Competition

* Unless explicitly noted, all times indicated for deadlines are for the appropriate NL timezone (NST or NDT)

Canada and France enjoy a long-standing cooperation in science, technology and innovation. In support of priority areas identified by the Canada-France Joint Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation, NSERC, in partnership with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), in collaboration with IVADO, is partnering with the French National Research Agency (ANR) to fund collaborative research projects on artificial intelligence (AI).

This call for research proposals aims to foster scientific collaborations and knowledge exchange between leading-edge researchers in Canada and France, driving advancements in the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence. Specifically, this call will support collaborative multi- and interdisciplinary research projects that address generative AI and the security and safety of embedded AI. Through these joint projects, the funding partners aim to leverage the unique expertise and resources of both Canadian and French academic research excellence.

Multi- and interdisciplinary projects based on new methods and innovative concepts that incorporate both theoretical and practical approaches are strongly encouraged. These projects should span across the fields of natural sciences, engineering, humanities, social sciences, and health while also addressing ethical considerations. The Generic call for proposals 2025 (AAPG 2025) research theme open to the bilateral collaboration with Canada is E.2: Artificial intelligence and data science.

The project proposal must correspond to the scientific research theme E.2 of the Generic call for 2025 (AAPG 2025), and the research areas identified by the Canadian funding partners. Please refer to Research Topics for additional information.

NSERC will fund research primarily in the natural sciences and engineering fields; SSHRC will fund research primarily in the social sciences and humanities fields; and CIHR will fund research primarily in the health fields relevant to CIHR research areas noted below. IVADO may provide additional support to research activities aligned with its mandate to develop and implement a robust, reasoning and responsible artificial intelligence (R3AI).

Note: CIHR funding will be reserved for project proposals related to cancer and project proposals related to improving preparedness for and/or response to pandemics and infectious health emergencies through AI-based approaches to (a) surveillance, (b) predictive modeling and/or (c) genomic tools to help guide the development of interventions, including pathogen genomics and/or genomic characterization of host response.

France- and Canada-based researchers must prepare a single joint scientific proposal. Teams from each country must appoint a national scientific coordinator; for Canada, this would be a Principal Applicant (PA), and for France, a Principal Investigator (PI). The France-based coordinator (PI) will submit a single joint scientific proposal to ANR on behalf of the Canadian and French research teams. The project proposals will be evaluated by ANR, the lead agency. On behalf of the Canadian team, the Canada-based PA is responsible for submitting a single, simplified application along with all required documentation, by the application deadline to NSERC via its online system. For further details, please consult the Apply section. France-based researchers should consult the Generic call for proposals – AAPG 2025, available on the ANR website, for more information.

In addition to the external funding agency’s submission procedures, this opportunity must also be submitted for Departmental, HSS Faculty, and Research Initiatives and Services (RIS) institutional reviews and approvals via Memorial's Researcher Portal (RP). In order to facilitate the HSS Faculty’s administrative review, please ensure "Heather C. O'Brien (Grants Facilitator)" and “Matthew Milner (Grants Facilitator)” are added as "Team Members" on your RP file. 

In accordance with University-wide approval protocols, all tabs of the RP file must be completed, the completed application must be uploaded to the “Attachments” tab, all supporting documentation including support for cash and in-kind commitments and/or letters of support must also be uploaded, and “Submit” must be pressed prior to the HSS internal deadline listed below. HSS cannot guarantee completion of an administrative review for application files that are incomplete and/or are submitted after the HSS deadline. For more detailed submission instructions and information, please consult the HSS Research Support Services website.

If you plan to apply to this competition or other research funding opportunities (as either PI or CI), e-mail an HSS Grants Facilitator, Heather C. O’Brien (HSSResearchAdmin@mun.ca or 864-8603) or Matthew Milner (HSSResearchGrants@mun.ca or 864-8050), to notify the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of your intent to apply. E-mailing the intent to apply as early as possible will help to facilitate an efficient review. A Grants Facilitator can answer any questions you may have about internal or external submission procedures and may also be able to help with proposal development.