Call for research proposals

Overview

The Desjardins Centre for Innovation and Financing (the Center) welcomes applications for research grants. The Center aims to provide funding for research initiatives in new financial technologies, such as FinTech, blockchain, and crypto assets, as disruptors and innovation channels in the financial sector as well as traditional and innovative new forms of business or project financing. The Center encourages theoretical, qualitative, empirical as well as applied research that ultimately has the potential to lead to a publication in high-ranked academic journals and strengthens the ties between JMSB and Montreal’s financial sector, especially the Mouvement Desjardins.

Value and Duration

Grant funding of up to $10,000 can be provided for a project with a maximum of a two-year duration starting from the date of approval. The first installment of up to $5,000 will be paid out after approval. The second installment of up to $5,000 will be paid out after a positive evaluation of an interim report, which needs to be submitted at least six months before the end of the grant ending date. Research projects must comply with the University’s policies governing research. Researchers who plan to involve human participants (including interviews and online surveys), must submit a Summary Protocol Form request to the Ethics Unit, Office of Research (via ConRAD) before any funds can be released.

Eligibility and Requirements

Faculty members (full-time tenured and tenure track faculty members as well as research-active faculty members holding ETA appointments) are invited to submit research project proposals. The grant is not intended for faculty on leave without pay. Grant recipients must be on the University payroll during the entire grant period. Proposals must not already be funded by any other source, including, but not limited to, SSHRC, OVPRGS Seed or ARRE funding or simultaneously be under submission for funding. Projects have to be relevant and of high quality, with clear objectives that are consistent with the Center’s mission. A brief report of accomplishments is required at the end of the grant period. Grant recipients must acknowledge the Desjardins Centre for Innovation and Financing for their research or research-related activities. In addition, an abstract of the research proposal needs to be submitted, which will be distributed on the website and social media. Upon completion of the research project, an electronic version of the research paper needs to be submitted to the Centre and will be come part of the Centre’s working paper series.

Evaluation

The Center’s Scientific Committee will evaluate the proposals. Proposals will be evaluated on an ongoing basis as received. Funding will be conditional upon the Scientific Committee’s review and availability of funds. The project’s potential usefulness to both academics and practitioners (managers, bankers and/or investors) must be highlighted.

Required documents

Applications must contain the following information to be considered complete. Incomplete applications will not be adjudicated. The items below must be submitted in one (1) PDF file, in the following order:

Detailed Project Description (maximum 5 pages)

• Executive Summary or Abstract (maximum 250 words)
• Detailed description of the research idea and the contribution to the current literature
• Description of data / databases (if applicable) and applied methodology
• Summary of the main research objectives
• Student Involvement and Training
• Timeline
• References
  

Budget and Justification (maximum 1 page)

Eligible expenses

• Research assistant salaries
• Database costs (as long as the data is accessible to all JMSB researchers via a site license)
• Costs related to collecting data (e.g., survey costs)
• Professional/technical services (only if mentioned in the grant proposal)
• Supplies directly related to the research and not obtainable through other sources such as a professional development allowance

Non-eligible expenses

• Costs incurred before a grant is awarded
• Research by the principal applicant or co-investigator leading to a degree
• Purchase or rental of standard office equipment
• Professional training or development
• Preparation of teaching materials/curriculum development
• Memberships
• Research travel

Current Curriculum Vitae

An up-to-date curriculum vitae, including a list of all publications, achievements and relevant professional and research experience. A free-form curriculum vitae of up to 15 pages will be accepted or a Canadian Common CV, SSHRC, or NSERC.

Adjudication: Adjudication is done by the Scientific Committee of the Centre.

Application Instructions

Please submit the application package in one file to denis.schweizer@concordia.ca with the following Subject: “Desjardins Centre Case Grant Application 2023”. Applications must include all required documents in a single PDF document, named as follows: “[YOUR NAME] - Desjardins Centre Case Grant Application 2023”. Incomplete applications will not be considered.