Competition

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

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is pleased to announce a call for proposals to connect Indigenous research and leadership in Canada and the Global South to complement the Tri-agency strategic funding opportunity Indigenous Capacity and Leadership in Research Connection Grants being led by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. 

This call is open to Indigenous organizations or organizations supporting Indigenous-led research programs based in the Global South. If you are an organization based in Canada, please consult the Tri-agency strategic funding opportunity.  

Information session: Following the launch of the call for proposals, IDRC will organize an information session to address any queries from potential applicants. This will take place on 9 July 2025, at 7:30 Eastern Daylight Time. Link to session here.

This call was developed through a partnership between IDRC and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), a Canadian federal research funding agency that promotes and supports research and research training in the humanities and social sciences. Through its research training and talent development, insight research and research partnership programs, and through partnerships and collaborations, SSHRC strategically supports world-leading initiatives that reflect a commitment to ensuring a better future for Canada and the world. 

Background and rationale 

Realizing the rights of Indigenous Peoples, both globally and in Canada, is essential to achieving a sustainable and equitable future. In alignment with Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, and as part of IDRC's focus on fostering local, Southern-led solutions to development challenges, IDRC is dedicated to supporting Indigenous-led research and amplifying Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences to build a more inclusive and sustainable world. We believe that connecting Indigenous Peoples globally can play a pivotal role in generating new knowledge, advancing science, sharing teachings and reinforcing their action through the creation of synergies. These connections can drive lasting and inclusive solutions to pressing development challenges. 

To advance these connections, IDRC aims to support knowledge exchanges between Indigenous researchers in Canada and the Global South. These exchanges can deepen the understanding of the shared challenges Indigenous Peoples face and the negative impacts that colonialism has had, and still has, on their development, voice and agency. More importantly, these exchanges can foster the sharing of strategies to address these challenges while building alliances and solidarity across communities and borders. 

Key objectives 

This call for proposals is a dedicated funding opportunity for Indigenous organizations in the Global South that are interested in connecting with First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities in Canada through knowledge-sharing activities. The purpose is to co-develop an interdisciplinary, Indigenous research agenda and build alliances between Indigenous researchers in the Global South and First Nations, Métis and Inuit researchers in Canada that may lead to broader joint research endeavours in the future. 

More specifically, this funding opportunity aims to:  

• support the research priorities of Indigenous Peoples as identified by them;

• champion Indigenous leadership, self-determination and capacity in research for the benefit of Indigenous communities;

• increase awareness and visibility of Indigenous researchers, students and communities in policy and research fora;

• recognize Indigenous ways of knowing as an integral part of valid and authoritative research;

• support Indigenous-led strategies and structures that address respectful and mutually beneficial data management, data sovereignty and intellectual property rights in Indigenous research. 

The events and activities supported by this call for proposals represent an opportunity to engage and exchange knowledge on successful ways of conducting research that are transformative and contribute to Indigenous-led research, including holistic, interdisciplinary and distinctions-based approaches[1].

This call for proposals affirms the important, holistic and interdisciplinary contributions to human knowledge that Indigenous knowledge systems make. Furthermore, the call respects Indigenous knowledge systems, including ontologies, epistemologies and methodologies, as important avenues for exploring the contours of Indigenous knowledge, supporting Indigenous research paradigms, contributing to interdisciplinary collaboration and extending the boundaries of knowledge in Western research paradigms. As such, applicants are encouraged to submit projects that are holistic and interdisciplinary and that reflect the full range of collaboration across disciplines and subject areas within one or more of IDRC’s five thematic areas: 

• Climate-Resilient Food Systems

• Democratic and Inclusive Governance

• Education and Science

• Global Health

• Sustainable Inclusive Economies 

Eligibility criteria- Proposals need to meet the following eligibility criteria to be considered: 

• The Lead Applicant Organization to this call must be headquartered in an eligible country in the respective region where it operates (West and Central Africa, East and Southern Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa). See Annex 1 for the list of eligible countries.

• The Lead Applicant Organization to this call must have independent legal status (or “legal personality”) and be capable of contracting in their own right and name, receiving and administering funds, and have authority to direct proposed project activities. Applicants must be able to demonstrate legal status through written documentation. Legal status will only be reviewed if and when applicants are selected following technical selection.

• The call for proposals is not open to individuals or government ministries, and agencies or branches, offices and chapters of international organizations, but it is open to public research institutes, think tanks, universities and not-for-profit organizations with a research mandate. Regional or country offices of international organizations are ineligible to apply as Lead Applicant Organizations even if these offices are registered as independent legal entities in their countries of location.

• The Lead Applicant Organization must be Indigenous or supporting Indigenous-led research programs. Preference will be given to Indigenous organizations or organizations supporting Indigenous-led research programs that have established linkages with First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities in Canada. Indigenous organizations or organizations supporting Indigenous-led research programs seeking to establish such linkages will be considered as well.

• The research team must include Indigenous researchers and, in particular, women or gender-diverse Indigenous researchers.  

Note: Memorial is not eligible to be a Lead Applicant Organization for this call.

If, however, if you have a Memorial affiliation and will be listed as a Co-Director or Co-applicant on one of these grant applications, or if Memorial is being invited to be a partner insititution, please contact an HSS Grants Facilitator, Heather C. O’Brien (HSSResearchAdmin@mun.ca, 864-8603) or Matthew Milner (HSSResearchGrants@mun.ca, 864-8050), as the application may need to be submitted for Departmental, HSS Faculty, and Research Initiatives and Services (RIS) reviews and approvals via Memorial's Researcher Portal (RP) by the internal deadlines below.

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.