Metropolis British Columbia: Call for Proposals
Introduction – December 2008 Call for Proposals
This is the third Call for Proposals (CFP) for Metropolis British Columbia (MBC). In this round we expect to provide funding for approximately 12 new research projects (note that there will be a companion CFP for dissemination projects). Applicants are invited to review the following documents to become better informed of the policy priorities of MBC:
- Questions set out in the Memorandum of Understanding that defines the 2007-2012 phase of Metropolis (specifically targeting issues of importance to the federal government). view
- Questions that arose in our 2008 MBC research retreat (these are arranged on a domain-by-domain basis). view
- Questions of importance to our partner organization, the Asia Pacific Foundation. view
We invite applications in all the general areas of MBC's mandate: immigration and ethnic diversity.
Applicants who wish to make the case that their research is policy relevant are urged to provide a letter of support from the government department, NGO, or other organization that they hope will benefit from their research.
As in previous years, the principal investigator must be a faculty member at a Canadian university, and must be formally affiliated with Metropolis British Columbia. Co-investigators may be faculty members inside or outside Canada.
Collaborators/Partners may include graduate students (who intend to use the funding through research assistantships), and persons in governmental or non-governmental organizations. Affiliation with MBC requires an email to the SFU project manager, Linda Sheldon, a recent CV and a brief (1/2 page) statement of how one's research agenda has connected with, or will connect with, MBC. To be eligible for applying in this Call, the deadline for submitting a request for affiliation is January 12, 2009.
Specific characteristics of this CFP
The period of funding for this CFP will be April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2011, meaning that we will consider one- or two-year proposals. In keeping with SSHRC regulations we require that applicants specify the amount of funds they request specifically for each fiscal year for two-year projects (separately for April 2009- March 2010, and April 2010-March 2011).
Our “standard” grant amount is $15,000, for a one-year project, though we will of course accept proposals for less than this amount. Researchers who have never held Metropolis grants before (at either MBC or in its earlier phase as RIIM) will be limited to a standard one-year grant. Those who have held Metropolis funds before, and who have successfully completed their projects, are eligible to apply for up to $30,000, either for an enhanced one-year grant or spread over two years.
Since different proposals will have budgets of different sizes, MBC will evaluate them relative to their budgets. Consequently, a project with a total budget of $30,000 will only be funded if the 'value' of its research output is expected to be significantly greater than any $15,000 project. Thus researchers should be careful to propose projects with higher budgets only if they also have greater expected research outputs. Also, for proposals over $15,000 we require that researchers explain what they would do if they were only provided $15,000 and what they would do with the additional money.
The Asia-Pacific Foundation (APF) is matching funds for 2 specific research questions. We will consider applications in these areas for up to $50,000.
Adjudication system and expectations
Our adjudication committee will be comprised of two 'teams', one which evaluates scholarly merit (comprised of academics) and one which evaluates importance for policy and practice (comprised of non-academics). Metropolis British Columbia will only provide funds for projects that are judged positively by both teams on the adjudication committee.
To be considered for funding, applications must be made on our special form and must include one signed hard-copy and one unsigned electronic copy of the application must be received at the office of the SFU Project Coordinator by 4pm Pacific Standard Time on Monday, 9 February, 2009. In addition, all principal- and co-investigators must submit an electronic copy of a 2-page abbreviated CV as an attachment to their application. CV's longer than 2 pages will not be considered. It is Metropolis British Columbia's practice to consider only one application from any of our research affiliates during any given grant competition. Researchers who have been awarded funds in a previous Metropolis competition must show good progress for a new application in this competition to succeed.
Proposals must be written in plain language and must clearly speak to both the scholarly merit and to the usefulness to policy and/or practice of the research proposed. Applicants are not permitted to apply on behalf of other researchers. Applicants must be candid about the division of labour in a project. We expect that approximately 50 percent of funds in a research project will be dedicated to support for graduate students through research assistantships. This is not a requirement, however.
Additional information
Transfer of funds and MBC spending rules are explained in our grant guidelines.
All funded researchers working with NGOs must comply with the principles set forth in our Charter of Community Research Principles.
Other obligations of funded researchers:
- Each project must generate at least one MBC Working Paper, which must be submitted to the managing editor of our series in a timely fashion (e.g., within three months of the completion of a project).
- Each working paper must include an associated Policy Briefing Note. Policy Briefing Notes are 1-page documents written in plain language in standard formats with 4 boxed topics: Research Question, Importance, Research Findings, and Implications for Policy and Practice. To see an example, please visit the Working Paper section of the MBC website.
- Each funded project must have at least one associated non-university dissemination activity. These may include: participation in Metropolis-sponsored policy workshops and roundtables, participation in a public forum, or a presentation for a stakeholder group such as a governmental or non-governmental organization. Researchers are encouraged to use their imaginations to improve our reach outside the university setting.
- All MBC affiliated researchers are required to submit an annual report of activities. Principal Investigators of funded projects will be required to include a report on the progress of their project along with their general report.
- Copies of all theses produced by students emanating from MBC-funded research should be forwarded to MBC (electronic or unbound copies are preferred, in order to duplicate and forward them to the Metropolis Project Team in Ottawa). Distribution will be subject to embargos arising from university thesis regulations and copyrights.
Where to send your proposal
Application form in Word format
Application form in PDF format
All submissions, both electronic and hard copy, should be sent to Linda Sheldon, Project Coordinator, Metropolis BC, Simon Fraser University, Dept. of Economics, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6. Email: Linda_Sheldon@sfu.ca.