Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

1. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada An Overview of Standard Research Grants Prepared by the Office of Research Trent University Office of Research, Trent University

2. What does SSHRC Do? • SSHRC does not conduct research itself; • The council distributes funds to Canadian researchers, scholars, and universities through highly competitive, peer adjudicated granting programs • The budget for 2004-2005 was $230M for all programs • In 2004-2005 the % of successful applications was 43% Office of Research, Trent University

3. SSHRC: The Broad Objective • The purpose of the Standard Research Grants program is to support research and develop excellence in research activities in both the social sciences and the humanities • At present, SSHRC supports over 30 disciplines in the social sciences and humanities Office of Research, Trent University

4. Specific Objectives: • To support highly qualified, independent programs of research; • To provide training opportunities for HQP • To enhance and develop new theoretical and methodological approaches to research; • To encourage collaborative, multidisciplinary activities amongst researchers; • To support wide-spread dissemination of research outcomes Office of Research, Trent University

5. What is a program of research? • A sustained research enterprise that includes one or more projects or other components and which is shaped by broad objectives for the advancement of knowledge • A program of research can involve primarily one investigator focused on a single research career or mobilize a team of researchers for a specific period Office of Research, Trent University

6. What do programs of research include? • Research tools may be included if there are deemed to be a priority for advancing research in a specific field • Tools include: bibliographies, indices, catalogues of research collections • Concordances & dictionaries • Materials which access archival holdings/collections Office of Research, Trent University

7. SSHRC does not fund: • Description of any original holdings of any federal agency • Conversion of records into machine-readable formats • Document conservation • Records management or the arrangement of documents Office of Research, Trent University

8. Value and Duration • SRG’s are available for periods of 1 to 3 years • Maximum value per year is $100K up to a total of $250k over 3 years • Each year must have a minimum budget of $7k (not including RTS) • Average award in 03-04 was $82K Office of Research, Trent University

9. Eligibility: • Most SRG’s are submitted by one Applicant/principal investigator • Adjuncts are eligible to apply for SRG’s • If unclear about your status or that of your co-applicants, please contact the ORGS for clarification Office of Research, Trent University

10. SSHRC SRG’s Deadlines: • Internal deadline is October 7th, 2005 • External deadline is October 15th, 2005 • Results are anticipated by late March, early April 2006 • The Office of Research does not receive any information regarding adjudication or evaluation during this time Office of Research, Trent University

11. Adjudication Committees • STG’s are adjudicated by committees comprised of scholars from the research community • Applications are ranked by the committees • Two external written assessments are normally obtained for each application prior to adjudication at the committee level • Each applicant is invited to select the committee to adjudicate their application Office of Research, Trent University

12. Evaluation Criteria • Record of research achievement • Program of research • Regular Scholar: research achievement = 60%, program of research = 40% • New Scholar: the record of research achievement and the program of research are weighted in the overall score such that either 60/40 or 40/60 will apply *which ever produces the most favorable overall score Office of Research, Trent University

13. Assessing Program of Research: • The degree of originality and expected contribution to the advancement of knowledge; • Significance of the research, understood to encompass scholarly or intellectual significance as well as social and cultural significance; • The suitability of theoretical perspectives Office of Research, Trent University

14. Assessment (con’t) • The appropriateness and expected effectiveness of the research strategies or methodologies; • The suitability and expected effectiveness of plans to communicate research findings both within and beyond the academic community • The nature and extent of research training (HQP) Office of Research, Trent University

15. Scoring of Applications • A score, based on committee consensus, ranking from 1 – 10 is assigned for both the record of research achievement and the program of research • A minimum score of 6/10 is required on each of these two components for an application to qualify for a grant (4A or 1 Status) Office of Research, Trent University

16. New vs Regular Scholar • A new scholar is someone who has not yet had the opportunity to establish an extensive record of research • Cannot have been a PI on a SSHRC grant previously; have completed highest degree less than five years before the year of the competition deadline OR held tenure-track appointments in a university for less than five years OR experienced delays for family reasons Office of Research, Trent University

17. How to Apply: • Applications must be prepared using the online module • Once the application is complete, 4 copies plus the original must be submitted to the Office of Research, Suite 344, Gzowski (Symons) by October 7th • PI’s are responsible for departmental signatures; the Office of Research will secure institutional signatures Office of Research, Trent University

18. Need help? • Should you require assistance preparing your grant application, please don’t hesitate to contact: Cathy Smith 748-1011 ext. 7496 cjsmith@trentu.ca Or James Parker 748-1011 ext. 7935 jparker@trentu.ca Office of Research, Trent University