91ÅÝܽ

The SFU Climate Innovation Pollinator Award is a graduate student award to participate in and support the development of new interdisciplinary climate action and innovation research relationships. This award is available to enrolled SFU students in all faculties.

• The research idea must include supervisors from at least two disciplines.
• Applications should support community-centred climate action and innovation research.
• The project seeks to advance low-carbon, resilient, and sustainable solutions with and for communities.

A blog post and a briefing note, report or video (or other format to mobilize and advance knowledge on the research topic). Suggested deliverable: Next steps for research funding.

• Engage and exchange in "Connecting the Dots" - a monthly climate-related, interdisciplinary graduate student forum in partnership with SFU's ACT – Action on Climate Team.
• Participate in a workshop with SFU's Knowledge Mobilization Hub to learn about how to move research to impact.
• Learn about community-engaged research through workshops delivered by SFU's Community Engaged Research Initiative (CERi).
• Optional: Get certified in knowledge mobilization through the MobilizeU@SFU program (eight sessions from January-March), in partnership with SFU's Knowledge Mobilization Hub.
• Optional: Join SFU's (CERi) Graduate Fellowship Workshop Series (September to April) to learn about community-engaged research over several workshops. The workshop series is intended to deepen knowledge and skills related to community-engaged research and to build a community-of-practice of researchers within SFU. Space is limited, .

Up to a total of four (4) awards are available per year (awarded in June 2025) to students across all eight SFU Faculties.

Monies should be spent within one year. 50% payment will be made up front, with the remaining 50% to be paid on receipt of deliverable (as specified above).

• Examples of eligible expenses include research (e.g. literature review), project management, convening, travel, communications and knowledge mobilization supports, etc.
  
• Ineligible expenses include administration or personnel costs of existing projects or initiatives, gifts and/or entertainment costs.
  

SFU Climate Innovation is looking for high-impact projects, that are transdisciplinary in nature, and that have the potential to advance transformative climate actions and innovation for communities, locally and globally. The following criteria will be used to assess those projects that are likely to have the highest impact:

1. Inter & transdisciplinary – the project includes faculty from across disciplines aligned with community-centred partners to generate new insights and solutions that transcend traditional disciplinary and sectoral boundaries
2. Appropriate partners to meet objectives – the project has been co-designed with relevant partners (except for Pollinator where this is not a requirement)
3. Community-centred – the project scope and objectives have community engagement and co-creation research approaches at its core
4. Goals for impact – the project integrates knowledge mobilization strategies and anticipated benefits for reducing risk, emissions and advancing sustainability outcomes
   
5. Higher-order funding plan – the project identifies and seeks to pursue higher-order funding (e.g. Tri-Council, philanthropy)
6. SFU-aligned research principles and values – the project elevates Indigenous Knowledges and Rights, and weaves Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion into research design and practice wherever possible
7. Scholarly excellence – the project identifies the scholarly strengths of individual team members and demonstrates how these strengths are essential to tackling the research question
8. Knowledge Mobilization outputs and strategy - the project has a plan for accessibility and elevated visibility ensuring research outcomes are shared across diverse channels with relevant audiences (e.g. academic publications, plus external facing artifacts such as policy briefs, op-eds, social media, podcasts)

Note these are the highest aspirations of SFU Climate Innovation; not all research projects will be able to meet all criteria.

Note regarding unsuccessful projects: The SFU Climate Innovation team will keep an updated database of relevant projects we have received applications for and will look for appropriate partners and funding to support the development of these projects wherever possible.

Pollinator Award recipients are encouraged to target next-level funding opportunities. These opportunities could include: 

• SSHRC ($7-$75K for 1-2 years); expected February 2026
• SSHRC supporting events ($7K to $25K over one year); first day of February, May, August, November annually
• SSHRC supporting outreach activities ($7K to $50K over one year); first day of Feb, May, August, November annually
• SSHRC ($7K-$25K for one year); March, May, September, December 
• NSERC ($50K to $100K per year); expected June 2026 
• NRC ($25K for operations and $25K for external collaborators); May annually 

Tips and resources to help get you started:

• Factors to consider when developing your research proposal
• Developing a research budget
• Find an SFU research expert to collaborate with
• Looking for a community partner? Join the SFU Climate Innovation community for access to networking events and connections