From Granting Council to Knowledge Council: Renewing the social sciences and humanities in Canada Ja

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From Granting Council toKnowledge
CouncilRenewing the social sciencesand
humanities in CanadaJanuary 2004
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Part I Who We Are Facts and Figures
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SSHRCs Mandate

• Promote and support research and research
  training in the social sciences and humanities
• Provide advice to the Minister of Industry

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SSHRCs Programs

• Research Base
• Standard Research Grants (SRG)
• Major Collaborative Research Initiatives (MCRI)

• Training
• Doctoral Fellowships
• Postdoctoral Fellowships
• Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS)
• Masters component
• PhD component

• Targeted
• Initiative on the New Economy (INE)
• Strategic Themes
• Joint Initiatives
• Research Development Initiatives (RDI)
• Community-University Research Alliances (CURA)

• Research Communication
• and Institutions
• Conferences and Congresses
• Research and Transfer Journals
• SSHRC Institutional Grants (SIG)
• Aid to Small Universities (ASU)
• Aid to Scholarly Publications

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SSHRCs Base Budget, 2003-04 197M
Excludes Canada Research Chairs program and
Indirect costs program
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A huge peer review machinery

• Over 3500 research submissions/year (not incl.
  fellowships)
• Over 3000 applications for Ph.D. support
• 500 applications for post-docs
• 9000 external assessors
• 40 adjudication committees
• 300 committee members

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A growing human sciences community

• Faculty There are 18,000 full-time social
  sciences and humanities faculty in more than 90
  Canadian universities. 54 of all faculty is in
  the human sciences.
• Graduate students 39,800 (or 58) of all
  Canadian full-time graduate students are in the
  social sciences and humanities.
• Serious increase expected -- Consensus on rising
  university enrolment at all levels number of
  faculty also growing tremendously (21,600 faculty
  needed just in human sciences).

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A varied human sciences community

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Trends

• Team work, networking
• Problem-oriented interdisciplinary research
• Partnerships with clients (communities,
  governments)
• Greater involvement of students in research
• Development of collective tools
• Digitization transforming how we do research

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Serving new communities

• In last 5 years, SSHRC has opened up some
  programs to researchers in community and
  not-for-profit organizations.
• Very high demand for SSHRCs program for research
  in fine arts disciplines.
• New joint initiatives developed and funded by
  SSHRC and other organizations (including
  government departments) in support of targeted
  research.
• New support for Aboriginal research agenda, with
  active participation of Aboriginal researchers
  and experts.

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What is SSHRCs future?
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New world, New needs

• Forces of change include
• A radically new world
• A new research environment
• A new university landscape

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Huge demand for human sciences knowledge

• Need to understand world trends
• Need to understand new problems (e.g. new
  economic disparities, governance and ethics
  challenges, socio-political, ethnic and cultural
  fault lines)
• Need for HS knowledge on every vital policy issue
  (e.g. restructuring of the labour force
  sustainable development linguistic duality First
  Nations).

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Huge pressures on SSHRC

• Applications to SSHRCs key Standard Research
  Grants program rose 44 over last 5 years. This
  years growth is over 18.
• SSHRC now supports around 25 per cent of faculty
  members in human sciences, up from 15 per cent
  five years ago.
• Recurring problem of projects that are approved
  but not funded larger proportion of those in
  smaller universities.
• Growing demand for SSHRC to bridge with
  government.

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SSHRCs core values

• Research excellence
• Competitive funding
• Inclusiveness and openness
• Innovative continuity
• Accountability

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Transformation reaching beyond

• 2 additional core values for SSHRC
• Interactive engagement
• Maximum knowledge impact

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Sustained interactive connection From this

• geographically scattered research effort
• disciplinary silos
• disconnected from use
• fragmented knowledge-building
• Isolated research agendas

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Sustained interactive connection To this

• ongoing connections across geography,
  institutions, and sectors
• integrated across disciplines
• integrated with decision-making, policy and
  practice
• synergistic research agendas
• fully connected to the world

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Maximum knowledge impact From happenstance
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Maximum knowledge impact To permanent interfaces
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Key questions Inventing new structures/programs/
approaches

• Confederations of learning
• More formal Institutes
• Knowledge mobilization units in universities
• Web-facilitated communities of practice
• A clearinghouse for advanced expertise
• Exchange/mobility programs
• Enriched and connected post-secondary training
  environments
• A Human Sciences Foundation
• Scholarly-based journals for lay audiences

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Key questions Improving current SSHRC programs

• Smaller operating grants to more people?
• Larger research grants to fewer people?
• Special support for young scholars?
• Promote greater relevance, synergy and impact of
  strategic grants?
• Different/new support for research
  communications?
• New or different support to institutions?
• Development of more collective tools for
  research?

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SSHRC Today
CURA
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SSHRC Tomorrow
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Questions for discussion

• Basic goals and values To what extent does the
  new vision resonate with your sense of what
  Canada requires? How engage proactively?
• New programs and approaches Advantages and
  disadvantages of proposed adaptive structures?
  Alternatives?
• Improving current programs Reactions and
  priorities?
• Increasing linkages and knowledge flows outside
  universities Best partners? Respective roles of
  SSHRC, universities, disciplines, NGOs,
  government departments?
• Next steps Which new structures first? And
  sequence and priorities thereafter?

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How did we get here?

• Phase I (Oct.-April 2003) decision to act
• Phase 2 (May-Sept. 2003) taking stock of
  political constraints
• Phase 3 (Oct.-Dec. 2003) SSHRC Council takes
  action
• Phase 4 (Jan. 2004) Deliberative consultation

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The transformation process

• January SSHRC meeting with campus
  representatives
• February-April Consultation on university
  campuses and with partners
• March National meeting heads of scholarly
  associations
• June Open meeting - Congress of the Humanities
  and Social Sciences
• Then synthesis, Council discussion, over to the
  government

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Key messages

• A real consultation
• Not a zero-sum game
• Need external voices
• A culture change
• Speak with one voice
• We are building a success