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SSHRC in Canada, and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in the United Kingdom, have launched this dedicated Knowledge Synthesis Grants (KSG) competition to assess the state of research knowledge on Canada-UK trade relationships, in a post-Brexit context.

Canada and the UK share a sovereign and have among the oldest continuous traditions of parliamentary democracy. The two countries have also prospered from a productive commercial relationship. Their two-way merchandise trade totaled more than C$25.3 billion in 2016, making the UK Canada’s fifth-largest merchandise trade partner. Canada and the UK also have strong partnerships in science, technology and innovation, and there are many links between Canadian and UK researchers, universities, funding agencies, commercialization groups and companies.

On June 23, 2016, the people of the UK voted to leave the European Union. The UK’s resulting plans to withdraw from the EU by 2019 have increased interest in gaining a better understanding of post-Brexit bilateral trade relations, including the potential offered by possible new bilateral trade, such as through seamless transition of agreements between the UK and its major trading partners, including Canada. Social sciences and humanities research has an important role to play in this.

This dedicated KSG competition aims to foster international collaboration and support the synthesis of existing knowledge capable of identifying research strengths and gaps and contribute evidence for policy.

Synthesizing research knowledge on the diverse issues related to international trade between Canada and the UK will deepen understanding of how future trading relationships could maximize the benefits to both countries, and will help define potential areas in which both countries could play a vital leadership role.

Opportunity

This funding opportunity will support researchers, teams of researchers and knowledge users in producing knowledge syntheses and scoping reviews that:

  • support the use of evidence in decision-making, and the application of best practices; and
  • assist in developing future research agendas.

KSGs are not intended to support original research. Rather, they are intended to support the synthesis of existing research knowledge and the identification of knowledge strengths and research gaps. This call is particularly focused on the state of research knowledge emerging over the past 10 years.

This is an international competition and will only accept international, collaborative research projects. Proposed projects must involve a minimum of two researchers, one of whom is affiliated with an institution in Canada, the other with an institution in the UK. These institutions must be eligible to administer SSHRC and ESRC funding, respectively. The team may also include researchers from other countries.

Eligibility

Subject matter

KSG proposals may involve any disciplines and approaches or subject areas eligible for SSHRC funding. Please see Subject Matter Eligibility for more information.

Projects whose primary objective is curriculum development are not eligible.

For further details related to eligibility, please click here.

Applicants

Applications must include two applicants (principal investigators), with one of these based in Canada and one in the UK. In your application, identify one of these individuals as the project co-ordinator.

Applicants must address the following three objectives of the funding opportunity in their proposal for a knowledge synthesis or scoping review:

State of Knowledge, Strengths and Gaps:

  • critically assess the state of knowledge in the theme under consideration from a variety of sources, as appropriate;
  • identify knowledge strengths and gaps within the theme; and
  • identify the most promising policies and practices related to the theme.

Research Data:

  • assess the quality, accuracy and rigour (i.e., methodological approaches) of current work in the field; and
  • identify strengths and gaps in the quantitative and qualitative data available.

Knowledge Mobilization:

  • engage cross-sectoral stakeholders, including government policy-makers, throughout the project to mobilize knowledge related to promising policies and practices; and
  • use effective knowledge mobilization methods to facilitate sharing research findings with multisectoral stakeholders (academic, public, private and not-for-profit sectors)

The scope of the project should fall within the timeline and funding provided under the grant. A knowledge synthesis report is due within six months of obtaining the grant.

Successful applicants will be expected to attend two knowledge mobilization events with key stakeholders: a preliminary workshop in Ottawa, Canada, in July 2018; and a forum to share the knowledge synthesis reports’ results, in London, UK, in December 2018. Travel costs for these meetings should be included in the budget submitted as part of the application.

Successful applicants will be provided with details on the meetings, and guidelines for completing their synthesis report.

The call for proposals invites applications for collaborative knowledge synthesis from researchers in any discipline that may inform and contribute to the objectives of this funding opportunity. Researchers may choose to address themes and subquestions from the perspective of a particular discipline, or may address them through interdisciplinary approaches; using quantitative or qualitative research, or mixed methods; or using international comparisons, gender-based analyses or institutional perspectives.

For more information about research-related themes, please click here.

Funding Available

Up to 20 grants may be awarded, of up to C$30,000 in total per project (~£17,290.55, subject to the exchange rate of January 29, 2018). Applicants should consult the exchange rate before submitting their team’s application. For projects selected for funding, each country’s applicant or team will receive a grant from their respective country’s funder for their portion of the project.

The international teams should include with their application balanced budget requests for both portions of the project, directed to SSHRC and the ESRC, respectively. Budgets cannot exceed a maximum 60/40-per cent split across the two agencies (e.g., C$18,000/£7,000 or £10,000/C$12,000).

For Canadian researchers, their portion of the project will be funded by SSHRC based on the funding request they submitted via the itemized budget.

For British researchers, their portion of the project will be funded by the ESRC based on the funding request submitted via the itemized budget.

KSGs are one-year grants. However, all synthesis reports must be completed within six months and submitted to SSHRC by November 2018, for discussion at a December 2018 forum.

By applying for this funding opportunity, successful applicants consent to SSHRC and the ESRC sharing the resulting synthesis report with other interested organizations and individuals.

Full Details

Deadlines

Internal Deadline for Review Please contact your Research Facilitator.
cuResearch Checklist Deadline March 21, 2018
Full Application Due March 28, 2018 (8 p.m. eastern)

Submitting Your Application

  • Applications will be submitted via cuResearch, through which Departmental and Associate Dean’s approval must be provided to complete the online application process.
  • More information on cuResearch can be found here.

Internal Contacts

If you would like assistance with proposal development and/or a substantive review of your proposal, please contact the appropriate Research Facilitator.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018  |  Categories: Funding Opportunities
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