About Collaborative Research Groups

What is a CRG?

A Collaborative Research Group (CRG) is a group of researchers with overlapping scientific interests and a shared commitment to collaboration. PIMS awards successful applicants up to $240,000 CAD over three years to support postdoctoral appointments, event organization, and scientific exchanges. This funding enables a CRG to bring together leading international experts in a given research area for a period of intensive collaboration. Postdoctoral fellowships funded by a CRG follow the amounts and model of standard PIMS Postdoctoral Fellowships, including the required matching funds; a CRG typically funds two postdoctoral fellows (PDFs), each for two years, over its full cycle.

CRGs are designed to generate impact well beyond the funding period, raising the profile of their research themes in Western Canada and Cascadia, providing mentorship to early-career faculty, and equipping researchers with the infrastructure needed to build networks and advance their research programs.

CRGs are selected through a highly competitive, two-stage process adjudicated by the PIMS Scientific Review Panel, which meets annually each fall. Interested researchers are strongly encouraged to contact PIMS staff to ensure that their application makes optimal use of resources in the PIMS network.

Program Basics

• CRGs have leadership drawn from across the PIMS network.
• PIMS supports successful CRGs up to $240,000 CAD over three years.
• Postdoctoral fellowships funded by a CRG follow the amounts and model of standard PIMS Postdoctoral Fellowships, including the required matching funds; a CRG typically funds two postdoctoral fellows (PDFs), each for two years, over its full cycle.
• CRGs recruit PDFs and organize scientific events, with a focus on EDI and vertical integration through mentorship and career building.
• CRGs are designed to create lasting research communities across the PIMS Network through mentorship, networking, and leadership in key research themes.

Application Process

CRG applications proceed in two stages. Draft applications may be sent to the PIMS co-directors for feedback before the feedback date given in the timeline (typically mid-August).

Stage 1: Letter of Intent (LOI)

Prepare a 5-page Letter of Intent explaining the scientific rationale of the collaboration, why the theme is timely, and the benefit to the PIMS Network. The LOI must address the general submission requirements and include the following additional sections:

Format: letter-sized paper (8.5" × 11"), approximately 1-inch margins, Times New Roman 12. LOIs are judged on the general criteria and on the potential merit and impact of the sections above. Submit through the call for proposals by the deadline given in the timeline (typically early October).

Stage 2: Full Proposal

Applicants are advised in December (see timeline) of the outcome of their LOI. Those with successful LOIs are invited to submit a full application the following year, incorporating SRP and PIMS feedback. Upon notification of a successful LOI, applicants may request up to $5,000 to support an event or PI summit during the period leading up to submission of the full proposal.

The full proposal expands on the LOI to 10–12 pages, incorporating all LOI sections together with a precise calendar of events, a detailed budget, and a one-paragraph executive summary. It is judged on the general criteria together with the additional considerations for CRGs and PRNs.

Feedback before submission. Applicants are strongly encouraged to seek feedback from PIMS leadership at both stages. Please send draft applications to the PIMS co-directors (co-director-programs@pims.math.ca and co-director-careers@pims.math.ca) before the feedback date given in the timeline.

Responsibilities of CRG leaders

• Manage funds responsibly in accordance with NSERC and PIMS guidelines.
• Submit event post-reports online within one month of each event. Reports include scientific abstracts, participant demographics, complete speaker and attendee lists, and final budgets.
• Provide an annual report (see timeline) summarizing the CRG's impact to date (scientific advances, publications, and trainee placements) and outlining plans for the upcoming year.
• Present CRG highlights at the annual (virtual) CRG/PRN Leader Meeting.

Creating a Successful CRG

Sample Activities

• International conferences: high-profile gatherings connecting global researchers.
• Focused research periods: intensive collaborative research sessions.
• Distinguished chairs and long-term visitors: hosting leading scientists at PIMS sites and leveraging their expertise through a coordinated series of activities.
• PIMS Postdoctoral Fellowships: supporting the development of Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) at PIMS sites.
• PIMS Network Wide Courses: multi-site graduate courses granting credit through the Western Deans Agreement.
• Summer schools and other postdoctoral and graduate training activities.
• Mini-conferences and workshops at host universities: smaller targeted events strengthening partnerships.
• Industrial training camps: bridging research and industrial applications.
• International collaborations: facilitating cross-border partnerships and joint research initiatives.

Other Programs to Leverage

• PIMS-CNRS IRL: Visitor and trainee mobility programs.
• PIMS Network Wide Courses.
• BIRS: The Banff International Research Station.

Demonstrating Impact

There are many ways to demonstrate impact. A CRG proposal has potential for impact if it:

• Creates new research opportunities and enhances training for participants.
• Generates new scientific programs led by its member scientists.
• Encourages proposals for focused periods, mini-programs, summer schools, and distinguished scholars.
• Fosters local interest and supports long-term grass-roots activities.
• Facilitates multi-site interactions and collaborations, creating lasting networks that bridge geographic boundaries, particularly involving PIMS sites.
• Provides researchers with leadership opportunities at the national and international levels.
• Attracts additional funding and support for research initiatives.
• Strengthens HQP training through the PIMS Network Wide Courses program, leveraging the Western Deans Agreement to grant graduate course credit across the PIMS network.
• Consolidates smaller, isolated collaborations for coordinated long-term research.
• Mobilizes mathematical research beyond academia through industry and public-sector partnerships (e.g., M2PI), public outreach, and policy-relevant work.
• Builds international research partnerships, including through PIMS-CNRS and MATHAM.
• Promotes Canada-US research partnerships.
• Ensures a diverse and inclusive pool of participants, taking a forward-looking approach to engagement.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are essential to academic excellence in the mathematical sciences, and we strongly encourage CRG applicants to consider how they will address EDI in all aspects of their proposal.