Carleton OVPRII – Multidisciplinary Research Catalyst Fund, Special Call Sustainability, Climate Change, and Energy Efficiency

• 3.1Subject Matter: All relevant disciplines to the themes of sustainability, climate change, and energy efficiency.
• 3.2 Eligibility: PI (or at least one of the Co-PIs) should be a Carleton full-time faculty member (research stream) at the rank of assistant, associate, or full professor.
• 3.3 Team Member Eligibility: Anyone is eligible to apply as a Team Member. Faculty members may participate in more than one MRCF team but cannot be the designated PI/Co-PI for more than one active application (current call or previous rounds without having completed reporting).

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  • A team must comprise four or more faculty members, meeting the following criteria:
    
    
    
    • Includes at least one Early Career Researcher[1]
    
    
    • Represents researchers from multiple academic units whose individual expertise are commonly funded by different agencies (e.g. SSHRC, NSERC, CIHR, or the Canada Council for the Arts).
    
    
    • May include potential external partners from research institutions (e.g. NRC, industry, NGOs, foundations, hospitals, government, or international partners).
    
    
    • May include adjunct research professors and professional librarians.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Identify a designated Principal Investigator (PI) or two Co-PIs who will be:
    
    
    
    • The corresponding representative(s) to receive communications about the application.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  

  [1]  Early Career Researchers are defined as individuals who have five years or less experience since their first academic appointment as of the application deadline, with the exception of delays that have affected research productivity and that occurred after their appointment. The cause of the delay should be indicated in general terms and adjusts the eligibility window at a 2:1 ratio.

5.1. Eligible Expenses: Research support staff (e.g. graduate students, researchers, grant writers, web developers), convening workshops, and partner travel. Teaching release may be eligible with the express written permission of your Faculty Dean and the consent of the Office of the Vice-President (Research, Innovation and International).

5.2 Ineligible Expenses: Research activities (e.g. field work, clinical trials, data gathering, etc.); scholarly publication costs; collection or preparation of material primarily intended for personal classroom needs or teaching purposes; Purchase of equipment; Technology transfer costs (e.g. patent filing); Alcoholic beverages

• Deadline:
  • Launch: August 7 , 2025 before 4:30pm.
  • Submission: September 15, 2025, by email to coris@carleton.ca (cc all members of the MRCF team).

• Key Program Contact: Christine Rivas, Assistant Director, Research Services (Christine.Rivas@carleton.ca)

 7.1 Research Excellence and Vision

• Addresses an important challenge that our society faces, where Carleton has a pre-existing strength and a potential competitive edge relative to other institutions.
• Has a potential to achieve transformative positive outcomes in terms of impact on society, benefits to Canada, and, as applicable, has a potential to help economic recovery.
• Links to external demands or societal needs/directions, thereby demonstrating potential for external partners, increase in external research funding at Carleton, and sustainability into the future.

7.2 Team Strength and Synergy

• Established excellence of the members of the team in terms of research productivity and funding.
• Demonstrates interdisciplinarity/multidisciplinarity and ideally involves more than one Faculty.
• Demonstrates the meaningful engagement and participation of early career researchers and individuals from underrepresented groups[1].

7.3 Plan for Achieving MRCF Program Objectives

• Includes Carleton-led external funding applications, increase in research productivity, impact on society, potential economic development, and communications and outreach strategy.

[1] Underrepresented groups include, but are not limited to, the four designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, members of visible minorities, and persons with disabilities).

An application comprises one attachment that includes: (i) the project’s title, (ii) a designated Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PIs, and (iii) the following sections:

8.1 Multidisciplinary Research Cluster Overview (maximum ¼ page)

• Provide a lay summary of the multidisciplinary research cluster.

8.2 Project Description (maximum ¾ page)

• Describe the research area, including a vision that responds to an important societal challenge.
• Outline the transformative opportunity that this funding will enable, including impact on society, benefits to Canada, and, where applicable, economic development potential.
• Describe the benefits to Carleton and the integration with academic programs (graduate and undergraduate).

8.3 Team Strength and Synergy (maximum 1 page)

• List the research team members and describe their role in the project. Discuss how the members constitute an interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary team and how this cluster is positioned to address the important societal challenge.
• Describe existing external partners, and their contribution to the project.
• Discuss how the cluster will meaningfully engage underrepresented groups and early career researchers.

8.4 Project, Communications, and Outreach Plan (maximum ½ page)

• Describe the plan for achieving the MRCF program objectives as outlined in the “Objectives and Expected Deliverables”, Section 1 of this call for proposals.

8.5 Budget and Budget Justification (maximum ½ page)

• Include an itemized budget with justification (up to $15,000).
• Indicate any anticipated resources needed from OVPRII that would facilitate success.

8.6 Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion – EDI (maximum ½ page)

• Explain your plan to promote the integration of EDI-related considerations in your project design and practice, and your plan to increase equitable and inclusive participation in the project.

8.7 Curriculum Vitae (any format)

• For each team member provide a ½ page bio and a link to the researcher’s up-to-date website. If a team member does not have an appropriate website, attach their CV (maximum of five CVs).

• Explain any acronyms and abbreviations fully.
• Please use a 8 ½” x 11″ format, single-spaced, 11 pt font, and standard margins (1”).