Application Form

Download (.docx)

Deadlines

Friday, 20 November 2020

Objectives

Acadia University established a research fund to support faculty research, and contributes $150,000 for each year of the 15th Collective Agreement towards two open competitions (Fall and Winter). The funds (awards up to $5000) are administered through the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. This Research Fund is available only to members of the bargaining unit and to Faculty appointees to the Board of Governors. The committee appointed to review the applications determines the funding priorities and the evaluation process prior to the Fall call for proposals. For more details, please refer to Article 25.55 of the Collective Agreement.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the timing of the Fall 2020 competition was adjusted (later due date) as per the Joint Committee for the Administration of the 15th Collective Agreement MoA, dated 16 September 2020 (attached).  In addition, the attached MoA, dated 20 March 2020, states that “Employees in the 2^nd year of a two-year award who will carry over unspent funds shall be permitted to apply for a new award in 2020-21.”

Funding Priorities (2020-2021)

The following two areas are the priorities for 2020-2021 and are equal in priority ranking. Please note that travel funding support is limited for the Fall competition.

Direct costs of research, e.g.,

• Student engagement in a faculty member’s research program
• Other research project personnel (related to faculty member’s research program)
• Travel for purposes of research “data collection” (recognizing disciplinary variation)
• based on rising Covid-19 cases in Canada and globally, funding to support travel is limited to within Atlantic Canada for the Fall competition; this will be re-evaluated for the Feb 2021 competition. Note that travel outside of Nova Scotia may be subject to changes in government restrictions.
• Purchase of necessary equipment, materials, consumables and/or services for conducting research (price quotations needed)

Dissemination costs of research, e.g.,

• Research presentation by the faculty applicant at professional conferences/meetings
• based on rising Covid-19 cases in Canada and globally, funding to support travel is limited to within Atlantic Canada for the Fall competition; this will be re-evaluated for the Feb 2021 competition. Note that travel outside of Nova Scotia may be subject to changes in government restrictions.
• virtual conference attendance and reasonable related expenses are supported
• Publication costs as it relates to research

Non-eligible expenses include those that are largely educational / pedagogical in nature (e.g. course tuition, professional development workshops, purchase or maintenance of teaching equipment / technology), and costs of conference attendance without presentation.

Please note the following:

• Applicants must submit the following to Donna Dillman (donna.dillman@acadiau.ca) by 20 November:

(1) electronic copy of the application,
(2) electronic copy of an up-to-date CV.

• Under the terms of the 15th Collective Agreement, applicants can elect to apply for one- or two-year awards, for a maximum amount of $5,000. [NOTE: Unless you are certain that your study will require a full two years, it may be best to apply for a one-year award. If it becomes apparent that you will require extra time, you can automatically extend your one-year award for an extra year, as per Article 25.55(d). This avoids the situation of receiving a two-year award, finishing early, and then not being able to apply again until the 2-year term has ended.]

• Applicants eligible to apply for external funding cannot receive funding from this source for more than three consecutive years, unless a research funding application has been submitted to an external granting organization within that three-year period.

• Requests for 25.55 funding must be accompanied by a one-page report on the activities and outcomes of previous funding, if applicable, unless a report has already been submitted to Research and Graduate Studies.

• The evaluation criteria utilized by the Adjudication Committee are shown on the last page of the attached form. Please ensure that all relevant sections of the form are completed, and that it is submitted (copied to the unit Head or Director) by the due date.

Key Points:

• Hand written applications will not be accepted. Applications are to have a minimum 12-point type size.
• It is important that you justify (not just describe) the budget clearly. Remember, if you are requesting travel funds to present a paper, please include a letter of acceptance and an abstract of the paper being presented.  
• PLEASE NOTE: Article 25.55(g) states, "Applications must also include an updated curriculum vitae of the applicant." Please send a pdf of your current CV to donna.dillman@acadiau.ca
• Please submit an electronic copy of your application to donna.dillman@acadiau.ca. The deadlines for submission each year are October 15 (Due to COVID-19 this was revised to November 20 see MoA) and February 1 (adjusted to the following Monday if dates fall on the weekend).   Decisions will be announced by November 15 (Due to COVID-19 this was revised to December 20- see MoA) and February 28 respectively.

TIP: Please remember that there may be no one on the Adjudication Committee who shares your expertise or even your disciplinary background.  Write for clarity and understanding throughout your application

Note: Please download the most recent version of the Application Form from the Research and Graduate Studies website, and follow the instructions carefully

The current suggested pay rate for undergraduate students is $12.55/hour and $15/hour for graduate students (these rates do not include 4% vacation pay). The research grant holder is required to cover the following additional costs: 4% vacation pay and 8.5% for mandatory employer costs for EI, CPP, and WC (workers compensation). The amounts for CPP, EI and WCB are over and above the employee’s pay. These employer costs show up as deductions in the researcher’s general ledger (GL) account.

Please note that all pay rates are subject to change.

www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/directive/travel-voyage/index-eng.php.

Documents

2019 Application Form (.docx)

2019 Evaluation Criteria (PDF)

SSHRC Institutional Grant (SIG)

Through the SSHRC Institutional Grant (SIG) the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada provides annual block grants to universities to help fund small-scale research and research-related activities by their faculty and students in the social sciences and humanities. SIG funds are intended to help Canadian postsecondary institutions strengthen research excellence in the social sciences and humanities.

For 2019-20, applications must be made using the internal 2019 SIG Application. Applications in the form of one signed original and one electronic copy must be submitted to the Office Research and Graduate Studies c/o Donna Dillman (donna.dillman@acadiau.ca) by Monday, May 31 at 4:30 pm. 

When completing an application, please refer to our SIG Evaluation Criteria for this competition and read the application instructions carefully. Individuals may apply for a maximum of $3,000.

New for 2019-20

SIG funds will be offered as two grant types:

SSHRC Explore Grants, which:

• support social sciences and humanities researchers with modest research funding requirements at any stage of career;
• allow for small-scale innovation and experimentation by providing funding to develop a research project or conduct pilot work; and
• enable researchers to hire students at any level to participate in their research projects thereby contributing to their professional development.

SSHRC Exchange Grants, which:

• support the organization of small-scale knowledge mobilization activities, such as workshops and seminars, in order to encourage collaboration and the dissemination of research results both within and beyond the academic community; and
• allow researchers to attend or present their research at scholarly conferences and other dissemination venues that align with SSHRC’s mandate in order to advance their careers and encourage the exchange of ideas and research results at the national and international level.
• SSHRC expects that all SIG-funded research training will incorporate appropriate dimensions of the Guidelines for Effective Research Training.

SIG Applicant Eligibility

• Recipients must be affiliated with a SSHRC eligible Canadian postsecondary institution and must maintain such an affiliation for the duration of the grant period. Researchers who maintain an affiliation with a Canadian postsecondary institution, but whose primary affiliation is with a non-Canadian institution, are not eligible to hold these grants.
• Postdoctoral researchers affiliated with the institution are eligible to receive support for eligible activities, provided they will maintain their affiliation for the duration of the grant period.
• Students are not eligible to hold SIG-funded grants; however, SSHRC encourages researchers to employ students in SIG-funded research.

Guidelines for SIG Applicants

Competitions for SIG grants occur once per year in the spring/summer. At least one month prior to the adjudication process, a call for applications is announced to the SSH departments and schools on campus. The form requires applicants to (1) provide a succinct description of their intended research/activities, to a maximum of two pages, (2) a detailed budget, and (3) a justification of each budget item. Please refer to the SIG Evaluation Criteria document for information on how proposals will be evaluated.

Funds received in this competition must be spent in the fiscal year in which they were awarded; i.e. your account must show a zero balance by March 30, 2020 (accounts are closed at the end of March and any outstanding balances will revert to the general SIG account). SSHRC requires this office to submit a report on the research funded; therefore, a report on your research must be submitted to Research and Graduate Studies by the end of April 2020.

The current suggested pay rate for undergraduate students is $12/hour and $15/hour for graduate students. These rates do note include 4% vacation pay. The research grant holder is required to cover the following additional costs: 4% vacation pay, 10% for the mandatory employer costs for EI and CPP, as well as 2% for WC coverage. These additional costs are included as part of an employee’s pay, but show up as deductions in the researcher’s general ledger (GL) account.

Please note that all pay rates are subject to change.

University practices and procedures must be followed at all times*. See the Travel Expense Claim Form for details.

SIG Reporting Guidelines

SIG Grant holders must provide a written report (max 1 page), describing the completed research/activities to Donna Dillman (donna.dillman@acadiau.ca) by March 31.

Reports should highlight how the objectives of the research project/activities were met, and any particular successes or challenges that resulted. Please indicate if SIG funds have led to the development of any other funding applications.

Please also be sure to address the following two questions:

1. If applicable, how many students, post doctoral researchers, and/or other non-students were supported using your SIG funds? For students, please indicate if they were undergraduate, Master's or Doctoral students.

2. How many "knowledge products"* resulted from your SIG funds? *knowledge products are defined by SSHRC as "traditional academic outputs such as peer-reviewed articles, books, conference presentations, etc., as well as other knowledge mobilization activities."