Updated: October 2025
Purpose
This program represents a remodeled version of the Black, Indigenous, and Racialized Scholar/Research Grant Program (BIRS), and is designed to provide up to $10,000 funding to support Black and/or Indigenous researchers in the development of new research.
NB: This is a pilot program that will be re-evaluated after the current cycle.
Eligibility Guidelines
To be eligible for these funds, applicants must be faculty members who self-identify as Black and/or Indigenous with a full-time continuing status appointment (tenure or teaching stream) at UTM. Although OVPRI will not request or require documentation to support self-identification, those applicants self-identifying as Indigenous should follow the principles laid out in the Tri-Agency Policy on Indigenous Citizenship and Membership Affirmation. These funds must be administered through a UTM academic unit; in the case of applications involving faculty groups, the lead applicant must be a UTM faculty member.
Proposals that are similar in nature cannot be submitted to other Office of the Vice-Principal, Research and Innovation (OVPRI) funding programs (e.g., Research Seed Grant) at the same time. The OVPRI will notify PIs in cases in which similar proposals are submitted to more than one funding program.
Successful applicants will be eligible to reapply for funding 24 months following the deadline for the competition in which they were successful. (NB: anyone who received funding from the Black, Indigenous, and Racialized Scholar/Research Grant program in 2025 is not eligible to apply to the BIREF until the 2026 competition).
NB: meeting the eligibility criteria does not guarantee that one will receive funding.
Adjudication Process & Evaluation Criteria
Applications to this program will be adjudicated by an interdisciplinary group of University of Toronto faculty researchers with subject matter expertise and who have training in unconscious bias. Proposals written in a highly specialized or technical prose are likely to receive a lower ranking.
Applications will be evaluated based upon:
- the clarity with which the research problem and project goals have been articulated;
- the clarity and appropriateness of the proposed methodology;
- the significance of the proposed research in relationship to the program goals; and
- the appropriateness of budget (standard Tri-Council expense eligibility requirements will apply).
The adjudication committee may recommend a lower amount of funding than requested.
Applicants are expected to write their applications for review by non-specialist reviewers. Proposals written in a highly specialized or technical prose will likely receive a lower score/ranking due to the impact that such prose has on the ability of non-specialists to fully understand the proposal.
Application Format and Submission Deadline
A complete application (maximum 5 pages in length, with an additional separate page allowed for a Bibliography/References/Works Cited section) must be submitted by the competition deadline as a single PDF document. All text must be in 12pt Times New Roman font. Margins must be set at a minimum of 3/4 inch (1.87cm). The application package must include all the following materials in the order as listed below:
- Cover Sheet (2 pages).
- Funding Proposal: must comprise a maximum 2-page single-spaced Project Description that includes the following elements: (1) an explanation of the project, situated in relation to relevant scholarship; (2) a brief discussion of methodology; and (3) a short statement of how the research addresses the goals of this funding opportunity. The applicant must summarize the proposed research or scholarly activity using language suitable for a multi-disciplinary audience. The Project Description must clearly explain the significance (e.g., scholarly and/or community-based impacts, knowledge transfer and exchange impacts) of their project. Research involving Indigenous peoples in Canada must comply with chapter 9 of the Tri-Council Policy Statement (2018) on Indigenous research. This chapter also provides a very useful guide to best practices regarding respect, collaboration, meaningful participation, and non-extractive methodologies in the context of community-based or community-engaged research.
- Bibliography/References/Works Cited (optional; 1 page maximum).
- Budget & Justification (1 page maximum).
Applications for the next competition are due by Friday, December 12, 2025 (firm deadline). Please submit proposals in a SINGLE pdf file via an online application form by this date. File name should be: 2025-26_BIREF_Applicant's Last Name_Applicant's First Name.
Competition Results
Notification of the outcome of their application will be emailed to BIREF applicants by OVPRI. To respect the confidentiality of adjudicators, individual scores/rankings will not be provided, but if adjudicators have provided comments on an application, that feedback can be shared with applicants upon request.
Post-Award Details
Funding for successful applications will be transferred to the UTM faculty member’s commitment fund centre (CFC) following the receipt of any necessary certifications (see below).
Certifications: If University certifications for research using human subjects, animal subjects, or biohazards are required to conduct the proposed research, such certifications need not be provided at the time of application. However, successful applicants are required to secure any necessary certification(s) prior to beginning the research being funded (partially or wholly) by the BIREF award, and those who fail to secure the necessary certification(s) will be expected to return any OVPRI funding they received.
Requirement: Upon acceptance of funding from the Black and Indigenous Research Excellence Fund, successful applicants will be required to participate as application reviewers in at least two OVPRI-adjudicated funding competitions (e.g., Research Seed Grant, Black and Indigenous Research Excellence Fund, Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, UTM Postdoctoral Fellowship Award).
Final Report: BIREF recipients must submit a 1-page final report describing the impact of the award on the recipient's research program. The Report could also briefly describe what was accomplished with the funding and how the funds were expended. It is expected that it will be submitted to the OVPRI (funding.ovpri.utm@utoronto.ca) no later than one year following notification of a successful application. Failure to submit a final report could result in funds being withheld in a subsequent OVPRI internal funding competition for which one applies and is successful.
Questions
Questions about the program, eligibility, the application process, deadlines, etc., should be addressed to funding.ovpri.utm@utoronto.ca.