Connection Grants — Joint Initiative for Digital Citizen Research

Connection Grants are expected to respond to the Connection program’s goals. These awards assist short-term, targeted knowledge mobilization projects by funding events and outreach activities. These events and activities provide chances to share information and engage with participants on research topics that are important to them. Connection Grant-funded events and outreach initiatives are frequently a springboard for more extensive, longer-term undertakings. Workshops, colloquia, conferences, forums, summer institutes, and other events or outreach activities are supported by Connection Grants.

• disciplinary and 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 not-for-profit sectors;
• and international research collaboration and scholarly exchanges with research institutions around the world.

A Canadian institution can only administer funds with institutional eligibility. On the other hand, Connection Grant activities can have intellectual leadership and governance from inside the academic community, as well as from the public, corporate, and not-for-profit sectors. SSHRC encourages applications that include Indigenous research as well as research creation.

Joint Initiatives

SSHRC works with not-for-profit, business, and public organizations to support and promote social science and humanities training, research, and connection initiatives. SSHRC’s joint efforts are intended to reflect the organization’s strategic goals and mandate, inform decision-makers, and, in some situations, fulfill unique partner needs. Graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, early career researchers, and established researchers are supported by joint endeavours to promote knowledge and its implementation. SSHRC engages with national and international agencies, government departments, and organizations from the public, commercial, and non-profit sectors to help advance strategic objectives through these programs. These collaborations highlight the importance of social science and humanities research to Canada’s economic and social well-being.

Research Data Management Capacity Building Initiative

SSHRC will grant at least ten excellent Connection Grant proposals per competition as part of this effort, which will help the social sciences and humanities research community establish and implement research data management standards, tools, and skills.

Most cooperative programs and the Research Data Management Capacity Building Initiative do not have a separate application process. Candidates must, however, declare in their application form that they want to be considered for an initiative and explain why.

Areas of Future Challenge

SSHRC encourages all candidates to explore the 16 upcoming global problems identified in Imagining Canada’s Future and consider addressing one or more of these areas in their research proposal. It is not a criterion for merit review, and this funding opportunity does not provide additional or dedicated research funds.

Longevity and Worth

The value of Connection Grants supporting events ranges from $7,000 to $25,000 over a year. Connection Grants support outreach efforts, ranging from $7,000 to $50,000 over a year. A $7,000 minimum request is necessary. SSHRC will consider proposals for sums greater than $50,000; however, such applications must demonstrate that the higher amount is needed and that the total grant can be managed within the one-year timeframe.

Matching Funds

The SSHRC will not fully fund any Connection Grant project. Sponsoring organizations must provide additional funding in inappropriate cash and in-kind contributions (excluding registration fees) equal to 50% of the amount requested from SSHRC. For example, an applicant seeking $10,000 from the SSHRC must show $5,000 in additional support. Individual contributions will not be taken into account when the SSHRC calculates matching funds; only qualifying monies from sponsoring organizations will be considered.

Only contributions from sponsoring organizations named in signed letters of support will be counted toward the needed 50 percent match. Amounts in individual letters of support will not be included in this calculation. Applicants can use SSHRC research grants and other funding organizations to supplement their budgets. Still, in their budget proposal, they must make it clear that there will be no duplication of financial support for the same budget expenses. While SSHRC funds can be utilized in this fashion as a supplement, they cannot be used to meet the 50 percent match requirement.

Allowance for Research in the Workplace

Applicants and co-applicants from qualifying not-for-profit organizations can apply for a salary research allowance that will relieve them of their responsibilities at their organization and allow them to focus solely on knowledge mobilization events and activities.

Eligibility

Subject of Discussion

Open competitions are used to grant the majority of SSHRC funding. Proposals for SSHRC funding can include any disciplines, thematic areas, methodologies, or suitable topic areas. For further information, see the subject matter eligibility standards. Projects with the primary goal of conducting research (e.g., literature reviews, fieldwork, data gathering, interviews) or developing stand-alone volumes are not eligible for financing through this funding opportunity.

Proposed Events and Outreach Activities

• All actions must be completed within 12 months after the award’s start date (see decision dates in the funding cycle schedule).
• Proposed events and outreach efforts must result in timely and tangible deliverables, such as conference proceedings or other knowledge products created in traditional and digital and multimedia formats (unless specifically intended to create new, longer-term linkages or initiate collaboration).
• Proposed events and outreach initiatives can be one-time interactions or catalysts for longer-term collaborations and academic research programs.

Events

Short-term activities that last a week or less are known as events (e.g., a two-day conference or a one-week workshop). The majority of the activities will take place during this time frame. Applicants can request funding for longer-term initiatives directly related to the event as part of their general application (e.g., developing proceedings, publications or reports, or other forms of knowledge synthesis). The following are proposed events: open- or closed-invitation; face-to-face or virtual engagement; discipline-specific or cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral; and open- or closed-invitation.

Activities that Aren’t Allowed

Although applicants can apply for Connection Grants to support approved academic association events and outreach initiatives, the following activities are not eligible for 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 other activities that are generally covered by the association’s running costs.

Applicants

Institutions, individuals, and teams (one applicant or project director and one or more co-applicants and collaborators) can all submit applications.

A Canadian institution must submit institutional Relationship Grant applications with institutional eligibility to stage an event, outreach activity, or a combination that helps the institution achieve strategic goals related to its mission and mandate. The project director must be linked with the host university (the applicant), prepare the application on the host institution’s behalf, and be in charge of the project’s overall leadership. From this point on in this definition, the term “institution” refers to postsecondary institutions and not-for-profit organizations.

Individual Connection Grant applicants (excluding postdoctoral researchers) must be associated with a Canadian post-secondary institution at the time of application and have institutional eligibility. Applicants organize an event, outreach program, or a mix of the two that focuses on their areas of expertise and allows them to contribute to their field of study. When using a team method, each team member must meet the eligibility requirements for their unique function.

What Is the Application Process?

Applicants must follow the directions on the application form to the letter. An approved research grants officer, or equivalent, from the applicant’s institution, or a representative of the not-for-profit organization with financial signing authority who is not participating in the project, must submit applications electronically.

Postdoctoral researchers who are not currently affiliated with an SSHRC-eligible institution can apply to SSHRC directly. Applicants should submit their applications well before the anticipated event or outreach activity’s commencement date. They should submit their application by the deadline corresponding to the most appropriate decision date for their project’s needs. SSHRC cannot award a grant for an event or outreach activity that occurred before the final funding decision. All financed activities must occur within one year of the Notice of Award’s start date.

Applicants who require assistance in drafting their applications should contact SSHRC well ahead of the deadline.

Evaluation and Adjudication

A competitive merit evaluation process evaluates applications and awards available money. The SSHRC bases its funding decisions on the adjudication committee’s recommendations and the monies available. The notion of minimal essential funding guides committee debates.

Researchers (applicants and project directors) and students preparing SSHRC proposals relating to Indigenous research should review the SSHRC Guidelines for the Merit Review of Indigenous Research. SSHRC provides these recommendations to merit reviewers to help them better understand Indigenous research and research-related activities and assist committee members in interpreting SSHRC’s unique assessment criteria in the context of Indigenous research.

SSHRC relies on a community of merit reviewers with experience and knowledge in Indigenous research to determine the extent to which the standards can be applied to a particular proposal. External assessors, postsecondary institutions, and partner groups supporting Indigenous research can benefit from the recommendations.

Grant Funding Must Be Used According to Specific Guidelines

Grant money cannot be used to pay applicants, co-applicants, or collaborators salaries or stipends, regardless of whether they are eligible to apply for grants.

Grant monies cannot be used to pay salaries or stipends to Canadian academic members or other people whose status would qualify them for an agency grant.

Grant monies are not allowed to be used to pay for research, and conference registration fees cannot be paid with grant funding. Grant monies (up to $50,000) can be utilized to develop connection-related technologies for knowledge mobilization efforts.

Regulations, Policies, and other Relevant Data: The SSHRC reserves the right to assess whether or not applications are eligible based on the information provided. In addition, the SSHRC has the right to interpret the rules and norms that govern its financing opportunities. All applicants and grant recipients must follow the Regulations Governing Grant Applications and the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration. Grant recipients must also follow the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications. For additional information, see the Open Access overview. SSHRC also encourages researchers to handle data generated by their study by following community standards and best practices (including the Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy).

Application Deadline

May 1, August 1, November 1, 2022; February 1, 2023, by 8 pm (ET)

Apply Now