The Major Collaborative Research Initiative
The Major Collaborative Research Initiatives (MCRI) program supports leading edge research that addresses broad and critical issues of intellectual, social, economic and cultural significance through the effective coordination and integration of diverse research activities and research results. The MCRI is a flagship funding program within the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
The conceptual framework and research questions of MCRI projects should be of such breadth and scope as to require the participation of many scholars of different perspectives and with different types of expertise working together in an enriching and effective fashion.
The size and composition of the research team should be determined by the complexity of the issues under study and should facilitate the dialogue among the various disciplines that is necessary to explore fully the multi-faceted and complex issues under investigation.
The MCRI program seeks to support research with a strong analytical component, research of such significance that it brings international recognition to the team, involves appropriate partners and stakeholders and produces results that will have a major impact on Canadian scholarship and society.
The program seeks to strengthen Canadian research capacity in the humanities and social sciences by promoting broadly-based research and unique student training opportunities in a collaborative, interdisciplinary research environment.
The program is intended for leading scholars with solid track records and past experience in collaborative research, student training and grant management, and who demonstrate the leadership and other skills necessary for managing a complex, interdisciplinary, multi-institutional project.
The MCRI program also seeks to foster unique opportunities to collaborate on important international research in which the Canadian team plays a decisive role in the direction of the research.
The specific objectives of the MCRI Program are to:
- support leading edge, collaborative research that meets international standards of excellence, promises a significant contribution to the advancement and integration of knowledge in the humanities and social sciences, and encourages discussion and debate from a broad perspective on critical issues of intellectual, social, economic and cultural significance for Canadian scholarship and society;
- promote broadly based collaborative research as the central mode of research activity-both within and among disciplines, departments, and faculties as well as with other sciences at universities across the country and abroad;
- promote the development of partnerships between universities and private or public sector groups;
- provide unique opportunities for training students, postdoctoral fellows and young researchers in a collaborative, interdisciplinary research environment;
- support research that achieves integrated and comprehensive analyses of the issues under study;
- encourage dynamic and innovative approaches to disseminating research findings that will have a major impact on Canadian scholarship and society by reaching both traditional and new audiences, including Canadian and international scholars, policy makers, stake holders and the general public; involve postsecondary institutions in long-term commitments to the development of unique large-scale research initiatives.
