Canada Biomedical Research Fund and Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund
Stage 2—Full application instructions

The Canada Biomedical Research Fund (CBRF) program is a tri-agency initiative of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS), housed at SSHRC, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) deliver the CBRF and Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund (BRIF) through an integrated competition.

As part of the competition process, SSHRC will publish on its website the content of awarded proposals. By submitting your full application, you consent to the posting of the proposal title, participants, partners, administering organization, research hub that supports the proposal, keywords, fields of research, and summary. Do not include sensitive or proprietary information.

Incomplete applications will be withdrawn from the competition. Instructions for accessing and using the Convergence Portal appear below.

Use these instructions in conjunction with the information in the Canada Biomedical Research Fund and Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund (CBRF-BRIF) funding opportunity description.

Send any questions about the application process to CBRF-FRBC@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

If you are experiencing technical problems (e.g., difficulty viewing or downloading electronic forms), contact websupport@convergence.gc.ca.

On this page

• Using the Convergence Portal to prepare an application
• Full application information
• Submitting a full application
• Contact information

Using the Convergence Portal to create and submit your full application

Convergence Portal

The Convergence Portal supports only the latest versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox. The portal may appear to function in other browsers, but technical problems can occur, such as information being improperly captured in the system without the user being aware. Use of an unsupported browser is strongly discouraged.

Infrastructure component—full application

For full applications that include an infrastructure component, the research administrator should be an institutional representative authorized to submit full applications on behalf of the institution. This will allow infrastructure requests submitted through the Convergence Portal to be linked to the CFI Award Management System (CAMS). Organizational representatives authorized to submit full applications are identified in the Institutional Agreement between the CFI and the respective institution.

Before submitting a full application with an infrastructure component, research administrators must ensure their username (email address) is identical in the Convergence and CAMS portals.

To change or update your email address in the Convergence Portal, click the user tab at the right of your screen and select “Change Email”.

To change or update your email address in CAMS, connect to CAMS, click the “My profile and preferences” tab at the right side of your screen, then select “Update contact information.” In the email section of the page, add an additional email address, then indicate whether you want it to be your new username and/or contact email address.

Full application information

Applicants must complete the full application sections below. All relevant information from the notice of intent will have been prepopulated into the full application, and can be edited as needed.

1. Application details
2. Proposal details
3. Research hub
4. Summary proposal
5. Research and talent development specific keywords
6. Research infrastructure specific keywords
7. Type of activity
8. Fields of research
9. Socioeconomic objectives
10. Invite partner organizations and participants
11. Partner organizations and participants
12. Research and/or talent development component budget
13. Certifications, licences and permits
14. Suggested reviewers
15. Reviewer exclusions
16. Supporting documents

1. Application details

Application title: The title must be short, descriptive and detailed enough to provide an overview of the proposal. You can use common abbreviations (e.g., DNA), but avoid uncommon or discipline-specific abbreviations, and company and trade names.

Language of application: Indicate which official language will be used.

2. Proposal details

Type of proposal

Indicate under which category your proposal falls. Each proposal can include one or more of the following:

• partnered, applied research in the biomanufacturing and life sciences sector to accelerate the translation of discoveries into products and services to strengthen the sector
• partnered talent development to provide skills and training needed to drive innovation and growth in Canada’s biomanufacturing industry
• research infrastructure to support Canada’s biosciences research needs

Link to current proposals: Each research infrastructure or talent development component must directly support one or more proposals that include a research component. If your proposal is exclusively for talent development or research infrastructure, provide the identification number (CBRF2-2023-XXXXX) of the application or applications your proposal will support.

3. Research hub

Indicate which research hub will receive your full application for endorsement. Once this information has been saved, your selected hub will be provided read access to your proposal. Hub endorsement will only occur once the full applications have been submitted.

As per CFI practices for large infrastructure competitions, research hubs have been allocated infrastructure envelopes to support innovative infrastructure projects. We recognize that certain projects may benefit multiple hubs, but can only be endorsed by a single hub. Therefore, to facilitate the support of such projects, research hubs can allocate a portion of their envelope towards a project endorsed by another hub. Hubs must report to the CFI any reallocation of their envelopes. This approach encourages interhub collaboration and lets funding be directed towards projects with the greatest potential impact, advancing the research hubs’ visions and, ultimately, benefitting Canadians.

4. Summary of proposal

Provide a summary (maximum 2,000 characters), written in lay language, describing the proposal and how it supports the vision, priorities and program of research of the endorsing hub. Clearly describe:

• the proposal’s goal and objectives;
• its overall design/methodology;
• gap(s) that will be addressed by the initiative(s);
• anticipated outcomes and impacts; and
• how the proposal will support Canada’s Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy and the hub’s vision, priorities and program of research.

If your proposal is successful, this summary will be used to inform the government, media and members of the public who request information about the research funded.

5. Research and talent development specific keywords

List between five and 15 keywords to describe the research and/or talent development components.

If the proposal is an independent research infrastructure component supporting one or multiple research proposals, list the keywords applicable to the research components supported by this proposal.

6. Research infrastructure specific keywords

List between five and 15 keywords to describe the research infrastructure component of the proposal.

7. Type of activity

From the Canadian Research and Development Classification (CRDC), select the type of activity related to the proposal.

8. Fields of research

From the CRDC, select the fields of research related to the proposal. Provide at least three primary fields of research from different groups (disciplines). You can add up to a maximum of 17 secondary fields of research directly related to the proposal (for a maximum total of 20 fields of research).

The primary fields of research should be selected in order of priority and relevance to the proposal, beginning with the most relevant.

9. Socioeconomic objectives

From the CRDC, select the socioeconomic objectives related to the proposal. Provide at least two primary socioeconomic objectives. You can add up to a maximum of three socioeconomic objectives.

The socioeconomic objectives should be selected in order of priority and relevance to the proposal, beginning with the most relevant.

10. Invite partner organizations and participants

Definitions

Partner organizations

Partner organizations put their capabilities and strengths at the service of the administering organization and provide a significant contribution to growing Canada’s domestic biomanufacturing and life sciences sectors and ensuring the country’s readiness for future pandemics or other health emergencies. They actively participate in the planning and delivery of the outcomes described in the proposal. National and cross-sector (industry, private, public and other) partnerships are encouraged, to ensure the organizations involved are appropriately diverse.

Partner organizations can include:

• academic institutions, including universities, colleges, polytechnics and institutes
• other research organizations (including research hospitals)
• private sector organizations
• public sector organizations
• philanthropic / not-for-profit organizations

Private sector partner organizations must be incorporated pursuant to the laws of Canada and must be doing business in Canada. International partnerships are permitted if the organizations have commercial activities that take place in Canada, such as research and development or manufacturing related to the research, and if the funded activity will result in significant economic benefits to Canada.

Administering organizations should work only with trusted partners who reflect the highest standards of security and integrity in their activities, operations and equipment. See Research security for details.

Participants

To reflect the expertise required to deliver on the ambitious and multidisciplinary nature of the project, proposals submitted by the administering organization must be supported by its participants and partners. At the full application stage, participants must include a director and at least one team member. Participants can also, if applicable, include a co-director. All participants must have completed and finalized the enrolment workflow by the time the full application is submitted. Their contributions and expertise will be assessed from the Team biosketch. You can, as relevant, speak to the involvement of additional participants in other sections of the proposal.

An individual can serve as a director or co-director on only one CBRF-BRIF proposal. This does not preclude their involvement as a team member on other proposals.

Team size and composition should be appropriate to the activities. Participants can be from any disciplines, including in the social sciences and humanities, as appropriate, to strengthen the biomedical research and talent pipelines. The co-director and team members can be from national, international and cross-sector organizations (academic, not-for-profit, public, private or other), to ensure the most suitable individuals and/or organizations are involved and the team’s composition reflects best practices in equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

Students, postdoctoral researchers and research associates are not eligible to participate as a director, co-director or team member.

All participants must complete or update the subsections under “My information” in the Convergence Portal. These can be accessed from the navigation pane on the left side of the screen when viewing the application. Once the participant has entered the information, inform your research grants office (RGO). Your RGO must finalize this section for each participant, by selecting “Finalize”.

Roles

Director (mandatory)

The director will:

• in conjunction with the co-director (if applicable), be responsible for the leadership of the project and the coordination of activities;
• complete the proposal in the Convergence Portal; and
• coordinate the financial administration of the grant.

The director must be affiliated with the grant-administering organization. Affiliation is defined as an organization at which the individual is employed or appointed or conducts research.

Co-director and team members

A co-director (optional) shares leadership responsibility with the director and may share responsibility for completing the NOI and full application in the Convergence Portal. While the director and administering organization are accountable for coordinating the grant’s overall financial administration, a co-director may be responsible for financial aspects of the project, provided they are affiliated with an eligible institution.

Team members (up to 15) can view the NOI and full application in the Convergence Portal, contribute to the execution of the project, and access grant funds as per the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration (TAGFA) and the CFI’s Policy and program guide.

Eligibility requirements for co-directors and team members are identical:

• They can be practitioners, policy-makers, educators, decision-makers, health-care administrators, Indigenous Elders, Indigenous Knowledge Keepers, patients, community leaders, individuals working for a charity, and a range of other individuals.
• Their affiliation can be with a Canadian postsecondary institution, a Canadian institution or organization that does not have full institutional eligibility with one of the three federal research funding agencies or the CFI, or an international institution outside Canada. However, it cannot be with a federal, provincial, territorial or municipal government department.
  • Individuals indirectly employed by a federal, provincial or municipal government (e.g., employees in police services, education, or health care) are eligible to be co-directors and team members, with their eligible expenses limited to those that are related to the project’s execution and not within the mandate of the individual’s organization of employment.
  • A federal government employee who is formally affiliated with a Canadian academic institution as an adjunct professor is not eligible to be a co-director or team member, unless they are supervising a student who is registered at the academic institution and who will be participating in activities related to the proposal. In such cases, the use of CBRF funds is limited to salaries or stipends and travel costs for the students under the adjunct professor’s supervision. An adjunct professor is eligible to be a co-director or team member in exceptional cases where their planned contributions to the project do not fall within the mandate of their federal organization and will not be performed within their employer’s facilities or with their employer’s resources.
• An individual whose primary affiliation is with an Indigenous government is eligible to be a co-director or team member, with eligible expenses limited to those related to the execution of the project that are not already covered in relation to the mandate of the Indigenous government.

Invite partner organizations and participants

Use this section to invite partner organizations and participants. A formal agreement or memorandum of understanding need not be in place at the time of the full application submission.

If a partner is involved in both a research infrastructure component and a research or talent development component, identify the partner only once, as “Academic | I” or “Other research | I,” to avoid duplication.

Those invited to participate in the proposal will receive an automated email from the Convergence Portal with instructions for creating a profile. Once their profile is created, they must accept the terms and conditions of the application process.

Only CFI eligible institutions can be involved as partners in a research infrastructure component (“Academic | I” or “Other research | I”). The director and co-director (if applicable) must use the same username (email) for their Convergence profile as for their CAMS account. If they are not already CAMS-registered users, they must create a CAMS account. We encourage participants to use this opportunity to update their CAMS account, as applicable. See the Infrastructure component—full application section of these instructions for how to modify your email in the Convergence Portal or CAMS.

The status of your invitations for both partner organizations and participants will display in this section.

If you are making substantial changes to the participants or partner organizations since you submitted your notice of intent, contact us as soon as possible to avoid conflicts of interest with potential reviewers.

11. Partner organizations and participants

The names of partner organizations and participants who accepted your invitation and their status will appear in this section.

To prepare the full application for submission, the RGO, director or co-director, if applicable, must review the CV information for accuracy prior to submission. To access this information, click “Finalize Information” under the “Actions” column of the table displayed. This will open the participant’s “My Information” section. Once the review is complete, click “Finalize Information.”

This information is used by TIPS and the CFI as part of the merit review process (Selection criteria descriptions), to ensure potential reviewers are not in conflict of interest with the administering organization, participants or partner organizations involved in the proposal.

12. Research and/or talent development component budget

Enter the total direct and indirect amounts for the research and/or talent development components of your proposal, including funds requested from CBRF and cash and/or in-kind contributions from the administering and/or partner organizations, as applicable.

See the TAGFA for details on eligible expenses.

13. Certifications, licences and permits

See Requirements for Certain Types of Research for more information or clarification. For research to be undertaken outdoors, you may need to submit an Impact Assessment Form (Appendix A) at the time of application (follow the instructions provided in the Convergence Portal).

If your institution is awarded a grant, it must meet all certification requirements, in accordance with the Agreement on the Administration of Agency Grants and Awards by Research Institutions and the Impact Assessment Act (2019). If the project could have environmental impacts, the proposal may need to be posted for public consultation before funds are released. No other forms or certifications are required at the time of application.

14. Suggested reviewers

Provide a list of five to 10 suggested reviewers who can be contacted to review the proposal. Applicants are encouraged to suggest a diverse list of potential reviewers with appropriate expertise to review and comment on the proposal. Suggested reviewers should be a mix of Canadian and international experts from academic and research institutions, not-for-profit and philanthropic organizations, private sector enterprises, and the public sector; and established researchers and early career researchers (ECRs); and should include individuals from the four designated groups (women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and racialized individuals). These individuals should have the required expertise to review and comment on the proposal, and should not be in a conflict of interest, as defined by the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy of the Federal Research Funding Organizations. At least two of the suggested reviewers must be from outside Canada. At least one must be from the private sector.

You must include reviewers who:

• are not from your own institution or the partner institutions;
• are not in a conflict of interest with the participants from your own or partner institutions;
• can provide an independent assessment of your proposal; and
• are capable of reviewing your proposal in the language in which it is written.

15. Reviewer exclusions

Provide the names of up to 15 individuals you think cannot provide an objective review of your proposal. Due to the emphasis on partnered research and commercialization of outcomes, you can also exclude competing organizations whose members may have a direct conflict of interest in reviewing your proposal. TIPS and the CFI reserve the right to make the final selection of reviewers. You can access the reviewer exclusions section for each stage of the proposal under the Privacy Act.

16. Supporting documents

Include all relevant information in your proposal. Do not refer to URLs or other publications for supplemental information. Reviewers are not obligated to access URLs included in the supporting documents.

1. Detailed description, one per component (PDF)
2. Research and/or talent development component detailed budget, if applicable (PDF)
3. Research infrastructure component detailed budget, if applicable (Excel format [.xlsx])
4. Research infrastructure floor plans, if applicable (PDF)
5. Scientific and technical summary (PDF)
6. Strategic overview (PDF)
7. Team biosketch (PDF)
8. Partner contributions (PDF)
9. Risk Assessment Form and Partner Organization Form (PDF)

Supporting documents must be uploaded to the Convergence Portal as PDF files, with the exception of the Research infrastructure component detailed budget, which must be uploaded as an Excel file (.xlsx). Prepare your attachments as follows:

• Respect the page limits for both official languages.
• Explain any acronyms and abbreviations.
• Use a page size of 8 1/2” x 11” (216 mm x 279 mm).
• Present all text in black, minimum 11-point, Arial font (condensed fonts will not be accepted).
• Single-space text, with no more than six lines of type per inch.
• Set all page margins at a minimum of 3/4” (1.87 cm).
• Do not include personal identifying information in headers or footers (e.g., name, PIN, institution, etc.).
• Use either single- or double-column presentation for text, graphs and illustrations.

Program staff will undertake an internal review of all material submitted, to verify that submissions meet the program’s eligibility requirements and application guidelines. Applications that do not meet requirements may be withdrawn from the competition.

Converting documents

Convert all attachments, with the exception of the Research infrastructure component detailed budget, to PDF before attaching them to the application. The conversion process varies, depending on your operating system and word processing software. If you have questions about converting your documents to PDF, contact your institution’s technical support staff.

If you do not have a PDF conversion program, you can download a free version of PrimoPDF. Macintosh users have a PDF conversion option in their Macintosh system “print” function.

a. Component-specific—detailed description

Submit a detailed description (Word document, 60 Kb) for every component of your proposal. Each section’s complete package must be a maximum of 15 pages in English or 18 pages in French, including tables, charts, graphs, diagrams and illustrations. Use the following sections (suggested length for each is in brackets):

• Proposal (five pages in English, six pages in French)
• Anticipated outcomes (three pages in English, 3.6 pages in French)
• Equity, diversity and inclusion, and early career researchers considerations (one page in English, 1.2 pages in French)
• Management plans (three pages in English, 3.6 pages in French)
• Budget justification (two pages in English, 2.4 pages in French)
• Literature references (one page in English, 1.2 pages in French)

Section 1. Proposal

Describe the activities that will be enabled by the component, and how its objectives and design meet the hub’s vision, priorities and program of research.

Describe the extent to which partners will contribute to the development and execution of the activities, including their:

• relevance
• contributions
• appropriateness
• involvement

For research components, describe the proposal’s methodology, design, work plan and timelines, and the appropriateness and feasibility of the activities, including key challenges and how these will be overcome. Demonstrate the innovative aspects of the activities by positioning them within the current state of knowledge in the field, both in Canada and internationally; and comment on their scientific excellence and competitiveness.

For talent development components, include information on the number of highly qualified personnel who will be involved in the activities, and how the training and mentoring needs for each category of trainee will be met. Describe the opportunities that will be provided, as well as what professional skills will be taught and in what manner. Demonstrate how these are different from those attained through a regular training student experience.

For research infrastructure components, describe each requested item and justify why it is needed to conduct the activities. As necessary, reference the infrastructure item number (see Research infrastructure component detailed budget Excel template).

Section 2. Anticipated outcomes

Explain how the proposal is expected to generate significant benefits. This can include descriptions of the following, as applicable:

• how the component will support and accelerate commercialization, technology transfer and/or knowledge mobilization, including how intellectual property will be safeguarded;
• how the component will support training and mentoring of highly qualified personnel and facilitate their transition to careers within and beyond academia;
• how partner contributions are leveraged to enhance capacity to conduct the activities; and
• how the component enhances the capacity of institutions to support the hub’s vision, priorities and program of research, and complements existing capacity.

Section 3. Equity, diversity and inclusion, and early career researchers considerations

Institutions must take active and rigorous measures to prevent systemic barriers that can result in individuals from underrepresented groups and ECRs being excluded from participating in:

• research activities, including accessing research infrastructure; and
• training and development activities, such as mentoring and internships.

In this section:

• describe your approach to EDI by identifying systemic barriers that impact equitable opportunities and participation in research and talent development activities, including access to infrastructure;
• explain the practices put in place to address each barrier, their implementation and their expected impacts; and
• explain how ECRs are integrated in the team and will be retained in the long term.

Section 4. Management plans

Management plans should describe the project’s oversight structure (roles and expertise of members) and the appropriate methods and indicators for monitoring progress and assessing outcomes (short-, medium- and long-term), and mitigation plans. If applicable, describe the appropriate data management considerations for the project, including how data will be shared, collected, documented, protected and preserved.

For research infrastructure components, management plans should also clearly explain how the infrastructure will be optimally used, operated and maintained over its useful life, and demonstrate that the management team has the necessary training and core competencies to ensure the facility’s safe operations. Outline the operating and maintenance costs, as well as revenue sources, over the useful life of the infrastructure (including expected Infrastructure Operating Fund grant monies). Include plans for maintaining the current sources of funding, and securing and diversifying sources of funding, as well as contingency plans for potential funding shortfalls.

Section 5. Budget justification

Provide a breakdown and explanation of the costs submitted in this proposal.

The budget justification should include:

• the timing of specific planned expenditures (e.g., if certain costs are expected to be incurred at the beginning of the grant only);
• confirmation of any internal and external resources to be committed from eligible sources (see the TAGFA and the CFI’s Policy and Program Guide) that are incremental to the project’s budget; and
• any plans to transfer a portion of the grant to partner organizations and/or other Canadian institutions eligible for the CBRF-BRIF program, including a clear outline of the timelines and amounts of such transfers.

Contributions (including grants) from industry or other sectors that were received or made prior to the CBRF-BRIF competition launch towards specific projects with set objectives cannot be counted as incremental contributions. Open-ended agreements, such as ongoing service contracts with partners for which there are no specific research objectives identified (i.e., access to facilities), can be counted if the intent is to evolve the service contract into an official partnership of which the data will be used for research purposes linked to the activities.

For research and talent development components, the budget should be appropriate to undertake and complete the activities outlined.

For research infrastructure components, consider the existing research infrastructure capacity at your institution, partner organizations and beyond, and explain how the requested infrastructure is the best option to conduct the research activities. The CFI expects that new or additional research computing resources exceeding $100,000 will typically be housed, managed and operated by the Digital Research Alliance of Canada. If your proposal includes research computing infrastructure that would be housed, managed and operated by the institution, include compelling arguments for why doing so would be better than leveraging the resources offered by the Alliance to meet the activities’ computing needs. Prospective applicants should consult with the Alliance if they plan to request advanced research computing infrastructure.

Section 6. Literature references

Provide a list of literature references cited in the detailed description.

b. Research and/or talent development component detailed budget

Use the Research and/or talent development budget table template (Excel document, 20 Kb) and upload your completed table as a separate PDF document. Enter all planned expenditures for the research and/or talent development components for each category (direct costs and indirect costs) for each year.

See the TAGFA for details on eligible costs under each expense category.

Indirect costs of research are integrated into the CBRF program, which allows institutions to use up to 25% of the total grant to support eligible indirect costs of research.

c. Research infrastructure component detailed budget

Use the Research infrastructure component detailed budget template (Excel document, 145 Kb) to outline the costs of your requested infrastructure and the associated operational costs and funding sources. You must upload your completed template as a separate Excel (.xlsx) document.

The research infrastructure component detailed budget template contains six tabs (i.e., Overview of project funding, Cost of individual items, Partner contributions, Infrastructure utilization, Financial resources for O&M, and Help). Consult the last tab (Help) carefully for details on how to use the template. The template has imbedded validation rules to ensure eligibility and consistency across applications. Do not make changes to the template beyond what the instructions specify.

d. Research infrastructure floor plans, if applicable

If construction or renovation costs are requested, provide, as appropriate:

• scaled floor plans showing the location of the areas funded by the CFI, and the size, description and nature of all such areas (e.g., wet lab, dry lab, office, greenhouse), including non-usable space and common elements (e.g., corridors, washrooms)—the distinction between usable and non-usable space must be clear;
• a timeline identifying key dates for the various stages of the construction or renovation; and
• a detailed breakdown of the overall cost of the construction or renovation project, by cost component (i.e., direct costs, soft costs and contingency costs), where these costs are expected to be more than $500,000.

The floor plans must match the description of the space provided in the research infrastructure component detailed description. The research infrastructure floor plans document should only contain the information above and not any budget justification elements. For more information on eligible construction and renovation costs, consult the CFI’s Policy and Program Guide.

Do not include floor plans for containment level 3 and 4 facilities, or if providing floor plans would expose any security-sensitive information. If you have questions or concerns about including floor plans as part of your proposal, consult your institutional biosafety officer.

e. Scientific and technical summary

Use the scientific and technical summary template (Word document, 59 Kb). Provide:

• a high-level overview of the research program, talent development activities and/or infrastructure acquisition;
• the expected outcomes of the research program, talent development activities and/or infrastructure acquisition; and
• the expected applications of the research program, talent development activities and/or infrastructure acquisition.

The scientific and technical summary must not exceed two pages if written in English, or 2.4 pages if written in French.

f. Strategic overview

The strategic overview (Word document, 63 Kb), in combination with, among other information, the hub endorsement report (Word document, 63 Kb), supports the strategic review committee’s evaluation of the strategic selection criteria. The overview should provide a summary showing how your proposal complements the other proposals in this competition. Specific information, such as the application identification numbers of other proposals to which it refers, is not expected.

Use the strategic overview template. Explain how your proposal:

• supports one or more of the funding opportunity’s strategic objectives and is aligned with the Strategy;
• has the potential to significantly contribute to advancing Canada’s key bio-innovation capabilities; and
• is complementary to other proposals within and across hubs, if known.

The strategic summary must not exceed two pages if written in English, or 2.4 pages if written in French.

g. Team biosketch

Use the team biosketch template (Word document, 59 Kb).

Applicants must protect the privacy and confidentiality of all participants. Do not provide information about the composition of the research team in a way that can reveal any member’s personal information (i.e., race, colour, place of origin, religion, immigrant or newcomer status, ethnic origin, ability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or age).

Provide an overview of the team by:

• describing the presence of the necessary expertise, through traditional and non-traditional outputs, to deliver the proposal’s objectives;
• identifying the anticipated contributions of each participant (director, co-director and team members);
• explaining how their contributions will be coordinated and integrated; and
• if a team member’s self-identification (gender, Indigenous identity, disability or racial background) is relevant to the project, that self-identifying information may be included here, but only with their consent.

For the infrastructure component, describe the presence of the necessary expertise to make optimal use of the requested research infrastructure.

The team biosketch must not exceed five pages if written in English, or six pages if written in French.

h. Partner contributions

Use the partner contributions template (Word document, 59 Kb). Provide an overview of each partner involved, and explain:

• the appropriateness of their involvement to the proposal;
• their involvement in the creation and design of the proposal; and
• their commitment to supporting the objectives of the proposal.

The partner contributions document must not exceed five pages if written in English, or six pages if written in French.

i. Risk Assessment Form and Partner Organization Form

Complete the Risk Assessment Form if your proposal involves at least one private sector partner organization. In addition, for each private sector partner, complete a Partner Organization Form (Word document, 69 Kb). Merge all of these completed forms and submit them as one single document per proposal.

Submitting a full application

The organizational research administrator (research grants officer or equivalent) is responsible for ensuring the completeness of and submitting the full application.

Before submitting the full application, the research grants officer, on behalf of your institution, will be required to confirm that the:

• participants meet the eligibility requirements;
• proposal meets the eligibility requirements; and
• administering organization meets the eligibility requirements.

Contact information

If you have questions about the:

• application process, contact CBRF-FRBC@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca or BRIF-FIRSB@innovation.ca
• Convergence Portal, contact websupport@convergence.gc.ca