Eligible candidates must:

• Hold a full-time tenure or a tenure track position at the University of Ottawa
• Be within their first 5 years as an independent researcher (and/or be considered an early career researcher per Tri-Agency definition)
• Have not yet held funding from Tri-Agency  (NSERC, SSHRC or CIHR) or other external peer-reviewed sources as a lead Principal Investigator for his/her independent research program
• Intend to submit a proposal to Tri-Agency  within the next 12 – 18 months
• Have not held funding from the RDP program in the previous three years
• Obtain matching contribution from faculty
• If new hire, must begin position within three months of the SFO deadline and provide signed contract of employment with submission.

A full application consists of: 

Summary

Description of research:

1. The Research question and context
2. Methodology
3. Student training
4. External funding
5. References
6. Budget for a one-year project

Five attachments:

1. Common CV or equivalent
2. RE Form for the funds coming from the Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation (OVPRI)  

The “Amount requested” field should define the amount that is being requested from the Seed funding opportunity (SFO) only.

3. Faculty RE form

The “Amount requested” field should define the amount that is being requested of the Faculty

4. A letter of recommendation from the Dean, Vice-Dean or Associate Dean of Research confirming:

• The Faculty’s support to develop the proposed research project
• The Faculty’s equal matching contribution to the amount being requested of the SFO
• Applications must be submitted in a single PDF document and sent by your Faculty’s Research office only.  

5.  Completed Seed funding application form (PDF, 1,183 KB)

Adjudication process

Two selection committees will be established for the SFO:

• In the Social Sciences and Humanities
• In Sciences, Engineering and Health Sciences

IMPORTANT NOTE:  The Vice-President, Research and Innovation or their delegate will chair the review committees. Applicants can suggest which committee should review their proposal. RMS will direct the application to the appropriate committee. For each competition, RMS will draw evaluation committee members from a pool of potential expert reviewers.

Evaluation criteria

Applications will be assessed using the following criteria:

• Scientific merit of the proposal, including:
  • Originality and innovation
  • Clarity and scope of objectives
  • Feasibility and adequacy of methodological approach
  • Importance of the expected outcome of the research
  • Quality of the presentation, clear, concise, legible and complete
• Record of research achievement, including, without limitation, the following factors:
  • Quality and significance of past contributions
  • Level of research activity relative to the stage of the applicant's career
• Need for funds and Budget Justification:
  • Need for SFO funds and justification of the request relative to other currently-held and/or available funding (Other currently-held funds must be clearly indicated in the applicant's C.V)
  • Plan to apply for external, peer-reviewed funding

    • The applicant must demonstrate their plans for applying for peer-reviewed external funding within the next 12–18 months. The primary objective of this program is to increase the likelihood of competing successfully for such funding. The applicant should briefly demonstrate that they have identified potential external funding organizations (including granting councils, industry, foundations, government etc.), that they have an awareness of the evaluation criteria and guidelines of the said external funding organizations and that the proposed work will support and strengthen a future grant application.

• Contribution to the training of students:

  • Applicants must clearly explain how they plan to involve students in the project and how their project will contribute to the training of highly qualified personnel.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The evaluation for the SFO is based on the available documentation in the original application.

Guidelines on how to present an application

• Be concise
• Avoid acronyms and abbreviations or explain them fully
• Write the proposal for a multidisciplinary scientific audience not expert in your discipline

Required content:

• Include a clear description of your research objectives, why the research you are proposing is important, how it relates to prior work/state of the art and what the impact of the findings will be on the discipline
• Explain and support the methodological approach
• Describe any prior work that you may have performed to demonstrate your ability to deliver on the project
• Outline the risks and pitfalls, if any, and explain how they will be addressed
• Outline the resources available for this project and specify how they help you advance your research
• Provide a realistic one-year time frame showing how the project’s activities and outcomes will be completed within 12 months.
• Explain your plans for the disseminating results
• Explain how the proposed research supports or enhances a future funding application to an external funding agency 

One-year budget justification, eligible and non-eligible expenses

The maximum award for the SFO is $20,000 ($10,000 from SFO & $10,000 from the faculty) for a one-year project. The budget section must describe the one-year budget for the entire research project, including both the SFO & the Faculty matching contribution. 

One-year budget justification

The justification must:

• Demonstrate the need for the SFO funds relative to other funding available to the applicant
• Explain how the costs were established for each item in the budget
• Describe and justify how budget items are needed to accomplish the one-year project objectives
• Demonstrate how the funds contribute towards the direct costs of the research
• Demonstrate the economical use of funds

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Awardees must, on request of the Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation (or delegate), submit a final report to RMS (1 page) describing progress in light of original project objectives and your plans to pursue the research.

The funds will be released once all certification requirements are met – if applicable (ethics of research with human subjects and/or stem cells, animal care, radiation safety, etc.). Applicants are strongly encouraged to begin the certification process immediately upon receiving their award notice to avoid delays in the full release of funds.

• Any unused funds at the end of the project must be returned to the RDP program.
• Projects are expected to be completed within one year. Researchers may request an extension to use the funds only under exceptional circumstances. The extension will be in time only, no additional funds. To request an extension, please contact Research Management Services  with justification of one page maximum explaining the exceptional circumstances, the progress achieved to date and describing how the extension will help you complete the remaining project work.

The completed application must be submitted in a single PDF containing the following documents in order: Application Form, Letter of recommendation from the Dean, Vice-Dean, or Associate Dean of Research, RE Form linked to OVPRI funds,  RE Form linked to Faculty funds, and Common CV or equivalent to: 

Research Management Services

Subject: RDP – Seed Funding Opportunity

IMPORTANT NOTES:

The applicants’ faculty must review and approve the application, confirming the eligibility criteria.

Applicants must submit RE forms with the appropriate signatures. RMS will not accept incomplete applications, applications past the deadline nor without the faculty approval.

A multi-disciplinary Selection Committee will review the applications. Taking this into consideration, the proposal should be written for non-experts.