IPAC Study Team Grants in Public Administration

A long-established IPAC research activity has been the creation and management of study teams/groups. They assemble experts, practitioners and academics to discuss, compare and analyse current and emerging issues. Participants advance their own understanding of issues, analysis tools and management capabilities. The results of these study group initiatives are destined for publication.

NEW PROPOSALS for 2010 are now being accepted.
To read the Call, click here
To fill out the on-line application form,click here.

TOPICS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND POLICY: These include - but are not limited to - health care governance, demographics, future of civil service, aboriginal governance, environment, political-bureaucratic interface, performance management and accountability and leadership. IPAC is interested in emerging issues affecting all orders of government and the broader public sector.

Eligibility:
Applicants must be part of the following organizations: a member of a Canadian faculty involved in research in public administration, a public sector official employed by a government, agency, board or commission, a practitioner in the broader public sector (BPS), a member of a company or NGO working in the public sector.

Selection:
The IPAC Research Committee acts on behalf of the Board of Directors of IPAC to assess proposals and name successful applicants. This is a "peer-review" process involving several tenured academic reviewers.

Number:
Up to two grants will be awarded each year. Only one grant per year per principal investigator will be awarded.

Value:
Up to $10,000.

Applicants are encouraged to seek matching funds from their departments (in universities or in government).

Duration:
Applicable to projects scheduled to start in 2010 for 24 months' duration. A final report must be submitted to the IPAC Director of Research on project completion.

Budget:
Budget and justification must be provided in a one-page outline. Budgets should not include salary or honoraria for applicants, with the exception of salary for required research assistants.

Dissemination:
It is essential that the work of the study team be published. IPAC retains the right of first refusal to disseminate the work in one of its publication streams:

“The financial support of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada" must be acknowledged in all publications and promotion assisted by this grant. Successful applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their findings as a session of the annual IPAC Conference.

Current study teams:

2009: The Evolution Of Minicipal and Aboriginal Accountability: Tranparency Policies In Canada .This Study Team is led by Rob Leone and Christopher Alcantara, Wilfrid Laurier University. It was presented to the IPAC Research Committee in Ottawa November 2008 and is expected to report in 2010.

2009: Revised edition of The Responsible Civil Servant by John Langford, University of Victoria, and Kenneth Kernaghan, Brock Univesity. Expected to report in 2011.

2008: Understanding and Evaluating New Accountability Regimes: Canada in Comparative Perspective. Study team led by Peter Graefe, McMaster University, Julie Simmons, University of Guelph and Linda White, University of Toronto. Expected to report in 2010.

2008: Economic Development Policy Implementation in Northern Ontario. Study Team led by Charles Conteh, Lakehead University, and Robert Segsworth, Laurentian University. Expected to report in 2010.

2006: The Ontario Ministry of Finance, 1961-2000: A Study in Organizational Development. Study Team led by Patrice Dutil, Ryerson University. Expected to publish in 2010.

Previous study teams and reports:

2005: Provincial And Territorial Ombudsman Offices In Canada. Study Team led by Stuart Hyson, University of New Brunswick. Reported in fall 2007 and published by UTP in 2009.

2005: The Public Service Commission of The Government of Canada, 1968-2008. Study by Luc Juillet, University of Ottawa, and Ken Rasmussen, University of Regina. Book published as Defending a Contested Ideal in 2008.

2004: The Administration of Cultural Policies in the Provinces and Territories. Team led by Diane Saint-Pierre, at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique in Quebec City and Monica Gattinger, University of Ottawa. Book published by Presses de l'universite comme Les politiques culturelles et L'Administration <> publique des gouvernments provincaux at territoriaux du Canada.

2003: From Measuring to Managing Performance in Municipal Government: Recent Trends in the Development of Public Sector Accountability (led by Thomas Plant of the City of Mississauga, Ontario and Carol Agocs, University of Western Ontario. This report was published in the New Directions Series in 2005.

2002: The Executive Style in Canada (led by Michael Howlett, Keith Brownsey and Luc Bernier). The work of the team was published as Executive Styles in Canada: Cabinet Structures and Leadership Practices in Canadian Government in the “IPAC Series in Public Sector Management and Governance”, University of Toronto Press 2005.

2002: The Auditor General and the Future of Accountability led by Danielle Morin. The team’s work was published in Canadian Public Administration, Summer 2004, Vol 47, No.2.

For more information on this IPAC program, please contact Wendy Feldman, Director of Research, at wfeldman@ipac.ca