IVADO 2024 Exploratory Projects Program

The objectives of the Exploratory Projects Program are to:

• Support cutting-edge exploratory research by funding projects that are creative, innovative and audacious, and ideally cross-sectoral or interdisciplinary. Projects submitted can also be training or partnership projects.
• Support projects in AI, on AI or with AI.
• Enable the exploration of pioneering ideas in connection with and/or alongside R³AI.
• Encourage original collaboration between researchers from different sectors or disciplines and different institutions.
• Encourage projects led by and/or involving members of under-represented groups and promoting equity, diversity and inclusion.

Competition launch: April 8, 2024

Letter of intent submission: Anytime (no deadline)

Letter of intent results: Approximately 4 weeks after submission of letter of intent

Full application submission: Anytime (no deadline)

Full application results: Approximately 6-7 weeks after submission of full application

Value and duration

The maximum amount allocated is $100,000 per grant. The amount may exceptionally exceed $100,000, if justified by the needs of the project.

The total duration of each grant is one (1) year.

The budget proposed by the researchers must take into account the following criteria:

• A large part of the budget allocated by IVADO must support the work of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows on the project.
• It is expected that the budget allocated by IVADO will complement a budget from another source of funding, in cash or in-kind (e.g. internal or external grant, partnership, philanthropy, etc.), although this is not a requirement.

IVADO’s annual budget for this program is 1M$ until the end of the CFREF grant (2030). IVADO aims to fund between 10 and 20 exploratory projects each year.

Terms of payment

Funds will be transferred to the principal investigator’s home institution. Please note that subsequent transfers to co-investigators are not possible.

If projects require ethics approval, funds will not be released until such approval has been granted. Some projects, for example those carried out in partnership with companies, may require special agreements (e.g. on intellectual property).

Exploratory projects must be led by a team of at least two professors, and the principal investigator must be from Université de Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal, HEC Montréal, Université Laval or McGill University. Professors from other universities in Quebec, Canada or abroad may be co-investigators.

The principal investigator must:

• Be a regular faculty member at HEC Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal, Université de Montréal, Université Laval or McGill University;
• Hold one of the following eligible positions: assistant professor, associate professor, full professor.

It is expected that the composition of research teams will reflect different stages of career, allowing for collaboration between established and early-career researchers.

Projects involving under-represented groups (e.g. racialized people, African, Caribbean and Black people, people from Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities, women, gender equity groups and people from 2SLGBTQIA+ communities) are strongly encouraged.

Research projects combining various disciplines, notably the humanities and social sciences or the humanities and arts, are strongly encouraged.

The application process consists of two (2) steps:

• Letter of intent (eliminatory)
• Full application

Researchers are invited to submit a letter of intent, which will be evaluated by an IVADO internal peer review committee to verify the alignment of the proposal with the competition objectives. Letters of intent may be submitted at any time.

Only successful LOI will be invited to submit a full application, and will be peer-reviewed. Full applications may be submitted at any time.

Researchers must submit their research projects via the IVADO online portal. Applications submitted by e-mail or after the deadline will not be accepted.

The content of the application includes the following elements:

The letter of intent to be submitted on the IVADO Portal including:

• A list of the principal investigator and co-investigators,
• A project description (2 pages) and a budget request.

The complete application to be submitted on the IVADO Portal including:

• A list of the principal investigator and co-investigators,
• A description of the exploratory research project (5 pages),
• A budget justification and the link between this proposal and other sources of funding,
• The curriculum vitae of the principal investigator and co-investigators (in the format of a recognized granting agency).

Applications may be submitted in English or French.

The committee will evaluate the letters of intent according to the following selection criteria:

1. Audacity and innovation (70%): creativity and originality of the project in the exploratory phase in terms of advancing knowledge; novelty of ideas; relevance of literature review, methodology and theoretical framework. Inclusion of EDI and Indigenous perspectives, when relevant.
2. Feasibility (15%): soundness of research plan; relevance of timetable to objectives; cash or in-kind contributions from other sources.
3. Capacity (15%): alignment of the research team’s expertise with the proposed research; diversity of profiles.

The committee will evaluate full project applications according to the following selection criteria:

1. Audacity and innovation (50%): creativity and originality of the project in the exploratory phase in terms of advancing knowledge; novelty of ideas; relevance of literature review, methodology and theoretical framework. Inclusion of EDI and Indigenous perspectives, when relevant.
2. Feasibility (25%): soundness of research plan; relevance of timetable to objectives; cash or in-kind contributions from other sources.
3. Capacity (25%): alignment of the research team’s expertise with the proposed research; quality (rather than quantity) of previous experience and diversity of profiles.

Completed applications are evaluated by an evaluation committee who makes funding recommendations. The final decision is made by IVADO’s Scientific Committee.

For more information on our program evaluation process and general practices, please consult the “Evaluation of grant and award applications” section of the Responsible Conduct in Research manual.

As recipients of the Exploratory Projects Program, researchers commit to:

• Submit their final report on time (report on the outcome of the research and use of funds)
• Notify IVADO of any change in the composition of the research team or in the professional situation of the principal investigators or co-investigators. IVADO reserves the right, after examining the request for modification, to adjust its financial contribution, or even suspend it, if the new conditions are no longer compatible with the terms and conditions of the grant.
• Comply with the three agencies’ (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) policy on open access to publications. Researchers are encouraged to publish the results of their research (e.g. articles, recordings of presentations, source code, databases) in compliance with the intellectual property rules governing their specific situation.
• Acknowledge the support of IVADO and the Canada First Research Excellence Fund  in scientific communications (e.g., articles, conference, website, workshops, interviews).

IVADO is committed to EDI in the following ways:

• IVADO promotes the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion in all its programs to ensure that all members of society benefit equally from the advancement of knowledge and opportunities.
• IVADO is committed to providing an inclusive and non-discriminatory recruitment process and research framework that is open and transparent.

Q: Do research teams have to be formed at the LOI stage? Do all co-investigators have to be named at this stage?

A: Ideally, research teams should be formed at the LOI stage and the names of all co-investigators should be listed, but IVADO accepts changes from the LOI to the full application.

Q: Can I include co-investigators from outside Quebec or Canada on my grant application? 

A: It is possible to include co-investigators from outside Quebec or outside Canada on your grant application, but this may affect the funding terms and conditions.

Q: Can international co-investigators receive funding?

A: No funding can be transferred by IVADO outside the following universities: Université de Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal, HEC Montréal, Université Laval, McGill University. However, researchers are not prohibited from partnering with researchers outside Quebec or Canada.

Do you have any further questions? Please send them to: programmes-excellence@ivado.ca