CIHR Operating Grants

The CIHR Operating Grant Program (OGP) provides operating funds to support research proposals in all areas of health research. If your program of research is in the health area, you may be eligible for funding from CIHR. Note that SSHRC no longer funds health-related research that is eligible for funding under CIHR.

Deadlines:

CIHR – Letter of Intent / Registration: February 1, 2012  (Letters of Intent are Mandatory)
Faculty of Education Research Office: One week prior to the Research Services deadline. (2-3 weeks prior if you wish to have extensive feedback on your application. Contact Karen Kueneman.)
Research Services: February 23, 2012
CIHR Full Application: March 1, 2012

Amount: up to 12.5M

The Operating Grant is flexible, in that there are:

• No specific requirements in relation to team size or team composition;
• No specific requirements or restrictions on the specific research activities to be undertaken

Applications: All registrations (Letters of Intent) and applications for the Operating Grant Program must be submitted electronically using ResearchNET.

For more details, please see the CIHR website or consult with Karen Kueneman, kueneman@uwo.ca

Martino & Rezai-Rashti in the News

In Gender, Race and the Politics of Role Modeling: The Influence of Male Teachers, released in January 2012, Faculty of Education professors Wayne Martino and Goli Rezai-Rashti found the gender and race of a teacher were inconsequential to student performance, but superior teaching pedagogy – the individual strategies and styles of teaching – is the key to success. More at Western News…

Wayne Martino was also quoted in a Globe and Mail story.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC)

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has issued a call for proposals under its Contributions Program 2012-13. Established in 2004, the Contributions Program promotes the advancement of privacy knowledge in Canada by providing funding for independent privacy research and related knowledge translation initiatives in Canada under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

Deadlines:
Faculty Research Office: One week before OPC
Research Development and Services: at least 3 days before the OPC deadline
OPC: January 25, 2012

Value: maximum amount that can be awarded for each research project is $50,000.  (A maximum of $100,000 can be awarded per organization.)

Description:The Office is interested in receiving research proposals focusing on four priority areas: 1) identity integrity and protection, 2) information technology, 3) genetic privacy, and 4) public safety.  However, the Office will continue to accept research proposals on issues that fall outside these areas.
This year, in an effort to make the research results generated by the Contributions Program even more accessible and useful for others, the Office is encouraging applicants to integrate knowledge translation activities in their project proposals.

NOTE: The Office’s preference is to fund projects that are completed within the fiscal year in which the funding is provided—that is, fiscal year 2012-13.  However, the OPC is also open to funding projects that extend beyond the end of the fiscal year (i.e. March 31, 2013) if it is made clear to the Office that these projects require more time to be completed.

Information on how to apply for funding

Past funding

For program information, contact:

François Cadieux
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Tel.: 613-947-3090
Fax:  613-995-1139
E-mail: Francois.Cadieux@priv.gc.ca

SSHRC Internal Research Grants

SSHRC Internal Research Awards are to support the cost of research initiatives in disciplines normally supported by SSHRC and are intended for research projects of modest scope. The competitions are for seed money, one-time requests, and projects of short duration. Applications may be made for new research initiatives. Requests for funds to supplement existing operating or research grants, to augment funds for larger projects (funded or applied for), or to attend conferences generally will not be accepted.

Amount: maximum $7,000 (over one year)

Deadlines:
Faculty Research Office: February 1, 2012 (1-2 weeks prior if you wish feedback on your proposal – submit to Karen Kueneman)
Research Western: February 15, 2012

Eligibility: The Principal Investigator must hold an academic appointment with a significant research component at UWO and must be eligible to hold a research account.

Applications and Guidelines

Forms must be accompanied by a ROLA proposal.

SSHRC Internal Conference Travel Program

SSHRC Internal Conference Travel Awards are to enable faculty, academic librarians and post-doctoral fellows to take part in research-related meetings/conferences of major scholarly significance in disciplines normally supported by SSHRC. The program will fund participation in both regular international congresses and more narrowly focused conferences and seminars which take place more than (500 kilometers) from London, Ontario; applicants must be presenting a paper at the conference. Breadth of participation and decanal recommendation will be two major criteria for determining whether or not an award should be made.

Amount: $7,000 (maximum) The awards cover travel and subsistence costs only.

Deadlines:
Faculty Research Office: February 1, 2012 (2-3 weeks prior if you wish feedback on your proposal – submit to Karen Kueneman)
Research Western: February 15, 2012, 4:30 p.m.

Eligibility: A Principal Investigator (PI) must hold an academic appointment with a significant research component at UWO and must be eligible to hold a research account

Timing of Conference: Conferences held within one year of the competition deadline or that take place no more than 3 months prior the deadline may be eligible. However, retroactive requests for conferences occurring prior to the deadline date for a particular competition will receive a lower priority.

Applications and Guidelines …

Forms must be accompanied by a ROLA proposal

Financial Services – Important Changes for Researchers

The Government of Ontario has recently established new Procurement and Expenses Directives for open, fair and transparent financial practices at all Broader Public Sector (BPS) organizations, including The University of Western Ontario.  While many of Western’s policies and procedures already meet the requirements, there are a few essential changes that affect everyone. Some changes are big, some are small, but the message from the Government of Ontario is clear: compliance is mandatory.

New rules for procuring consulting services
Competitive bid process required  regardless of the dollar amount of the contract for all consulting services

New expense rules
Any expenses incurred by suppliers will no long be reimbursed unless allowed under a current contract

Elimination of Travel Per Diems and paper expense claim forms
Elimination of Travel Per Diems and paper expense claim forms for Western employees. New guidelines established for meal reimbursement.  All expenses for faculty and staff must be submitted through the Online Travel & Expenses System and will be primarily reimbursed through direct deposit

New Alcohol Policy
New policy for reimbursing faculty and staff for the purchase of alcoholic beverages

These changes likely affect you. See this document and this web page for more details and advice.

Research Day 2012

Research Day 2012 will be held on Monday, March 19th, 2012 at the Great Hall, Somerville House.

Again this year, Research Day will be a joint effort between the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, the Faculty of Information and Media Studies and the Faculty of Education.

Updates will be available on the Research Day website but for now please hold the date and plan to participate!

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:
   -the name of the researcher;
   -the nature of the breach;
   -the name of the institution where the researcher was employed at the time of the breach; and
   -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.