Federal Science and Technology: The Pursuit of Excellence - Appendix

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) is the federal agency responsible for supporting advanced research and research training in the social sciences and humanities. The Council also charts directions for the Canadian research effort in these fields. SSHRC funds research in more than 30 disciplines, ranging from business, economics, education, environmental studies, ethics, history, and law, to literature, management studies, philosophy, psychology, religious studies and sociology. The Council supports basic research, the training of highly qualified personnel, targeted research on social, economic, cultural and intellectual issues of importance to Canadians, and the broad dissemination of research-based knowledge for the benefit of Canadians.

Supporting Innovation through Advanced Research and Research Training

In 2002–03, SSHRC invested $63.2 million in programs to support basic research, and $32.2 million in research training. During that time, the Council supported more than 2100 basic research projects, more than 1400 doctoral students and more than 230 postdoctoral fellows.

In Budget 2003, the Government of Canada announced the creation of the Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS) program, which, when fully implemented in 2006–07, will support 2000 master’s and 2000 doctoral students each year, in all fields. The CGS program helps to train Canada’s researchers and leaders of tomorrow, and is administered by the three federal granting agencies. Sixty percent of CGS awards are allocated to social sciences and humanities students. In 2003, SSHRC launched the master’s component of the CGS program, and offered scholarships to 815 human sciences students.

Addressing Knowledge Gaps and Building Partnerships

SSHRC is continuously developing new programs and initiatives to enhance research and promote innovation and partnerships with users of research. An important objective is to support multidisciplinary research in key socio-economic and cultural areas. Specifically, SSHRC designs strategic programs to fill knowledge gaps, and creates joint initiatives in partnership with government departments, agencies, and other organizations, in order to connect producers of knowledge with users of knowledge.

Initiative on the New Economy

A five-year, $100-million program launched in 2001, the Initiative on the New Economy (INE), supports research that helps keep Canada at the forefront of the knowledge economy. This program explores the challenges and opportunities of the new economy in four major research areas:

• the nature of the new economy;
  
  
• management and entrepreneurship;
  
  
• education; and
  
  
• lifelong learning.

The new knowledge generated by INE-supported research helps decision makers in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors to better understand the new economy and to devise new policies and practices that enhance Canadians’ success in the new economy.

To date, the INE has awarded 208 grants, ranging from $20 000 to $3 million. Research projects examine a broad range of topics, such as the impact of the new economy on workplace education and learning, the impact of Internet stock message boards on international financial markets, and the legal and ethical aspects of privacy and authentication on the Internet. Through these grants, more than 400 partnerships have been developed with public, private and not-for-profit organizations. Finally, INE programs provided almost $32 million in funding for student salaries and stipends, with an additional $5.6 million for postdoctoral researchers.

Community University Research Alliances

In 1999–2000, SSHRC launched the Community University Research Alliances (CURA) pilot program to develop knowledge and expertise for community development through broad research alliances between universities and local or regional groups. Because of the high level of interest shown by researchers and community partners in this program, SSHRC’s board adopted CURA as a mainstream program. Representative CURA projects include: sustaining rural communities in Nova Scotia; developing a recreation and tourism industry in mid-northern Quebec; countering the effects of climate change on water resources in Ontario; and improving the effectiveness of the law enforcement and justice systems in addressing domestic violence on the Prairies. Fifteen new CURAs were established in 2003, representing a five-year investment of $14.8 million.

Targeted Research on Specific Social, Economic, Cultural and Intellectual Issues

SSHRC currently has five priority areas, which will govern the direction and form of new strategic programs in the coming years:

• Aboriginal Research;
  
  
• Environment and Sustainability;
  
  
• Culture, Citizenship and Identities (including the subpriority area of Official Languages);
  
  
• Image, Text, Sound and Technology; and
  
  
• Northern Research.

In 2003, SSHRC renewed four joint initiatives, and developed and launched the following six new joint initiatives:

• The CESC-SSHRC Education Research Initiative promotes education research that uses the specialized survey data compiled by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, and Statistics Canada. (An INE project.)
  
  
• The Essential Skills program supports multidisciplinary research that will help Canadians acquire workplace and general life skills. It also offers special funding mechanisms to support the transfer of knowledge produced through research funded by the program. (Partner: Department of Human Resources and Skills Development.)
  
  
• Homelessness and Diversity Issues in Canada supports policy-relevant research on homelessness in Canada as it relates to ethnic and cultural diversity. (Partners: National Secretariat on Homelessness, and the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development.)
  
  
• Multiculturalism Issues in Canada promotes innovative research on multiculturalism issues in Canada, and facilitates the generation, dissemination, and transfer of research-based knowledge. (Partner: Multiculturalism Program at Canadian Heritage.)
  
  
• The Skills Research Initiative supports policy-relevant research on issues related to skills development in the context of the new economy. (An INE project, with Industry Canada and the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development.)
  
  
• The Canada Project promotes policy-relevant research that will help leverage Canada’s comparative advantages and improve access to North American and global markets. (An INE project; partner: Conference Board of Canada.)

Since 1989, SSHRC has launched more than 45 joint initiatives, with the partners contributing more than $67 million in additional funding for social sciences and humanities research.

Supporting Excellence and Building Research Capacity

Canada Research Chairs Program

SSHRC administers the $900-million Canada Research Chairs program on behalf of the three federal granting agencies. Established in 2000, this program supports the creation of 2000 chairs in all fields of research, 20 percent of which will be in the social sciences and humanities. Canada Research Chairs enable Canadian universities, together with their affiliated research institutes and hospitals, to achieve the highest levels of research excellence, and to become world-class research centres in the global, knowledge-based economy. One key objective of the program is to create more opportunities in Canada for world-class Canadian researchers who are not currently working in the country. The overall proportion of Canada Research Chair holders recruited from abroad presently stands at 26 percent, with a considerably higher percentage in the most recent cohort.

To date, 1033 leading-edge researchers have been appointed to Canada Research Chairs in fields such as genetics, printmaking, global governance, environmental risk management, computational molecular modeling, and mental and behavioural disorders. Of these Chairs, 233 are in the social sciences and humanities.

The Indirect Costs Program

Budget 2003 announced a new permanent program to support the indirect costs associated with research in institutions that receive funds from any of the three federal granting agencies. The $225-million-a-year Indirect Costs program extends and expands the one-time Indirect Costs payment of $200 million (announced by the Government of Canada in 2001) from the original 79 to, currently, 113 eligible universities, colleges, and affiliated research hospitals. The Canada Research Chairs secretariat administers the Indirect Costs program, which helps universities, colleges, and affiliated research hospitals and research institutes create an environment that maximizes their use of federal investments in academic research. The Indirect Costs program also helps smaller institutions that cannot benefit from the economies of scale realized by large institutions to increase their research capacity.

Contact Information
Corporate Policy and Planning Division
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Tel.: (613) 992-5128
Web site: www.sshrc.ca