Instructions for submitting an application using the Convergence Portal

To be eligible to apply, institutions must be registered with the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS) by the specific deadline for each intake.

No changes can be made after the application deadlines. No applications will be accepted after each intake deadline and no extensions will be provided.

Nominating institutions and nominees are expected to follow all presentation instructions specified below. This will allow peer reviewers to provide a fair and balanced assessment of the application. TIPS will undertake an administrative review of all materials to ensure that submissions meet the program’s eligibility requirements and application guidelines. Failure to meet these requirements and guidelines may result in the application being withdrawn from the competition. The program also reserves the right to redact content that does not adhere to the instructions (such as exceeding page limits, exceeding maximum number of letters of support, disclosing private information or listing partners that have not committed any cash or in-kind contributions).

Nominating institutions and nominees may choose either of the official languages (English or French) to submit documents and information related to this competition. Where possible, accompanying documents should be in the same language as the application, to assist with the peer review process. An additional 20% of space has been allocated to page limits for documents submitted in French.

These instructions are to be used in conjunction with the Canada Impact+ Research Chairs funding opportunity description.

The information provided within the application package is protected under the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy of the three federal research funding agencies.

The senior official and delegates (assigned by the principal research administrator [PRA]), as well as the nominee identified at the registration stage may take part in preparing the application in the Convergence Portal.

The following table describes the read and write privileges in the Convergence Portal.

All relevant information from the registration will be prepopulated into the application. All information other than the nominee may be modified.

Nominating institutions and nominees must complete the application using the Convergence Portal. All individuals taking part in preparing the application must have a Convergence Portal account.

Follow the instructions provided in the Convergence Portal to complete the application. The information required is outlined below. The nominating institution is responsible for finalizing and submitting the application once it is complete. No changes can be made after the application deadlines.

The Convergence Portal is only supported on the latest versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox. Use of an unsupported browser or a mobile device is strongly discouraged.

Senior officials and delegates must open the Research Administrator dashboard in the Convergence Portal to access applications. All registrations submitted in the previous stage will appear as applications under the Institutional Applications tab.

Nominees can access their applications in the Applications tab.

The nominating institution must submit a separate application for each nomination. The nominee identified in the registration cannot be replaced with a new nominee in the application. If the nominee can no longer participate, the application needs to be withdrawn. To withdraw an application, contact TIPS.

To complete this module, provide the following required information:

• Proposed Chair title: The Chair title should include the full program name, i.e. “Canada Impact+ Research Chair in …”. It should be descriptive and should not include symbols or abbreviations. For example, use “and” instead of “&”. The title should also be short and in language plain enough for a lay audience and members of the media to understand and use it.
• Language of the application: Indicate which official language (English or French) will be used for the application.
• Expected chairholder appointment date: Enter the anticipated date that the nominee will take up their chairholder appointment at the host institution. Chairholders will be required to take up their appointment no later than 12 months after the award is accepted. TIPS will contact successful institutions after award acceptance to confirm whether any changes need to be made to the expected date of appointment specified in the application.
• Alignment with federal research funding agency: Based on the mandates of the three federal research funding agencies and the research area(s) of the Chair, select the agency with which this Chair primarily aligns. This selection is used by TIPS for peer review assignment as well as financial and reporting purposes and should not be viewed as directing interdisciplinary research programs to shift their focus or align primarily to a particular agency’s mandate. Upon its administrative review, TIPS reserves the right to realign the application under the mandate of another agency.
• Indigenous research: Indicate whether the proposal involves Indigenous research as defined by SSHRC. If the application involves Indigenous research, it will be reviewed in the context of SSHRC’s Indigenous Research Statement of Principles and the Guidelines for the Merit Review of Indigenous Research.

The nominee module will be prepopulated with the name of the nominee that was submitted during registration. This information is required by TIPS to ensure potential peer reviewers are not in a conflict of interest with the nominee.

Select two socioeconomic objectives, one of which must be indicated as primary.

Chairs will be awarded in alignment with the program’s strategic priority areas. See the Canada Impact+ Research Chairs funding opportunity for more details. Applications are invited from a broad range of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and engineering, and health and related sciences.

In this module, using the strategic priority areas linked above, select the primary area that is relevant to the application.

Select two fields of research from the Canadian Research and Development Classification (CRDC) codes that relate to the proposed research, one of which must be indicated as primary.

List between five and 10 keywords to describe the proposed research program. Keywords are used to facilitate peer reviewer assignments.

Provide a summary (maximum 2,500 characters) of the proposal in language that the public can understand. Using simple terms, describe:

• the nature of the proposed research program;
• the proposed research program’s objectives;
• the research approach; and
• the work’s novelty and expected significance.

This summary will be shared with potential peer reviewers and used in the application peer review process. If the proposal is funded, this summary will be made available to the public and used for promotional and communications purposes.

All research activities must comply with the Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research, including, but not limited to, section 2.4 Agency Requirements for Certain Types of Research (e.g., research involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada, research involving human pluripotent stem cells, and integration of gender and sex into health research).

If the answer is “Yes” to the final question in this module, “Will any phase of the proposed research take place outdoors”, then the nominating institution and nominees will be required to answer four additional questions. If the answer is “Yes” to at least one of those four questions, they must complete the Impact Assessment Form (Appendix A) and upload it under the Supporting documents.

In accordance with the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC), the nominee must indicate whether research and related activities proposed in the Impact+ nomination will aim to advance any of the areas in the Sensitive Technology Research Areas list.

If the nominee answers “Yes”, they must complete an attestation form certifying that they are not currently affiliated with, nor are in receipt of funding or in-kind support from, a Named Research Organization (NRO).

The nominating institution will need to collect this form and upload it in the Supporting documents.

A partner refers to an institution or organization, based in Canada or internationally, that has contributed or committed cash and/or in-kind contributions to support the Chair. Partners include academic institutions (including universities, colleges, polytechnics and institutes); research organizations (including research hospitals); private or public sector organizations; and not-for-profit organizations. Government and not-for-profit organizations whose primary mission is to fund research and development should not be included as partners, unless they will play an active role in the Chair's research activities. These organizations can be described in the Quality of the institutional support section and their contributions can be included in the Proposed budget.

In this module, list the Chair’s proposed partners. For each partner, indicate the country in which the partner is located, the type of institution or organization, and the type and amounts of contributions (cash and/or in-kind). A proposed partner must have committed to making a cash and/or in-kind contribution to the Chair. Commitments do not imply that either a formal agreement or memorandum of understanding needs to be in place before the application’s submission.

Each proposed partner must fill out a confirmation of partner commitments template validating its financial commitment to the Chair and upload it in the application’s Supporting documents. In cases of partnerships with Canadian Indigenous communities (First Nations, Inuit or Métis), equivalent forms of commitment to the Chair can be demonstrated in place of monetary commitment (see Confirmation of partner commitments).

Nominating institutions may also wish to include letters of support from partners in the supporting documents (see Section I).

Impact+ Chairs are awarded for a period of eight years, with funds disbursed over this eight-year period, based on a payment schedule established by the program.

In this module, enter the total amount requested from the Impact+ Research Chairs program, as well as the projected total cash and in-kind contributions from the host institution and from other sources (including partners).

More detailed information indicating how these funds will be used must be provided in the supporting documents (see Budget justification and Budget projections). Contributions from other sources can include sources of funding beyond the formal partners listed in the Partners module, provided the context and conditions for receiving those contributions are described in the Budget justification.

Exclude concurrent or subsequent applications to the CFI associated with the nomination, as well as any existing CFI investments that will support the Chair or the chairholder’s program. Funds requested from the CFI associated with this nomination should be outlined in the CFI proposal. Existing CFI investments can be described in the Quality of the institutional support section. Funding requested under Distinguished Chairs awards and Canada Impact+ Emerging Leaders should also be excluded; budgetary planning associated to these opportunities should be discussed in the appropriate Supporting documents.

On an exceptional basis, institutions may request an additional $500,000 per year (bringing the annual value to $1.5 million) over eight years if their nominee has received exceptional international recognition through prestigious awards or prizes such as, but not limited to, Nobel, Turing, Fields, Abel, Wolf, Tyler, Draper, Johan Skytte or Berggruen.

This additional support is provided with the expectation that the international recognition will elevate the visibility of the Chair and enhance their potential to attract high quality partnerships and commercial interest. Institutions must indicate their interest in being considered for this award and provide a justification as part of the application process.

Only applications created at the $1 million per year over eight years award value are eligible for this request.

If you answer “yes” in this module, you must upload a justification for the request in the Supporting documents (see Section O).

Institutions submitting a nomination for an Impact+ Research Chair may request an additional $100,000 per year over six years to recruit an early career researcher (ECR). See the Canada Impact+ Research Chairs funding opportunity for more details.

If you answer “yes” in this module, you must upload a justification for the request in the Supporting documents (see Section P).

See the program’s website for information and instructions.

In this module, select “Yes” or “No” in answer to the question “Is a request for infrastructure support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation planned for this Chair nomination?”

For more information on CFI support requests, see the Canada Impact+ Research Infrastructure Fund.

An important evaluation criterion in the Impact+ Research Chairs program is the excellence of the nominee. A key factor in assessing this is the research productivity of the individual. TIPS acknowledges that certain life circumstances may legitimately affect a nominee’s record of research achievement. Nominees are encouraged to use this optional section to outline any life circumstances (such as medical or parental leaves or others) that have affected their research activities.

Peer reviewers are instructed to give careful consideration and be sensitive to the impacts of these circumstances when assessing a nominee’s research productivity. See the Canada Research Chairs Program’s Guidelines for Assessing the Productivity of Nominees for examples of such circumstances and the specific instructions provided to peer reviewers in relation to them.

To add a new circumstance, click “Add interruption.” If the nominee has already entered “interruptions” in the CV section of their Convergence account profile, they can be added to this module by clicking “Add existing interruption.”

Provide dates for each circumstance and indicate how the nominee’s research was impacted by delays in general terms (e.g., illness, disability, family loss or illness, cultural or community responsibilities, socioeconomic context, COVID-19). When describing life circumstances affecting research productivity, nominees do not need to disclose any personal details of these life circumstances.

Nominees are asked to quantify the impact on their research production as best they can, providing estimates of time or opportunities lost due to the life circumstances. For example, the amount of time and effort involved in seeking and implementing accessibility or adaptive measures would be helpful to inform the peer reviewer’s assessment, by accounting for the impact of the life circumstances on the nominee’s research production.

Research interruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., closures) are recognized as beginning March 1, 2020. For further guidance, see NSERC’s guidelines for the research community.

Use the tri-agency CV (TCV) template to complete this section. For more information and to download the TCV template, consult the TCV instructions.

This competition also includes an appendix to the TCV that must be completed in full. The appendix does not count towards the page limit.

Both the TCV and TCV appendix need to be uploaded as PDFs into the TCV document module in the Convergence Portal.

Only the senior official has access to this module. The senior official must answer a set of questions related to the nominee’s recruitment to attest that the institution has followed the Requirements for recruiting and nominating Canada Impact+ Research Chairs. They will then validate the information and submit the application.

In particular, the senior official must attest that they discussed the unique nature of this nomination with the nominee, and that, to their knowledge, the nominee is not being nominated by another institution in the current Impact+ and Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) competitions. Institutions may use their 2026 CERC nomination processes to identify nominees for the Impact+ Research Chairs competition, but they may not nominate the same person for both programs.

The senior official must also attest that a discussion has been held with the nominee to clarify that individuals who are awarded a research chair through the program are subject to the nominating institution’s employer policies and that chairholders are not employees of the program or the Government of Canada.

As part of its monitoring activities, TIPS reserves the right to ask institutions to provide all documentation for review, at any time within 48 months of submission of this nomination, to confirm that the recruitment and nomination process followed the program’s requirements.

Where results of a monitoring exercise find that the program’s requirements have not been followed for this nomination, the program reserves the right to withdraw the application from the competition, withdraw the notice of award, suspend future payments or terminate the award of an already active Chair.

The nomination must also align with the program's commitment to EDI and with the institution's EDI action plan.

Supporting documents (A through Q) must be uploaded in the Convergence Portal as PDFs, respecting the following requirements:

• 12-point Arial font in black type.
• You can apply different fonts and sizes only in tables, figures and legends. However, the text must be clear and readable when the page is displayed at its normal size of 100%. Do not use condensed fonts.
• Minimum of single line spacing (not narrow spacing).
• Normal/standard character spacing (not condensed).
• Minimum margin of 0.79” (2 cm) around all pages.
• Size all pages to 8 1/2“x 11" (216 mm x 279 mm).
• Page limits must be respected.
• Any acronyms and abbreviations must be explained.
• No personally identifying information should be included in the headers and/or footers (e.g., name, PIN, institution, etc.)

Use the Quality of nominee template to complete this section. This section is a supplement to the TCV and collects required information that is not captured in the TCV. It is not necessary to duplicate information that was entered in the TCV; however, applicants may wish to emphasize or elaborate upon elements, where appropriate.

This section provides applicants with an opportunity to demonstrate, in more detail, how the nominee’s TCV aligns with the evaluation elements presented in Criterion 1: research/academic merit and leadership skills of the nominee (see the Evaluation Criteria).

Use the Quality of the institutional support template to complete this section. This section will be used to assess elements of Criterion 2: Quality of the institutional support (see the Evaluation Criteria). It should be written and structured with headings that clearly address the elements in Criterion 2. It does not need to describe the quality of the recruitment process, which is evaluated in the Impact+ recruitment process section below.

Use the Impact+ recruitment process template to complete this section. Describe the quality of the outreach and selection processes used by the institution to recruit the nominee, in terms of the institution’s demonstrated commitment to open, transparent, fair and equitable processes, and to identifying and addressing systemic barriers (e.g., strategy used to identify a diverse pool of applicants, advertising venues, accessibility measures used). For more information, see the recruitment requirements. This section will be used to assess the quality of the outreach and selection process used by the institution to recruit the nominee, as described in Criterion 2: Quality of the institutional support (see the Evaluation Criteria). It should be written and structured with headings that clearly address the following:

Diversity of the nominee pool:

• Describe the efforts that were made to identify a diverse pool of potential nominees (e.g., tapping into focus groups / associations and organizations).
• Provide data on the diversity of the nominee pool identified through this candidate search. Provide the data for each of the underrepresented, equity-seeking, rights-seeking populations (racialized individuals, Indigenous Peoples, women, persons with disabilities, individuals from the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities) as actual numbers and as a percentage of the total pool (e.g., women 50% [N: 15/30]). Do not provide any identifying data for specific individuals.
• Describe the challenges faced by the institution in identifying a diverse pool of potential nominees, if applicable.

Safeguards in the evaluation process:

• Describe how fairness, transparency and accountability were upheld throughout the process.
• Describe how the institution’s commitment to EDI was considered and upheld in the process.
• Describe the composition of the search committee in terms of its diversity.
• Describe the training provided to search-committee members on unconscious bias.
• Describe the assessment and selection process, including who participated in the process and at what stages and what their specific roles were.
• Describe what mechanisms were used within the evaluation process to ensure that applicants with life circumstances or who required adaptive measures were not unfairly disadvantaged.

For all new nominations, upload the job posting leading to the present nomination. See Requirements for recruiting and nominating Canada Impact+ Research Chairs for more information.

Use the Proposed research program template to complete this section. In this section, the nominee must provide a high-level description of the proposed Chair’s research program, the research area to which the Chair will contribute at the institution, the value-added of the Impact+ research program to the research area, and the expected outcomes of the research program. This section will be used to assess elements of Criterion 3: Quality of the research program (see the Evaluation Criteria). It should be written and structured with headings that clearly address each of the elements of Criterion 3. Use language that can be understood by a multidisciplinary review committee.

Chairs and host institutions are expected to promote co-creation with partners from all sectors (academic, public, private, not-for-profit and philanthropic) to enhance the uptake of research results for the benefit of all Canadians. Research programs should pursue significant partnerships and collaborations with Canadian and international entities (academic, public, private, not-for-profit and philanthropic), as well as by and with Indigenous Peoples and communities, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples, if appropriate, depending on the program of research, to ensure that the research design is co-created and that the benefits and advantages of the knowledge obtained through research supported by the Impact+ Research Chairs program are applied broadly to support social and economic growth.

Use the Potential contribution to the excellence of the Canadian and international research ecosystem template to complete this section. This section will be used to assess elements of Criterion 4: Potential contribution to the excellence of the Canadian and international research ecosystem (see the Evaluation criteria. It should be written and structured with headings that clearly address each of the sub-elements of Criterion 4.

This assessment is not based on strategic priority areas, but, rather, the potential of the Chair to make an impactful contribution to the Canadian and international research ecosystem.

Use the Potential for knowledge translation and mobilization template to complete this section. This section will be used to assess elements of Criterion 5: Potential for knowledge translation and mobilization (see the Evaluation Criteria). It should be written and structured with headings that clearly address each of the sub-elements of Criterion 5.

Institutions must outline credible and achievable plans that describe how research results could be mobilized and translated into practice, policy, products or services for the benefit of Canadians. Knowledge mobilization, translation, and commercialization plans should identify intended users and beneficiaries of the research, and describe preliminary engagement mechanisms and reaffirm and elaborate on potential partnerships across sectors, including with Indigenous communities, where appropriate.

Where commercialization is relevant, institutions should outline a high-level pathway from research to application, indicating how intellectual property may be identified and protected in line with institutional policy, what mechanisms for commercialization are anticipated, and what types of benefits to Canada are anticipated. Institutions should also describe how the Chair will prepare highly qualified personnel to develop the skills necessary to advance knowledge mobilization, translation, and, where appropriate, commercialization objectives.

Each partner listed in the Partners module must confirm its cash and/or in-kind commitments to the Chair using the Confirmation of partner commitments template. The senior official or delegate will gather a statement from each partner and compile them into a single PDF. The senior official or delegate will then upload this PDF in the Convergence Portal.

Confirmation of partner commitments will be used for validating cash and/or in-kind commitments and for the confirmation of information for the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships. TIPS program staff will conduct an administrative review of these statements, but they will not be included in the application materials shared with the multidisciplinary selection board.

As a reminder, a partner refers to an institution or organization, based in Canada or internationally, that has contributed or committed cash and/or in-kind contributions to support the Chair. Partners include academic institutions (including universities, colleges, polytechnics and institutes); research organizations (including research hospitals); private or public sector organizations; and not-for-profit organizations. Government and not-for-profit organizations whose primary mission is to fund research and development should not be included as partners, unless they will play an active role in the Chair's research activities.

In cases of partnerships with Canadian Indigenous communities (First Nations, Inuit or Métis), partners are not required to monetize their contribution and are welcome to demonstrate their commitments to the Chair in terms of social, cultural and linguistic capital. See the SSHRC Guidelines for the merit review of Indigenous research for more details. In these cases, a statement confirming partner commitments must still be included from the partner. However, in place of the template above, this statement can be a free-form description of the partner’s contributions to the Impact+ Research Chair. The senior official or delegate must compile it into the PDF along with all other statements confirming partner commitments.

Institutions, organizations and individuals (e.g., partners, collaborators and knowledge users) may submit up to 10 letters of support to the senior official or delegate, who will compile them into a single PDF. The senior official or delegate will then upload this PDF to the Convergence Portal. In cases where evidence of support is being provided by Canadian Indigenous communities or individuals (First Nations, Inuit or Métis), they may provide an equivalent document in place of a letter of support.

Unlike the confirmation of partner commitments, these letters will be shared with peer reviewers.

The case for the nomination would be strengthened if the letter describes:

• who is providing the letter;
• the expected nature and extent of the interaction of the Impact+ Research Chair with the organization’s personnel;
• why they are interested in the research program;
• how they expect to benefit from the anticipated outcomes;
• how they will contribute to knowledge mobilization and translation, and to potential commercialization efforts
• the potential benefit to Canada; and
• what they are contributing to the Impact+ Research Chair, if applicable.

The following document should be consulted to limit unconscious bias in writing letters of support: Limiting Unconscious Bias.

If the answer is “Yes” to at least one of the four questions in the Certifications, licenses and permits module, complete the Impact Assessment Form (Appendix A) (PDF document, 3.6 MB) and upload it in the Supporting documents.

In accordance with the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC), all researchers involved in activities funded by a grant that aims to advance a Sensitive Technology Research Area (STRA) must review the List of Named Research Organizations (NROs) available at the time of the funding opportunity’s publication and attest that they are not affiliated with, or receiving funding or in-kind support from any listed NRO.

If the nominee answers “Yes” in the Sensitive technology research areas module, the nominating institution must collect an attestation form (PDF document, 167 Kb) from the nominee and upload it in the Supporting documents. Completed attestation forms may be shared with Government of Canada departments and agencies, for the purposes of national security assessment and to validate compliance with the policy.

Should the application be successful, the nominee and their research team(s) will also be required to comply with the policy for the duration of the grant that aims to advance one or more STRAs.

Nominating institutions and nominees are encouraged to review the tri-agency guidance on the STRAC policy to ensure that they understand the responsibilities of researchers and responsibilities of institutions, including the responsibility to inform TIPS and host institutions of any changes in the nature of the research or changes to the set of researchers with named roles in the research that may require the submission of attestation forms.

Nominating institutions and nominees are encouraged to exercise appropriate levels of due diligence when managing their research and establishing and/or recruiting new perspective members of the chairholder’s team. Resources to do so are provided by the Government of Canada on the Safeguarding Your Research portal.

Prepare a budget justification using the Budget justification template. The Budget justification should provide an explanation and justification for each budget item in the budget projections below. As applicable, the Budget justification should also provide a rationale for the proposed sources of funding (e.g., the ratio of Impact+ program funds to institutional contributions).

Nominating institutions are encouraged to explain how they will maximize the use of Impact+ funds for research, for example by using their own funds to cover indirect costs, professional and technical services, the salary of the chairholder, as well as the acquisition of materials, supplies and equipment.

Institutions should plan for costs associated with the development and implementation of the EDI action plan and ensure these costs are adequately described in the Budget justification and reflected in the budget projections below (as indirect costs).

Use of graphs and tables is encouraged, and these will count towards the page limit (see also the required budget projections below).

Complete all three spreadsheets below:

• Funding from the Impact+ program 
• Contribution from the host institution (Excel document, 24 Kb)
• Contribution from other sources (including partners) (Excel document, 24 Kb)

All three spreadsheets must be converted into a single PDF. The senior official or delegate must then upload this PDF to the Convergence Portal.

Contributions from other sources can include sources of funding beyond the formal partners listed in the Partners module, provided the context and conditions for receiving those contributions are described in the Budget justification.

Exclude concurrent or subsequent applications to the CFI associated with the nomination, as well as any existing CFI investments that will support the Chair or the chairholder’s program. Funds requested from the CFI associated with this nomination should be outlined in the CFI proposal. Existing CFI investments can be described in the Quality of the institutional support section. Funding requested under Distinguished Chairs awards and Canada Impact+ Emerging Leaders should also be excluded; budgetary planning associated to these opportunities should be discussed in the appropriate Supporting documents.

Institutions should plan for costs associated with the development and implementation of the EDI action plan and ensure these costs are adequately reflected in the budget projections (as indirect costs).

For expenses using Impact+ funds, a total allowable amount not exceeding 25% of the direct costs of research can be used for the indirect costs of research. For the purposes of this calculation, direct costs exclude the salary and benefits of the chairholder, the teaching replacement costs of the chairholder, and all eligible recruitment and relocation costs.

Provide a list of all references cited in the application, using the Citations template. Peer reviewers are not required to consult the citations.

If applicable, use the Distinguished Chairs awards justification template to describe how the institution meets the following requirements. See the Canada Impact+ Research Chairs funding opportunity for more details. The multidisciplinary selection committee will assess the justification provided and determine the outcome. The following points should be addressed:

• Explain on what basis this award is being requested; describe the exceptional international recognition of the nominee. Examples of such awards or prizes include, but are not limited to, Nobel, Turing, Fields, Abel, Wolf, Tyler, Draper, Johan Skytte and Berggruen. Mention the prize’s value, if applicable, and how that distinction elevates the nominee amongst their peers.
• Describe how this additional support will enhance the visibility of the Chair. Particularly, how the Distinguished Chairs award will directly benefit partnerships, including high profile and high quality partnerships with private (or other) entities. See Section 2.12 for more information on partnerships. Specific reference should be made to Canada’s commercial interests and to the elements of Criterion 5: Potential for knowledge translation and mobilization (see the Evaluation Criteria).
• How the increased budget (an additional $500,000 per year over eight years, bringing the annual value to $1.5 million) will be used to attain the objectives described above, as well as the overall goals of the Canada Impact+ Research Chair.

If applicable, use the Impact+ Emerging Leaders justification template to describe how the institution plans to meet the following requirements of the Canada Impact+ Emerging Leaders opportunity. See the Canada Impact+ Research Chairs funding opportunity for more details. Address the following points:

• The institution must commit to conducting an open and transparent hiring process for the position, such as required for the Canada Research Chairs (CRC), CERC and Impact+. The institution must describe the process it intends to put in place and how the Canada Impact+ Emerging Leaders award will be used.
• The institution must attest its commitment to hiring an ECR for a tenure-track position and that they will start within a year of receiving confirmation of the Canada Impact+ Research Chairs award.
• The proportion of the award that would be used to cover the costs of research as opposed to salary must be provided. To recognize the varying needs and capacity by size of institution and by fields of research, no fixed proportions are required, but the award cannot only support the salary. As it is the case for the Impact+ Research Chairs, up to 25% of the direct costs of research can be used for the indirect costs of research. For the purposes of this calculation, direct costs exclude the salary and benefits of the researcher, the teaching replacement costs of the researcher, and all eligible recruitment and relocation costs.
• The institution must commit to supporting the infrastructure needs of the ECR, if applicable, through the infrastructure support from the CFI planned for this Canada Impact+ Research Chair nomination. The institution must also indicate whether alternative  funding  would be used to support the ECR.

Use this section to provide your completed National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships risk assessment form if your partnership involves one or more partner organizations from the private sector. For the purposes of implementation of the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships by the federal research granting agencies, private sector partner organizations subject to the risk assessment form include for-profit organizations (excluding Canadian Crown corporations) as well as organizations that assist, support, connect and/or represent the common interests of a group of for-profit organizations, such as industry associations and formal or informal consortiums. Producer groups are excluded from this definition and are not subject to the risk assessment form.

For resources to assist you in completing the risk assessment form, see the array of Guidelines and Tools to Implement Research Security and Research Security Training Courses available on the Safeguarding Your Research portal.

Before you attach your completed risk assessment form to your application, you must convert it from a fillable to a read-only PDF. To do so, one option is to select “Print” in the form, select PDF format as your printer, then save the file.

After all application sections have been completed successfully, the senior official must read and accept the Terms and Conditions to finalize and submit the application to the Impact+ Research Chairs program. After the senior official accepts the Terms and Conditions, the application status will change to “Received by Agency”.

If you have questions:

• about the application process, contact impactplus@chairs-chaires.gc.ca
• about the Convergence Portal, contact websupport@convergence.gc.ca
• about requests for accessibility and adaptive measures, email impactplus@chairs-chaires.gc.ca or communicate with the nominating institution’s accessibility contact included in their job posting.