Evaluation of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Connection Grants: Management Response and Action Plan

Program context and evaluation rationale

SSHRC’s Connection Grants (CGs) support short-term and targeted activities designed to foster networking, collaboration and knowledge mobilization (KMb) among researchers, practitioners and other knowledge users. The grants facilitate the exchange of ideas, development of new partnerships, and mobilization of knowledge, often serving as a complement to other research initiatives. Importantly, CGs aim to support intersectoral exchanges between researchers working in postsecondary institutions or between these researchers and groups working outside of academia, such as not-for-profit or industry partners. As a smaller-scale funding opportunity, CG plays a unique role in realizing the influence, benefit and impact of social sciences and humanities research within and beyond postsecondary institutions.

The purpose of the evaluation was to provide SSHRC senior management with a comprehensive assessment of CGs’ relevance, outcomes, and value to the research community. Its purpose, as well, was to provide recommendations for improvements and potential directions for the future, including for relevant changes outside of CG. The evaluation was designed to provide information about CG’s role in relation to the broader family of Research Partnerships program, along with other SSHRC funding opportunities and KMb initiatives.

Guided by an evaluation advisory committee, in accordance with the Treasury Board’s Policy on Results, this evaluation aligns with SSHRC’s commitment to accountability, continuous improvement, and evidence-based decision-making, as required under the Policy on Results. The evaluation relied primarily on administrative data, document review, key informant interviews and a staff focus group, along with a review of agency documents and academic literature on KMb.

Overall comments on the evaluation

The evaluation was a valuable exercise, providing important insights into the unique role and impact of the CG funding opportunity within SSHRC’s broader funding ecosystem.

The report confirms that the CG opportunity occupies a unique niche in the Canadian social sciences and humanities funding landscape. The findings largely align with management’s expectations for the funding opportunity and demonstrate that it is uniquely positioned to respond to agency priorities due to its flexible design. CGs are fulfilling their intended purpose to grow and sustain research collaboration networks, as well as facilitate KMb activities at different stages of research programs. The evidence shows that CGs, which are easily adaptable, are used in remarkably varied ways in contributing to the generation and dissemination of new ideas and knowledge, fostering capacity building among scholars and knowledge users, and creating opportunities for researchers and knowledge users to lay the groundwork for larger, more comprehensive projects.

The evaluation identifies opportunities for SSHRC to ensure the CG funding opportunity remains flexible and responsive to evolving research practices and community needs. Among other recommendations, it proposes the agency update its public facing definition of and guidelines for effective KMb. The evaluation also surfaced practical challenges, including the administrative burden on applicants, co-applicants and collaborators, as well as on participants from other sectors, such as the not-for-profit and industry sectors. The evaluation suggests simplifying and streamlining the CG literature, application process and design to further strengthen the funding opportunity’s flexibility and increase the engagement of researchers, trainees, and other sector partners and communities in meaningful ways.

The evaluation and related action plan provide a timely opportunity to conduct an exercise that would align CG with the current holistic review of research excellence conducted by SSHRC, and to prepare an enhanced and streamlined CG for the Tri-agency grants management system.

Importance and implications of recommendations

The evaluation report made the following recommendations:

1. Continue to provide funding for knowledge mobilization events and outreach activities through Connection Grants in multiple competitions per year to allow for flexibility. Consider adjusting grant amounts for inflation.
2. Continue to recognize and support the wide range of tools used in knowledge mobilization with a wide range of purposes, including newer and less common options that have the potential to engage researchers, trainees, other-sector partners and communities in meaningful ways.
3. Adopt the draft logic model developed during the design phase of the evaluation of the Connection Grants funding opportunity, with some adjustments.
4. Review and update SSHRC’s public-facing descriptions of knowledge mobilization, especially the definition on the Definition of Terms web page and the Guidelines for Effective Knowledge Mobilization, to ensure consistent framing and use of relevant terminology.
5. Seek opportunities to facilitate increased levels of formal participation in CG projects by other sector actors (i.e., as co-applicants, collaborators or partners) by clarifying program language and modifying application procedures for co-applicants. Consider ways to improve recognition of the time and work that go into some forms of participation in CG-funded activities.

The recommendations arising from the evaluation are both timely and significant for strengthening the CG funding opportunity. The evaluation report provides useful, often interconnected, recommendations to continuously improve the funding opportunity’s delivery; and offers an opportunity to address areas for improvement related, for example, to strengthening participation among academic and other sector partners.

The first recommendation highlights the importance of continuing to offer CG multiple times per year and further underscores the need to maintain the flexibility and adaptability of the CG funding opportunity so that it may respond to and support changing agency priorities. The recommendations, including recommendation two, also provide a pathway for SSHRC to strengthen CG’s ability to encourage the use and dissemination of innovative KMb activities and tools in Canada and internationally, among academic and other sector partners. Further, the recommended exercise to adjust and adopt the draft logic model, as detailed in recommendation three, is an opportunity for SSHRC to further streamline the program model, including investigating updates to the application process and design, as well as streamlined merit review, to ensure the funding opportunity’s logic model is aligned internally while also reflecting the changing needs and expectations of the research community. These all link to the fourth recommendation, to update and align SSHRC’s documentation about KMb, and the fifth recommendation, which suggests enhancing clarity around participant roles and improving the efficiency of the application process, especially for non-academic partners. This also reflects an ongoing priority for SSHRC, to reduce barriers and foster inclusivity.

The following action plan provides specific information on management responses to each of the recommendations contained in the evaluation report.