SSHRC

SSHRC Image, Text, Sound and Technology

AGENCY: SSHRC

PROGRAM: Image, Text, Sound and Technology (ITST)

DEADLINE: 22 SEPT 2006

AMOUNT: Up to $50,000 for one year

WEBSITE: http://www.sshrc.ca/web/apply/program_descriptions/itst/workshops_e.asp

The ITST program will provide funding for researchers and their graduate students to develop expertise in applying digital multimedia technologies to their research through summer institutes, workshops and conferences.

The overall objectives of the ITST program are to: reflect on, interpret, and analyze new digital media, multimedia, and text-based computing technologies and integrate these into humanities and social sciences research; bring together theorists, experimentalists, and technologists from different disciplines, to share and nurture ideas and methods that challenge research to advance through the use of audio-visual and text-based technologies; facilitate the creation of national and international networks of, and partnerships among, researchers, industries, governments, and individuals that will promote and sustain social sciences and humanities research and resources worldwide. Please note that the following are not eligible for support under this program: digitization of collections of images, books, or sounds; support for routine computer applications from which little new knowledge about image, text, and sound technology will emerge; creation of stand-alone major research tools; research activities, already funded under other SSHRC programs, that do not need transformative multimedia and new media technologies; development of technological infrastructure. For further information about ITST Summer Institute, Workshop and Conference Grants, please contact:

Garry Pinard Senior Program Officer Strategic Programs and Joint Initiatives Division SSHRC 350 Albert Street P.O. Box 1610 Ottawa, ON K1P 6G4

Tel.: (613) 992-5129 Fax: (613) 947-0223 E-mail: garry.pinard@sshrc.ca

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Research Grant Facilitators are available to assist SFU researchers to obtain research funding. These individuals have extensive knowledge concerning funding sources and successful grant writing skills.

See http://www.sfu.ca/vpresearch/frgf.html for their names and contact numbers.

Please note that all applications/proposals/letters of intent must be approved by Research Services using an SFU Research Funding Application Signature Sheet prior to their submission. This form can be found on the web at: http://www.sfu.ca/ors/forms/sig_sheet.html and must accompany a copy of the application for ORS records when seeking University approval. Applicants are strongly advised to allow sufficient lead-time for the proper consideration at each level.

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Objectives

It is essential for researchers in the social sciences and humanities to have the expertise necessary to carry out research in today’s rapidly evolving technological environment. For example, in 1999, SSHRC and Statistics Canada launched the Data Training Schools. This program enables researchers to learn about and apply advanced technologies to the analysis of social statistics at university-based Research Data Centres across the country. Similarly, the ITST program will help researchers refine their ability to apply digital multimedia technologies to their research on image, text and sound.

The overall objectives of the ITST program are to:

reflect on, interpret, and analyze new digital media, multimedia, and text-based computing technologies and integrate these into humanities and social sciences research;

bring together theorists, experimentalists, and technologists from different disciplines, to share and nurture ideas and methods that challenge research to advance through the use of audio-visual and text-based technologies;

facilitate the creation of national and international networks of, and partnerships among, researchers, industries, governments, and individuals that will promote and sustain social sciences and humanities research and resources worldwide.

The specific objectives of ITST Research Grants are to support projects that:

employ innovative technological tools in image, text and sound to make social sciences and humanities research more efficient, effective and comprehensive;

devise new and creative applications for technology that offer valuable models that can be applied specifically to research in the social sciences and humanities.

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Description

SSHRC strongly encourages applicants to develop proposals for multidisciplinary teams of co-applicants, partners and collaborators that will offer the necessary range of intellectual, technical and practical expertise. Partners and collaborators may be drawn from the private and public sectors as well as from academia. Applicants may also wish to include on the team appropriate specialists from outside Canada.

Possible topics and areas to be addressed include:

electronic editing and publishing;

e-literature;

Web programming;

immersive and virtual environments in multimedia research;

textual analysis;

3 -D imaging technology;

creativity, culture, and computing;

digital image design;

information aesthetics;

computer gaming;

knowledge transfer of research results to fellow researchers, decision makers and the public at large.

Please note that this program does not support the following:

digitization of collections of images, books, or sounds;

support for routine computer applications from which little new knowledge about image, text, and sound technology will emerge;

creation of stand-alone major research tools;

research activities, already funded under other SSHRC programs, that do not involve transformative multimedia and new media technologies;

development of technological infrastructure.

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