The Office of Research Services (ORS) has launched a new fund, the Indigenous Research Grant (IRG), which is funded by the Office of the Vice-President, Research.

The grant, valued up to $7,500 per proposal, enables Brock researchers, scholars, postdocs and those holding limited-term appointments to undertake research or creative activities in any discipline and on any topic that relates to Indigenous peoples.

“The program supports multiple pillars of the Brock Institutional Strategic Plan, especially building research capacity, and supporting a culture of reconciliation and decolonization,” said Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon.

While preference will be given to research that is led by, or involves, partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, proposals for research involving Indigenous peoples globally are welcome.

“We are really looking to support research that is Indigenous-centred: developed in conjunction with Indigenous peoples and contributing to Indigenous people,” said Acting Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement Robyn Bourgeois.

“It’s research that centres Indigenous ways of knowing and doing and resists extractive research relationships where Indigenous people as treated as object of study and, instead, ensures that they are partners (including development of research strategies, ownership of data, dissemination of findings) in the creation of knowledge,” she said.

The focus of this funding is to advance research programs and to support submissions to an external granting agency as appropriate. It also allows for the hiring of students and building capacity across disciplines to collaborate on transdisciplinary topics.

Grants will be adjudicated as they are received and while funding is available. While applications will be accepted on continuous intake basis, submissions must be received by April 16, 2021 in ordered to be considered for funding out of the 2020-21 envelope.

Applications received after that date will be considered out of the 2021-22 funding envelop once the budget is approved.

For more details read the Indigenous Grant Program Guidelines, and to apply please fill out the Indigenous Grant Program Application.

Any questions can be directed to Sharlee Cranston-Reimer, Research Officer, ORS, at scranstonreimer@brocku.ca.