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Staff Lunch and Learns where we host community leaders

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Staff Lunch and Learns where we host community leaders

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Facilitation and training sessions

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Click on the image, drag and drop the words (phases) to the correct area on the Knowledge Creation Funnel in the KTA framework.
Do you have any comments or questions about the framework?

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For example,  "it is an umbrella term encompassing a wide range of activities relating to the production and use of research results, including knowledge synthesis, dissemination, transfer, exchange, and co-creation or co-production by researchers and knowledge users".Retrieved from:

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These guidelines are intended to help applicants and grant holders incorporate knowledge mobilization activities, including data management, into their SSHRC-funded research, to maximize the impact of social sciences and humanities research.

These guidelines will help grant applicants determine the following:

To whom should research results be communicated?

How is the process of communicating research results best mapped?

How will the proposed knowledge mobilization activities advance the stated research goals?

Will interactions with knowledge users be fed into research design?

How will interactions be sustained beyond the life of the project?

Applicants' use of these guidelines will also enable SSHRC 's merit reviewers to more effectively evaluate the knowledge mobilization activities described in funding applications. The guidelines also serve as a resource, when advising prospective applicants, for postsecondary institutions and partnering organizations involved in research and related activities.

What is knowledge mobilization?

Knowledge mobilization is an umbrella term encompassing a wide range of activities relating to the production and use of research results, including knowledge synthesis, dissemination, transfer, exchange, and co-creation or co-production by researchers and knowledge users.

Effective knowledge mobilization includes plans to store data in the public domain, where appropriate.

Please see SSHRC's definition of knowledge mobilization.

Knowledge mobilization and merit review at SSHRC

All SSHRC research grants and scholarships are awarded through an independent merit review process designed to ensure the highest standards of excellence and impartiality. When evaluating grant proposals as a whole-and Knowledge Mobilization and Expected Outcomes modules, in particular-merit reviewers apply criteria that specifically refer to knowledge mobilization activities.

Most SSHRC grant applications contain a mandatory Knowledge Mobilization module that allows applicants to describe the appropriate target audiences, and to demonstrate that its overall reach is both sufficient and appropriate. In particular, knowledge mobilization plans are evaluated when assessing the project's feasibility and its potential for impact within and beyond the social sciences.

Defining "appropriate research users"

Applicants should determine the most appropriate users of their research outputs, both at the outset and throughout the life of their project. This includes considerations of managing, storing and preserving data, where appropriate, in light of the Tri-Agency Statement of Principles on Digital Data Management.

When identifying appropriate research users, applicants should do so in light of the project's theme, research questions, overall goals and expected results. Researchers should address the following questions-even in cases where the audience is strictly academic:

Who stands to benefit from this research?

Which audiences will be involved, when and how?

How will the audiences benefit from being involved and how will the research benefit from their involvement?

What is the best way to communicate with these audiences?

SSHRC encourages its funding recipients to disseminate research knowledge in both official languages, whenever feasible and/or appropriate. SSHRC further encourages researchers to publish their results in the language of the community where the research takes place, especially in the case of Indigenous languages.

Outcomes and impacts

Applicants should consider the following when describing how they will maximize the results of their research, and how they will ensure their results' sustainability:

All recipients of SSHRC funding must submit an end of grant report to document how they have used grant funds, and on the outcomes and impact of their research.

Outputs are the first set of short-term results most researchers typically see (e.g., number of publications, presentations, event attendees, new data sets, new partners added to a team, or new stakeholders and/or research users contacted or added to networks).

Outcomes (also called "results") include all activities undertaken as a result of new insights. Outcomes may include: the number of people in various target audiences that use the research findings (including data sets), the number of students trained, new capacities created, policies developed, business strategies formulated, advancements in understanding reconciliation, etc. Outcomes may be either foreseen or unforeseen, direct or indirect, intended or unintended.

Impacts are long-term outcomes or effects that take the form of changed thinking and behaviours. Impacts are reflected through such indicators as global economic performance, competitiveness, public service effectiveness, new products and services, employment, policy relevance, learning skills enhancement, quality of life, community cohesion, and movement toward reconciliation and social inclusion.

Most SSHRC grant applications include a mandatory Expected Outcomes module. This module provides applicants an opportunity to outline the project's expected outputs, outcomes and impacts. The applicant should present plans and/or indicators of success. For example, applicants might indicate that, by the end of the first year, the researcher will have had a specific number of meetings with key stakeholders and/or presented at a specific number of conferences. Expected outcomes are evaluated in relation to the other parts of the proposal.

Turning research into outcomes and impacts

Once an applicant (in concert with team members and partners, where appropriate) has determined potential research users and outlined the project's potential outputs, outcomes and impacts, he or she must determine the most effective ways to connect with users. In cases of co-production of knowledge in particular, the partners and research users are in the best position to guide the course of research to ensure that users' needs are met.

Researchers must ensure that their proposed ways of reaching potential users are both appropriate and sufficient. While it is not possible to provide an exhaustive list of methods, media may include: books, refereed journal articles, data sharing through online repositories, social media, dance, performances, oral histories, websites, films, plays, videos, exhibits, festivals, funding mechanisms, media coverage, op-eds, public service announcements, pamphlets, policy papers, reports, knowledge syntheses and workshops, or conferences and other events. As a general rule, the broader the means used, the broader the impact. Using Open access publication platforms is another effective way of increasing the visibility of research results.

SSHRC has identified the following best practices:

Meetings with knowledge users, especially at the outset of the project, are an effective vehicle for forging strong and lasting connections.

When building relationships with organizations, build links across multiple levels, from front-line, program and policy staff to executives.

To produce knowledge mobilization products that meet users' needs, researchers can use or repackage existing materials, or develop new ones, in concert with the users and their identified needs.

Larger projects typically employ a project co-ordinator. The use of knowledge brokers, who have specific skill sets, can be effective.

Ultimately, the more proactive and multifaceted the approach researchers take with users, the more successful and durable the relationship.

Successful projects often adopt more than one outreach medium in their knowledge mobilization plan.

All research teams, but especially those engaging in co-production of knowledge, should outline at the outset of projects the roles and responsibilities of all participants to ensure the voices of all team members, including partners, are represented at all stages of the project.

At the outset of their project, applicants should develop indicators to gauge the success of their knowledge mobilization plan. Examples include: citation indicators, the number of newsletter/blog subscribers, and the number of recommendations to policy-makers that have been adopted.

Applying for a SSHRC grant

Applicants should address the Feasibility and Capability criteria in the Knowledge Transfer section of the online Canadian Common CV form, as well as the Research Contributions section of the SSHRC CV, by capturing the full range of their past experience in knowledge mobilization activities within and beyond academia.

SSHRC 's merit reviewers are encouraged to weigh the full range of contributions when deliberating on relative merit.

Related policies and web links

For knowledge mobilization-related eligible expenses, see the Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide.

Other relevant policies include:

For other useful resources on knowledge mobilization activities and research, please see:

Examples

The following examples showcase SSHRC-funded best practices in knowledge mobilization.

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Guidelines for Effective Knowledge Mobilization

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These guidelines are intended to help applicants and grant holders incorporate knowledge mobilization activities, including data management, into their SSHRC-funded research, to maximize the impact of social sciences and humanities research. These guidelines will help grant applicants determine the following: To whom should research results be communicated?

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Article: Lost in Knowledge Translation: Time for a Map?

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Article: Lost in Knowledge Translation: Time for a Map?

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For example, attending a webinar

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Please add your ideas by clicking the + sign and typing

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Please add your ideas by clicking the + sign and typing

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For example, to share a new development in your field with colleagues

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There are many frameworks available to mobilize knowledge, such as the one we are using for our CCSIF project: Knowldege to Action (KTA)

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There are many frameworks available to mobilize knowledge, such as the one we are using for our CCSIF project: Knowldege to Action (KTA)

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Graham, I.D., Logan, J., Harrison, M.B., Straus, S.E., Tetroe, J., Caswell, W., Robinson R. (2006).