SSHRC Storytellers Contest

SSHRC has recently launched its annual Storytellers contest, challenging postsecondary students to show Canadians how social sciences and humanities research affects our lives, our world and our future prosperity.

The contest is open to all students, graduate and undergraduate, enrolled at Canadian postsecondary institutions. Their task is to tell the story, in 3 minutes or 300 words, of a SSHRC-funded research project—their own or a professor’s—taking place at their institution. SSHRC will select 25 finalists to receive a $3000 cash prize and specialized training in research communications. For details on this year’s Storytellers contest, you can follow SSHRC on Twitter, watch for the #SSHRCStorytellers hashtag, and visit the SSHRC website.

Also, in honour of Canada’s 150th anniversary, SSHRC will be recognizing one of our Storytellers with a special award in 2017. Visit the Storytellers site for more details (to come). Participant questions should be addressed to Storytellers@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.

SSHRC Insight Development Grants Webinars

SSHRC will be holding four webinars (English and French) on the upcoming Insight Development Grants 2017 for applicants and administrators: one general session and one focused on research-creation. There is no need to register in advance.

All of the webinars will be held via Adobe Connect (for the visual presentation and written questions only. No audio.) and teleconference (for the audio) on the following dates:

Date Time Topic Language Link to meeting
December 6 1:30-3:00 PM ET IDG general French https://sshrc-crsh.adobeconnect.com/r6v4f5nz28f/
December 7 1:30-3:00 PM ET IDG general English https://sshrc-crsh.adobeconnect.com/r727n10acd6/
December 13 1:30-3:00 PM ET IDG Research-creation English https://sshrc-crsh.adobeconnect.com/r2bpmsfmhs1/
December 14 1:30-3:00 PM ET IDG Research-creation French https://sshrc-crsh.adobeconnect.com/r7nu25f27we/

To join the teleconference (for the sound):

  • Local Dial-in:   613-960-7515
  • Toll free Dial-in: 1 877-413-4791
  • Enter the Conference ID: 6214165

First time attending an Adobe Connect meeting?

  • Test your connection
  • Get a quick overview

http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/products/adobeconnect/pdfs/VQS_Guide_for_Participants.pdf

For technical questions please contact:

Helpdesk

Tel.: 613-995-4273

Email: webgrant@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

CIHR Operating Grant Funding Opportunity: Sugar & Health

CIHR Operating Grant: Sugar and Health

**Notice: Upcoming Webinar** Interested applicants are invited to participate in a webinar on this opportunity on December 2, 2016 (English 3:30-4:30 pm ET; French 2:00-3:00pm ET). To register, email inmd.comms@sickkids.ca. Only registered participants will be sent a WebEx invite prior to the webinar.

Application Deadline: January 17 2016
Funding Start Date: April 1, 2017
Grant amount: Maximum amount per grant is $150,000/year for up to 2 yrs. (Total of $300K)

How to Apply: The application is comprised of one step, “Application” and will be submitted via ResearchNet

Canadian Common CV: The application requires each participant (except collaborators) to create a CIHR Academic CV or the Knowledge User CV, as appropriate. The Nominated Principal Applicant must upload an Academic Common CV.

Objectives
The specific objectives of this funding opportunity are to support policy relevant research and generate evidence regarding:

  • The unique health effects of dietary sugars, particularly sugars from different sources.
  • Population level interventions to reduce free sugars consumption.

Relevant Research Areas
The CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism & Diabetes (INMD) in partnership with Health Canada will provide funding for applications that address the objectives of this funding opportunity and that are deemed relevant to the research areas described below.

Applicants are asked to align their application with only one of the following funding pools:

Sugars and Health Funding Pool

  • Health impacts of free sugars in solid foods compared to beverages.
  • Health effects and intermediary effects on overall diet of free sugars reduction through replacement with non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) compared to sugars reduction without replacement of sweeteners / sweet taste.
  • Effective interventions that could shift preferences for sweet taste away from high free sugars in children and youth over time.
  • Health effects of shifting high sugar diets and the impact on gut microbiota and metabolomics.

Population Approaches to Reduce Free Sugar Consumption Funding Pool

  • Studies on population level interventions2 to reduce free sugars consumption (for example, by influencing price, product, placement, and promotion) within overall context of healthy eating to inform what works, in what context, and differential impacts across sub-populations (studies on children and youth are particularly encouraged). Studies that consider a systems approach3 are particularly encouraged.
  • Studies that demonstrate potential impact in Canada of promising free sugars policy interventions that have been implemented in other countries. This could include simulation modelling or, when possible, inter-jurisdictional comparisons of actual interventions.
  • Studies on substitution effects and/or compensatory behaviour at the population level and within the food supply and overall impact on free sugars consumption and eating behaviour.

The following are not eligible for this funding opportunity:

  • Studies focused solely on behaviour change at the individual level, within clinical settings and/or focused on treatment of disease.
  • Basic science using animal models.
  • Food science research that pertains to product reformulation.
  • Systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

For complete details on this opportunity, please see the full description:

https://www.researchnet-recherchenet.ca/rnr16/vwOpprtntyDtls.do?prog=2554&view=currentOpps&type=EXACT&resultCount=25&sort=program&all=1&masterList=true

Durham International Fellowships for Research & Enterprise (DIFeREns)

Durham International Senior Fellowships

The EU-sponsored Durham International Fellowships for Research and Enterprise (DIFeREns) allows Durham University to gather together scholars, researchers, policy makers or practitioners from around the world and across the full spectrum of science, social science, arts and humanities to address themes of global significance in collaboration with Durham’s Research Institutes and researchers.

As part of the DIFeREns scheme Durham University recruits two types of Senior Fellow :

  • Senior Research Fellowships
  • Policy and Enterprise Fellowships

Applications are encouraged from individuals who wish to work on collaborative research projects with one of Durham University’s thematic Institutes or with the Durham University Business School (DUBS) :

Applications are also welcome from individuals wishing to collaborate on a research project associated with other research groups or Research Centres at Durham University.

Before applying, applicants must seek the agreement of a Durham academic to act as their host.

Deadline: The closing date for applications, for both categories of Fellowship: January 6,  2017.

For further details about both categories of Fellowship and how to apply please consult the ‘2017 Senior Fellowships – Further Particulars’ documents located on the Durham website

How will Canada continue to thrive in an interconnected world and evolving global landscape? SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis Grant: November 2016 Competition

SSHRC November 2016 Knowledge Synthesis Competition:
How will Canada continue to thrive in an interconnected world and evolving global landscape?

Value: $25,000
Duration: 1 year
Application Deadline: January 12, 2017
Results Announced: March 2017

What will the course of a globalized future look like? How will societies address the promise and the peril of global forces shaping our future? These topics will be explored in this, the fifth Knowledge Synthesis Grants competition launched as part of SSHRC’s Imagining Canada’s Future initiative.

Description
This funding opportunity will support researchers, teams of researchers and knowledge users in producing knowledge syntheses and scoping reviews that:

  • support the evidence’s use in decision-making, and the application of best practices; and
  • assist in developing future research agendas.

Applicants must address the following three objectives of the funding opportunity in their proposals:

  • State of knowledge, strengths and gaps
  • Research data
  • Knowledge mobilization

Expected Outcomes
Knowledge Synthesis Grants are not intended to support original research. Rather, they are intended to support the synthesis of existing research knowledge and the identification of knowledge gaps. This call is particularly focused on the state of research knowledge emerging over the past 10 years.

A full description of this opportunity and how to apply can be found on SSHRC’s funding page.

SSHRC 2017 Insight Development Grants Now Open

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s 2017 Insight Development Grants opportunity is now open. The Insight Development Grants (IDG) application form can be accessed through SSHRC’s Research Portal

Application deadline: February 3, 2017
Results announced: June 2017

New developments with the application this year include:

The adjudication committee structure will include disciplinary committees when justified by the number of applications.

Detailed information is available to applicants preparing an IDG research-creation application can be found here.

Note that Shared Services Canada (SSC), the hosting provider for CCV, is planning a major system upgrade on Saturday, November 19, beginning at 8 am ET. This upgrade is expected to end late in the evening. Consequently, the CCV application will not be available during this time.

MITACS – Canadian Science Policy Fellowship Opportunity

Timelines:
Call for host department projects: November 1, 2016–December 30, 2016
Call for fellow applicants: January 2017
Results announced: May 2017

About the fellowship:
MITACS is committed to fostering policy leadership among Canada’s researchers. They have worked closely with the academic research and policy communities to identify ways to integrate academic research and evidence-based policy-making at the federal level. MITACS and its partners are pleased to introduce the result of this collaboration, the Canadian Science Policy Fellowship.
The fellowship helps government develop policy with advice from respected professors and postdoctoral scholars and will strengthen ties between the public sector and academia. The first of its kind in Canada, the fellowship is offered in partnership with the University of Ottawa’s Institute for Science, Society and Policy (ISSP), Mitacs’ university partners, and the Government of Canada.
The inaugural cohort of 10–12 fellows will be matched with federal host departments or agencies in Ottawa, where they will contribute to policy design, implementation, and/or evaluation.  Matches will align each fellow’s background and expertise with the identified needs of the host department.
The fellowship aims to:

  • Form mutually beneficial and robust relationships between government decision-makers and academic researchers in support of pressing policy challenges in Canada
  • Enhance science communication, collaboration, and policy capacity within government departments and agencies
  • Develop a network of external expertise in Canadian science policy that complements existing capacity within the public service

Who is Eligible?
A fellowship applicant must:

  1. Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
  2. Hold a PhD in any academic discipline at the start of the fellowship
  3. Professors must be a current faculty member at a Canadian university
  4. Be able to participate for the full 12-month fellowship in Ottawa. Fellows who are employed must take a leave of absence or sabbatical for the entirety of the fellowship. Fellows are responsible for their own relocation costs and accommodations in Ottawa
  5. Meet any additional employment criteria required by the Government of Canada, including (but not limited to) security clearance, as dictated by each host department or agency
  6. The fellowship is open to applicants and host departments in any sector or discipline. We anticipate that fellowships will focus on areas including (but not limited to):

– Agriculture and agri-food
– Big data and analytics
– Economics
– Energy
– Environment and/or climate change
– Health
– Indigenous affairs
– Information and communications technology
– Natural resources
– Social development

How to Apply:
Fellowship applications will open in January 2017 and will require:

  1. Mitacs Science Policy Fellowship application form
  2. A cover letter detailing the applicant’s specific research expertise, career milestones, and other accomplishments that convey their suitability for the fellowship project(s) to which they are applying (max. one page)
  3. A C.V. or résumé (max. five pages)
  4. A statement of interest that explains why the applicant wants to participate in the fellowship and its anticipated impact on Canadian science policy (max. 1,500 words)
  5. Two letters of support from referees that describe the applicant’s potential to succeed in the fellowship.

Letters can accompany the application or be sent under separate cover, to policyfellowship(at)mitacs.ca.

The application should demonstrate the scientific and technical credentials of the applicant and highlight their ability to engage with non-scientific audiences through skills such as communication, critical thinking, problem-solving and leadership.

Anticipated Timeline:

  • November 1–December 30, 2016
    Call for government host department
  • January 17–March 24, 2017
    Call for fellow applicants
  • April and May 2017
    Application review; shortlists of candidates provided to host departments; candidate interviews with host departments
  • May 2017
    Selection and placements of fellows confirmed
  • June–August 2017
    Fellows arrange travel and accommodations and finalize fellowship arrangements with host departments
  • September 2017
    Mitacs hosts welcome and orientation session in Ottawa; fellows begin their placements
  • August 2018
    Fellowship concludes
    Any changes to these dates will be communicated to applicants through a mailing list and on this web page.

Remuneration for fellows:
Fellows will receive a stipend that reflects their qualifications and is commensurate with comparable full-time employment within the federal public service. Individual stipends may vary depending on the host department or agency.

Fellows’ roles and responsibilities:
Fellows will be considered full-time employees of their host departments or agencies. They will work with policy decision-makers and participate in related activities including:

  • Design, implementation, or evaluation of policy
  • Stakeholder meetings and/or consultation management
  • Parliamentary committee support
  • Senior decision-maker briefings
  • Preparation of briefing and speaking notes

Professional development:
Mitacs and ISSP will conduct professional development, skill-building, and networking events throughout the fellowship. These events will enhance the fellows’ knowledge and capabilities and foster interaction and collaborative connections. In addition to an inaugural orientation and a year-end closing session, events throughout the year will address the following topics:

  • Public policy
  • Public engagement
  • Legal concepts and policymaking
  • Media and public relations
  • Communicating scientific research
  • Management and leadership

Contact policyfellowship(at)mitacs.ca if you require more information. Click HERE for the MITACS opportunity page

See the following press release for this year’s fellows on SSHRC’s site: http://www.mitacs.ca/en/canadian-science-policy-fellowship

SSHRC Connection Grant–Changes to Application

SSHRC is making some changes to the Connection Grants funding opportunity description and the application form, in an effort to streamline the application process. As a result, the form will be unavailable from 8:01 p.m. ET on November 1, 2016 to November 7, 2016.

All Connection Grants applications that are in progress will be again available on November 7, 2016. The following changes will be implemented as of November 7, 2016:

Funding opportunity description:

  • The description of events has been clarified;
  • Ineligible activities have been clarified;
  • Instructions for matching funds and letters of support have been clarified.

Application form:

  • The Research-Creation Support Material module has been moved up in the application form to avoid confusion with the applicant’s CV.

Please note that after each deadline the application server will be offline for 48 hours and will not be able to accept any additional applications.

CIHR Opportunity: Operating Grant: CCHS Nutrition Analysis

For complete details on this opportunity and how to apply, click here

Application Deadline: November 15, 2016
Anticipated Notice of Decision: February 28, 2017
Funding Start Date: January 1, 2017

Funds available: The maximum amount per grant is $100,000 for one year.
How to Apply:  Your Application must be submitted using ResearchNet.

Purpose: The purpose of this funding opportunity is to support the creation of evidence to support the development of nutrition and health policy and programs through the use of the 2015 CCHS- Nutrition data as it relates to the impact of nutrition and food security on health and disease.  Results from this survey will be used extensively for policy-making and program development that affect Canadians. The Canadian Community Health Survey has already been instrumental in drawing attention to emerging health issues, such as increasing trends in obesity.

This funding opportunity will support research related to the use of the 2015 CCHS data to answer population health questions. Linkages between 2015 CCHS data and other data sets (e.g. ecological data, environmental data, provincial health services administrative data) are encouraged. In addition, this funding opportunity aims to support research incorporating sex- and gender-based analysis (SGBA).

Relevant Research Areas

The CIHR Institutes of Nutrition Metabolism and Diabetes (INMD) and Circulatory and Respiratory Health, in partnership with Health Canada, Statistics Canada, and the Canadian Nutrition Society will provide funding for applications that are determined to be relevant to the following research areas:

  • Dietary intake, nutritional vulnerability, food insecurity, and health equity.
  • Examination of eating behaviours, dietary patterns and/or supplement use related to under and over-consumption of foods and nutrients of public health concern, body composition and/or health status.
  • Linking of environmental, ecological, health services administrative data to the CCHS Nutrition survey to answer questions related to broad determinants of dietary intake, health status and chronic disease (e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular disease).
  • Changes in nutrient intakes since the 2004 CCHS related to eating behaviours, social determinants of health and health status across sub-populations  (e.g. older adults, children and youth, marginal populations).
  • Innovative methods to advance population dietary assessment in Canada and address data gaps/limitations, e.g. quick tools to measure unhealthy eating patterns, data linkages, new technologies.

 

TCPS 2 (2014) – Revisions for Public Consultation

In keeping with its mandate to ensure that the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans is a living document, the Panel on Research Ethics is proposing revisions to TCPS 2 (2014). These proposed revisions are the result, in large part, of the work of two sub-committees of the Panel. The Chapter 11 sub-committee was mandated to review the scope of Chapter 11 – Clinical Trials and to update its guidance. Assistance on the implication of the proposed broader scope was provided by a group of social sciences researchers whose work would be covered under the proposed revisions.

The Population and Public Health Research Advisory Committee (PPHRAC) was established by the Panel in response to comments received from public health and epidemiology researchers in the course of consultations on TCPS 2 in 2010. PPHRAC considered how the guidance in TCPS 2 could be enhanced or adapted to address ethics issues specific to population and public health research.

In addition to the proposals generated by these groups, the Panel is also presenting revisions based on requests for interpretation of TCPS 2 that it has received over the last two years. Finally, some of the proposed changes involved re-organizing parts of the guidance based on changes to Chapter 11. In particular, a number of provisions were moved to the earlier chapters of TCPS 2 where general guidance is provided. A guide to the recommendations is provided in Highlights of Changes.

Comment Submissions

To promote the transparency of this public engagement process, the Panel requests that you include your name and the following demographics with your submission:
1. Province or territory
2. Affiliation: university, hospital, college, community organization, other
3. Capacity in which you are submitting the comments: REB member, researcher, student, administration, research participant, representative of a group or organization.
4. Your main discipline: Behavioural Sciences, Biomedical, Engineering, Health Sciences, Humanities, Interdisciplinary, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, other.

All comments received (including identifiable information) will be posted to the Panel’s website after the closing of the comment period. If you do not wish to have your comments posted, please indicate that clearly at the beginning of your submission.

Please e-mail your comments by January 31, 2017 or mail them to:
E-mail: secretariat@rcr.ethics.gc.ca
Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research
16th Floor Mailroom
350 Albert Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 1H5

The TCPS was developed in 1998 by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), or “the Agencies,” to provide harmonized guidance on the ethical conduct of research involving humans. The Agencies formed the Panel in 2001 to interpret and promote the TCPS.