ECR Research Grant
Funding Guidelines
Purpose
The SoLAR ECR Research Grant serves to support promising early career researchers who demonstrate the potential to advance research and practice in learning analytics and increase the educational and socio-economic impacts of learning analytics. Proposed projects should improve our understanding of learning analytics and learning in general, result in positive impacts on education, and align with the topics identified for the current round. It is expected that the ECR grant will help successful applicants develop their career by enabling an initiative that is scalable or has potential to attract further funding.
Applicant eligibility
Applications from individuals based in academic or not-for-profit organizations are welcome, provided the individuals hold valid SoLAR membership when applying and for the term of the project. Applicants need to have been awarded with a PhD qualification no longer than 5 years prior to the application deadline. Each applicant may only submit one application, and each application can only have one named applicant. Past awardees or current SoLAR executive committee members are not eligible to apply.
2023 Themes - Enhancing Learning with Learning Analytics in an AI Powered World
With the rapid development of AI technologies, including generative AI such as ChatGPT, the impact on learning and thus understanding how learning takes place is a new evolution for learning analytics. How to measure and scaffold the learning process are important questions confronting learning analytics researchers and practitioners. We welcome proposals of research that explore the impact of AI on learning analytics research and practice. Example topics include, but are not limited to:
- Understand the impact of AI technologies on student learning and teaching;
- Identify innovative AI driven methodologies and tools to gain insights into learning;
- Understand how AI technologies impact different strands of learning analytics research, e.g., personalised feedback, writing analytics research, self-regulated learning, etc.;
- Explore how learning analytics can be used to foster insights into new AI literacies, such as prompt engineering;
- Explore the role of learning analytics in futures literacy;
- Examine how new generational AI impacts learning and assessment, and how learning analytics can help;
- Make sense of the intersections of humans and AI in practices of learning analytics;
- Enhance the use of learning analytics with explainable AI;
- Evaluate the impact of learning analytics on institutional strategy development and monitoring;
- Explore how institutions navigate ethical considerations of AI when adopting learning analytics;
- Explore how to ensure trustworthiness of learning analytics and AI in education in parallel with data protection and informed consent of data owners;
- Understand ways that algorithmic fairness & biases in AI technologies may affect learners.
Level of award
A total of $10,000 CAD is available to fund one to two projects. Funds will be managed directly by SoLAR via approved expense invoices.
Awardee(s) will also receive publicity via SoLAR’s channels to help them connect with the community, complimentary registration for a Learning Analytics Summer Institute (LASI) and the International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference (LAK).
Eligible costs include:
- Direct costs of research (e.g., consumables, specialist software, transcribing/ interpretation services, and compensation for research participants). Note that the following items are not eligible costs: institutional overheads, computer hardware, books and other permanent resources.
- Research assistance - Funding can be used to pay for research assistants that are not named on the project based on SoLAR’s fixed hourly rate (i.e. $35CAD) under an agreed total flat amount. Awardees may utilise SoLAR’s communication channels for job advertisements.
- No more than a third of the awarded amount of funding can be used for dissemination purposes including publications, conferences, and workshops.
- Visits by or to partners of the project to facilitate research activities or dissemination that meet a clearly specified research objective.
Note that successful applicants will be given a spotlight moment at LAK to describe their work, and will be given a poster slot to report results. Travel and accommodation costs to attend LAK and LASI to present their results can be included in the budget if applicable.
Period of award
Grants are tenable for 12 months from the date of award. Unused funds will expire after this period and cannot be claimed.
Selection process and criteria
Applications will be assessed by external reviewers based on the following criteria:
- Project quality and innovation
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- Key contributions to existing gaps in knowledge or problems
- Novelty and originality of the project
- Clarity, coherence, and rigour of the research design
- Project feasibility
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- Project design and budget planning are reasonable for successful completion of the project and demonstrating value for money
- The capability of applicants and availability of facilities needed to carry out the project
- Project benefits and impacts
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- Contributions to the field
- Social, cultural, and economic impacts on society
- Scalability and sustainability of impacts
- Project relevance to the topics prioritised in the call
- Applicant profile
- Relevant expertise and experience required to carry out the project
- Academic achievements and output quality
- Commitment and contributions to the learning analytics community
Expectations of awardees
Awardees are required to:
- Submit an interim report on project progress no later than sixth months from the date the grant is awarded.
- Submit a research report no later than three months from the completion of the project detailing outcomes of the work undertaken and next steps.
- Disseminate project outputs via one of SoLAR’s existing communication channels (e.g., Nexus blog, webinar, SoLAR Spotlight podcast, and Journal of Learning Analytics) as appropriate in support of SoLAR’s mission to promote learning analytics research and practice.
Application guidelines
Submission procedure
Please complete the online application form, which includes the following components:
- Applicant information
- Project title
- Project summary (1250 characters max)
- Project fit for the themes of the year (1000 characters max)
In the application form, please upload one PDF file containing:
- Max 4 pages: Project description (including title, summary, aims and objectives, research scheme, methods, timeline, budget (in CAD), ethical procedures, expected outcome and impact, and project fit for the themes of the year)
- Max 2 pages: CV of the applicants including relevant publications
In addition, a recommendation letter (1 page max) needs to be e-mailed by the referee directly to info@solaresearch.org before the application deadline.
Key dates
Application open: 22 March 2023
Submission deadline: 3 May 2023 (5pm EDT)
Results announcement: 30 June 2023
ECR Grant FAQ
A: No. Each person can only be named on one application, and each application can only include one applicant.
A: No, learning analytics is an interdisciplinary field. We are open to any methods that are suitable to answer the questions at hand, provided a rigorous and ethical procedure will be followed.
A: It will depend on the length and justification of the claimed career interruption. Please email info@solaresearch.org to clarify.
A: Yes, we accept proposals from anywhere in the world. Application materials must be submitted in English and project budgets must be in Canadian dollars. Applicants also need to hold valid SoLAR membership at the time of application and during the period of the project term.
A: SoLAR ECR research grant is an individual researcher grant. As long as the proposals are for different projects from different individuals, it is fine for multiple applications to be submitted from the same university.
A: No. The SoLAR ECR Research Grant is meant to enable an initiative that may help an ECR to start their own team and work towards a larger project. We would reserve the opportunity for those that have not received such support from SoLAR yet.
A: Yes. However, resubmissions are considered among all of the other newly submitted proposals and are not given special status or consideration in the review process.
A: A start date between 2 -3 months of proposal deadline is recommended. SoLAR will manage directly the Research Grant and will disburse funds as required upon submission of SoLAR Expense forms that will be provided to the successful awardee. Funds will not be disbursed without the approved signed forms. Once received payment will be made within 7 working days.
A: In-kind giving or cost sharing is not expected or required as part of your proposal budget. However, if you plan to include in-kind giving or cost sharing as part of your project budget, you should indicate this in the budget section. If your proposal is chosen for funding, the grant award may be contingent upon receiving documentation confirming the additional support.