8th World Conference on Research Integrity Travel Grant

Application Criteria and Procedures

The Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research (SRCR) is mandated to:

• promote high ethical standards in the responsible conduct of research; and
• implement and promote educational activities related to the implementation of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2) and the Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR Framework).

Background

Fostering public trust in science is a global priority. The World Conferences on Research Integrity (WCRI) are the largest and most significant international conferences on research integrity. Since the inaugural conference in Lisbon in 2007, researchers, teachers, funding agencies, government officials, journal editors, senior administrators, and research students have been provided with opportunities to share experiences and to discuss and promote integrity in research. Important foundational statements have resulted from several of these conferences, such as:

• The Singapore Statement on Research Integrity (2010), which lays out fundamental principles and responsibilities that should be considered in the global research enterprise.
• The Montreal Statement on Research Integrity in Cross-Boundary Research Collaborations (2013), which builds on the Singapore Statement, focuses mostly on the responsibilities of research partners in collaborative endeavours and on the accountability of authors for the outcomes of their research.
• The Amsterdam Agenda (2017) which encourages researchers to plan, conduct, report and share their research, and funding institutions to support research on research integrity.
• The Hong Kong Principles (2019) which helps to assess researchers by explicitly recognizing and rewarding them for behaviour that leads to trustworthy research by avoiding questionable research practices.
• The Cape Town Statement on Fostering Research Integrity through Fairness and Equity (2022) which advocates for fair practice from conception to implementation of research and provides 20 recommendations aimed at all involved stakeholders.

8th World Conference on Research Integrity

The 8th World Conference on Research Integrity (8WCRI), which will be held in Athens, Greece, in 2024, is intended to build on the work of the previous seven conferences. The theme for the 8WCRI is: Catalysing the translation of research into trustworthy policy and innovation.

Objective of the Travel Grants

SRCR's objective with these Travel Grants is to promote RCR and to provide researchers, faculty, graduate students, and institutional administrators responsible for RCR from Canadian institutions with an opportunity to engage and learn more about RCR from an international perspective. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn the state of progress of research integrity across the globe, discuss RCR challenges and emerging topics, and exchange ideas and experience with national and institutional leaders, policy makers, research funders, professional societies, journal editors, publishers, researchers, educators, administrators, and students. Attendees will also be in a position to disseminate the knowledge and best practices gathered during the conference to enhance their institutions' understanding of RCR and build on their existing RCR curriculum.

The 2024 Travel Grant initiative will offer a maximum of 12 applicants financial assistance to attend the 8th WCRI in Athens, Greece, from June 2-5, 2024.

Travel Grant application details

The Travel Grants offered by the SRCR to attend the 8th WCRI will assist with the costs of conference registration, round-trip airfare (economy class), and accommodation (single occupancy). The grant will cover accommodation for the period of June 1 to June 5, 2024, inclusively. The maximum amount for a single grant is $3,750.00 (CAD).

• Application deadline: January 22, 2024
• Funding decisions will be communicated to applicants by: March 1, 2024

Eligibility

To apply for the Secretariat's 8th WCRI Travel Grant, applicants must be:

• affiliated with a Canadian institution eligible for funding from one of the three federal research Agencies: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) or the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), for example:
  • Faculty members who are active researchers
  • Institutional administrators with a responsibility for RCR
  • Graduate students at the doctoral or post-doctoral level
• endorsed by a senior official at their Canadian institution (e.g., VP Research).

Grant administration

• The Applicant assumes responsibility for the grant, in accordance with Agency guidelines.
• The Institution assumes the administration of the grant, in accordance with Agency guidelines.
• The Applicant will submit forecasted travel expenses as part of the application to SRCR.
• Reimbursement claims for conference registration, airfare (economy class) and accommodation (single occupancy) expenses must be completed and approved by the Institution's finance officer responsible for financial administration of the travel grant before it is submitted to SRCR for reimbursement.
• The reimbursement claim must be on institutional letterhead and include copies of all boarding passes, airline invoices, accommodation invoices (hotel or Airbnb) and conference registration. The claim and supporting documents must be submitted by email to SRCR no later than July 15, 2024.

Evaluation criteria

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Demonstrated experience/expertise and knowledge of RCR and the Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research
• Regional geographic balance from all Canadian-eligible institutions
• Priority will be given to applicants from institutions that have not previously received a WCRI travel grant from the Secretariat
• Representation from across all disciplines
• Representation from all career levels (doctoral students, senior faculty members, institutional administrators, etc.)
• Invitation to present at the conference or attend its Doctoral Forum
• Demonstration of how applicant intends to pass on knowledge learned at the Conference to students and faculty at their institutions.
• Institutional endorsement letter explaining why the Institution is approving the applicant's attendance at the conference (e.g., individual teaches RCR curriculum; or is an active researcher with the responsibility of supervising a large number of graduate students; or is responsible for implementing the institution's RCR policy).

Grant submission

To apply for SRCR's 8WCRI Travel Grant, please complete the application form [ PDF (95 KB) ] and submit it, along with any supporting documentation, to the Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research by email at secretariat@srcr-scrr.gc.ca no later than January 22, 2024. Applications received after this date will not be accepted.

If you have any questions about the 8WCRI Travel Grant initiative, please contact the Secretariat by e-mail at secretariat@srcr-scrr.gc.ca.

Date modified:

2023-11-03