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Funding Opportunities

Partnership Development Grants

Application deadline	Value	Duration	Results announced	Apply
November 25, 2010	Requests for support from SSHRC would typically be in the range of $75,000 to $200,000 over a period of one to three years, with requests for lower or higher amounts considered.	1 to 3 years	Spring 2011	Application form not available Web CV and instructions

Description
Value and Duration
Eligibility
Application Process
Evaluation and Adjudication
Administrative Regulations
Contact Information

Related Information

Regulations Governing Grant Applications
Definitions of Terms

Description

Partnership Development Grants provide support to:

develop research and related activities in the social sciences and humanities, including knowledge mobilization and the meaningful involvement of students and new scholars, by fostering new research partnership activities involving existing and/or potential partners; or
design and test new partnership approaches for research and/or related activities that may result in best practices or models that either can be adapted by others or have the potential to be scaled up at a regional, national or international level.

A formal partnership is a bilateral or multilateral formal collaboration agreement between an applicant and one or more partners. These partners agree and commit to work collaboratively to achieve shared goals for mutual benefit. Partners must provide evidence attesting to the commitment that has been agreed upon. For more information, see the definitions for formal partnership and partner.

Partnership Development Grants provide support over one to three years to teams/partnerships led by a principal investigator(s). Proposed initiatives must meet the objectives put forward in one of the following programs or a combination thereof:

Insight—to build knowledge and understanding about people, societies and the world by supporting research excellence in all subject areas eligible for funding from SSHRC
Connection—to realize the potential of social sciences and humanities research for intellectual, cultural, social and economic influence, benefit and impact on and beyond the campus by supporting specific activities and tools that facilitate the multidirectional flow of research knowledge

It is expected that students and new scholars will meaningfully participate in proposed initiatives. The quality of training, mentoring and employability plans for students and emerging scholars will be evaluated as an important part of the proposed initiative.

SSHRC invites applicants and their partners who wish to propose formal disciplinary, interdisciplinary, interinstitutional, international and/or cross-sector partnership arrangements to apply for support through this funding opportunity. Funds are available to support a variety of formal partnership development initiatives in all of the disciplines and themes eligible for funding at SSHRC.

The intellectual leadership and governance for the creation of a formal partnership may come from within the research community and/or from partners from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. However, the grant funding, once awarded, may be administered only by an eligible institution (see information on eligibility below).

Following is a list of possible formal partnership approaches. Applicants are in no way limited to these approaches, and are welcome to combine some of the features described below.

Disciplinary and interdisciplinary research partnerships: Disciplinary and interdisciplinary interinstitutional research initiatives designed to make a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge and understanding in the humanities and/or social sciences. While SSHRC welcomes proposals for interdisciplinary research partnerships involving natural sciences, engineering and/or health partners, partnerships of this nature must adhere to SSHRC’s policy regarding the eligibility of subject matter.

Cross-sector co-creation of knowledge and understanding: Partnerships between postsecondary institution(s) and non-academic sector partner(s) designed to foster innovative research, training and the co-creation of new knowledge on critical issues of intellectual, social, economic and cultural significance through a process of ongoing collaboration and mutual learning.

Networks for research and/or related activities: Networks between scholars, academic institutions and/or other partners (e.g., private sector partners, foundations, think tanks, etc.) designed to advance the innovative co-creation of knowledge, as well as training and mobilization of research, on critical issues of intellectual, social, economic and cultural significance.

Partnered knowledge mobilization: Partnerships designed to synthesize, apply and mobilize new and existing social sciences research knowledge in accessible ways in order to build institutional capacity and to increase the national and international impact and stature of Canadian research.

Priority Areas

Most SSHRC funding is awarded through open competitions accessible to all disciplines, areas, themes and approaches. In certain cases, priorities have been identified for either additional support and/or a more tailored adjudication.

Please read the following descriptions carefully to determine whether one of SSHRC’s current priority areas is relevant to your proposal:

Applicants requesting funding under one of these priority areas should identify their Partnership Development Grant proposal as being related to one of SSHRC’s priority areas. Opportunity to do so will be available in the application.

Value and Duration

Partnership Development Grants are typically valued at $75,000 to $200,000 over one to three years. Requests outside this range will also be considered.

The competition budget is approximately $6 million over three years. This budget may be adjusted subject to the volume and quality of applications received in the competition. These, along with the size of the budgets requested and awarded, will determine the number of new Partnership Development Grants funded in 2010-11.

Salary Replacement Stipend

Partnership Development Grants applicants and co-applicants from eligible not-for-profit organizations may request a salary replacement stipend to release them from duties to their organization.

Eligibility

Subject Matter

All thematic areas and approaches are eligible for consideration, and proposals are welcome from all subject areas eligible for funding at SSHRC. Please see Eligibility of Subject Matter for more information.

Applicants

Applications must be submitted by the applicant (principal investigator / project director) on behalf of the partners of the formal partnership.

The applicant must be affiliated with a Canadian postsecondary institution or not-for-profit organization. Please see SSHRC’s list of eligible institutions.

Postdoctoral fellows are eligible to be applicants for a Partnership Development Grant. However, in order for SSHRC to release grant funds, successful applicants must formally establish an affiliation with an eligible postsecondary institution within three months of the grant start date.

Students enrolled in a program of study are not eligible to apply. However, a PhD candidate, whether holding a faculty position or not, is eligible to receive a Partnership Development Grant if he or she:

has met all requirements for the PhD before the grant is awarded;
has established a formal affiliation with a Canadian postsecondary institution before the grant is awarded; and
maintains such an affiliation for the duration of the grant period.

Grant funds may only be administered by an eligible postsecondary institution or eligible not-for-profit organization. Please see SSHRC’s list of eligible institutions.

Any postsecondary institution or not-for-profit organization that does not currently have institutional eligibility and wishes to administer SSHRC grants must apply for, and be granted, institutional eligibility. Once eligibility is granted, the organization is invited to become a signatory to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Roles and Responsibilities in the Management of Federal Grants and Awards, which entails a commitment by the organization to adhere to the high legal, ethical and financial standards set out in the MOU's schedules, and ensures that the organization has the necessary structures and processes in place to achieve this objective. Please note that SSHRC will not release funding to an organization before it becomes a signatory of the MOU.

For questions related to institutional eligibility, or to receive an institutional eligibility application package, please contact SSHRC's Corporate Secretariat, at secretariat@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.

Participants

There are two categories of individual participants for Partnership Development Grants:

Co-applicants may be individuals from any of the following types of organizations: postsecondary institutions; not-for-profit organizations; philanthropic foundations; think tanks; international postsecondary institutions; or municipal, territorial or provincial governments.

Collaborators may be individuals from any of the following types of organizations: postsecondary institutions; not-for-profit organizations; public sector or private sector organizations; philanthropic foundations; think tanks; international postsecondary institutions; or municipal, territorial, provincial or federal governments.

Note that individuals from the private sector or federal government may only participate as collaborators.

Partners
Organizations eligible to be partners may be any of the following: Canadian or foreign: postsecondary institutions, government departments (federal, provincial, territorial, municipal), for-profit or not-for-profit organizations, or foundations.

Monitoring

Partnership Development Grant holders will be expected to report on the use of grant funds, on research and related activities undertaken during the period of the grant, and on outcomes. Successful applicants will be informed of reporting requirements upon receiving their notice of award.

Application Process

Applicants and partners must complete the application form (available under Apply once the Partnership Development Grants competition opens) and follow the accompanying instructions. Applications must be submitted electronically by an authorized research grants officer from the applicant’s institution. Incomplete or late applications will be considered ineligible.

Requirements

Applicants for Partnership Development Grants must demonstrate the following within their application:

Quality and commitment of formal partnerships
Applicants will be expected to include relevant documentation to allow for an informed evaluation of the quality and level of commitment of the proposed formal partnerships.

Documentation may include, but is not limited to:
- governance frameworks;
- strategic plans;
- memorandums of understanding;
- intellectual property agreements; and/or
- letters of participation and engagement.
Institutional and partner contributions
Applicants are expected to include a plan to seek and secure cash and/or in-kind support for their initiative during the life of the grant (one to three years). While there is no minimum partner contribution requirement, institutions and their partners are expected to demonstrate that a formal partnership currently exists, or is in the process of being developed, by supporting the activities of the formal partnership through cash and/or in-kind contributions.

Potential sources of cash and/or in-kind contributions include, but are not limited to:

Partners (whether academic institutions, public, private or not-for-profit organizations and/or foundations), international contributors, and other funding agencies (excluding the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council). For more information, please see the Guidelines for Cash and In-kind Contributions: Partnership Development Grants and Partnership Grants.

Evaluation and Adjudication

Review Process

Partnership Development Grant applications are adjudicated, and available funds are awarded, through a competitive process. For general information on SSHRC’s adjudication process, see the Peer Review section of SSHRC’s website.

Partnership Development Grants are adjudicated by multidisciplinary committees that include relevant expertise from the academic community, as well as research expertise from the public, private and/or not-for-profit sectors.

If an applicant identifies their Partnership Development Grant proposal as being related to one of SSHRC’s priority areas, the application will also undergo a relevance review by an existing or specially constituted committee to verify alignment with the priority area.

SSHRC makes funding decisions based on the recommendations of the adjudication committee and on the funds available.

Evaluation Criteria and Scoring

The following criteria and scoring schemes are used by the adjudication committees to evaluate Partnership Development Grant applications:

Challenge—The aim and importance of the endeavour (50%):
- originality, significance and expected contribution to knowledge in the social sciences and/or humanities;
- appropriateness of the theoretical approach or framework;
- appropriateness of the methodologies or approaches (including for the co-creation of knowledge across sectors);
- quality of training and mentoring to be provided to students, emerging scholars and other highly qualified personnel, and opportunities for them to contribute; and
- likelihood of influence and impact within and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community.
Feasibility—The plan to achieve excellence (20%):
- feasibility to meet the objectives of the Insight and/or Connection programs, the Partnership Grants funding opportunity and, where appropriate, expected outcomes of a priority area;
- strategies and timelines for the design and conduct of the research and/or related activities;
- appropriateness of the requested budget, justification of proposed costs, and indications of other planned resources (time, human and financial), including cash and in-kind support already secured, or to be secured, from the host institution and/or from partners;
- quality of the knowledge mobilization plans, including for effective dissemination, exchange, and engagement within and/or beyond the research community, where appropriate;
- quality and genuineness of the formal partnership and associated management and governance arrangements and leadership, including evidence of genuine involvement of partners and others in the design and conduct of the research and/or related activities; and
- potential for long-term viability and for progress indicators.
Capability—The expertise to succeed (30%):
- quality, quantity and significance of past experience and published outputs of principal team members relative to their role in the partnership, and to the stage of their career;
- evidence of contributions through, for example, publications (such as commissioned reports, etc.); professional practice; and contributions to public discourses, public policies, products and services, and the development of talent;
- experience with collaboration and formal partnerships; and
- potential to make future contributions.

Scoring table
Adjudication committee members assign a score for each of the three criteria based on the scoring table below. The appropriate weighting is then applied.

Score	Descriptor
5-6	Excellent
4-4.9	Very good
3-3.9	Good
Below 3	Not recommended for funding

All applicants will receive, together with their SSHRC notice of decision, a summary of the adjudication committee's comments.

Administrative Regulations

All applicants and grant holders must comply with the Regulations Governing Grant Applications and with the regulations set out in the Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide.

Contact Information

For more information about this funding opportunity, or for advice on how to prepare your application, please contact:

Email: partnershipgrants@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca
Tel.: 613-943-1007