Context

The Strategic Research Intensity Plan 2014-2020 builds on the University’s Research Strategy Framework to support the university’s vision to “... be one of the most distinguished public universities in Canada and beyond ...” The Strategic Research Intensity Plan 2014-2020 recommends supporting this vision, in part, through the creation of a Seed, bridge and multidisciplinary fund and through research-based graduate student support.

Objective

The Seed, bridge and multidisciplinary fund will seed new, “early days” innovative research projects, provide valuable bridge funding for researchers between grants, and encourage the development of multidisciplinary research activities which align with the priority research themes of the Research Strategy Framework. Normally, the fund will stimulate research intensity through student engagement, thereby enhancing the student research learning and training experience.

Format

Every year, up to 40 projects selected from across the University through a competitive application process will be funded.

Expectations

Funds will be used to stimulate research intensity, ideally through student engagement.


Eligibility

• All persons with academic tenure, probationary appointments, and persons on sabbatical leave are eligible. Term contracts other than those on a per course basis are eligible as long as the award is taken up at the time the appointment is held.
• Post-doctoral fellows who hold an appointment with Memorial are eligible, as long as the award is taken up at the time the appointment is held.
• Persons on leave without pay from the university for academic reasons must demonstrate that they have no access to research funds in order to be eligible. Persons on leave without pay from the university for non-academic reasons are not eligible.
• Faculty with Honorary Research Professor and Professor Emeritus status are eligible to apply.
• Adjunct professors are not eligible to apply.
• An awardee may hold only one Seed, bridge and multidisciplinary fund award within a two-year period.
  
  

Support Provided

Awards will be a maximum of $10,000.


Selection Process

Applications will be submitted twice-yearly:

• by May 1, with results to be announced by June 1; and
• by November 30, with results announced February 1 [Note: the inaugural 2014 competition will necessarily have a later deadline date.]
• For each competition, a peer-review committee, normally composed of five members from five distinct Academic Units, will be constituted by the Vice-President (Research) to select candidates. The committee will be chaired by the Vice-President (Research).
  
  

Criteria

Applications will be adjudicated based upon the following criteria:

• Excellence of the research proposal;
• Degree to which the proposal constitutes a request for seed, bridge, or multidisciplinary funding;
• Seed funding supports well-defined research projects that foster new areas of research.
• Bridge funding sustains the research programs of productive researchers through the difficult period of a funding gap, to give the researcher an opportunity to regain external funding. Bridge requests are considered when an investigator’s funded project has not been renewed and temporary support is required to retain key personnel and to maintain project momentum. (Definition adapted from bit.ly/1vTT4Vn, accessed 2014-10-09) Bridge requests can also support investigators who have had a longer funding gap, and who need to regain momentum to secure external funding; in such cases, the applicant must outline, using his/her most recently-submitted application for external funding, how the bridge funding will be used to improve his/her scores on a future external funding application.
• Multidisciplinary funding supports both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research, as defined in the NSERC Guidelines for the Preparation and Review of Applications in Interdisciplinary Research (bit.ly/1qpFLW5).
• An excellent track record of research that is appropriate to the stage of the career;
• A track record of educating, training and supervising students and other highly qualified personnel in research; please explicitly explain if you do not have access to qualified undergraduate or graduate students.
• Use of the funds to engage Memorial University students and other highly qualified personnel in research projects;
• The relevance of the proposed project to Memorial’s Strategic Research Themes, while acknowledging the guiding principles of the Research Strategy Framework, which include “[v]aluing and supporting the freedom of researchers to pursue research excellence that is based on their individual and collective intelligence, curiosity, ingenuity and creativity.”;
• The proposal’s potential to leverage additional funds, particularly funding for students and other highly qualified personnel; and,
• For multidisciplinary projects, evidence that the project is cohesive.

Submissions

An application to the Seed, bridge and multidisciplinary fund will consist of the following documents. The Principal Applicant is responsible for submitting all of the items listed below as a complete package.

1. A research proposal from the Principal Applicant (maximum 2 pages) describing the nature of the research project to be undertaken, including milestones, and addressing any relevant funding criteria.
2. A letter from the Principal Applicant (maximum 2 pages) that addresses any of the funding criteria that have not already been covered in the research proposal (see 1). If the application is multidisciplinary, the Principal Applicant must describe the team’s track record, etc.
3. A budget proposal from the Principal Applicant (maximum 1 page, including justification), clearly linked to the research proposal. The budget justification will use Memorial University rates (including benefits, applicable taxes, etc.) and conform to Memorial (http://www.mun.ca/policy) and Tri-Agency (http://bit.ly/1vZb5C9) guidelines for the use of funds. As well, funds cannot be used for release time stipends / course release / course buy-outs.
4. A detailed curriculum vitae from the Principal Applicant, and from any Co-applicants, in the format of the President’s Outstanding Research Award CV, (bit.ly/ZTrfAj). For this application, the ‘academic background’ and ‘professional experience’ sections of the President’s Outstanding Research Award CV are optional.
5. A departmental/faculty approval form for grant applications for the Principal Applicant and any Co-applicants.

Click here to access the online application form.