Inaugural Funding Opportunity

The Alliance is pleased to provide preliminary information regarding its upcoming $18M Inaugural Funding Opportunity (IFO). The IFO aims to build national research capacity and deliver on the Alliance’s mandate to create a broad and integrated Canadian digital research infrastructure (DRI) ecosystem. Specifically, the IFO will address the needs of the research community related to DRI, while promoting an equitable and inclusive DRI environment in Canada. 

The full description of the Inaugural Funding Opportunity will be provided in the upcoming weeks.

Aim and scope 

The Alliance seeks to bridge the gap between the three DRI layers (i.e., Advanced Research Computing, ARC; Research Data Management, RDM; and Research Software, RS). In keeping with the Alliance’s values, the IFO also seeks to build a culture of collaboration and integration across the DRI environment in Canada. Therefore, the IFO will be open to proposals from all research disciplines, and with strong encouragement for inter-provincial collaborations and multi-disciplinary partnerships.

Applications in digital humanities, social sciences, indigenous research and/​or other research areas underutilizing the national DRI will be strongly encouraged. Proposals submitted in collaboration with First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and other Indigenous communities should ensure their unique rights and interests are acknowledged, affirmed, and implemented throughout the proposed project. In this context, the Alliance’s commitment to research data management as a DRI pillar seeks proposals that respect and broaden understanding of Indigenous Data Sovereignty.

Eligibility

Eligible Lead Organizations include:

• a university or post-secondary college or educational institution or a hospital that is situated in Canada and that carries on, or is capable of carrying on, meaningful research;
• a non-profit organization that is situated in Canada and that carries on, or is capable of carrying on, meaningful research; or
• an institution or non-profit organization that is situated in Canada and whose activities support Canada’s DRI ecosystem.

We welcome and encourage submissions from: 

• small institutions,
• Indigenous Research Groups,
• non-profit Organizations.

Federal Government institutions and agencies (Federal departments, agencies or Crown corporations, including their research facilities), Provincial or Municipal organizations, and non-profits situated in Canada that are a vested stakeholder of Canada’s DRI and whose activities depend upon the Alliance are encouraged as Project Collaborators. Collaborations with international partners and private sector organizations within the Project Team are also desirable and encouraged.

IFO Key Objectives

The Alliance’s focus on integration of the three components of DRI (ARC, DM and RS) will require IFO proposals to address at least two of the following objectives:

• Facilitate interoperability, integration, and access to existing DRI components (i.e., Advanced Research Computing, Research Data Management, Research Software)
• Facilitate integration across projects within DRI components
• Develop new or enhanced tools and platforms to facilitate finding, analyzing, and managing research data
• Conduct integrated digital research in areas of national importance
• Enable researchers in disciplines and research areas that have not utilized DRI to migrate their workflows to existing infrastructure using new or enhanced approaches

Value and Duration

The Inaugural Funding Opportunity will offer two streams of funding for projects ranging from 12 to 18 months.

• Funding Stream 1 will be open to projects requesting between $100,000 to $1 Million
• Funding Stream 2 will be open to projects requesting between $1 Million to $3 Million

Each Stream will be adjudicated separately by an Expert Merit Review Committee. Additional details related to the Alliance’s and the Institution(s)’ respective contributions will be available in the detailed program description.

Application Process

The IFO application process will consist of a Letter of Intent (LOI) and a Full Proposal. An Expert Merit Review Committee will review applications at both stages. Only applications selected at the LOI stage will be invited to submit a Full Proposal. Selection criteria for both stages of the competition will be published in the detailed program description. 

Competition Timeline

Due to the federal election call, the Inaugural Funding Opportunity announcement is delayed. A new competition timeline is under review and will be launched at a later date. Our apologies for this delay. The updated timeline will be published here as soon as it becomes available and shared to our mailing list. You can sign up here.

Contact the Alliance

Should you have any questions about the Alliance’s Inaugural Funding Opportunity, please contact: funding-subventions@​alliancecan.ca