Sponsor

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

For More Information

For additional information, please visit the SSHRC IDG website [1] for

• Program guidelines
• Application forms
• Evaluation criteria

Description

Insight Development Grants support research in its initial stages. The grants enable the development of new research questions as well as experimentation with new methods, theoretical approaches and/or ideas. Funding is provided for short-term research development projects of up to two years that are proposed by individuals or teams.

Insight Development Grants foster research in its early stages but are not intended to support large-scale initiatives. Long-term support for research is offered through SSHRC’s Insight Grants.

Proposed projects can involve, but are not limited to, the following types of research activities:

• case studies
• pilot initiatives
• critical analyses of existing research

Projects can also involve national and international research collaboration and the exploration of new ways of producing, structuring and mobilizing knowledge within and across disciplines and sectors.

Funding is available for two distinct categories of scholars:

• Emerging scholars [4] who will develop new research questions and/or approaches. Such projects may build on and further the applicant’s (or team’s) graduate work and/or represent a continuation of their overall research trajectory.
• Established scholars [5] who will explore new research questions and/or approaches that are distinct from the applicant’s previous/ongoing research. Research projects should be clearly delimited and in the early stages of the research process. Insight Development Grant funding is not intended to support ongoing research for established scholars.

SSHRC welcomes applications involving Indigenous research [6] as well as those involving research-creation [7].

Eligibility

Applicants

Applications may be submitted by an individual researcher or a team of researchers (consisting of one applicant [8] and one or more co-applicants [9] and/or collaborators [10]).

Applicants (except postdoctoral researchers and PhD students) must be affiliated with an eligible Canadian postsecondary institution [11] at the time of application and before funding can be released. Researchers who maintain an affiliation with a Canadian postsecondary institution, but whose primary affiliation is with a non-Canadian postsecondary 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 [12] by the deadline specified in their Notice of Award are not eligible to apply for another SSHRC grant until they have submitted the report.

Postdoctoral researchers are eligible to be applicants for this grant. However, for SSHRC to release grant funds, successful applicants must formally establish an affiliation with an eligible Canadian postsecondary institution within three months of the grant start date (i.e., by September 2021 for the current competition), and maintain such an affiliation for the duration of the grant period.

Co-applicants

An individual is eligible to be a co-applicant if they are formally affiliated with any of the following:

• Canadian: Eligible postsecondary institution
• International: Postsecondary institution

In the case of international co-applicants, the rationale for international collaboration must be clearly outlined in the application.

Postdoctoral researchers are eligible to be co-applicants under the same conditions as those described under Applicants [13].

Collaborators

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 postsecondary institution.

Subject matter

Most SSHRC funding is awarded through open competitions. Proposals can involve any disciplines, thematic areas, approaches or subject areas eligible for SSHRC funding. See the guidelines on subject matter eligibility [14] for more information.

Maximum Project Value

Insight Development Grants are valued at up to $75,000 over one to two years. A minimum budget of $7,000 in at least one of the years is required.

For the current competition, at least 50 % of funds will be reserved for applications from emerging scholars

Indirect Costs

0%

Project Duration

up to 2 years

Special Notes

Specific rules for the use of grant funds

• Insight Development Grant funds cannot be used for remuneration and/or travel and subsistence costs of presenters or guest speakers, or for research costs of collaborators.
• No team members (applicant, co-applicant or collaborator) can be remunerated with grant funds. This includes postdoctoral researchers serving in any of these capacities.
• Insight Development Grant funds cannot be used for collaborators’ research costs. However, their travel and subsistence expenses related to research planning and exchanging information with the grantee, or for disseminating 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.

Information For Co-applicants

If you need to meet a deadline set by the lead institution for this opportunity, please ensure that you provide the Office of Research with at least five days in advance of the lead institution’s deadline to review the application, or your proposed component of the project. Please be in touch with the Office of Research (contact information below) ahead of the deadline if it looks like it will be difficult for you to submit all the required documentation on time (i.e. budget, proposal, OR-5 Form).

Attachment(s)

Attachment	Size
Application and Instructions – IDG 2023 comeptition [20]	2.04 MB