SSHRC Impact Awards

2023 Competition

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• Webinars
• Description
• Gold Medal
• Talent Award
• Insight Award
• Connection Award
• Partnership Award
• Nomination process
• Regulations, policies and related information
• Contact information

Webinars

Description

SSHRC Impact Awards are designed to build on and sustain Canada’s research-based knowledge culture in all research areas of the social sciences and humanities. The awards recognize outstanding researchers and celebrate their research achievements, research training, knowledge mobilization and outreach activities funded partially or entirely by SSHRC. Past recipients of SSHRC funding are listed in the Awards Search Engine.

Impact Award recipients are to use award funds for activities that promote and further develop the work being honoured. In recognition of the crucial role postsecondary institutions play in mobilizing research knowledge, at least 10% of each award must be used to promote the recipient’s research achievements. Individual recipients and their institutions can choose to devote additional funds, including a higher percentage of the award funds, to these activities.

A multidisciplinary jury made up of distinguished individuals from academia, as well as the public, private and not-for-profit sectors from Canada and abroad, will select award recipients according to the selection criteria associated with each of the five awards.

Before announcing the names of the award winners and finalists, SSHRC will share competition results on the Grants and Scholarships Administrative Portal.

Eligible institutions are invited to put forward nominations for the:

• Gold Medal ($100,000)
• Talent Award ($50,000)
• Insight Award ($50,000)
• Connection Award ($50,000)
• Partnership Award ($50,000)

Gold Medal ($100,000)

The Gold Medal is SSHRC’s highest research honour. It is awarded to an individual whose sustained leadership, dedication and originality of thought have inspired students and colleagues alike.

The recipient’s achievements in research must have significantly advanced understanding in their respective fields of research in the social sciences and humanities. The exceptional quality and impact of the recipient’s research, and their ongoing efforts to share the results of this work, must have greatly enriched Canadian society, and contributed to intellectual, cultural, social and/or economic life in Canada and/or internationally.

Gold Medal funds must be used within one year for research, knowledge mobilization or other research-related activities. At least 10% of the award must be used to promote the impact and outcomes of the recipient’s research achievements.

Selection criteria

1. Challenge—ambition and importance (25%):
   • originality and significance of the body of work within the nominee’s fields of research.
2. Achievements—impact and outcomes (75%):
   • evidence of the sustained quality, impact and influence of the nominee’s research achievements within and/or beyond the academic community;
   • level of the nominee’s engagement with, and the quality of training and mentoring provided to, students, emerging scholars and participants, relative to the nominee’s career level;
   • nominee’s national and/or international stature;
   • nominee’s commitment, creativity and successes in sharing research knowledge within and/or beyond the academic community; and
   • nominee’s overall contribution to knowledge.

Talent Award ($50,000)

The Talent Award recognizes outstanding achievement by an individual who, on April 1, 2023, holds a SSHRC doctoral scholarship or fellowship or postdoctoral fellowship. This includes, but is not limited to, a Canada Graduate Scholarship, Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship or Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship.

The Talent Award is given to an individual who maintains academic excellence, has a talent for research and knowledge mobilization, and has demonstrated clear potential to be a future leader within and/or outside the academic sector.

The Talent Award can either be:

• taken up as a fellowship to fund the recipient’s doctoral or postdoctoral research over a one-year period; or
• used within one year of receiving the award as a grant to support research, knowledge mobilization or other research-related activities.

At least 10% of the award funds must be used to promote the recipient’s research achievements.

Selection criteria

1. Challenge—ambition and importance (25%):
   • originality and significance of the body of work within the nominee’s fields of research.
2. Achievements—impact and outcomes (75%):
   • originality and significance of the nominee’s body of academic achievement and research, including quality of publications relative to stage of career;
   • evidence of impact of the nominee’s work within their fields of research and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community;
   • the nominee’s ability and commitment to communicate research results within and/or beyond the academic community;
   • level of the nominee’s engagement with, and the quality of training and mentoring provided to, students, emerging scholars and participants, relative to the nominee’s career level; and
   • the nominee’s demonstrated potential for leadership and societal contributions within and/or beyond the academic community.

Insight Award ($50,000)

The Insight Award recognizes outstanding achievement arising from a single or multiple SSHRC-funded initiatives. It is given to an individual or a team of six people maximum (including the nominee) whose initiative(s) have significantly contributed to knowledge and understanding about people, societies and the world. The research outcomes must have led to demonstrable impact within the nominee’s fields of research and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community.

In the case of a team initiatives(s), the nominee must be the principal investigator. If successful, this person will receive the award on behalf of the team.

The nomination package must include the nominee’s SSHRC CV, and those of any team members (up to five), if applicable.

Insight Award funds must be used within one year to further develop the initiative(s) being recognized, through research, knowledge mobilization or other research-related activities. A minimum of 10% of the award funds must be used to promote the recipient’s research achievements.

Selection criteria

1. Challenge—ambition and importance (25%):
   • originality and significance of the body of work within the nominee’s fields of research.
2. Achievements—impact and outcomes (75%):
   • evidence of contributions within the nominee’s fields of research, including, but not limited to, scholarly literature, and other knowledge mobilization contributions, such as commissioned reports, professional practice, public discourse, public policies, products and services, experience in collaboration, etc.;
   • level of the nominee’s engagement with, and the quality of training and mentoring provided to, students, emerging scholars and participants, relative to the nominee’s career level; and
   • evidence of influence and impact on research and/or societal outcomes.

Connection Award ($50,000)

The Connection Award recognizes an outstanding SSHRC-funded initiative that facilitates the flow and exchange of research knowledge within and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community. It is given to an individual or a team of six people maximum (including the nominee) whose initiative has engaged the campus and/or wider community, and has generated intellectual, cultural, social and/or economic impacts.

In the case of a team initiative, the nominee must be the applicant/project director for the initiative. If successful, this person will receive the award on behalf of the team.

The nomination package must include the nominee’s SSHRC CV, and those of any team members (up to five), if applicable.

Connection Award funds must be used within one year to further develop the knowledge mobilization activity being recognized, or to support other research-related activities. At least 10% of the award funds must be used to promote the recipient’s research achievements.

Selection criteria

1. Challenge—ambition and importance (25%):
   • originality and significance of the initiative within the nominee’s fields of research.
2. Achievements—impact and outcomes (75%):
   • effectiveness of research knowledge dissemination/exchange within the nominee’s fields of research and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community;
   • evidence of contributions, including, but not limited to, scholarly literature and other knowledge mobilization contributions, such as commissioned reports, professional practice, public discourse, public policies, products and services, experience in collaboration, etc.;
   • level of the nominee’s engagement with, and the quality of training and mentoring provided to, students, emerging scholars and participants, relative to the nominee’s career level; and
   • evidence of influence and impact on research and/or societal outcomes.

Partnership Award ($50,000)

The Partnership Award recognizes a SSHRC‑funded formal partnership for its outstanding achievement in advancing research, research training or knowledge mobilization, or developing a new partnership approach to research and/or related activities. It is awarded to a formal partnership that, through mutual co-operation and shared intellectual leadership and resources, has demonstrated impact and influence within and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community.

For the Partnership Award, the nominee must be the project director. If successful, this person will receive the award on behalf of the partnership.

The nomination package must include the nominee’s SSHRC CV, and those of any team members (up to five), if applicable.

Partnership Award funds must be used within one year to further develop the research, knowledge mobilization or research-related activities being recognized. At least 10% of the award funds must be used to promote the recipient’s research achievements.

Selection criteria

1. Challenge—ambition and importance (25%):
   • originality and significance of the partnership within the nominee’s fields of research.
2. Achievements—impact and outcomes (75%):
   • evidence of mutual co-operation and sharing of intellectual leadership and resources within the nominee’s fields of research and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community;
   • quality of partnership, including shared engagement and ownership;
   • evidence of contributions, including, but not limited to, scholarly literature, and/or other knowledge mobilization contributions, such as commissioned reports, professional practice, public discourse, public policies, products and services, experience in collaboration, etc.;
   • level of the nominee’s engagement with, and the quality of training and mentoring provided to, students, emerging scholars  and participants, relative to the nominee’s career level; and
   • evidence of influence and impact on research and/or societal outcomes.

Nomination process

Eligible institutions are invited to put forward nominations for all SSHRC Impact Award categories. Each institution can submit only one nomination for each award in a given year, up to a maximum of five SSHRC Impact Award nominations. Institutions must provide the name and contact information of a person to whom SSHRC will send all questions and correspondence, including results.

Eligibility

A nominee must:

• be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, or a “protected person” under subsection 95(2) of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, by the nomination deadline;
• be an active social sciences and humanities researcher or student;
• hold or have held SSHRC funding relevant to the award category;
• be in good standing with SSHRC;
• be affiliated with an institution that meets the institutional eligibility requirements; and
• maintain affiliation with an eligible institution for the duration of the Impact Award.

Nominees:

• cannot nominate themselves;
• can be nominated in two sequential years for the same award, following which two years must pass before they can be nominated in the same category;
• can be nominated in only one category in any year;
• can be nominated in a subsequent year for a different SSHRC Impact Award; and
• cannot be a current member of SSHRC’s governing council, a previous Gold Medal winner or a SSHRC Impact Awards jury member.

To be eligible to administer an award, the institution affiliated with an Impact Award winner must provide SSHRC with a promotion strategy (two pages maximum) outlining a proposed approach for promoting and celebrating the impact and outcomes of the award winner’s research initiative.

Institutions affiliated with an Impact award winner are invited to contact SSHRC for help in developing this strategy, and to collaborate with SSHRC’s Communications Division in promoting its winners and/or finalists.

Nomination package

Every nomination package must include all of the components listed below, except those in the optional section 4. Career interruptions and special circumstances. The jury will not assess any material additional to that requested here.

All documents, except for the SSHRC CVs and letters of support, must:

• be presented in portrait orientation;
• start on a new page; and
• use 12-point Times New Roman or comparable font.

1. Institutional nomination process

Institutions submitting more than one Impact Award nomination in a given year can include the same nomination process page for each nomination package, as applicable. SSHRC is committed to excellence in research and research training. Achieving a more equitable, diverse and inclusive Canadian research enterprise is essential to creating the excellent, innovative and impactful research necessary to advance knowledge and understanding, and to respond to local, national and global challenges.

Provide a description of how equity, diversity and inclusion have been considered in:

• the institution’s decision-making processes and criteria for nominating candidates;
• how the institution manages its nomination process, and who is involved in the decision (e.g., committees, vice-president-level administrators, deans / department heads);
• measures to ensure that individuals from the four designated groups (women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities) are not disadvantaged or overlooked in cases where they have career gaps due to parental or health-related leaves, the care and nurturing of family members, or community-based responsibilities; and
• training and development activities related to unconscious bias, equity, diversity and inclusion for administrators and faculty involved in the nomination.

These descriptions will be used for program monitoring purposes only, and will not be shared with the jury.

2. Institutional nomination letter and rationale

This section presents the nomination and describes the program of research, research activities and achievements relevant to the Impact Award for which the candidate is being nominated. It should include:

• the name, current position and institution of the person proposing the nomination;
• the name, position and affiliation of the nominee (and any team members) and the award category for which they are being nominated;
• a description of the SSHRC-funded research that forms the basis of the nomination, with relevant file numbers (this could include one or more legacy grants, such as Standard Research Grants or Community-University Research Alliance grants), summarizing the initiative’s achievements, significance, challenges, impacts and outcomes;
• a summary of the nominee’s overall contribution to their field(s) of research;
• the level of engagement with, and the quality and scope of training and mentoring provided to, students, emerging scholars and participants, and indication of the nominee’s career level;
• examples of success in widely sharing and encouraging application of resulting knowledge within and/or beyond the academic community;
• evidence that outcomes resulted in significant and positive impacts, relative to discipline-specific norms, in Canada and/or internationally;
• the name and contact information of a person to receive all correspondence (typically, someone in the Research Office or Graduate Studies Office); and
• the signature of the nominating institution’s president or their delegate.

3. Information supporting the nomination

This section should provide further information supporting the nomination. Include, as appropriate, a detailed list of research contributions, outcomes and other activities mentioned in general terms in the nomination letter. When referring to SSHRC-funded initiatives, cite all relevant SSHRC file numbers.

Supporting information should be grouped into the following categories, as applicable:

• publications
• conference presentations
• graduate students supported or trained
• creative outputs
• awards and prizes
• other research contributions
• activities
• outcomes

Page limits for this section are:

• up to six pages for the Gold Medal, covering the span of the nominee’s career;
• up to two pages (if relevant) for the Talent Award; and
• up to three pages for the Insight, Connection and Partnership awards.

4. Career interruptions and special circumstances (if applicable)

This section is not mandatory.

Career interruptions occur when researchers are taken away from their research work for an extended period of time for health, administrative, family, COVID-19 pandemic or other reasons.

Special circumstances involve slowdowns in research productivity created by health (and/or disability-related), administrative, family, cultural or community-based responsibilities, socio-economic context, COVID-19 pandemic or other reasons (i.e., the researcher was not completely taken away from research work). Nominees from small institutions may indicate their teaching load in this section if the change in workload affected their research output.

SSHRC asks its Impact Awards jury to consider career interruptions and special circumstances that may have affected nominees’ record of research achievements. In doing so, jury members will be able to more accurately estimate the productivity of each researcher, independent of any career interruptions or special circumstances.

5. SSHRC CVs and consent forms

Nomination packages must include:

• the nominee’s and team members’ SSHRC CVs (for up to six team members, including the nominee)—ensure that the online versions of the nominee’s and all team members’ SSHRC CVs (not the Canadian Common CV) have been completed and are up to date, as SSHRC will capture data from these;
• the nominee’s and team members’ Consent to Disclosure of Personal Information form; and
• the nominee’s and team members’ Consent to Disclosure of Nomination Content for Promotional Purposes form.

6. Letters of support from three referees

Three letters of support must be provided for the nominee. Referees must be established authorities in the fields and, except for the Talent Award category as specified below, cannot be from the same institution as the nominee. In addition, they cannot be individuals who are or were co-applicants in the initiative(s) forming the basis of the nomination. Referees cannot be individuals who are or who could be perceived as being in a conflict of interest with the nomination.

Letters of support with multiple signatories will not be accepted.

Letters of support must:

• be dated and signed;
• show an official letterhead;
• include the referee’s position, affiliation, email address and telephone number;
• include the nominee’s name and the period of time and capacity in which the referee has known the nominee; and
• offer an overall assessment of the nominee’s achievements, including examples of how these achievements fulfil the evaluation criteria outlined above.

Referees must send their letters to the nominating institution and not to SSHRC. Institutions can include letters with an electronic signature in their nomination packages.

Referee best practices for limiting unconscious bias and guidelines for writing letters of support

SSHRC is committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion to ensure equitable access across its programs.

Limiting unconscious bias

SSHRC strongly encourages the use of inclusive language (e.g., “the nominee” or “they” instead of “he/she”). Letters of support should be free of words or sentences that reflect prejudiced, stereotyped or discriminatory language of particular people or groups, or their institution.

Inclusive language has been shown to decrease unconscious bias during the evaluation process. Nominating institutions should refer letter writers to the Canada Research Chairs Program’s limiting unconscious bias guidelines and the tri-agency (SSHRC, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research) unconscious bias in peer review training module.

For more information, see Women and Gender Equality Canada’s unconscious bias resources.

Considerations when writing letters of support

Institutions must ensure any person drafting a letter of support takes into account the following best practices and considerations.

• Be accurate, fair, clear and balanced.
• Avoid being unduly personal (i.e., do not use the nominee’s first name).
• Support points by providing specific examples of accomplishments where possible.
• Be cautious about using superlative descriptors (e.g., excellent, outstanding), and support them with evidence.
• Include only information that is relevant to the selection criteria (e.g., do not include information related to ethnicity, age, hobbies, marital status, religion).
• Avoid sharing personal information about the applicant. Such information might be helpful only in explaining academic delays or interruptions, and should be done cautiously.
• Be aware of unconscious bias and choose words carefully.

Nomination submission

Incomplete nominations will not be accepted.

Submit your nomination package using the secure submission form for the SSHRC Impact Awards.

Self-identification data collection in support of equity, diversity and inclusion

After the nomination submission, nominees will be contacted by email to submit a self-identification questionnaire via a secure online platform.

Completing the self-identification form will be mandatory, but each category offers the option for “I prefer not to answer.”

The collection of self-identification data is driven by the Government of Canada’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion in the federal research enterprise. The self-identification information is collected, used, disclosed, retained and disposed of in accordance with the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act.

Communication of results

SSHRC makes nomination results available to institutions via the Grants and Scholarships Administration Portal. Winners will be contacted by SSHRC directly.

Monitoring

Award recipients will be informed of reporting requirements on receiving their award.

Regulations, policies and related information

The nominee or project director must assume responsibility for the award funds.

All nominees and recipients must follow SSHRC policies, regulations and guidelines.

Talent Award nominees and recipients must follow the regulations governing scholarships and fellowships and the regulations set out in the Tri-Agency Research Training Award Holder’s Guide, or else the regulations governing grants and the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration , as appropriate.

All other nominees and recipients must follow the regulations governing grants and the regulations set out in the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration.

Each SSHRC Impact Award nominee must have signed the Consent to Disclosure of Nomination Content for Promotional Purposes form allowing SSHRC to use their name, photograph, and any and all submitted materials to promote the awards and other SSHRC initiatives. By agreeing to be nominated, nominees also agree to participate in promotional award activities, including media interviews, ceremonies, receptions and other related events, should they be named a finalist or winner.

Contact information

For more information, contact:

Toll-free: 1-855-275-2861
Email: impactawards-priximpacts@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Date modified:

2023-01-19