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Grants to Canada Researchers Affiliated with IHEs for Research in the Social Science Fields

Insight Grants


Grant Writers
Agency
Federal
GrantWatch ID#
160930
Funding Source
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
Array ( )
Geographic Focus
Canada:Alberta;   British Columbia;   Manitoba;   New Brunswick;   Newfoundland and Labrador;   Northwest Territories;   Nova Scotia;   Nunavut;   Ontario;   Prince Edward Island;   Quebec;   Saskatchewan;   Yukon;
Important Dates
Deadline: 10/01/23 8:00 PM ET Save
Grant Description
Grants to Canada researchers affiliated with eligible institutions of higher education for research in the social science and humanities fields. The purpose of funding is for research into individual behavior and society's behavior as a whole. Funding is intended to advance the search for solutions to societal challenges.

Insight Grants support research proposed by scholars and judged worthy of funding by their peers and/or other experts. Insight Grant research initiatives can be undertaken by an individual researcher or a team of researchers working in collaboration.

Applicants choose from one of two streams, depending on the amount of funding required. Both streams will be adjudicated by the same committees, and will receive the same rigorous level of merit review. The deadlines and application process are identical for both; however, the targeted success rate for Stream A is higher than for Stream B. SSHRC welcomes applications involving Indigenous research, as well as those involving research-creation.

The objectives of the Insight program are to:

  • Build knowledge and understanding from disciplinary, interdisciplinary and/or cross-sector perspectives through support for the best researchers;
  • Support new approaches to research on complex and important topics, including those that transcend the capacity of any one scholar, institution or discipline;
  • Provide a high-quality research training experience for students;
  • Fund research expertise that relates to societal challenges and opportunities; and
  • Mobilize research knowledge, to and from academic and non-academic audiences, with the potential to lead to intellectual, cultural, social, and economic influence, benefit and impact.

Collaborators' travel and subsistence expenses related to research planning, the exchange of information with the grantee, and for the dissemination of research results are considered eligible. Consultation fees are eligible for expert and/or professional and technical services that contribute directly to the proposed research as long as the service is not being provided by a team member or other persons whose status would make them eligible to apply for a SSHRC grant. For additional information on eligible expenses, see Application Instructions, in Pre-Application Information, below. 
Full Grant Text RFP
Recipient
Additional Eligibility Criteria
Funding is available to both emerging and established scholars.

- Applications may be submitted by an individual researcher or a team of researchers (consisting of one applicant and one or more co-applicants and/or collaborators).

- Applicants (except postdoctoral researchers and PhD students) must be affiliated with an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution at the time of application and before funding can be released. Researchers who maintain an affiliation with a Canadian post-secondary institution, but whose primary affiliation is with a non-Canadian post-secondary institution, are not eligible for applicant status.

- Applicants who have received a SSHRC grant of any type but have failed to submit an achievement report by the deadline specified in their Notice of Award are not eligible to apply for another SSHRC grant until they have submitted the report.

- Federal scientists who are affiliated with a Canadian post-secondary institution must demonstrate that their proposed research or research-related activity is not related to either the mandate of their employer or the normal duties for which they receive payment from that employer.

- Postdoctoral researchers are eligible to be applicants for this grant. However, in order for SSHRC to release grant funds, successful applicants must formally establish an affiliation with an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution within five months of the grant start date (i.e., by September 2024 for the current competition), and maintain such an affiliation for the duration of the grant period.

- Any individual who makes a significant contribution to the project is eligible to be a collaborator. Collaborators do not need to be affiliated with an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution.

Students enrolled in a program of study are not eligible to apply. However, a PhD candidate is eligible to apply if they:
- Will have met all requirements for the PhD before the grant is awarded, including all coursework and successful defence of their dissertation; and
- Establish a formal affiliation with an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution within five months of the grant start date, and maintain such an affiliation for the duration of the grant period.

- If the proposal falls within the mandate of the federal government and the research or research-related activity is performed in government facilities, funding can only be allocated for student salaries, stipends and travel costs.

- Grant funds can only be administered by an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution. Institutions proposing to administer a grant awarded under this funding opportunity must hold or obtain institutional eligibility. See SSHRC’s list of eligible institutions.
Ineligible
- Insight Grant funds cannot be used for remuneration, and/or the travel and subsistence costs of presenters or guest speakers.
- Tri-agency grant funds cannot be used to remunerate team members (applicant, co-applicant or collaborator). This includes postdoctoral fellows serving in any of these capacities
- Insight Grant funds cannot be used for collaborators’ research costs. However, their travel and subsistence expenses related to research planning, the exchange of information with the grantee, and for the dissemination of research results are considered eligible.

- Projects whose primary objective is curriculum development, preparation of teaching materials, organization of a conference or workshop, digitization of a collection, or creation of a database are not eligible for funding under this funding opportunity.

- An application will be declared ineligible if it is determined more than 30% of the requested budget has been allocated to ineligible expenses.
Pre-Application Information
Application Deadline: October 1, 2023 (8 p.m. eastern)
Results Announced: April 2024

If a deadline falls on a weekend or a public holiday observed in Ontario, where SSHRC’s offices are located, the online application system will remain open until 8 p.m. (eastern) on the next business day.

SSHRC invites all applicants to review Imagining Canada’s Future’s 16 future global challenges and to consider addressing one or more of these areas in their research proposal. This is not an evaluation criterion for merit review and does not offer additional or dedicated research funds for this funding opportunity.

Applicants needing help while preparing their application should communicate with SSHRC well in advance of the application deadline.

- Individuals can apply, as an applicant, for only one Insight Grant at a time.
- Researchers who applied unsuccessfully for an Insight Development Grant in February of a given year can apply for an Insight Grant in October of that same year. Therefore, researchers who applied for an Insight Development Grant in February 2023 and were not successful can apply for an Insight Grant in October 2023.
- A researcher who applies for an Insight Grant in October 2023 can apply for an Insight Development Grant in February 2024, provided that the objectives of the research are significantly different.

Indigenous research: https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/programs-programmes/definitions-eng.aspx#a11

Research Creation: https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/programs-programmes/definitions-eng.aspx#a22

Joint Initiatives: https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/joint_initiatives-initiatives_conjointes-eng.aspx

SSHRC’s funding search tool: https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/search_tool-outil_de_recherche-eng.aspx?pID=2&tID=3

Imagining Canada’s Future: https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/society-societe/community-communite/Imagining_Canadas_Future-Imaginer_l_avenir_du_Canada-eng.aspx

Application Instructions: https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/instructions/insight-savoir-eng.aspx

Institutional Eligibility—Guidelines and Requirements: https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/about-au_sujet/policies-politiques/statements-enonces/institutional_eligibility-admissibilite_etablissements-eng.aspx

Eligible Institutions: https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/about-au_sujet/policies-politiques/statements-enonces/list_eligible_institutions-liste_etablissements-admissibles-eng.aspx

Subject Matter Eligibility: https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/apply-demande/background-renseignements/selecting_agency-choisir_organisme_subventionnaire-eng.aspx

Insight Program: https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/umbrella_programs-programme_cadre/insight-savoir-eng.aspx

SSHRC’s regulations on multiple applications and holding multiple awards: https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/policies-politiques/multiple_apps-demandes_multiples-eng.aspx

For additional relevant links, see the Full Grant Text RFP link.
Estimated Size of Grant
Stream A: $7,000 to $100,000
Stream B: $100,001 to $400,000

A minimum request of $7,000 is required in at least one of the years. A maximum of $100,000 is available in a single year.
Term of Contract
Grant duration is two to five years.
Contact Information
Application: https://webapps.nserc.ca/SSHRC/faces/logon.jsp?lang=en_CA

For help with the application:
Phone: 613-995-4273
E-mail: webgrant@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

Institutions can contact institutional.eligibility@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca to begin the institutional eligibility application process, or if they have questions about institutional eligibility.

For more information about the Insight Grants funding opportunity, please contact:
insightgrants@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca
Toll-free: 1-855-275-2861

If you need help completing online application forms due to circumstances arising from a disability, contact your institution (scholarship liaison officer, research grant office or other applicant support office) as early in the application process as possible to investigate available supports. If your institution cannot provide help, or needs SSHRC to collaborate on a solution, contact SSHRC at accommodation@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.
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