• Economics
• Education
• Social and Cultural
• Health
• Citizenship and Political

The Prairie Centre launches its research activities through annual Request for Proposals (RFP). The five broad research domains determine the scope of the RFP. In designing projects in response to the RFP, researchers must indicate in their submissions, the policy linkages of the proposed research and describe details of consultations with policy-makers and other stakeholders.

The Centre has recently strengthened its strategic research planning capacity by initiating an annual research workshop focusing on ways of engaging stakeholders in the definition of its future research program. The workshop resulted in the restructuring of research domains, particularly the addition of a new Health domain. This, and the discussion on identifying stakeholders' research priorities, indirectly influenced subsequent research proposals, even though the workshop was not a forum to develop the RFP content. Another workshop outcome was the decision to establish teams to carry out more integrated research defined by domain-driven research agendas (while still preserving the annual grant competition). The first workshop was held from October 29 to 31, 1998. About ninety representatives from the federal and provincial governments, the research community and NGOs actively participated in this event. The Centre plans to hold its second annual research workshop in the fall of 1999.

The Program Committee and the Board of Governors are responsible for the approval of projects submitted in response to the RFP. Representatives from the federal government, research community and NGOs sit on both committees; in addition, provincial and municipal government representatives sit on the Board of Governors (see Appendix 2 for committee membership). The Program Committee, appointed by the Board of Governors, reviews the research proposals submitted under the RFP and makes recommendations for the awarding of research grants. Program Committee funding recommendations are then forwarded to the Board of Governors for final funding approval. In addition to this function, the Board has the broad mandate of overseeing the affairs of the Centre.

The Prairie Centre's research planning, design and approval process is summarized in Table 2. Further information about the Centre can be found at http://pcerii.metropolis.net.

* SSHRC: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
  MPT: Metropolis Project Team at Citizenship and Immigration Canada

APPENDIX 2: PRAIRIE CENTRE'S COMMITTEES