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How to Apply for Research Funding
- How To Apply for Research Funding
- Money Matters - click here to see more information
- Writing Good Proposal Tips - click here to see more information
A research project cycle
typically consists of the following stages:
The Research Project Cycle (PDF)
While the applicant is responsible for developing the
proposal and ensuring that each stage of the cycle has been appropriately
addressed, the Office of Research provides assistance with each stage of the
research project cycle.
The following sections contain information on the most
appropriate contacts at each stage of the research project cycle.
Identifying a funding opportunity
To assist researchers in identifying suitable research
funding opportunities, we:
- provide information on various funding
opportunities;
- relay reminders of upcoming funding opportunities and announce
and promote new opportunities;
-
conduct information sessions on funding opportunities;
-
organize special events in association with visiting funding
agencies and other experts;
-
Funding opportunities for student researchers are handled by
the Office of Graduate Studies.
Contacts:
Harold Hume
(960-5796; humeh@unbc.ca)
NSERC/ Research Project Officer
Melanie Mogus (960-5815;mogusm@unbc.ca)
CIHR/ Health Research Project Officer
Introduction
It is the researcher who develops the concept of every
research idea and initiates the grant process or industry collaboration.
However, the Office of Research works closely with the researcher throughout
the pre-submission phase to ensure that all applications fit agency guidelines,
that all necessary UNBC processes are engaged and that the application is
submitted to the agency on time.
To assist researchers with proposal development, we:
-
provide strategic advice on developing proposals in the
context of institutional and government priorities and initiatives;
-
provide advice on sponsors' guidelines and expectations;
-
provide advice on budget development;
-
review draft applications for compliance with sponsors'
requirements, university policy, eligibility and selection criteria, and
recommend adjustments;
-
where time permits, provide substantive review of draft
applications,
-
prepare all institutional elements of proposals, as
applicable;
-
coordinate the procurement of matching funds or in-kind
contributions (where applicable), whether from UNBC or external partners;
-
provide assistance with accessing agencies’ electronic
forms;
-
Working with your project officer
We invite you to introduce yourself and get to know the
research project officer responsible for your research area. They are interested in your
work and can be strong advocates for your research.
We strongly encourage researchers to consult research project
officers as an extra resource, in addition to colleagues, when developing
research proposals.
All of our research project officers have research-based Masters
degrees and possess high-level communication skills. They are able to comment
constructively and strategically on the way in which your ideas are expressed
as well as provide technical advice on your proposal.
Budget, Ethics, Intellectual Property: the “big three”
considerations
Budget, ethics and intellectual property must be considered
in every research proposal. If you do not factor these three elements into
preparing your proposal, access to your funds can be greatly delayed. In
contract research, especially, please raise these issues early in negotiations
with your sponsor to avoid the risk of jeopardizing a promising research
relationship. In some proposals it will be important to indicate the value of
in-kind (ie: non-cash such as space, security, staff time) contributions from
UNBC to the project. Please consult your Research Project Officer for assistance.
Budget development
-
I
ndirect costs
(or overhead charge, if permitted)
All
researchers are expected to familiarize themselves with UNBC policy and procedures
relating to indirect costs and overhead charges.
Overhead
charges compensate the University for the indirect costs of performing
research. These include the costs of faculty time allocated to research activities,
provision of space, including its maintenance and servicing, the use and
maintenance of equipment, and a proportionate share of other elements such as
insurance and legal services, and other services provided by the University to
support research activity – for example, through the Office of Research, the
University Industry Liaison Office, Finance, Human Resources, Purchasing,
Facilities, and the Library.
The University needs to recover, and the Office of Research
actively pursues, indirect costs at appropriate rates in all relevant research
agreements. UNBC policy requires that all researchers request the maximum
overhead allowable in their budgets for research grants and contracts. The
University has adopted, as a guideline, a standard rate of 40% of salaries and benefits, which is in line with Federal Government recommendations on reasonable
rates.
Researchers should be aware of the difference in treatment
of overhead costs depending on whether funding is received as a grant or a research contract and contract negotiation. For example, in research contracts, the sponsor is receiving
identifiable benefits and, accordingly, a contribution to the University’s
indirect costs of research is expected.
Early discussion with the Office of Research is encouraged
to establish the relevant rate of overhead to cover indirect costs, as these
may vary according to funding agency.
Canadian Institutes of Health
Research
Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council
Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council
BC Medical Services Foundation Michael Smith Foundation for Health
Research
-
GST & PST
Grant and contract proposals must include GST & PST where
appropriate. Almost every service, piece of equipment or supply purchased, or
rent from non-University sources will attract GST. GST is charged at a reduced rate for equipment purchases (See PC&RM for details). This includes travel,
accommodation and meals. It is up to the researcher to ensure that sufficient
funds have been requested from the funding agency.
Note: The University is not required to charge GST & PST when
contracting out its services or those of its faculty members.
-
Staffing costs
Consider carefully, at the earliest stage in developing the
budget, any additional personnel needed to support the research project,
including the level of skills required and the cost of appropriate personnel.
UNBC Human Resources has developed a document - Choosing
and Costing Research Support Personnel - to assist researchers in
selecting and costing support personnel for research projects, including hidden
costs such as statutory deductions and any statutory holiday pay or employee
benefits (all of which may need to be factored into proposal budgets).
Researchers should seek guidance from HR, but should also be
aware that funding agency guidelines prescribe maximum rates in many cases.
Once rates of pay for the required level of skill have been determined by the
researcher through discussion with HR and by reference to any funding agency
rates, Research Project Officers can help advise researchers how to include these
costs in research budgets. For post-award recruitment of research personnel,
please refer to the Human Resources guidelines.
-
Ethics
Consider whether approval by University ethics committees is
required, and prepare any necessary application at the same time as finalizing
your proposal. Do not submit the application for ethics approval until funding has
been secured (see “Ethics approval” below).
Bear in mind that meeting ethics requirements may have budgetary implications.
-
Intellectual property issues
It is especially important to consider intellectual property
issues early if you are collaborating with students or colleagues from UNBC or
other institutions (see “Intellectual property and
industry liaison/commercialization” below).
Contacts:
Harold Hume
(960-5796; humeh@unbc.ca)
NSERC/ Research Project Officer
Melanie Mogus (960-5815; mogusm@unbc.ca)
CIHR/ Health Research Project Officer
Sean Kinsley (960-5616; kinsley@unbc.ca) for budget
issues Accounting Analyst - Research, UNBC
Finance
Lisa Pender (960-6477; penderl@unbc.ca) for
contracting issues, Research Contract Coordinator, UNBC
Purchasing, Contract & Risk Management
Program and College signatures
As part of the UNBC approval process, researchers must
secure signed approval for their project from their Program Chair and Dean.
This indicates to the Office of Research and Vice President Research that the
Program and College support the research proposal and any requested
infrastructure to advance the UNBC Strategic Research
Plan.
Approvals on behalf of the Program and College provide
assurance that there is sufficient support from faculty members, sufficient
space, and operating funds to ensure the project’s success should the
application be funded.
Research Grant and Contract Approval Form
The Office of Research Grant and
Contract Approval Form outlines the necessary steps in the contract
approval process. This form must be sub
mitted, pre-signed on behalf of the Program and College, to the Office of Research with every external funding
application including multi-institution proposals on which a UNBC faculty member is the PI or a collaborator before it is submitted and, in the case of sponsored research,
before any contractual arrangements may be made.
Institutional signature
The Office of Research, having reviewed applications in
their final form, obtains the institutional signature to cement UNBC’s
commitment.
Reminder: Researchers are required to first obtain Program
and College signatures and commitments (see above) before submitting to the
Office of Research.
Application deadline
The Office of Research requires that all external
applications be submitted to the Office 5 days* before any agency deadline in order that a
full compliance review of the application may be undertaken and to allow
sufficient time for institutional signature and mailing. Internal applications may vary according to
particular funding program requirements and demand.
* This timeframe may be extended depending on the anticipated
level of applications for a particular funding opportunity.
Contacts:
Allyson Truant (960-5820; allysont@unbc.ca)
Executive Assistant to the Vice President, Research
Debbie Krebs (960-5650; krebsd@unbc.ca)
Administrative Assistant (& Research Ethics Coordinator) to the Office of Research
Sponsors’ decision
On submission, the funding agency performs an administrative
review to check for eligibility and compliance with formatting rules. Eligible
applications are then adjudicated by peer reviewers who make recommendations
for funding to the agency. In many cases the agency sends competition results
to the Office of Research. We then advise the researcher of the outcome.
In some cases, the researcher is advised directly by the
agency or, in the case of inter-institutional applications where UNBC is not
the lead organization, the researcher learns of the result from colleagues at
the lead institution. In such cases, researchers are requested to advise the
Office of Research as soon as possible of the outcome of such applications and
forward any communication they have received.
From this point in the project cycle, the Office of Research
serves as a liaison between the researcher and other UNBC departments
( Purchasing, Contract and Risk Management; Finance; Human Resources and others)
or other institutions to ensure that researchers receive all the post-award
research support they require.
If your funding application was not successful, the Office
of Research will assist in developing a strategy to strengthen the application
and/or assist the researcher in exploring other funding options. Please contact
either the Vice President Research or one of the Research Project Officers for
assistance and to discuss the funding agency’s feedback.
Contacts:
Allyson Truant (960-5820; allysont@unbc.ca)
Executive Assistant to the Vice President, Research
Debbie Krebs (960-5650; krebsd@unbc.ca)
Administrative Assistant to the Office of Research
Harold Hume
(960-5796; humeh@unbc.ca)
NSERC/ Research Project Officer
Melanie Mogus
(960-5815; mogusm@unbc.ca
)
CIHR/ Health Research Project Officer
The Office of Research provides full service and support for
researchers whose projects involve human subjects, animals and/or bio-hazardous
materials, and connects researchers with other UNBC departments responsible for
overseeing the use of bio-hazardous materials and risk management.
Administrative support for the University ethics committees is provided by
staff in the Office of Research.
Some research is required to have ethics approval before the
research starts and before research funding can be released. Ethics
applications should be prepared concurrently with the funding proposal (and any
consequential costs included in the budget), but applications for ethics
approval should not be submitted until funding has been secured. Further
information is available on the Research Ethics
page, which provides details of the process and timing for submitting
applications to:
Debbie Krebs (960-5650; krebsd@unbc.ca)
Administrative Assistant (& Research Ethics Coordinator) to the Office of Research
Grant formalities and contract negotiation
The Office of Research works
closely with the Research Contract Coordinator, based in UNBC Purchasing,
Contract and Risk Management, to finalize suitable contractual terms for the
conduct of research and to support research services. The Research Contract
Coordinator handles a variety of agreements including:
- funding, grant and contribution agreements*,
- material transfer agreements,
- non-disclosure agreements,
- memoranda of understanding (MOUs),
-
partnership agreements,
fee for service contracts*, and
- consulting service contracts*.
*Whenever research funds flow into the University, from sponsors or for
the paid services of researcher experts (eg. consulting), University policy requires
researchers to request the maximum overhead allowable to compensate the
University for the indirect costs of performing research.
In addition to the above matters, the Research Contract
Coordinator also prepares and negotiates contracts with third-party suppliers
for any necessary procurement, and agreements required to support research
facilities, such as construction contracts and leases.
The Research Contracts Coordinator works with faculty,
funding agencies, sponsors and staff to ensure that all documents meet the
legal requirements set by the University to protect against undue or hidden
risk and liability. Contract services must conform to the principle of competitive bidding
wherever possible.
Some agreements, particularly inter-institutional
agreements, are negotiated by the Research Services Manager with the assistance
of the Research Contract Coordinator. Agreements arising from intellectual
property management and commercialization are negotiated by the Director of the
University Industry Liaison Office with the assistance of the Research Contract
Coordinator.
Working to finalize the contract or grant
The Research Contract Coordinator establishes the legal
basis for UNBC to accept research funding. The terms for receiving funding vary
considerably, depending on the appropriate contractual model, but the general
principles below apply to most research relationships.
The Research Contract Coordinator, in consultation with the
appropriate faculty members, staff or department, will prepare a draft contract
and/or review any externally prepared document, such as grant terms proposed by
a sponsor. The completed Grant and Contract Approval
Form is required by the Office of Research before the Research Contract
Coordinator can consider grant terms or prepare the relevant contractual
documentation.
The Research Contract Coordinator assists in negotiation,
prepares the final document for execution and recommends signature on behalf of
the University by the Vice President Research.
General principles governing research contracting with UNBC
While the approach taken on any given project will be
mindful of the specifics of that project, in general, the following principles
govern most research relationships and resulting agreements involving UNBC:
-
All agreements will be made in the “corporate” name of the
University, not in the name of Programs, schools, institutes or individual
researchers.
- The nature of individual research relationships with the
University may take many different forms – ranging from grants and contribution
agreements (often termed “transfers under agreement” by the Province of British Columbia)
to contract research and personal services agreements. It is critical that the
appropriate contractual model be chosen for each project. The Research Contract
Coordinator is able to assist with selecting the appropriate model.
- Funds provided to compensate the University for the indirect
costs of performing research will vary according to the nature of the research
relationship.
- Ownership of, and access to, intellectual property (IP) and
data will be determined at the project outset and will be appropriate to the
research relationship and the contractual model. These decisions will be guided
by, on the one hand, the need for researchers to retain reasonable freedom to
operate in relation to IP (ie. to use the knowledge or IP generated in
teaching, in future research, including publication, and in practising their
professions) and, on the other hand, the research sponsor’s need to receive
project information in a form and on terms of use that suit its purpose.
- The core values of academic freedom must be maintained.
Universities do not conduct secret research, and scientifically significant
advances must be publishable in the open literature without unwarranted delay
or editorial restrictions. Publications will not contain sponsor confidential
information or personal information.
- Since much University research is actually performed by
graduate students, it is also important to keep their academic needs in mind.
Students and postdoctoral fellows, as well as faculty, must be free to
disseminate results and defend theses;
-
Conduct of research will be in accordance with UNBC policy
and procedures regarding the use of human subjects, animals, radioactive
materials and biohazards, and environmental impacts.
-
UNBC does not assume risk for commercial use of research
results. Any licensing of IP will be structured so as not to expose the
University to third party liability.
Tips for researchers to avoid contractual delays
To minimize the risk of delay in having a funding agreement
or research contract signed, we suggest the following:
-
Don’t enter into an agreement
without us.
The
University alone has the legal capacity to enter into contracts which bind the
University. Thus, contracts for research services must be between the
University and the contracting agency, and may not be written in the name of an
individual, Program, Institute, Centre, School, or College. In the case of
research contracts, the Vice President Research holds delegated authority from
the Board, within limits, to sign on behalf of the University. To be very
clear, no student, faculty or staff member is authorized to commit the
University to any legal agreement. An agreement signed by an unauthorized
individual will be the legal obligation of that individual and not the
University.
-
Don’t take on indemnities and
liabilities yourself.
Contracts negotiated by researchers without expert
assistance may contain terms that expose both the University and the individual
researcher to inappropriate risk. It is critically important, therefore, that
researchers refrain from directly negotiating any terms that relate to
indemnity or liability. Such negotiations may place the individual and the
University in a dangerous liability position, and may also contravene the
University’s agreement with its insurers, resulting in a denial of coverage.
-
Factor indirect costs into your
budget before it is submitted.
Familiarize yourself with University policy on indirect costs and overhead charges and factor the necessary indirect costs
into your budget proposal or, in the case of contract research, raise the
University’s requirement for indirect costs in early discussions with your
collaborator and include overhead in your budget. In this way, contractual
negotiations need not be delayed or prejudiced by eleventh hour requests for
contributions towards the University’s indirect costs.
Contact:
Lisa Pender (960-6477; penderl@unbc.ca)
Research Contract Coordinator – Purchasing, Contract &
Risk Management
Opening a new fund/account
Proposal
Once notification your research proposal is successful, you
must provide a copy of the award notification to the Office
of Research and the Research Analyst (Finance).
The Research Analyst will set up a fund (the Grant and Contract form should be
in place) account so that you can commence with your research and start
spending. University Policy states that the University will allow expenditures
of up to 40% of the allocation based solely on the award letter.
Contracts/Contribution Agreements
Once the approved (signed) Contract or Contribution
Agreement has been received, the Research Analyst
(Finance) will set up a
fund/account (the Grant and Contract form should be in place) so that you can
commence your research.
Please see the Grant Formalities
and Contract Negotiation section for more
detail on contracts.
Contacts:
Sean Kinsley
(960-5616; kinsley@unbc.ca)
Accounting Analyst - Research, UNBC Finance
Kathleen Denis
(960-5615; denis@unbc.ca)
Research Accounting Assistant, UNBC Finance
Lisa Pender (960-6477; penderl@unbc.ca) for contracting issues, Research Contract Coordinator, UNBC Purchasing, Contract
& Risk Management
Reporting and fund/account closure at end of project
Reporting
It is the responsibility of the Research Analyst (Finance)
to prepare financial statements for the sponsoring agencies. The Research Analyst will verify with the
researcher that all expenditures as reported are acceptable. All written
reports are the responsibility of the researcher.
Fund/Account Closure
Funds Spent
The research fund will be closed by the Research
Analyst (Finance) at the end of the grant period.
Funds Remaining
If there are any funds remaining
in the account after the grant or contract has concluded please contact the Research Analyst (Finance) as each agency
differs on how remaining funds are handled within the University.
Contacts:
Sean Kinsley
(960-5616; kinsley@unbc.ca)
Accounting Analyst - Research, UNBC Finance
Kathleen Denis
(960-5615; denis@unbc.ca)
Research Accounting Assistant, UNBC Finance
Intellectual property and industry liaison/commercialization
The University Industry Liaison
Office (UILO) offers advice on intellectual property matters, support
for the commercialization of intellectual property (patent filing, technology
licensing, company creation) and, more generally, assistance with mobilization
of research having social, ethical, environmental or cultural impact.
The Director of the UILO draws on support from the Research
Contract Coordinator and Research Services Manager in contracting around
intellectual property (IP) and commercialization.
The UILO works closely with local advisers from the
Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) of the National
Research Council and with the Prince George-based Innovation Resource Centre, serving as a liaison
between researchers on campus and local businesses with research needs. The
Director of the UILO and the Research Services Manager extend their
Intellectual Property expertise to members of the local business community via
IRAP and IRC.
Contacts:
Lisa Pender (960-6477; penderl@unbc.ca) – for contracting issues
Research Contract Coordinator, UNBC Purchasing, Contract
& Risk Management
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3333 University Way, Prince George, BC, Canada, V2N 4Z9 | |
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