from academic and non-academic audiences, with the potential to lead to intellectual, cultural, social and economic influence, benefit and impact.

9. IDG Program Description • Supports research in its initial stages. • Enables the development of new research questions, as well as experimentation with new methods, theoretical approaches and/or ideas. • Funding is provided for short-term research development projects, of up to two years, proposed by individuals or teams. • Larger-scale and longer term research support is offered through SSHRC’s Insight Grant program (Oct. 15 deadline).

10. Insight Development Grants • Proposed projects may involve, but are not limited to, the following types of research activities: • case studies; • pilot initiatives; and • critical analyses of existing research • Projects may also involve national and international research collaboration, and the exploration of new ways of producing, structuring and mobilizing knowledge within and across disciplines and sectors. • SSHRC welcomes applications involving Indigenous research, as well as those involving research-creation.

11. Adjudication Process • Applications are adjudicated, and available funds awarded, through a merit review process. SSHRC bases funding decisions on the recommendations of the adjudication committee and on the funds available. Committee discussions are guided by the principle of minimum essential funding. • Insight Development Grant applications are evaluated through a single-stage committee review process that does not involve external assessments. • The adjudication committees include national and international scholars from the research community and may include experts from other sectors as needed.

12. Committee Structure • In the application form, applicants will be asked to select the committee they consider most appropriate for the review of their proposal. • The previous years’ review committee members are available on the SSHRC Merit Review webpage

13. Committee Selection • 01 – Philosophy, medieval studies, classics, religious studies • 02 – History • 03 – Fine Arts, Research Creation • 04 – Literature • 07 – Economics • 08 – Sociology, Demography and related fields • 09 – Geography, urban planning and related fields • 10 – Psychology • 11 – Political Science and Public Administration • 12 – Education and Social Work • 13 – Anthropology, Archeology, Linguistics and Translation • 14 – Business, Management and related fields • 16 – Communications, Media Studies, Library and Media Studies and related fields • 17 – Law and Criminology • 21 – Indigenous Research • 22 – Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Humanities • 23 – Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

14. Committee Structure • There are four types of committees: discipline-based; groups of disciplines; multi/interdisciplinary (one humanities-focused and one social sciences-focused); and thematic (e.g. Indigenous Research). • SSHRC creates more discipline-based committees when required by a high volume of received applications, e.g. committee 10 A and 10B (Psychology). Otherwise, committees are based on groups of disciplines, e.g. committee 01 (philosophy, medieval studies, classics, religious studies). In addition, SSHRC will also establish thematic and multi/interdisciplinary committees if warranted by the volume of applications. • Note: SSHRC will make efforts to accommodate applicant preferences. However, SSHRC reserves the right to determine an application’s review process and committee assignment.

15. Multi-disciplinary Committee Success Rates

16. Proposal Development • Finding the Instructions for how to complete each section of the application: • Drop Down and Text Boxes (Identification; Revisions since previous application; Roles and Responsibilities; Knowledge Mobilization Plan; Funds Requested from SSHRC; Reviewer Exclusion; Activity Details; Summary of Proposal; Roles and Training of Students; Expected Outcomes; Funds from Other Sources) • Attachments(Detailed Description; Timelines; References) • CCV • Invitations to Co-applicants and Collaborators

17. Proposal Development - tips • Give yourself lots of time • Frame the project within the SSHRC IDG program objectives • Get as much feedback as you can and reorganize and shape the proposal carefully, highlighting key points • Aim for clarity in how the entire project is conceived both in terms of the big picture and in the details • A word of caution when using past successful applications as a template

18. Proposal Development - Mapping Strategy • Start by thinking about the research rather than writing text. • It is more difficult to revise research plans once they are written as text than it is to change a proposal ‘map’. • Two key tasks: • i) Finding the Project Framework; • ii) Developing the Budget

19. Finding the Framework • Key Questions to create the proposal map: • What is your main research objective? • Why is it important to do this research? • How will the research objective be achieved? • Who will be involved in the activities planned to help accomplish the research objectives? • What are the anticipated outcomes of the research? What will be the results of the research activities? • What will be the anticipated impact or significance of these outcomes/results?

20. Proposal Map • What + Why • How + Who • Outcome + Impact

21. Budget Considerations • Review Committees have been mandated to fund only the “minimum essential for completing the proposed activities”. • This means that every item in your budget request for SSHRC funds must be justified carefully in relation to the proposed research objectives and methodology including the concrete activities described to achieve the objectives. • There should be continuity between the Project Description, Student Training, Knowledge Mobilization, Outcomes, Budget and Budget Justification. No surprises in the Budget! • More in Mark Bold’s presentation about the budget

22. Important SSHRC Guidelines • Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide • Guidelines for Effective Research Training • Indigenous Research Statement of Principles • Guidelines for the Merit Review of Indigenous Research • Guidelines for Effective Knowledge Mobilization. • For information on preparing research-creation applications see SSHRC’s Resource Centre. • For descriptions of SSHRC terms, see Definitions of Terms.

23. One more SSHRC resource: • Awards Search Engine

24. Final Comments: An Excellent Project Plan is: • Do‐able • Plan makes sense to the reviewer • Design is comprehensive • Results clearly obtainable / interpretable • Proposal conveys little doubt of success • Clear evidence of applicant skills and previous success • No assumptions are skipped over

25. Excellent Proposal Writing is: • Easy to Read • Uses the Concept of one: • one main goal for the proposal • one main point per paragraph • one thought per sentence • Focused on the key points • Uses direct, uncomplicated language • Uses summary statements

26. A Persuasive Proposal is … • Clearly relevant and important: • Goals are directly aligned with the funder’s priorities • An important knowledge gap is identified • The rationale is presented clearly and succinctly • The research objectives and outcomes are linked • The anticipated impact of the research results is stated explicitly and in a compelling way.

27. Help Lines: • I am available to answer questions and to provide proposal development support and editorial feedback on drafts between now and the end of January: Suzanne.jaeger@utoronto.ca • SSHRC program officers are available to answer questions when answers are not on their website: • Email: insightdevelopment@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca • Tel.: 613-996-6976 • Mark Bold is also available to answer SSHRC IDG questions: mark.bold@utoronto.ca or 416 946-3606