How to articulate scholarly benefits, outcomes in your SSHRC grant application: Opinion

In a new article for University Affairs, Letitia Henville explains how to articulate the “so what” of a proposed project—the scholarly benefits and outcomes—when applying for a SSHRC Insight Development Grant. Henville begins by describing common pitfalls of applications, including promising unrealistic scholarly outcomes and failing to specify impacts and to whom they will matter. She then proposes breaking down scholarly significance into four categories: Direct contributions to knowledge, indirect contributions to knowledge, contributions to methodology, and contributions to theory. While most projects will not be able relate to all four categories she says, researchers should ensure alignment between categories delivered by their project and categories discussed in an application so that committee members can truly understand the benefits of the project.