Aspiration Research Cluster Program
The Aspiration Research Cluster program was established by the Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation to support research excellence, facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration, and raise the external profile of the university through capacity-building resources and support. Clusters can be in any research area, but those that align with the Aspiration 2030 impact areas will be prioritized.
Cluster funding is intended to support catalytic activities that will help to build the cluster’s identity and collaboration potential. Clusters should have the potential to develop into global leaders on relevant topics, attract major new external funding (e.g. NFRF Transformation, SSHRC Partnership Grant, CFI Innovation Fund, major NSERC Alliance, governmental programs, donors or foundations, international grants, etc.) and/or demonstrate significant community impact (e.g., new strategic partnerships, generate meaningful intellectual property for licensing or commercialization activities, creation of new centre or institute, influencing public policy or major government directions, leading public discourse on major issues, etc.).
What is a research cluster?
In this context, a research cluster is defined as an informal group or network of UVic researchers with complementary but interdisciplinary expertise – working together to address important economic or societal challenges.
Key dates
Round 1 Funding start date: April 2023
Announcement: Successful clustersRound 2 will be announced in late 2023
Evaluation criteria
Applications are assessed on the following criteria:
- Research excellence and potential impact
- Strength of the team and complementarity
- Cluster plan
Refer to program terms below for full details.
Cluster adjudication process
- An interdisciplinary panel of internal faculty and external partners reviewed and scored all applications.
- Shortlisted applicants pitched their presentations to a strategic panel.
- Shortlisted cluster applications were reviewed by the strategic panel, taking into consideration the pitch presentation and the feedback from the first interdisciplinary panel review. Applications were evaluated on their ability to meet the criteria outlined in the call for proposals and the overall institutional objectives of the cluster program.
- The strategic panel made recommendations to the VPRI Executive who then determined the funding allocation.
Contact
Stephanie Keenlyside
Strategic Program Officer
strategicpo2@uvic.ca
FAQs
No, all full applications must be preceded by an NOI. If the first round is not feasible for any interested groups, they can wait to apply to the second call in 2023 (TBA).
Yes. However, if changes are made to members or the research area, please email Stephanie Keenlyside with the changes to ensure appropriate reviewers are secured.
The NOI will be used primarily to help identify appropriate reviewers for applications. It may also be used to identify synergies or overlaps between proposals, and to confirm eligibility. Some preliminary feedback may be provided at this stage.
Any full-time UVic research faculty member (tenure or tenure-track).
Faculty members may participate in more than one cluster but cannot be the designated PI/Co-PI for more than one application.
Yes. However, the program is to support activities of a group of UVic researchers (that may have external partners that strengthen the collective work), but is not a program to support, for example, an existing or new regional/national network with “some” participation of UVic researchers.
Yes, building or formalizing relationships may form part of the proposal plan, but potential collaborators and partners should be clearly differentiated from those who are already collaborating with the proponents.
Not necessarily. While it is expected that most members will have worked together in some way in the recent past, it could be beneficial for some groups to include members they have not worked with before; this might include early career researchers (faculty in first 5 years of their first independent appointment, graduate students and postdocs) or newly appointed faculty.
Not necessarily, however we expect to see an interdisciplinarity among group members, with an array of different perspectives and funding portfolios.
Clusters can address more than one Impact Area or priority and this information can be included in the proposal. However, it will be important to clearly articulate how the cluster will address each impact area.
Not necessarily. We imagine that transformational goals could take different forms, depending on the nature of the research area, maturity of the cluster, etc. While this could be a major grant application, it could also include pursuing a membership of an international network that would enhance your global reputation or pursuing a significant industry or government partnership for example. Proponents are invited to define and explain the transformative goal that their cluster will be pursuing.
No. Cluster funding is not intended to support the direct costs of research.
The Dean (or Associate Dean if the Dean is absent) of the cluster’s PI should sign-off on the proposal. However, if any cluster members are requesting teaching release, their Dean will need to sign the form as well.
A short list of applicants will be asked to pitch their proposals to the review panel. If a large number of proposals are received, then a first stage review will occur to create a short list.
This has not been confirmed at this point. After the NOI stage a committee of cross-disciplinary faculty members (and potentially external reviewers) will be formed.
Yes. If a proposal isn’t approved in the first round, applicants can revise the proposal and submit to the second round.
These two rounds are a pilot with one-time funding; however, there could be additional competitions depending on future funding and the impact of the program.