Social science and humanities researchers at the 喵咪社区 have been awarded a record number of new ) grants in the 2025 competition, edging out the national average in all categories. While the majority of these grants will be located in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH), the interdisciplinary nature of the research is reflected in the dispersal of grants across the university — a direct result of the intentional connections enabled by the One University strategy.
In total, researchers will receive $8,977,671 million for their projects — a success rate attributable to the high impact social sciences and humanities research underway at the U of A. The support provided by the Research Partner Network (RPNet) within the Office of the Vice-President (Research) (VPR), in close collaboration with college and faculty research offices, is a significant factor in this success.
These intentional networked connections are designed to bolster institutional research grant development and administrative efficiency, further situating the U of A as a leading research institution.
"The exceptional success of our social sciences and humanities researchers in the 2025 SSHRC competition is a reflection of the high-calibre, interdisciplinary research happening across our university,” says , vice-president (research). “We look forward to seeing the transformative impact of this work and remain committed to empowering our researchers as they continue to drive even greater social and cultural change."
SSHRC grants were awarded in three categories:
- : Just under $5 million for 28 projects across CSSH and CHS — a success rate of 44 per cent (national avg. 40.30 per cent) and 36 per cent, respectively.
- : Just over $2 million over 31 projects across CSSH and CHS — a success rate of 57.1 per cent (national avg. 53.0 per cent) and 70 per cent, respectively.
- : $1 million over five projects in CSSH — a success rate of 100 per cent (national avg. 40.7 per cent).
“Our results this year bear eloquent testimony to the groundbreaking, societally transformative and rich tapestry of work being done in CSSH,” says , associate dean, research, for CSSH and professor of criminology in the Faculty of Arts. “I am immensely proud of the accomplishments of our colleagues.”
Supporting Interdisciplinary social sciences and humanities research
Ensuring that high-quality research proposals are supported nationally through funding agencies like SSHRC is a priority for the VPR, the RPNet and the college and faculty-based research offices. For the recent funding cycle, these offices worked closely to streamline the existing peer review system as well as other pre-application supports, including information sessions, a five-day intensive boot camp and a budget justification review.
“I was really happy to receive a 2025 SSHRC Insight Grant for a new project on antiracism,” says , Canada Research Chair and professor in political science. “That road to success was immensely aided by taking the bootcamp and making use of the many resources offered by the talented staff in the college's Office of Research.”
The budget justification review was designed under , who was the CSSH’s RPNet’s senior research partner at the time. “We advise applicants about the red flags that tend to discourage review committees or tend to be cut from budgets if not properly justified,” says Young-Leslie. “This increased our odds of success and reduced the amounts by which applicants' budgets were cut by the committee.”
The CSSH’s Office of Research, working closely with vice and associate deans of research, also offered competition debriefs, mobilized copy editing services, assistance with CVs and professional editing support. The office’s director, , says that a key factor in the overall success of large funding competitions like SSHRC is the ability to strategically align the time and talent of a range of teams.
“Bringing this collaboration together to help with the surge of applications is a great example of how we can walk the talk of the One University — scale up support so that we have all hands on deck and researchers get supported in effective and efficient ways,” says Rossier. “My team works closely with and the RPNet to mobilize the excellence of social science and humanities researchers across the entire university.”
“We want the teamwork to be seamless in the background — and the support to shine in the foreground.”
The college mandate to increase interdisciplinary opportunities across faculty boundaries is evidenced in multiple ways in this recent SSHRC competition. One of the projects receiving the Partnership Development Grant — ’s Undoing the language of the KGB files: collaborative partnership for archival justice and the Indigenous peoples of (Soviet) Ukraine (1954--1991) — includes collaborations with in computing science, the (AMII), and many other arts researchers and local and international partners.
Some of these opportunities have been serendipitous in nature, including an encounter between biologist, , dean and vice-provost, College of Natural and Applied Sciences and anthropologist , that yielded new insight into a complex research project. It was at a new faculty orientation jointly hosted by the colleges that the two connected and agreed to collaborate.
, dean and vice provost of CSSH, says these results show what’s possible when expertise and resources are aligned toward a shared goal.
“The dedicated work in our Office of Research and through the VPR’s RPNet is clearly making a real impact,” he says. “These successes speak to the strength of our researchers and the value of the supports in place to help them achieve their research goals.”