Help solve public policy challenges in Canada.
 
The Canadian Science Policy Fellowship is now accepting applications from prospective fellows interested in undertaking a year-long policy position within a Canadian government host office beginning in September 2020. 
 
Eligible applicants must:

• Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident*
• Hold a PhD in any academic discipline at the start of the fellowship
• Participate full-time in a 12-month fellowship at the host office
• Secure accommodation in the host city, and relocate to their host office as needed
• Negotiate a leave of absence from their current employer, as applicable

The 2020 cohort of fellowships will begin in September 2020. Approved fellows receive remuneration from their host offices as well as professional development training and networking events facilitated by Mitacs.

Applications will be accepted until February 5, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. PT. For more information, please visit the Canadian Science Policy Fellowship or contact policyfellowship@mitacs.ca.
 
*Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status is required to obtain a security clearance with a host office to begin a fellowship. Specific citizenship requirements will vary by host office. All applicants must have Canadian citizenship or permanent residency prior to the start of the interview process (May 2020).

The Brain Canada Foundation has identified support for operations and maintenance of research platforms as a gap in the neuroscience research funding environment and aims to continue addressing this critical issue through the 2019 Platform Support Grants (PSG) competition. Research platforms are important enablers of capacity building and a cost-effective means of accessing cutting-edge equipment, technology, and services beyond what individual researchers can achieve on their own. This sponsored funding opportunity is open to groups of investigators working across the entire spectrum of neuroscience research interested in either establishing new research platforms or building upon existing frameworks. 

Interested applicants are required to submit a Registration Form, providing an overview of the project they intend to pursue, by February 4, 2020. Please refer to the Request for Applications for additional details (https://braincanada.ca/for-researchers/).

For more information, please contact platformgrant@braincanada.ca.

Overview

The Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative offers funding for research that stimulates innovation to support the growth and competitiveness of Ontario's agri-food sector, promotes food safety and strengthens rural communities.

The new research initiative combines and builds on the success of OMAFRA's former New Directions and Food Safety Research Programs. The new Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative will be jointly funded by the federal and provincial governments under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) strives to fund demand-driven research that has ready receptors in policy, programs or the marketplace. New knowledge and technologies help Ontario's agri-food sector businesses address challenges and expand market opportunities locally and globally.

Research Priority Areas

Priorities for this can shift annually and reflect key opportunities and challenges facing the agri-food sector and rural communities. Priorities for the 2019-20 call are:

• Food Safety
• Global Market Analysis
• Automation - Barriers and Adoption by the Sector
• Bio-Based Production Systems

Town Hall: An information session (webinar and in-person) will be held at 1 Stone Road W, Guelph (Conference Centre 1) on December 11, 2019 from 2:00-4:30 p.m. to provide information about the application process and priorities. Please RSVP to research.omafra@ontario.ca.

ONCAT supports research that advances knowledge and understanding of the current state of transfer students and transfer pathways in Ontario. The objective of this funding strategy is to generate knowledge that can directly inform policies, pathways and institutional practices and contribute to a greater understanding of system-wide issues that impact transfer and student mobility.
 

Areas of Focus

• Labour market outcomes of transfer students: This research area will support projects that explore how transfer students are doing in terms of labour market outcomes. Priority will be given to projects that draw on novel data sources (e.g. linkages within Statistics Canada’s ELMLP environment) to assess the labour market outcomes of transfer students. We are particularly interested in projects that will employ a multivariate approach to account for student demographics, as well as those that will use techniques (e.g. PSM) to address self-selection. 
• Industry demand for pathways: This research area will support projects that explore labour market demand for pathways and whether pathways help address existing and emerging skills needs. This could include an exploratory analysis of current labour market demand for articulated pathways across geographic regions, or specific industrial sectors, within the Ontarian economy. We are particularly interested in how pathways could be strategically crafted to meet present skills needs within the labour market. We are open to projects that perform either primary data analysis or draw on a review of secondary sources to identify prospective in-demand pathways.
• Transfer+Online learning: This research area will support projects that explore the integration of online learning and credit transfer. Projects could include an environmental scan of models used to integrate online learning and credit transfer across North America, along with other exemplary jurisdictions. In particular, we are interested in an in-depth review of institutional arrangements (e.g. credit transfer policies, online course databases, student support structures) within jurisdictions where credits earned online can be transported seamlessly across colleges and universities (e.g. Georgia).
• Transfer+Apprenticeship: This research area will support projects that explore transfer into and out of apprenticeship. Projects could include an analysis of student mobility patterns from apprenticeships to programs offered by university/college/Indigenous Institutes; and from pre-apprenticeship programs to apprenticeships. We are also particularly interested in the performance of these individuals after they transition (e.g. time-to-completion, completion rates).
• Transfer+Industry-based Professional Development: This research area will support projects that explore pathways between industry-based professional development and postsecondary education. Projects could include an environmental scan of existing arrangements that support the recognition/transferability of industry-based training (e.g. badges) or professional development by PSE institutions.

We are pleased to announce a new CIMVHR research opportunity (https://cimvhr.ca/cimvhr-funding-opportunities/). We are seeking a researcher or research team from our member universities to conduct the following research project:

“TA 53 – First-Generation Smallpox Vaccine Potency Testing.”

We would ask that you kindly distribute this notice to let your researchers know about this opportunity. 

Note: All proposals must be submitted through the online call for proposal portal (https://funding.cimvhr.ca/login) and contain the required information as noted on the Request for Proposal document. Proposals received outside of the portal or that do not contain the necessary required information will not be considered.

For further information, please contact the following individual(s).

Heather MacArthur

Projects and Contracts Specialist

Tel: 613-533-6000 x 79098  E: heather.macarthur@queensu.ca

Jocelyne Halladay
Contracts and Publications Coordinator

Tel: 613-533-6000 x 74756  E: jocelyne.halladay@queensu.ca

Insight Development Grants are expected to respond to the objectives of the Insight program.

Insight Development Grants support research in its initial stages. The grants enable the development of new research questions, as well as experimentation with new methods, theoretical approaches and/or ideas. Funding is provided for short-term research development projects of up to two years that are proposed by individuals or teams.

Insight Development Grants foster research in its early stages, but are not intended to support large-scale initiatives. Long-term support for research is offered through SSHRC’s Insight Grants.

Proposed projects may involve, but are not limited to, the following types of research activities:

• case studies;
• pilot initiatives; and
• critical analyses of existing research.

Projects may also involve national and international research collaboration, and the exploration of new ways of producing, structuring and mobilizing knowledge within and across disciplines and sectors.

Within the Insight Development Grant funding opportunity, funding is available for two distinct categories of scholars: emerging scholars and established scholars.

The 2019 Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Grants Program aims to be transformative at a time when it is well recognized that there is a significant funding gap to support and retain our brightest early-career investigators, who are well positioned to make major contributions to Canadian brain research. This competition is open to all new investigators, within five years of their first independent academic appointment, conducting research in the field of neuroscience (any discipline).

Interested applicants are required to submit a brief Letter of Intent (LOI), providing an overview of the project they intend to pursue, by December 10, 2019. Please refer to the Request for Applications for additional details (https://braincanada.ca/for-researchers/).

For more information, please contact futureleaders@braincanada.ca.