Safety Scholarship Opportunity

Please come to GB105 for an application package or email Colin Anderson at colin@civ.utoronto.ca.

TSSA Safety Education Research Graduate Scholarships
The Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) invites applications for the 2009 Safety Education Research Graduate Scholarship(s). The maximum amount of each award will be $5,000 per annum, and renewable for an additional year for a Master’s student and up to an additional two years for a PhD student subject to satisfactory progress. Funds will be awarded directly to the successful student(s).
Program Objectives
The primary objective of the scholarship program is to advance the knowledge and state of public safety in Ontario, and in particular the industry sectors regulated by TSSA (amusement devices, boilers and pressure vessels, elevating devices, fuels, operating engineers, ski lifts, and upholstered and stuffed articles). Secondly, TSSA encourage the development of highly qualified personnel in the public safety field.
This is a scholarship program, and not a research grant, but graduate students must include in their program of study a research project pertinent to at least one of the sectors for which TSSA has regulatory responsibility. The student’s ability to articulate a relevant research project will be an important part of the adjudication criteria. Establishment of knowledge transfer and exchange channels is also an aim. TSSA data or access to site visits may be arranged under appropriate conditions, and TSSA will facilitate dissemination of research results.
Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants are graduate students either already admitted or recommended for admission to a graduate program at the Masters or PhD level at an Ontario university, along with a faculty supervisor who has agreed to the supervisory arrangement. The academic supervisor must be supervising or co-supervising the student in his/her thesis work, although the proposed project does not need to be the thesis topic. The academic supervisor must hold a tenured or tenure track appointment at an Ontario university, although not necessarily the same university as the student. There is no restriction on the applicant’s field of study or on the academic discipline of the faculty supervisor, other than relevance to the proposed research project.
Applicants who are not currently Ontario residents are also eligible, but they must hold an appropriate study permit, permanent residence or citizenship at the time of holding the award, in order to qualify for admission to the Ontario university before the scholarship funds will be awarded.
Eligible Projects
While the proposed research may benefit other sectors as well, the proposal must make clear how the research will benefit one or more of the sectors for which TSSA has regulatory responsibility. Both basic and applied research proposals are eligible.

Basic research to discover underlying principles may be conducted in a controlled laboratory environment. The proposal must make clear how the results of the research will benefit TSSA’s regulated sectors.
Applied research may focus on one sector specifically, or multiple sectors, and may involve use of data, fieldwork or other applied methods.
TSSA encourages researchers interested in using TSSA data or observations, but to ensure compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and TSSA policies, projects proposing to use TSSA data or which may require access to TSSA or industry personnel must be arranged prior to making the proposal. To discuss tentative projects of this nature, please contact Neena Jyoti, at njyoti@tssa.org or 416-734-3413, at least one month before the proposal is due.
Eligible proposals must demonstrate an empirical component. The following types of research will not be eligible for consideration:
• purely technical research (e.g., engineering mechanics, structures, materials);
• purely theoretical or rhetorical projects; and
• design, delivery or training and program evaluation of social marketing.

Funding
Applicants who are candidates for a Master’s degree may receive $5,000 per annum up to a maximum of two years, and candidates for a PhD may receive $5,000 per annum up to a maximum of three years, provided that:
• the award recipient is still enrolled in his or her graduate program at the time of renewal;
• the award recipient is still working on the proposed project at the time of renewal;
• the academic supervisor agrees at the time of renewal that satisfactory progress is being made on the project; and
• the award recipient has submitted an annual report on the project by May 15th, 2010.
The Scholarship Application
Adjudicating each application requires submission of the following elements. Attachments to the application form are to be formatted with 1-inch margins all around, single sided, single spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font. (As a scholarship program, many sections require more brevity than is typical in a grant application for research.)
1. Application form. Each field in Parts 1 and 2 of the application form must be completed.
2. Student’s statement of research interests. This personal statement by the student will briefly relate the proposed project to past experiences and future professional interests. This must not exceed the space provided in Part 1 of the application form.
3. Student’s academic record. The student’s academic record as demonstrated by the inclusion of a copy of his/her most recent grade report from undergraduate degree(s) and graduate studies completed to the end of 2008. Transcripts may be submitted as an attachment to the application, in envelopes sealed by the university.
4. Faculty supervisor’s appraisal of student’s abilities and undertaking to supervise. In one page, the faculty supervisor will: (i) appraise the student’s abilities, including his or her likelihood of completing the degree; (ii) agree to supervise the project if funded; (iii) ensure that upon completion of the project or conclusion of funding, a report will be submitted to TSSA; and (iv) agree to promote the dissemination of results from the research project.
5. Faculty supervisor’s statement of relevance to research program. A short statement (maximum 2 pages) by the faculty supervisor relating the student’s proposed work to the faculty member’s research program.
6. Faculty supervisor’s curriculum vitae. The faculty supervisor may submit a CV updated within the past four months meeting the format requirements of NSERC or SSHRC contributions document. Alternatively, the faculty member may prepare a two-page summary of his or her relevant publications (journals, conferences) and grants held that are pertinent to the student’s proposed work. Alternatively, a five page curriculum vitae (OCGS format) may be appended in lieu of recapping relevant publications within the two page limit.
7. Research project proposal. The research proposal must articulate the research question and research design, describe the work plan, situate the project in the literature and explain its value as a contribution to knowledge and practice in TSSA’s regulated areas, and must not exceed 2 pages excluding bibliography. A maximum of one page is allowed for the bibliography.
8. Student’s undertaking. The student applicant must undertake to submit all interim and final reports required and to make one or more research presentations to a TSSA audience subject to mutually convenient scheduling.
Application Deadline
Applications must be received by TSSA by May 15th, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. EST. The entire application must be submitted in one envelope and shall not be bound. No attachments or supplements will be accepted.
The postal mailing address is (same address for couriers):
Safety Education Research Graduate Scholarship
Technical Standards and Safety Authority
Corporate Secretariat Department
300 Bloor St. West, 14th floor, Centre Tower
Toronto, ON
M8X 2X4
416-734-3413 attn: Neena Jyoti
Adjudication of Proposals
TSSA’s Consumer Advisory Council will convene a Research Advisory Committee and may also recruit external peer reviewers to evaluate proposals. The evaluation criteria will rate the degree to which:
λ the proposed project is achievable within the normal duration of the student’s academic program with the resources the student can access;
λ the proposed work contributes to the research evidence and knowledge relevant to public safety;
λ the student can situate the proposed work within a reasonable framework in the literature, recognizing that he or she will elaborate and expand on this literature over the course of his or her studies;
λ the student can communicate what he or she plans to do and, as a result, is likely to be able to communicate the results of his or her work;
λ the student has or will have a suitable faculty advisor who has the background to supervise the proposed project; and
λ the student has the capacity to complete the program of study, based on his/her academic record, based on GPA and scholarships awarded.
Additional Timelines and Deadlines
The TSSA’s Research Advisory Committee and external peer reviewers will review each complete application package. It is expected that TSSA will announce the successful recipients by July 31, 2009.

Annual reports for continuing scholarship holders and renewing in their second or third year of the project are due on May 15, 2010. The supervisor also has to state that the student is making satisfactory progress.
Dissemination of Results
Each award recipient will be expected to participate in an annual research symposium hosted by TSSA to update TSSA representatives and/or industry advisory council members on advances in public safety research. Presentations may be by oral presentation or research poster. Details will be provided to award recipients during the course of the year.