External Funding: Sources & Required Final Review

Many research projects in Dalhousie's Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences receive funding from external agencies. If the funding must be managed through Dalhousie's Financial Services (i.e., the funding body doesn't send you a cheque, but transfers to the funds to Dalhousie), then the university is responsible and so there must be institutional signatures and approvals, first from FASS and then from Research Services, before the application is submitted. 

Below is the process on submitting these applications for final review, and some links which lead to some sources for research funding specific to the Humanities and Social Sciences, in addition to the main ones: the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for most FASS scholarship; for research related to health areas, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation; for creative work, see Canada Council of the Arts.

Here is a flowchart that attempts to give you a general idea of the overall process for most external grants.

FASS Support for Grant-Writing before the Final Review Process

• You can request pdfs of successful applications (IG, IDG, Connection, PG, PDG, and others) from the SSHRC Lending Library.
  • Larger grants often require governance and project management details that need to be carefully thought out in relation to academic ethics, division of responsibility, intellectual property, and so on, so looking at samples can be especially crucial.
    
• The Associate Dean Research will also provide advice on particular questions or on draft applications.
• In-kind/cash requirements must be worked out via the Dean's office well in advance of the internal review process--allow at least two weeks before the internal FASS Deadline, and at least six weeks if you are going to apply for VPRI Matching Funds. Contact the Associate Dean Research if any FASS cash/in-kind support is required so that they can begin the process of working out these details.
  
  • Here are the Tri-Agency Guidelines on cash/in-kind contributions and the VPRI Matching Funds Program at Dalhousie. For other relevant policies, see https://www.dal.ca/faculty/arts/research/external/sshrc-funding.html .       
    
• Memorandums of Understanding are also sometimes required for large grants; these are agreements between the University and other bodies, e.g. another university. These must go through legal and other upper-administration processes, and should be initiated 6-8 weeks in advance of any deadline; these are typically coordinated through Research Services as a university-level matter.
  

For all of the above, please contact the Associate Dean Research for assistance.

Required Final Review of Grant Applications

This review process is not only a useful one in strengthening applications, but also an essential one to ensure that all grant applications are fully consistent with FASS, Dalhousie, and grant-organization policies and requirements.  This takes time, so build this process into your own work schedule.  NB: this only applies to external applications, not internal programs.

1. Submit the full application (as generated by the agency website) to the Associate Dean Research (e-mailed pdf where possible) for review at least six weeks before the SSHRC deadline for the Insight program (IG & IDG) and all large grants (PG, PDG, NFRF) and at least three weeks before the grant deadline for all others. Partial and late applications may not be accepted.  When a deadline falls on a holiday or a weekend, the next Monday is the due date.

2. Once the Associate Dean has indicated the application is ready to go to the next stage and any revisions are complete, the pdf generated by the agency website must be submitted to the ROMEO system (note there are also online elements in ROMEO to be completed).

Through ROMEO, the university will collect signature approvals from the Chair and Dean and then forward the application to Research Services--this may take a few days, so it is strongly recommended that you submit to ROMEO at least three business days before the Research Services' deadline (information on these deadlines is here).

3. Once all approvals are secured and Research Services has notified you are ready proceed, the usual process is for you to click "submit" in the agency website. Then Research Services will approve it to go forward to the agency (e.g., SSHRC). Please keep two deadlines in mind: the cutoff by the granting agency (usually a particular time as well as a particular day); normal working hours at Research Services.

Please note: in-kind/cash letters for matching funds (required for Connection and Partnership programs, for instance) can take time to sort out because of the number of offices involved in developing them. Sometimes they must be handled at the University level rather than the FASS level, adding to the time required.

It is very important to allow at least two weeks' notice before any such document is required. The Associate Dean Research can facilitate these, but will require a) the title of the project; b) a short description (100 words or so); c) the name of the Principal Investigator; d) the needs of the project appropriate for a matching funds letter.

For large grants, faculty may also apply to the VPRI Matching Funds program (look for "Matching Funds" on this page), but please note that this program i) requires information on FASS in-kind/cash support; ii) requires that applications be submitted at least one month before the grant deadline. So, if you plan to apply to the VPRI fund, you need to talk to the FASS ADR at least six weeks before the grant deadline.