Competition

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

CIFAR aims to facilitate and support interdisciplinary research through Collaborative Research Catalyst Funds. Catalyst funding is designed to provide seed funding for new innovative, high risk/high reward collaborative projects. Funding is for short-term, time-limited research collaborations between program members (minimum 2), either within the same program or across programs. 

The aim is to spur new collaborations that: provide flexibility for early stage or seed projects that are often difficult to fund; encourage interdisciplinary collaborations that push research boundaries at the vanguard; and/or address emerging and exploratory themes within research programs. They can include:

• Proof of concept projects

• Interdisciplinary projects involving a shared trainee

• Extended collaborative visits for fellows and trainees

• Extended collaboration with non-academic partners to advance program societal impact plans

• One-time, small-scale research workshops (at least 50% of participants must be CIFAR members)

General Parameters: 

Eligibility: 

• All program members (Fellows, Advisors, Associate Fellows and Global Scholars) are eligible to participate in Catalyst projects.

• At least two CIFAR program members (either within or across research programs) must be involved. 

• Program members may participate in more than one Catalyst grant at a time.

• Catalyst grants are one-time-only grants and are non-renewable.

Duration: Catalyst Grants will be no more than two years in length. 

Award amount: Catalyst grants generally have a maximum value of $50,000 CAD and budgets must be justified. No overhead or administrative fees are to be charged on these funds. Teaching release is an ineligible expense. 

Method of payment: Grants will be awarded in a single payment at the start of the project. Payments may also be divided between fellows at different institutions by request.

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.