North American Research Linkages Grant

Objective

This program is designed to facilitate North American collaboration within the academic community. It aims to foster the development of permanent exchange networks by providing assistance to teams of researchers from Canada, the United States and Mexico in order to organize seminars, workshops, or other forms of research linkages.

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada will offer grants of up to $20,000 CDN to assist in the establishment or the development of North American research networks in support of projects that have policy relevance for the North American agenda. Topics that are highly relevant to Canada - United States - Mexico relations include:

• Sustainable development (including energy and the environment)
• Human capital (e.g. people-to-people linkages)
• Security and public safety
• Competitiveness and innovation
• Social policy
• Subnational governance
• North American climate change
• Comparative studies of Canada/US and Mexico/US border issues
• Culture and identity

Applications will be considered in accordance with the procedures, guidelines and conditions outlined below.

Note: Purely scientific subjects such as physics, chemistry, medicine, engineering, etc. which would not lead to a better knowledge and understanding of Canada and North American issues per se are not eligible, nor are proposals which focus exclusively on technological or methodological issues. Projects in the “hard sciences” will not be considered unless they contain a public policy component.

Definition

Research team: a research team is defined as a group of at least three researchers with at least one having completed graduate studies (Ph.D. or equivalent).

Eligibility

To be eligible, a proposal must meet the following requirements:

1. The proposal must not exceed eight pages.
2. A research team must be comprised of members from an academic institution in each of the three countries.
3. Each team member shall be actively engaged and demonstrate experience in research related to the linkages project;
4. Show that this proposal’s goal is to foster academic mobility and exchange of information and not to finance research;
5. Include a strategy/critical path to pursue linkages after the initial activity; an important component in the evaluation of the proposal will be the team’s proposed follow-up activities in ensuring sustainability of the research network.
6. Include a detailed budget indicating all expected expenditures and potential sources of revenue other than the Canadian government.
7. Applications must be submitted in either English or French.

Deadline

May 1, 2009

Terms and Conditions

With the official endorsement of his/her institution, and having constituted a research team, the designated principal researcher, to be located in Mexico or the United States, should submit an application to the relevant Canadian Embassy. See below for full contact information.

Applications must be sent electronically using the program application form below.

Institutions may request funding up to $15,000CDN; applicants whose project focuses on the priority topics above and who can demonstrate matching funds from other sources may request funding up to $20,000CDN.

Applicants must provide a detailed budget including all estimated expenses and potential sources of revenue. Eligible costs under this program include travel, accommodation, honoraria, per diems for team members, communications (telephone, fax, postage), administrative assistance, stationery and photocopying related to the linkages project; no provision is made for release time stipends, salaries or overhead costs to the institution(s).

Note: The recipients are responsible for making all arrangements relating to the project including: international travel, visas (if applicable), accommodation, medical and life insurance, etc. The event must be completed by March 31st of each year. No extensions will be provided therefore applicants must ensure that the planned activity/event with proposed partners can take place before March 31st, 2010.

Selection

All applications will be peer reviewed by a jury established by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada which will include Canadian and foreign academics. The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade will do the final selection following a review of complete applications and recommendations of the selection committee.

All applicants will be notified in writing of the results of their application, normally within 90 days of the deadline for submission of applications.

Payment Procedure

Successful applicants will be sent a Grant Agreement detailing the value and conditions of the award. It must be signed and returned to the relevant Canadian Embassy within thirty (30) days. The award will be paid after receipt by the Canadian Embassy of the signed Grant Agreement. Please note that this is a one-time, non-renewable grant.

Report of Activities

Within three months of the completion of the activities, a complete report must be submitted to the relevant Canadian Embassy. The report should focus on demonstrating how and to what degree the objectives and expected results were attained and include a section on “next steps” that will be taken to pursue future linkages.

The assistance of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada must be acknowledged during the linkages activities and, if applicable, in any publications resulting from the research.

The designated principal applicant, located in the United States or Mexico, should direct their application to one of the following Canadian Embassies:

If a U.S. based institution:

If a Mexican based institution:

Canadian institutions can direct their inquiries to:

Application Form

This form is available in PDF format.
IMPORTANT:Once you have completed the application, make sure to save the document to your computer again before sending it as an attachment to the relevant Canadian Embassy.

Download the form, PDF * (69K)

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• Past Recipients

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