WIN Interdisciplinary Research Funding Program 2020

It is with great pleasure that we announce the second round of the WIN Interdisciplinary Research Funding Program (WIN-IRFP). The 2020 IRFP competition is designed to seed “high risk–high reward” research that leads to big impacts in the following three key targeted global challenges: (a) Climate change; (b) Reduction of global waste; and (c) Biodiversity loss.  This round is also aligned with the 2020 New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) Transformation Competition to incent and support applications to this program.

The WIN-IRFP has a total envelope of around $500,000 CAD for this program. Awards of up to $250,000 CAD will be provided for outstanding proposals which must be subsequently submitted to the NFRF 2020 Transformation Competition.

Summary

Award

WIN Interdisciplinary Research Funding Program (WIN-IRFP)

Background

The WIN-IRFP is designed to help WIN members expand their collaborative networks to include a more diversified team that is increasingly required for inclusion in high-profile networks and large-scale funding programs.The WIN-IFRP matching funds will incent applications to the New Frontiers in Research Fund Transformation Competition valued at $2-4M/year (including indirect costs) over 6 years.

Objectives

As with NFRF grants, this award is to support projects that:

  1. Tackle a well-defined problem
  2. Propose a novel, world-leading approach
  3. Are interdisciplinary, bringing in different perspectives
  4. Create a significant leap or breakthrough, rather than incremental advances

Eligibility

Open to all Core WIN members as PI; Associate WIN Members may act as co-PI; Early-career researchers must be a confirmed team member.

  • NFRF definition of interdisciplinarity: proposed research must include elements from at least two different disciplines (group level classification); projects that fall under the mandate of only one federal agency are not eligible.

Program Requirements

Applications to the WIN-IRFP must meet the NFRF eligibility criteria including:

  1. Interdisciplinary team of five (5) confirmed members (PI, co-principal investigators and co-applicants; more collaborators are allowed)
  2. Team must be pan-Canadian; may include appropriate international partners as appropriate
  3. The proposal must centre around one or a combination of the following topics with clear objectives and research plans outlined:     
    1. Climate change
    2. Reduction of global waste
    3. Biodiversity loss 

Amount

Up to $250,000 CAD; Subgrants will be processed for other UW Faculty members and non-UW co-applicants/team members

Duration

One year

 New Frontiers of Research Fund-Transformation Call 2020 Application

 The IRFP application process is designed to assist with the NFRF application at each step. The WIN-IFRP NOI and Proposal align very closely with the NFRF-NOI and LOI to avoid duplication efforts. Each WIN-IRFP application will be vetted and reviewed for technical content by WIN SPARC in preparation for the NFRF deadlines: NFRF 2020 Application and Deadlines

Application (2 stages)

  1. Notice of Interest (NOI)
  2. Full Proposal

To align with NFRF call, the WIN-IRFP consists of two stages:

  1. Notice of Interest (NOI): All applicants to be considered for WIN-IRFP Full Proposal/LOI must submit the Notice of Intent (NOI) for 2020 Transformation Competition by OR timeline and agency deadline of February 18, 2020. A confirmation copy of the NFRF submission must be attached with the full proposal submission. 
  2. Full Proposal*:  All applicants who submit the WIN-IRFP Full Proposal must submit the LOI for the 2020 Transformation Competition by the OR and *new agency deadline of July 15, 2020*. 

*Full proposals require a completed Office of Research Coversheet signed by Department Chair, Faculty Dean, and Executive Director of WIN. WIN must be listed as the associated research account holder (and not Department) as WIN is the administrative org. unit for this fund.

WIN-IFRP NOI Deadline

February 12, 2020

WIN-IFRP Full Proposal/LOI Deadline

June 15, 2020 (Extended to accommodate delays due to COVID-19)

WIN-IRFP Results Announced

Award selection will be announced in during the Spring 2020 term

Submit to:

Lisa Pokrajac, WIN Assistant Director, Research Programs

lisa.pokrajac@uwaterloo.ca; Tel: x36801

Adjudication of Proposals will be conducted by the Special Projects and Research Committee (SPARC), which is an advisory committee to the Executive Director. SPARC members include:

  • John Thompson, Associate Vice-President Research
  • Bernard Duncker, Associate Vice-President Interdisciplinary Research
  • David Clausi, Associate Dean of Research and External Partnerships, Faculty of Engineering
  • Shirley Tang, Associate Dean of Research, Faculty of Science
  • Zbig Wasilewski, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Lisa Pokrajac, WIN Assistant Director Research Programs

Award selection will be announced during the Spring 2020.

WIN-IRFP 2020 Application Templates are found here:

  1. WIN-IRFP NOI - Deadline to submit to WIN is February 12, 2020
  2. WIN-IRFP Full Proposal - Deadline to submit to WIN is June 15, 2020

A summary of the IRFP and deadlines can be found here: IRFP 2020 Announcement