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Application Instructions — Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative

NOTE: Co-directors and co-applicants who have been directed here for the CV and Biographical Sketch Instructions, click here.

Note

These instructions are intended to be used in conjunction with the Gender-Based Violence Research Initiative description, which includes the criteria that will be assessed by reviewers.

Your application must be received by 8:00 p.m. (eastern) on the deadline date (i.e., October 6, 2022).

Grant funds may be administered only by an eligible postsecondary institution. Refer to the funding opportunity description for details and contact institutional.eligibility@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca for questions about the process for obtaining institutional eligibility, which is distinct from the grant application.

If you are a project director from an eligible institution, select the name of the administering organization in the Affiliations step when creating an application. The research administrator at your institution is responsible for submitting your application. Refer to “Submitting an application as the research administrator” below for more details. As your institution may have earlier internal deadlines, check with your research administrator regarding deadlines. All team members, including project directors, co-directors and co-applicants, should inform their institution’s research administrator or representative of their involvement in an application.

Important links

Am I eligible to apply?

Consult the Eligibility section of the funding opportunity description to ensure that you can participate in this grant program as a project director, co-director, co-applicant or collaborator.

Accommodations and accessibility

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 accommodations-adaptation@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca. You can also contact SSHRC if you have questions or are seeking specific adaptation arrangements. You do not need to share your medical or sensitive personal information, and, to protect your privacy, should avoid doing so.

Frequently requested accommodations include, but are not limited to:

Collection and use of personal information

The information you provide in your application is collected under the authority of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Act and stored in a series of SSHRC data banks described in Information about programs and information holdings. Details on the use and disclosure of this information are described on the Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal Information SSHRC page, in the Convergence Portal, and below. The information is used in accordance with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

Self-identification information

You are required to complete the self-identification form in order to apply for SSHRC funding; however, you may select “Prefer not to answer” for any or all questions. SSHRC appreciates your participation, which supports the granting agencies in monitoring the equity of their programs and strengthening equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the research enterprise.

The self-identification information is collected as part of your user profile when you register in the Convergence Portal. It is not part of your application and is neither accessible to, nor shared with, external reviewers and/or selection committee members.

Application deadline

Your completed application must be received at SSHRC by 8:00 p.m. (eastern) on October 6, 2022. The application will not be accessible to edit once it is submitted.

Using the Convergence Portal to prepare your application

You must complete the application using the Convergence Portal. The Convergence Portal is only supported on the latest versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox. The portal may appear to function in other browsers, but can malfunction: for example, the information entered may not be properly captured in the system, without your being aware. Use of an unsupported browser is strongly discouraged.

Participant eligibility (to be completed by project director)

Step 1—Project Director Eligibility: Read the eligibility section of the funding opportunity description and answer the question confirming the eligibility of your proposal.

Step 2—Affiliations: List all your current affiliations and identify your primary affiliation. Select the organization that will administer the grant. If the name of the organization with which you are applying is not in the list in this step, contact partnerships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.

Step 3—Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI): Complete the self-identification form, as required in order to apply for SSHRC funding; however, you may select “Prefer not to answer” for any or all questions (see self-identification section above for more information).

Step 4—Fields of research: List your fields of research and indicate one as a primary area of research.

Step 5—Keywords: Provide a minimum of five keywords that best describe, overall, your areas of research.

Terms and conditions: Accept the terms and conditions to begin the application process.

Begin application: Complete all sections, including uploading your CV (up to six pages, PDF) based on the CV and Biographical Sketch Instructions.

Completing the application

Before writing your proposal, consult the evaluation criteria in the funding opportunity description. The headings below match the application sections in the Convergence Portal. Follow the instructions provided in this document, along with the instructions provided in the Convergence Portal, to complete the application.

The project director is responsible for completing all sections of the application and submitting it once complete. While co-directors and co-applicants must complete their own profiles, including uploading their CV documents, the project director must verify that this has been done before submitting. The project director must remove any co-applicants or co-directors who have not completed their profiles or uploaded their CV documents in order to be able to Finalize and Submit the application.

The project director is responsible for verifying the page lengths and proper formatting of any uploaded attachments. If an application contains one or more attachments that do not comply with the page limits or formatting standard, it may be withdrawn from the competition or pages may be removed from the application.

Note: While co-directors and co-applicants can see the application content while in the Convergence Portal, they are not able to edit the content or make any other changes to the application.

Application details - Required

Application title: Provide a short and descriptive title. It may be used for publication purposes. Limit the use of abbreviated forms (e.g., DNA, NATO, etc.) and avoid company or trade names.

Language of the application: Indicate the official language in which the application will be submitted.

Invitations

Invite the co-directors and co-applicants for this application. Those invited will receive an email, which will include the project director’s name and email address, and the project title, as well as a link to the Convergence Portal. Once they have selected Accept Invitation and completed their own eligibility profile, the co-directors’ and co-applicants’ names will be displayed in the Participants section of your application.

Co-directors are required to upload a CV (up to six pages, PDF), following the CV and Biographical Sketch Instructions below. While co-directors must upload the CV document, co-applicants, as outlined in the same instructions, may choose to upload the CV document or a brief, one-page biographical sketch.

Ensure that co-directors and co-applicants invited in this section are eligible for that role by consulting the Eligibility section of the funding opportunity description.

Note: Email addresses are not verified and bounce backs are not registered. We strongly recommend that you follow up directly with invited co-directors and co-applicants if an individual has not accepted your invitation in a timely manner. When accepting an invitation, individuals will be redirected to the Convergence Portal to log in (or create an account), to verify their eligibility, and to complete the participant content. If you currently have an account on the Research Portal, please use your existing credentials to log in.

Participants

This section lists all co-directors and co-applicants who have successfully joined the application. If an individual has not accepted your invitation, follow up with them to confirm they have received it. If an invited co-director or co-applicant is listed as Pending Eligibility, they have accepted your invitation, but not yet completed their eligibility profile. Their status will show as Complete when the required information has been finalized.

Collaborators

List the collaborators who will contribute to the research or related activities, but who will not have access to grant funds. While collaborators will not be sent an invitation to join the application like co-directors and co-applicants, they must have confirmed to the project director their willingness to participate in the application as a collaborator prior to being listed in this section.

Do not list co-directors or co-applicants in this section.

Any individual who will make a significant contribution to the project is eligible to be a collaborator.

Partner organizations - Required

List the partner organizations that have agreed to participate in the formal partnership. Include the contact information of each partner organization contact person. If the organization to which the project director is affiliated wishes to participate as a partner organization, the project director must list it in this section.

Upload letters of support from each partner organization and include cash and in-kind contributions in the Supporting documents section as outlined below.

Fields of research - Required

List the fields of research that best describe this specific application according to the 2019 version of the Canadian Research and Development Classification (CRDC). You must provide one primary field of research, and you may list up to a maximum of five fields of research.

Keywords - Required

List between one and ten keyword entries that best describe this specific application. As your application must align with at least one of the five themes that are the focus of this initiative, one of these keyword entries must be one of the five themes that your application is most related to (i.e., Shelters and Housing; Violence against LGBTQ2+ People; Natural Resources, Work Camps and Sexual Violence; Access to Justice and Prevention of GBV; or Technology-facilitated GBV against Youth).

Summary of proposal - Required

Provide a clear summary of your proposal, indicating:

Proposed budget - Required

Enter the yearly amounts requested. Ensure that your proposed budget does not exceed the maximum amount that can be requested per year or the maximum number of years that may be requested: up to $100,000 for the first year and up to $200,000 annually for the following three years, for an overall total maximum of $700,000 over four years.

Additional budget details are required in the Supporting documents section (i.e., “Funds requested from SSHRC” and “Budget justification” attachments). Please ensure that the total amounts requested from SSHRC and WAGE correspond with those submitted in the “Funds requested from SSHRC” detailed budget table in the Supporting documents section.

Certifications, licenses and permits

Complete this section by answering the questions as they relate to the proposed research project.

State whether or not your proposal involves human beings as research subjects. If it does, select “Yes” and consult the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans—TCPS 2 (2018) and submit your proposal to your organization’s research ethics board.

The Impact Assessment form (Appendix A) must be completed and submitted with grant applications only if at least one of the following situations applies to your research or research-related activities, as per the Impact Assessment Act, 2019 (IAA):

  1. any phase of the proposed research takes place on federal lands, other than lands under the administration and control of the Commissioner of Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut, as interpreted in section 2 of the IAA*;
  2. any phase of the proposed research takes place in a country other than Canada*;
  3. the grant funds permit a designated project (listed in the Physical Activities Regulations) to be carried out in whole or in part; or
  4. any phase of the proposed research depends on a designated project (listed in the Physical Activities Regulations) being led or carried out by an organization other than SSHRC.

* Items A and B above apply only to designated projects / physical activities listed in the Physical Activities Regulations (e.g., projects that involve physical work / alterations to the land or environment).

If none of the above situations apply to your proposed research activities, you do not need to complete or submit the Impact Assessment Form in the Supporting documents section.

Reviewer exclusions

List potential reviewers who, in your opinion, would be unlikely to provide an impartial review. While SSHRC cannot be bound by this information, it will be taken into consideration in the selection of reviewers. This information will be held in strictest confidence and will not be provided to members of the adjudication committee.

Supporting documents

Instructions for attachments

Prepare the documents

  1. Prepare your Supporting documents attachments following the requirements below.
  2. Any acronyms and abbreviations must be explained.
  3. Pages must be 8 ½" x 11" (216 mm x 279 mm).
  4. Text must be single-spaced, with no more than six lines of type per inch.
  5. All text must be in black, using 11 pt. Arial font; condensed fonts will not be accepted.
  6. Margins must be set at a minimum of ¾" (1.87 cm).
  7. In multi-page attachments, pages must be numbered sequentially.
  8. The application identification number (i.e., 1010-2022-xxxxx) must appear at the top of each page of the attachment.
  9. The name of the document must appear at the top (e.g., Research Proposal).

Convert the documents

All attachments must be converted to Portable Document Format (PDF) before they can be attached to the application. The conversion process varies with the operating system and word processing software you are using. If you have questions about converting your documents to PDF, contact your institution’s technical support staff.

If you do not have a PDF conversion program, you may download a free version of PrimoPDF. Macintosh users have a PDF conversion option in the Macintosh system "print" function.

Research proposal (maximum 15 pages total) - Required

The following sections must be addressed in one document and uploaded following the instructions for attachments above. The page limits indicated for each section are suggestions, but the maximum limit of 15 pages is firm. The order of the sections must be followed, and the use of headings is highly encouraged. Use language that can be understood by a multidisciplinary review panel.

Note: SSHRC and WAGE encourages its funding recipients to disseminate research knowledge in both official languages, whenever feasible and/or appropriate.

Open access and data management

Grant holders must follow the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications. To the extent possible, and in keeping with this policy and SSHRC’s endorsement of open access forms of knowledge dissemination, grant holders should make their research results openly available through, for example, open access publications, websites, publicly accessible databases and/or institutional repositories. To learn more, consult the Open Access overview.

List of references or bibliography (maximum 10 pages) - Required

List all references cited or works referred to in your proposal. SSHRC recognizes and allows the use of different referencing styles.

If you have included references by the project director, co-director(s), co-applicant(s), or collaborator(s), indicate these in bold type.

Funds requested from SSHRC - Required

Grants offered under this initiative are valued at up to $700,000 over four years. The maximum funding is up to $100,000 for the first year and up to $200,000 annually for each of the following three years.

For each budget year, estimate the costs you are asking SSHRC and WAGE to fund in the template provided for this section (upload as a PDF). Ensure that you fill in years one through four only, and that the totals match the figures entered into the Proposed Budget section of the Convergence application form. Consult the Specific rules for the use of grant funds section of the funding opportunity description. All budget costs must conform to the rates and regulations of the project director’s institution and take into account the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration principles governing the appropriate use of funds.

All costs must be justified in terms of the needs of the project, including costs for organizing and integrating team activities and for communicating results to audiences, stakeholders and the public. The budget will be adjudicated according to the appropriateness of the requested budget, and to the justification of other planned resources (e.g., time, human and financial), including cash and in-kind support already or to be secured from partner organizations.

SSHRC provides the following guidelines to committee members regarding the adjudication of the budget subcriteria of the overall Feasibility score:

Enter amounts rounded to the nearest dollar.

Personnel costs

For each of the categories below, enter the number of students and non-students you plan to hire, whether as salaried employees or as recipients of stipends.

Student and non-student salaries and benefits

For each applicable category, enter the number of students and non-students to be hired. Specify the total amount to be paid. When students are paid by wage, the amounts should follow the institution’s collective agreement or policy.

Student stipends

You may request stipends for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Stipends must be justified in terms of the research, research training and/or research-related objectives. The work performed by stipend recipients should be an integral part of the project. Stipend rates are set by the institution concerned.

Other—Salary research allowances

Salary research allowances are an eligible expense. These stipends are paid to a Canadian not-for-profit organization to cover up to 50% of the annual salary of an employee who is being temporarily replaced because they will be devoting their time as a project director, a co-director or a co-investigator on a SSHRC-funded research project. The request for a salary research allowance must be justified in the proposal.

Salary research allowances can be used only by not-for-profit organizations that have project directors, co-directors or co-applicants listed on the grant team. Postsecondary institutions and governmental organizations are not eligible for salary research allowances.

Travel and subsistence costs

Enter, by budget year, the total amounts requested for travel abroad and within Canada for both the research team and student personnel. Project directors must obtain the lowest possible travel fares.

Subsistence costs must be based on rates approved by the institution or organization that will administer the funds.

Other expenses

Professional or technical services

Consulting fees for professional and technical services are eligible expenditures only if the budget justification demonstrates that expert advice is needed.

Supplies

You may include other supply items (e.g., software, stationery, postage and telephone calls) only if they directly relate to the research and are not provided by the administering organization to their research personnel or by the employer.

Non-disposable equipment—computer hardware

Purchase or rental of computers and associated hardware is allowable only if these are not provided by the administering organization to their research personnel or by the employer.

Other non-disposable equipment

Purchase or rental of equipment (e.g., audio or video equipment) is allowable only if these are not provided by the administering organization to their research personnel or by the employer.

Other expenses (specify)

Specify other research and/or related expenses not already included.

Budget justification (maximum 2 pages) - Required

Using the categories listed on the Funds requested from SSHRC page, explain how you will use the funds in each budget category to achieve the project objectives. For example, under the student and non-student salaries and benefits categories, explain why these people need to be hired to meet the project’s objectives. Project directors are reminded of SSHRC’s mandate to provide training opportunities for students, emerging scholars and other highly qualified personnel, as applicable. Justify any funds that appear in the category “Other.”

Ensure that your budget requests match the level of funding that is essential to complete the proposed activities. The adjudication committee may deem your application less competitive if it finds that you are requesting non-essential funding.

In reviewing the funding you have requested, committee members take into account the quality of your overall financial planning, your justification of the proposed expenditures, and the institutional and partner organization funding that you have secured. It is also important to indicate how the budget requested from SSHRC and WAGE as well as the partners’ contributions will complement each other and benefit the objectives of the partnership.

Expenses to facilitate equitable, inclusive and accessible participation in the research should be considered and budgets should demonstrate a commitment to accessibility for a wide range of participants and collaborators who may face economic, childcare, travel-related or disability-related barriers to participation. Refer to your institution’s policies and the Statement on equity, diversity and inclusion and the use of grant funds in the Tri-agency Guide on Financial Administration. Refer to SSHRC’s Guide to Addressing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Considerations in Partnership Grant Applications, and Appendix B for examples of EDI in research practice and questions to consider for EDI in research design.

Funds from other sources - Required

Complete the template provided for this section (upload as a PDF). Ensure that you fill in years one through four only. List all contributors (e.g., administering organization, partner organizations, individuals, not-for-profit organizations and private sector organizations) that are providing cash and/or in-kind contributions for the proposal. Indicate whether these funds have been confirmed.

Type in the source name and amount and identify the contribution type.

If you have received more than one contribution of the same type from a single funding source (i.e., cash or in-kind) and with the same confirmation status, you must combine these into one entry (e.g., two confirmed $20,000 cash contributions from a university become one confirmed $40,000 cash contribution). Enter amounts rounded off to the nearest dollar, in Canadian currency.

Letters of support from partner organizations (maximum 2 pages per partner) - Required

The project director must upload a letter of support from each confirmed partner organization. The administering organization may also be a partner organization and provide a letter of support. Letters of support must be written on official letterhead and must include the following information:

List of potential partner organizations (maximum 2 pages) - If applicable

Attach a list of the potential partner organizations you plan to engage during the lifetime of your grant. Include website links, if available. Additionally, indicate whether each partner listed has been invited to participate.

Impact assessment (Appendix A)

Please follow on-screen instructions in the application and attach the Impact Assessment Form (Appendix A) in the Supporting documents if directed to do so.

Submitting the application

Review your application to ensure that it is complete. Follow the prompts from the Finalize Application section to submit it.

After you accept the Terms and Conditions, the status of your submission will change to Received by Administrator. If you want to make any changes after this point, you must request that your research grants office (research administrator) return it to you. Once your research administrator has approved and submitted your application, the application status will be changed to Received by Agency and no further changes can be made. If the research administrator does not forward the application, it will expire.

Submitting an application as the research administrator

When you receive an application submitted by a project director at your institution, you will be asked to approve the application and submit it.

By forwarding the application, the research administrator, on behalf of the institution, certifies that:

Contact information

If you have questions:

CV and Biographical Sketch Instructions

Introduction

These instructions outline the required sections of the CV and the biographical sketch. All project directors and co-directors must submit a CV (up to six pages). Co-applicants may choose between submitting the CV or a one-page biographical sketch (see instructions below).

Participant Role CV (up to six pages) Biographical Sketch (one page)

Project director

Mandatory

N/A

Co-director

Mandatory

N/A

Co-applicant

Mandatory – option of either full CV or Biographical sketch

The CV or biographical sketch (when applicable) will need to be uploaded as a PDF to the Convergence Portal once complete. Please use the headings below as a template as you prepare the CV. Biographical sketch instructions can be found at the end of this document.

Name

Please provide your given name, initials, and family name at the top of your CV.

Current Position

List your current place of employment or university affiliation in this section. Indicate your position (e.g., associate professor, director, community organizer, student, postdoctoral fellow or associate).

Academic Background (as applicable)

You may list up to five degrees. List them in reversed chronological order, starting with the highest. For completed degrees, indicate the date the degree was awarded. For degrees in progress, enter your expected date of completion.

Credentials

List up to six awards, scholarships, fellowships, distinctions, licenses and professional designations you have received and think would be the most pertinent to the adjudication of your application. List them in reverse chronological order, based on the year awarded.

Funded Research

List up to eight grants or contracts you have received from SSHRC and/or other sources and include the following information (as applicable): funding organization; year awarded / completion status; your role (project director, co-applicant, etc.); applicant’s name (if not you); project title; total amount awarded.

Research Contributions and Relevant Experience

The project director, co-directors as well as any co-applicants providing full CVs must provide a section presenting research contributions and relevant experience. They may address the sections below, as applicable, and choose to devote more space to certain sections depending on the nature of their past contributions and experience. Attachments should be presented in this order, as applicable:

  1. Relevant research contributions over the last six years
  2. Other research contributions
  3. Most significant career research contributions
  4. Career interruptions and special circumstances
  5. Contributions to training
  6. Relevant experience

1. Relevant research contributions over the last six years

Outline your research contributions within six years of the application deadline date. In the case of those candidates claiming career interruptions (see 4. below), you may include publications drawn from your most recent periods of research activity to an overall total of six years.

Provide details, as appropriate, about the contributions you listed, as follows.

Group your contributions by category in the following order, as applicable, listing your most recent contributions first.

Refereed contributions

Examples include books (where applicable, subdivide according to those that are single-authored, co-authored and edited works), monographs, book chapters, articles in scholarly refereed journals and conference proceedings.

Be aware that a “refereed work” involves its assessment: in its entirety—not merely an abstract or extract; before publication; and by independent (at arm’s length from the author), anonymous, qualified experts.

Other refereed contributions

Examples include papers presented at scholarly meetings or conferences and articles in professional or trade journals.

Non-refereed contributions

Examples include book reviews, published reviews of work, research reports, policy papers and public lectures.

Forthcoming contributions

Indicate one of the following statuses: “submitted,” “revised and submitted,” “accepted” or “in press.” Provide the name of the journal or book publisher and the number of pages. Contributions not yet submitted should not be listed.

Creative outputs

Examples of creative outputs may include exhibitions, performances, publications, presentations, and film, video and audio recordings. List your most recent and significant achievements grouped by category.

Creative outputs will be evaluated according to established disciplinary standards and creative and/or artistic merit.

If applicable, you may include a website link. SSHRC cannot guarantee that links will be accessed.

2. Other research contributions

Describe any other contributions to research and the advancement of knowledge within the last six years, including your research contributions to non-academic audiences (e.g., public, policy-makers, private sector and not-for-profit organizations).

3. Most significant career research contributions

List and rank up to five of your most significant contributions over your entire career. The six-year rule does not apply to this section. Therefore, contributions listed here may differ from those listed in other sections of your CV. Please ensure that you explain briefly the significance of the contributions listed.

4. Career interruptions and special circumstances

Career interruptions occur when researchers are taken away from their research work for an extended period of time for health, administrative, family or other reasons, or reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In these cases, as explained above in the Relevant research contributions over the last six years section, explain the interruption(s) and ask that an overall total of six years of research activity be considered by the adjudicating committee.

Special circumstances involve slowdowns in research productivity created by health (and/or disability-related), administrative, family, cultural or community responsibilities, socio-economic context, COVID-19 or other reasons (i.e., the researcher was not completely taken away from research work). Applicants from small institutions may indicate their teaching load in this section if the change in workload impacted their research output.

Indigenous applicants can use the “Special Circumstances” section of their application form to describe special circumstances that may have had an impact on their academic or career paths.

SSHRC asks its adjudication committees to consider career interruptions and special circumstances that may have affected candidates’ record of research achievements. In doing so, adjudication committee members will be able to more accurately estimate the productivity of each researcher, independent of any career interruptions or special circumstances in the last six years. Previous productivity is one element that may predict the success of the proposed research project.

All information provided to SSHRC is subject to the Privacy Act. Applicants are reminded that the information included in this section of their application will be shared with both external assessors and adjudication committee members for consideration as part of their application. For more information, see merit review. All SSHRC merit reviewers are subject to the Tri-Agency Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy, and are prohibited from sharing this information outside of the merit review process.

5. Contributions to training

Provide the following information on students you have helped train within the last six years.

6. Relevant experience

In the Relevant experience section, non-academic and academic project directors can describe their previous experience that is relevant to the topic and objectives they are investigating in the application, including their experience in engaging in and/or leading formal partnerships and collaborative research. Please justify how this experience will aid you in the proposed activity. Examples of relevant experience include: working within or with communities and/or organizations (e.g., not-for-profit, public and private sector organizations), non-academic career information, or voluntary work. Include:

Biographical Sketch (optional for co-applicants only)

Co-applicants may choose to include a one page biographical sketch instead of the CV to help describe your research and professional experience that is relevant to the topic and objectives of the application.

You may structure the biographical sketch as you wish, generally following the proposed headings below as applicable. You may choose to devote more space to certain sections depending on the nature of your past contributions and experience (for example, co-applicants from non-academic sectors may choose to have a larger “Relevant experience” section). Note that the “Employment/affiliations” section must be included in your biographical sketch.

Proposed sections to use, as applicable:

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