SSHRC News
We are pleased to present the latest issue of SSHRC News, in which you will find recent information on SSHRC activities and achievements of interest to the social sciences and humanities research community. This issue includes the latest information on funding opportunities within the Talent, Insight and Connection programs and tri-agency initiatives.
You’ll find the SSHRC News on the SSHRC website under Latest News.
We welcome your feedback and/or questions and thank you for your continued collaboration.
Brent Herbert-Copley, PhD
Vice-President, Research Capacity
Gisèle Yasmeen, PhD
Vice-President, Research
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Notification of Intent to Apply for a SSHRC Insight Grant
The Notification of Intent (NOI) to apply for an Insight Grant is now mandatory. NOIs must be submitted directly by the applicants to SSHRC via the online system by August 15th, 2012. An applicant who has not submitted an NOI by this date will be ineligible to submit the full application in the October 2012 competition.
In addition to basic information, an applicant must submit a one-page Summary of the Proposed Research. This Summary must include:
• the objectives of the research
• the proposed methodology; and
• the anticipated significance and impacts of the proposed research.
The NOI form will be available on SSHRC’s website by mid-June.
Regards,
Jean-Francois Fortin, Ph.D.
Director| Directeur
Research Portfolio | Portefeuille de la recherche
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada
350 Albert Street | 350, rue Albert, Ottawa, ON K1P 6G4
E | C : Jean-Francois.Fortin@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca
T : 613.992-3145 F | T : 613.992-7635
www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Message from Dr. Alain Beaudet, CIHR President: Update on CIHR’s Consultations for the Open and Peer Review Reforms
It has been almost a month since CIHR posted its discussion paper on the Open Suite of Programs and Peer Review Enhancements on the CIHR website and invited the research community to provide us with their feedback.
Since then, Dr. Jane Aubin, CIHR Chief Scientific Officer and Vice-President Research and I, have engaged in discussions on the proposed changes with researchers, reviewers, administrators and partners from across the country. We are looking forward to continuing the discussions with the community over the coming weeks.
We are pleased with the quality and the quantity of the feedback that we have received. The research community and our stakeholders have provided us with many thoughtful, frank and candid comments, as well as constructive suggestions via email, through the online discussion forum, online feedback form and during our town hall and partner discussions.
I would like to thank you for taking time to read the discussion paper, reflect on its content and provide such thoughtful feedback. Questions and comments received thus far have made us realize that our discussion paper gave rise to a number of common concerns, some resulting from lack of clarity or misunderstanding. We have posted additional information and clarifications to our website – http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/45068.html.
As previously communicated, CIHR will be closing the on-line discussion forum on March 28, 2012. However, in response to requests from the community, CIHR has decided to extend the feedback period. Your input will continue to be accepted through the online feedback form, email (Roadmap-Plan.Strategique@cihr-irsc.gc.ca) and our continued discussions with a number of institutions and partners until April 30, 2012. I encourage those of you who have not yet provided comments to do so. Your input is invaluable and will continue to be considered, analyzed and used to inform design and implementation decisions going forward.
In June, we will provide the community with a summary of the feedback received through the engagement process, including how we are planning to use the feedback to inform the design. No firm design decisions will be announced until the fall of this year. Your participation to this very important initiative is very much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Alain Beaudet, MD, PhD
President, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca
160 Elgin Street, 9th Floor
Address locator 4809A
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0W9
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Proposed CIHR Open Grant Reforms
CIHR has initiated a process to design a new Open Suite of Programs and peer review system that ensures the long-term sustainability of CIHR’s contribution to the Canadian health research enterprise, removes barriers, and enables researchers from all pillars to improve CIHR’s ability to deliver on its mandate. CIHR sees these reforms as an opportunity to take a holistic approach to designing a new Open Suite of Programs and peer review process, and to address multiple challenges at once.
As part of our ongoing discussions on the CIHR reforms, we are pleased to share with you the “Open Suite of Programs and Peer Review Enhancements” discussion paper, which can be found on the CIHR website at: http://trk.cp20.com/Tracking/t.c?QRw3-QXcx-l8KoZ6. This document provides an overview of our current thinking on the new design.
Before further developing elements of design and moving forward with their implementation, CIHR wants to ensure that the changes being contemplated address the concerns that have been raised by its research community. We encourage you to share your perspectives to help us refine the design and ensure that the transition occurs with minimal disruption.
You can submit feedback by completing a survey, participating in the CIHR on-line discussion forum, attending an institution discussion or sending us an email. Comments can be submitted until March 30, 2012.
We are looking forward to an on-going, active, and productive discussion with our research community about the new Open Suite of Programs and Peer Review Enhancements over the coming months.
Sincerely,
Alain Beaudet, MD, PhD
President, Canadian Institute of Health Research
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
SSHRC Insight Grants – updates to evaluation process for priority areas, small committees and budgets
The following updates and new processes were provided by SSHRC Program Officer Terry McPherson, email: terrylee.mcpherson@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca, Tel: 613-947-2089.
Priority Area
The evaluation process for proposals that are aligned with a SSRHC priority area is different than what we originally understood. This has not been widely communicated by SSHRC. Previously, proposals were first reviewed by their regular review committees, then those judged fundable would also be considered for any ‘priority area’ funding.
For the 2012 competition, if the applicant checked the priority area box and filled out the extra “statement of alignment” page, the proposal will only go to the multi-disciplinary, priority specific, review committee. It will be read by 2 readers on the committee and be sent out to 2 external assessors. If there are no specialists / experts on the committee, they would rely on the external assessment. This attests to the ever-so-important statement of writing to a multi-disciplinary audience and ensuring the proposal is fully justified within the priority area.
If the applicant did NOT check the box… it would go to an Evaluation Committee created within the applicant-selected Research Group and follow the same pattern of 2 readers plus 2 external assessors. Any requests to change your evaluation committee, such as a request to remove your application from a priority area evaluation group, will not be accommodated this year.
Total Submissions and Virtual Evaluations
The total number of submissions to the inaugural Insight Grant competition was ~1800. Last year’s SRG was ~2800. The 35% decrease in applications has resulted in quite a few committees that have less than 50 proposals. Any committee with fewer than 50 applications will be meeting virtually. The virtual committee discussion will happen via a live webinar (real time) using standardized comment sheets to maintain consistency between evaluation committees. One example is the Linguistics committee.
Budgets
The entire IG competition has been assigned a budget rather than each committee. SSHRC are attempting to streamline the evaluation by removing the time and personal bias of the “line item by line item” budgetary evaluation. Previously, committee members were able to cut single items (i.e. one less grad student). SSHRC also recognizes a researcher will spend their assigned budget however they wish.
For the 2012 competition, the assigned budget is proportional to the proposal’s final score. The score is, of course, proportional to the challenge, capability, and feasibility of the project; of which the budget has a large influence.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
SSHRC Invites Feedback on its draft policy statement on Section 41 of the Official Languages Act
SSHRC is launching a consultation on a draft policy statement that will guide its implementation of Part VII (Section 41) of the Official Languages Act (OLA). This legislation requires all federal organizations, within the scope of their respective mandates, to take positive measures to enhance the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada, to support and assist their development and to foster the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society.
We encourage you to review the consultation materials at the following address (www.sshrc.gc.ca) and to foster awareness of these consultations within your respective institutions. We look forward to receiving feedback on this draft policy no later than February 23, 2012 by email to consultation-OLP-PLO@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca .
SSHRC is committed to enhancing its activities and approaches in this important area and we very much appreciate your cooperation in helping us achieve our goals.
Carmen Charette
EVP & Official Languages Champion
SSHRC
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Introducing the new Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research
Canada’s research granting agencies—the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada—are committed to fostering and maintaining an environment that supports and promotes the responsible conduct of research.
On December 5, 2011, they officially launched the new Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research. This new framework is an umbrella document that describes agency policies and requirements related to applying for and managing agency funds, performing research and disseminating results. It also outlines the process that institutions and the agencies follow in the event of an allegation of a breach of agency policy.
This new framework replaces the previous integrity policy and related documents, including the Tri-Agency Policy Statement: Integrity in Research and Scholarship (TCPS-I, 1994), the Framework for Tri-Council Review of Institutional Policies Dealing with Integrity in Research (1996) and the Tri-Agency Process for Addressing Allegations of Non-compliance with Tri-Agency Policies (2010).
It is important to note that:
1. Effective December 5, applicants, grantees and awards holders are required to comply with the new Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research and all the policies contained within it.
2. To ensure full accountability and transparency for the proper use of public funds in supporting research, the agencies now require all researchers applying for funding to provide a Consent to Disclosure of Personal Information, allowing the agencies (subject to applicable laws, including the Privacy Act, and in cases of a serious breach of agency policy) to publicly disclose:
o the name of the researcher;
o the nature of the breach;
o the name of the institution where the researcher was employed at the time of the breach; and
o the name of the institution where the researcher is currently employed.
3. The new Panel on Responsible Conduct of Research will be responsible for ensuring a coherent and uniform approach to promoting the responsible conduct of research and addressing allegations of breaches of agency policies. The panel will be responsible for governing and implementing the new framework, with support from the new Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research (previously the Secretariat on Research Ethics).
For more information about the new framework, including a message from the tri-agency presidents and some highlights of the new framework, please visit the panel website or contact the Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research at secretariat@rcr.ethics.gc.ca.
