Through its SSHRC Institutional Grants (SIG) funding opportunity, SSHRC provides annual block grants to help eligible Canadian postsecondary institutions fund small-scale research and research-related activities by their faculty in the social sciences and humanities. SIG funding is intended to help Canadian postsecondary institutions develop, maintain, or strengthen research capacity and research excellence in the social sciences and humanities.

SIG funds may be used to:

  • assist social sciences and humanities researchers with modest research funding requirements;
  • support national and international knowledge mobilization within and/or beyond the research community; and
  • support the development of students.

SSHRC expects that all SIG-funded research training will incorporate appropriate dimensions of the Guidelines for Effective Research Training.

The amount of the grant awarded to the University of Guelph is determined partly by the number of faculty members in the humanities and social sciences but primarily by the total value of research grants awarded to the University by SSHRC over the three (3) previous competition years. Grants are calculated once per three (3)-year funding cycle.

The University of Guelph uses SIG funding to support small research projects and travel for research dissemination, further described below. As an institutional priority, the University of Guelph will seek to use SIG funding to incentivize applications to external SSHRC opportunities (e.g. Insight Grants, Insight Development Grants, Connection Grants, Partnership Grants, Partnership Development Grants, etc.) as a means of increasing application rates, and ultimately, success rates in external competitions.

Applicant Eligibility

All regular faculty members, including probationary, tenured and contractually limited term appointees, are eligible. Contractually-limited term applicants are eligible, provided they are employed under a contract with the University for a period sufficiently long to make it feasible to carry out the proposed research project and/or travel. Professors emeriti, visiting fellows and scholars are not eligible. SIG funds will support both emerging and established scholars, as defined by SSHRC.

SIG applications may be used to support research and research-related activities in one or more disciplines, thematic areas, approaches or subject areas eligible for SSHRC funding. Please see Subject Matter Eligibility for more information. Applicants may only submit one (1) application to either the Exchange or the Explore program in each competition, but a single application might cover a number of activities all leading to the development of one (1) external SSHRC application.

If an applicant is a prior SSHRC SIG award holder and the SSHRC application for which the award was received was not applied for within the three (3)-year period as required, applicants should provide rationale to the review committee for consideration. Eligibility to re-apply to SSHRC SIG is re-instated once the external SSHRC grant (or approved alternate SSHRC grant) is applied for.

NOTE: A faculty member can be awarded only one (1) Exchange per calendar year and one (1) Explore in any consecutive two (2) year period. Additionally, awardees may hold a maximum of two (2) active Institutional Grants at any given time (i.e. 2 Exchanges, 2 Explores or 1 of each).

How to Apply

A complete submission includes:

Email the OR-5 and a single pdf document of the complete application package to the Research Services Office before the posted competition deadline (research.services@uoguelph.ca). Incomplete or late applications will not be accepted. Additional materials not listed above will be removed from applications.

Funding Availability

There are two Exchange and Explore Grant competitions each calendar year (May and November). A Research Alert will be published when applications are being accepted.

The maximum amount requested in any single application for the Explore Grant is $7,000. For Exchange Grants, the maximum amount requested is $3,000. Awards made through this institutional grant program support the application to the external SSHRC program identified in the grant submission. Therefore, Faculty may receive one SIG award for a specified external SSHRC program for a particular Project. For example, if an applicant intends to apply for a SSHRC Insight Development Grant (“IDG”) for Project A, they may apply for and be awarded either an Exchange or Explore Grant for the IDG and cannot apply for or receive a subsequent SIG award for an IDG for Project A. Should a faculty member wish to apply to a different external program in addition to the IDG, a subsequent SIG application for that external grant for Project A would be eligible for consideration.

Review and Adjudication Process

Explore Grants and Exchange Grants are reviewed and adjudicated by the SIG Review Committee, chaired by the Associate Vice-President (Research Services) or designate.

Committee members from colleges with SSHRC-eligible researchers will be invited to serve for terms of three (3) years in duration. Committee members will be sought in the order of:

  1. Recent or current SSHRC Insight Grant Review Committee members;
  2. Recent or current SSHRC Insight Development Grant Review Committee members;
  3. Current SSHRC Insight Grant grantees; and
  4. Current SSHRC Insight Development Grant grantees.
  5. Active researchers in the social sciences and humanities.

Explore Grants

Explore Grants will provide seed funding for research that is intended to result in the development and submission of an application to an external SSHRC funding opportunity within three (3) years of the award date. These funds can be used as bridge grants, for data collection or project completion; visiting scholars; support for students in research, workshops/symposia; and knowledge mobilization (podcasts, etc.).

Funds awarded must be spent within two (2) years of the date of award. Only in exceptional circumstances will requests for extension of the period of the grant be considered. These must be received in writing by the Director of Research Support Services within two (2) months prior to the termination date of the award. Funds not spent within two (2) years of the date of award will be recalled.

If an awardee applies for an external SSHRC grant other than the one they received the SIG award for, justification for this change must be submitted with any new SIG application. Approval for a subsequent SIG application will not be granted if the awardee holds a separate Explore or Exchange grant for the same SSHRC program and Project.

The following criteria and scoring scheme will be used to evaluate Explore Grant applications. The criteria are similar to those evaluated in the SSHRC Insight Development Grants program with weighting adjusted to include an additional internal consideration for linkage to future SSHRC grant.

Challenge – The aim and importance of the endeavour (40%):

  • Originality, significance and expected contribution to knowledge
  • Appropriateness of the theoretical approach or framework
  • Appropriateness of the methods/approach
  • Quality of training and mentoring to be provided to students and HQP
  • Potential for the results to have influence and impact within and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community

Feasibility – The plan to achieve excellence (20%):

  • Appropriateness of the proposed timeline and probability that the objectives will be met
  • Expertise of the applicant in relation to the proposed project
  • Appropriateness of the requested budget, justification of proposed costs
  • Quality and appropriateness of knowledge mobilization plans
  • Indications of other planned resources including leveraging of cash and in-kind support from other sources

Capability – The expertise to succeed (20%):

  • Quality, quantity, and significance of past experience and published and/or creative output
  • Evidence of past knowledge mobilization activities
  • Quality and quantity of past contributions to the development of training and mentoring students and HQP

Linkage to Future SSHRC Application (20%):

  • Appropriateness of the proposed Explore Grant project to contribute to the development of a future application to an external SSHRC competition
  • Indications of how the proposed Explore Grant project and the future external SSHRC grant tie into the applicants recent and ongoing research activities

Exchange Grants

Exchange Grants are intended to subsidize the cost of travel required to support national and international knowledge mobilization within and/or beyond the research community. The proposed travel cannot be related to research funded by existing SSHRC support. Exchange Grants can reimburse travel expenses which have occurred in the past.

Travel funds awarded are to be spent within sixty (60) days after the date of travel unless retroactive funding has been sought. For applications seeking funds for retroactive travel expenses, the expense must have been incurred within the preceding six (6) months (i.e. – for the May competition, expenses must be no earlier than November of the previous year and for the November competition, expenses must have been incurred no earlier than May of the same year). If funds are not applied to the purposes described in the Exchange Grant application for which the award was made, the funds will be recalled. In order to meet the terms and conditions for this award, Faculty who receive an Exchange Grant must apply for the external SSHRC grant described in their submission within three (3) years of the award date. If an awardee applies for an external SSHRC grant other than the one they received the SIG award for, justification for this change must be submitted with any new application. Approval will not be granted if the awardee holds a separate Explore or Exchange grant for the same SSHRC program and Project.

The following criteria and scoring scheme will be used to evaluate Exchange Grant applications. The criteria are similar to those evaluated in the SSHRC Connection Grants program with weighting adjusted to include an additional internal consideration of linkage to future SSHRC grant.

Challenge – The aim and importance of the endeavour (30%):

  • Expected contribution to the preservation of, access to and/or mobilization of research knowledge
  • Quality and significance of the research being mobilized
  • Quality of training and mentoring to be provided to students and HQP, and opportunities for them to contribute
  • Potential for the project results to have influence and impact within and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community

Feasibility – The plan to achieve excellence (30%):

  • Appropriateness of the proposed timeline and probability that the objectives will be met
  • Appropriateness of the requested budget and justification of proposed costs
  • Indications of other planned resources including leveraging of cash and in-kind support from other sources

Capability – The expertise to succeed (20%):

  • Quality, quantity and significance of past experience and published and/or creative outputs
  • Evidence of past knowledge mobilization activities
  • Quality and quantity of past contributions to the training and mentoring of students and HPQ

Linkage to Future SSHRC Application (20%):

  • Indications of how the proposed or past travel will contribute to the development of a future application to an external SSHRC competition
  • Indications of how the travel and the future SSHRC grant tie into the applicants recent and ongoing research activities.

Award Terms and Conditions

Current guidelines on the use of grant funds, outlined in the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration apply to all grants provided through the University of Guelph’s SIG (both the Explore and Exchange Grants). Please ensure only eligible expenses are included in your budget.

Research undertaken must comply with the University’s policies on the conduct of research. Furthermore, funds will not be released until the required human participant protocols, as applicable, are approved. For information on the use of humans in research, please see the University’s policy and procedures on using human participants in research.

Contact information

For questions, please contact:

Laurie Green
Awards and Agreements Officer
Research Services Office
lgalling@uoguelph.ca