Science partnerships proposal guidelines (Atlantic Fisheries Fund)

On this page

• Submission of a project proposal
• Title page
• Project description and technical overview
• Project management
• Technical details
• Financial information
• Appendices

Submission of a project proposal

Project proposals must be complete, clear and concise. They must not exceed 200 pages. Other points of clarification are as follows.

• Applicants must write the main body of the proposal within 100 pages, which includes:
  • title page
  • executive summary
  • project description
  • description of applicant
  • key collaborations
  • project team
  • commercialization potential/strategy (if applicable)
  • technical details
  • project financial information
• Mandatory annexes and/or appendices must not exceed 100 pages.
  • Examples of annexes and appendices include, but are not limited to:
    • costs and financing templates
    • results measurement information
    • proof of legal existence of the organization
    • list of directors
    • professional capabilities/experience/résumés of project team members
    • project team organization chart
    • relevant memoranda of understanding (if applicable)
    • independently prepared financial statements (note: the number of pages for financial statements won’t be counted toward the 100 pages maximum for annexes)
    • quotes supporting major research subcontracts
    • letters of support
    • summary GANTT chart
    • list of acronyms

Separate proposal submission for each project

Applicants must submit a separate proposal for each stand-alone project to facilitate our overall project evaluation. Stand-alone projects aren’t dependent upon the success of other projects or activities.

Where stand-alone projects from an applicant are complementary (for example, when they’re from the same area of research), applicants should provide cross-references in each of their proposals to the other projects.

Title page

PROJECT TITLE

Atlantic Fisheries Fund
Submitted by (Applicant)

Project description and technical overview

This section should not exceed 2 pages and should:

• outline the objective(s) of the proposed project
• summarize the research approach
• describe the anticipated results and or peer reviewed publications

Directions are as follows.

• Provide a brief description of the applicant, and each key collaborator, including their role in the project.
• Summarize the issues this project intends to address and their significance for Atlantic Canada.
  • State the related project objectives.
• Provide, in a non-technical manner, a concise overview of the underlying methodology and explain the innovative aspect(s) of the results.
• Provide an overview of the research that would be carried out in the project.
  • Explain, in broad and non-technical terms:
    • what scientific or technical challenges exist
    • the major activities that would be undertaken
    • the milestones
    • timelines
    • deliverables
• List the project location(s), total cost and assistance requested from the fund.
• Explain how this project would be incremental.
  • The fund can only support incremental activities (for example, new or additional activities over and above existing/ongoing activities).

We may provide all or a portion of this section to potential external experts to determine their suitability to review a proposed project. An applicant’s signature on the application form constitutes consent regarding the sharing of information for this purpose.

Project management

The information submitted under this heading should demonstrate management capability to successfully undertake the project. This section provides sufficient information about the managerial capability of the applicant and its collaborators to undertake and bring the proposed project to successful completion.

The applicant and collaborators should have strong project management, financial control and technical development skills. Where weaknesses exist, corrective measures should be explained. 

This section should address the following.

Description of applicant

• Describe the organization and its history, such as:
  • name and legal status
  • how long in existence
  • what it does
• Discuss its area of specialization, the proposed role in connection with the project and historical track record in scientific or science-based research.
• Explain why the proposed project is relevant to the applicant and what gains are expected from undertaking it. 
• Summarize the governance structure of the applicant.
• Provide an organization chart, list the key personnel and provide their résumés as appendices.

Description of key project collaborator(s) and the partnership arrangement(s)

• Briefly name and describe each key collaborator in terms of:
  • legal status
  • size, such as operating budget and number of employees
  • area of specialization
  • financial commitment to the project 
• Describe the role of each key collaborator in the project and explain the rationale for their participating in the project.
  • If the key collaborator is making a financial contribution to the project, their contribution should be detailed in the financial information section.
• Provide the name and contact information for the project representative of the key collaborator(s), as well as the collaborator’s website address. 
• Describe each collaborator’s historical track record in research, particularly as it relates to the proposed project.
  • Indicate the strategic assets each key collaborator brings to the project. 
• Outline the agreed partnership/collaboration arrangement(s).
  • Letters of agreement, memoranda of understanding and/or other partnership/collaboration agreements should be included as appendices to the proposal.

Applicants must disclose whether any subcontract(s) will be awarded to a key collaborator under the project.

Project team

• Identify the key members of the project team and state their specific expertise and experience for the work involved.
  • It’s important that the roles of project team members (including representatives of key collaborators) be clearly described in the proposal.
  • Detailed résumés for key research positions must also be included as appendices. 
  • State the name (if known) and the qualifications of the project manager.
  • Indicate provisions for back-up personnel in key positions.
• Provide an organization chart of the project team and describe the relationship of the team to the applicant.
  • If a project team member hasn’t yet been identified, provide a statement of qualifications and the plan to recruit personnel.
• Indicate if the lead researcher is already participating in an active Atlantic Fisheries Fund project(s) or has significant commitments to other, non-Atlantic Fisheries Fund research projects.

Project control system

Project management and financial control are important considerations for the successful completion of a project. The proposal should provide clear evidence that the applicant has in place an accountability framework likely to result in effective leadership and sound financial decision making for the proposed project.

• Describe the project management plan, including its administrative/organizational structure, and show how it addresses the:
  • ability of the project management team to manage a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, national and/or international team
  • accountabilities of each member of the management team
  • mechanism for communicating among the project team and collaborators/partners, and the strategy to coordinate project activities and manage changes
  • method of making the research results accessible to the scientific community, where appropriate
• Explain the process for making critical decisions regarding the overall research direction, including the:
  • mechanism for making go/no-go decisions
  • evaluation of research progress, including the participation and role of key project collaborators and any external scientific advisors
  • process for making strategic decisions when a consensus cannot be reached

Technical details

The information submitted under this section (as well as the project description) should allow both us and scientific experts to assess the proposal against the eligible activities. The specific objective for this area of submission is a contribution to the improved understanding of, or capacity to adapt to, ecosystem shifts and their impacts on the commercial fishery.

This section should display a clear understanding of the science and/or technology and the context of the application. Specifically, it should identify the major scientific problems to be solved in order to achieve the desired objective(s) and the proposed approach for solving these problems. Applicants must provide sufficient detail to enable independent scientific/technical reviews of the proposal by experts in the field.

Background

• Explain how the project addresses high priority issues, resolves industry-wide problems or advances the seafood sector for Atlantic Canada.
• Explain the originality of the proposed investigation(s) and the importance of the expected results.

Literature review

• Indicate the scientific basis for the proposed research, which would result in the development of one or several technological products, processes or services that would be new or greatly improved.
  • Comment on preliminary investigations related to this research, such as the proof-of-concept.
• Identify references to key scientific and technical literature, and provide the scientific rationale and key assumptions that support this project, such as the initial data generated.
• Provide technical evidence of proof-of-concept (if applicable) and any supportive data references for the feasibility of the proposed research.

Methodology

• State the approach and methodology to be used to meet the project objectives and to develop the results.
• Address the quality of the scientific resources and the environment in which the research is to be undertaken.
• Divide the project into major activities.
  • For each major research activity (or phase), describe the work to be undertaken, including:
    • the activity objective
    • anticipated scientific/technical challenges
    • experimental procedures or research methods to be employed
    • team members involved in each task and their role
    • expected duration of the activity
    • indicators of success
    • expertise required
    • milestones and deliverables
• Account for the time to be spent by each team member on the project as part of your methodology.
  • A summary schedule should relate key activities, milestones and deliverables to a project timetable and clearly identify target dates for completion.

Technical risk assessment

• Describe in detail the technical risks involved, and mitigation strategies for addressing the technical risks identified.
  • The extent to which higher technical risks are acceptable is dependent upon how well they’re identified, defined, assessed, planned for and managed once encountered.

Regulatory approval

• Demonstrate (if applicable) that regulatory approval has been received, or that a strategy has been developed to obtain this, for any phase of the proposed project.
• List anticipated costs and timelines to obtain regulatory approvals, such as the industry standard.

Intellectual property

• Submit documentation (if applicable) proving a research organization (like a university or college) has the provision and authority with employees, contractors, collaborators (partners) to manage and fulfill the obligations of the Atlantic Fisheries Fund contribution agreement.

Financial information

Contributions from the Atlantic Fisheries Fund will be the least amount required to allow a project to proceed. Proposed projects may vary in duration. Applicants should seek to leverage financing for their projects from other (non-Fisheries and Oceans Canada) sources. Such leveraging is a key consideration in the evaluation of proposals. Possible sources of investment include:

• the private sector
• other government programs
• universities
• associations
• research foundations

For us to assess the reasonableness of the proposed project costs and the feasibility of the project financing, the applicant must provide a detailed breakdown of costs and financing. This should follow the format presented in the costs and financing templates presented in Template A, B and C.

Applicants should only use those cost and financing line items that are relevant to their project. 

To ensure completeness of the required financial information, proposals should include the following.

Project costs

• Provide a detailed description of costs.
  • Only incremental costs deemed essential for the implementation of a project are eligible, such as new or additional costs.
• Provide a detailed breakdown of each cost line.
  • Explain, as appropriate, any significantly high or unusual cost element(s).
  • Include quotes, as appropriate, to support specific cost items. 

Project financing

• Describe the source of your own contribution to the project, such as cash, working capital and other internal revenue sources. 
• Explain, as appropriate, any monetary and non-monetary contribution expected from related parties, collaborators and/or third parties. 
• Include letters of commitment received from financing partners as appendices, such as a letter of offer or legal agreement. 

Appendices

References have been made in this guide for applicants to include information as appendices to their proposals. As appropriate, the following items should be included.

Applicant, key collaborator(s) and project team information

• Proof of the legal existence of the organization(s), such as letters patent or charter of incorporation.
• List of directors.
• List of any related, associated and affiliated company/organization and relevant information as appropriate.
• Organization chart, résumés of key personnel or statement of qualifications.
• Project team chart, résumés, accomplishments and references.
• Letters of interest, commitment and memorandum of understanding with collaborators/partners, for example:
  • details
  • level
  • timing
  • monetary participation

Financial information

• Quotes supporting major cost items.
• Letter of offer and legal agreement.
• Independently prepared financial statements (audited or review engagement) for the last 3 fiscal years.
  • These financial statements must include:
    • independent accountant’s report
    • balance sheet
    • income statement
    • statement of cash flows
    • accompanying notes to the financial statements

As the above might not be a comprehensive list, include any other relevant information to complete or facilitate our assessment of the proposal.