Research Support Fund

Research funding provided through three federal research granting agencies [Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)] is generally limited to direct project costs (e.g., research equipment, research assistant salaries, etc.). Institutions whose researchers receive funding for research also incur costs to manage their research enterprise. These are often called “indirect costs of research.” From 2015-2016, the Research Support Fund (RSF) program replaces the former Indirect Costs Program established in 2003.

Research Support Fund

Develop the skills and knowledge to manage complex projects in any sector with UCN’s flexible Project Management Certificate Program or specific modules. This customizable training path is ideal for emerging and experienced project managers who want practical, applied learning tailored to today’s workplace challenges. UCN is proud to offer this certificate in partnership with Procept, a PMI authorized training provider.

Eligible Uses of RSF Funding

The RSF assists Canadian postsecondary institutions and their affiliated research hospitals and institutes with the indirect costs/expenses associated with managing the research funded by the three federal research granting agencies. The RSF grant can be used to:

  • Maintain modern labs and equipment
  • Provide access to up-to-date knowledge resources
  • Provide research management and administrative support, including support for equity, diversity and inclusion practices
  • Meet regulatory and ethical standards/requirements; and
  • Transfer research results/knowledge from academia to the knowledge users (private, public and not-for-profit sectors)

The RSF grant that the University College of the North (UCN) receives each year helps to defray a portion of these costs. A full list of RSF eligible expenses is provided at www.rsf-fsr.gc.ca/administer-administrer/expenditures-depenses-eng.aspx. More details about the RSF program are available at http://www.rsf-fsr.gc.ca/home-accueil-eng.aspx.

Affiliated Organizations

UCN does not have any affiliated organizations.

RSF Allocation in 2025-2026

The RSF grant assists Canadian postsecondary institutions with the costs associated with managing their research enterprise, helping them to maintain a world-class research environment. In 2025-2026, the RSF grant amount allocated to UCN is $51,685. UCN has planned to distribute this RSF grant under the five expenditure categories as listed below:

 

  1. Research Facilities ($5,000; 9.7%): Research equipment, furniture, maintenance and operating cost.
  2. Research Resources ($13,000; 25.1%): Campus-wide SPSS license, NVivo license, library holdings, telecommunication, IT and databases.
  3. Management and Administration ($11,685; 22.6%): Research grant consultancy, grant writing workshops, research planning and promotion, research collaboration, and memberships and conference participations in CARA, CAUBO, CICan and others.
  4. Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation ($21,000; 40.6%): Participation in CCAC program, animal user training for students and faculty, and memberships and conference participations in CAREB, CCAC and others.
  5. Intellectual Property and Knowledge Mobilization ($1,000; 2.0%): Annual truth and reconciliation conference, and Indigenous knowledge initiatives.

RSF Communications Strategy for 2025-2026

UCN acknowledges and is grateful for the support of the Government of Canada and three federal research granting agencies (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC), through its RSF.

The RSF grant provides financial support to UCN to achieve its research goals by minimizing the costs in five eligible expenditure areas: research facilities, research resources, management and administration of research enterprise, regulatory requirements and accreditation, intellectual property management and knowledge mobilization.

Research at UCN contributes to the achievement of our Strategic Plan, and contributes to the economic well-being of the peoples of Northern Manitoba and beyond.

In an effort to provide information about the role of the RSF grant in supporting and building capacity for research at UCN, the following specific communications strategies will be followed through 2025-2026:

1. UCN Website

UCN’s website, https://ucn.ca/, contains a webpage specifically highlighting the RSF and its impact on research and research capacity building at UCN. The RSF webpage, located at https://ucn.ca/research-support-fund/, highlights RSF allocation, usage and outcomes. All research related articles, videos and audio clips that utilized RSF grant will acknowledge the impact of RSF. UCN’s RSF webpage will be updated regularly. The webpage of UCN’s Office of Research (https://ucn.ca/research/) will have a report listing all research-related and scholarly activities.

2. Publications

UCN will capitalize on publications created by its faculty, staff, students, and others associated with federally-funded research activities, in order to highlight and share research stories with both internal and external audiences. The RSF will be given a direct reference in publications, emphasizing the value it has brought to strengthening the research environment at UCN.

3. Media Relations

Existing local and regional media contacts will be contacted, and relationships will be built with new media sources in order to share UCN’s research stories and successes. Any stories being published through news releases will acknowledge the support of the RSF grant in the release.

4. Social Media

Social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) will be utilized to share news and generate conversations about UCN’s research expertise and contributions.

5. Presentations/Lectures

All federally-funded research-related presentations will acknowledge contributions from the RSF grant. This could be a verbal acknowledgement and/or acknowledgement through inclusion of the RSF on the ‘Benefactors/Thank You’ page of a slideshow presentation.

6. Annual Truth and Reconciliation Conference

Recognition for the support of the RSF will be also included in the opening and closing remarks of our annual Truth and Reconciliation academic conference which is well-attended by both academics and the general public.

RSF Grant Usage, Performance and Outcomes in 2024-2025

Budget Allocated in 2024-2025 RSF

Expenditure Category Budget Amount Budget %
Research Facilities $6,000 9.5%
Research Resources $16,066 25.4%
Management and Administration $14,000 22.2%
Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation $17,000 27.0%
Intellectual Property and Knowledge Mobilization $10,000 15.9%
Total $63,066 100.0%

Statement of Account / Expenditures Incurred in 2024-2025 RSF

Expenditure Category Budget Amount Budget %
Research Facilities $0 0.0%
Research Resources $42,902 68.0%
Management and Administration $12,426 19.7%
Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation $7,738 12.3%
Intellectual Property and Knowledge Mobilization $0 0.0%
Total $63,066 100.0%

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, 2024-2025 RSF grant period was extended for 3 months. Therefore, 2024-2025 RSF grant period is from April 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. The performance of UCN and outcomes achieved through the RSF grant in 2024-2025 are summarized below.

Research Resources

The RSF grant helped us to cover costs associated with many essential research resources including UCN-wide SPSS software license, NVivo software license, iPad Pros for research work, and CINAHL complete library suite for research.

Management and Administration

UCN has a full-time Manager of Research position and a part-time Administrative Assistant position at its only Research Office. As we want to maximize the use of RSF grant to cover key research functions and resources, UCN uses internal salary funds to cover these positions. In 2024-25, the RSF grant was used to cover some operational costs of the Research Office, the Research Office's membership fees for the Canadian Association of Research Administrators (CARA) and Society of Research Administrators International (SRAI), costs of Research Office staff to attend research-related workshops/trainings and conferences from CARA, SRAI and Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), and expenses associated with the UCN Research Office communication device (cell phone).

Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation

In 2024-25, the RSF grant has enabled UCN to meet regulatory and accreditation requirements including costs related to the operations of UCN’s Research Ethics Board (REB) and Animal Care Committee (ACC) and costs of professional development trainings for their members. The RSF grant covered the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) program participation fees and the cost of animal user trainings for UCN students. It covered Research Office's membership fee for the Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards (CAREB), and expenses of Research Office staff and members of REB and ACC to participate in the CAREB national conference and CCAC national workshop and webinars.

Communication Strategies Used in 2024-2025 RSF Grant Year

The following communications strategies were used in 2024-2025 to inform about UCN’s RSF grant and its support to the research at UCN.

Website

UCN’s RSF webpage (https://www.ucn.ca/research-support-fund/) has highlighted RSF grant and its impact on research activities and research capacity building at the UCN. Research related articles, videos and audio clips that utilized RSF grant have acknowledged the support of RSF grant. The UCN Research Office webpage located at https://www.ucn.ca/research/ has listed research-related and scholarly activities happened in 2024-2025 at UCN.

Publications

The publications done through the RSF grant usually give a direct reference in publications, emphasizing the value it has brought to strengthening the research environment at the UCN.

Media Relations

Local and regional media contacts and sources have been used to share the UCN’s research stories and successes. They usually acknowledge the support of the RSF grant.

Social Media

Social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) are being used to share news and generate conversations about UCN’s research expertise and projects.

Presentations/Lectures

The RSF grant’s support and contributions have been acknowledged in presentations and lectures by verbal acknowledgement and/or including a ‘Thank You’ page in slideshow presentations.

RSF Usage at UCN in Previous Years

Expenditure Category 2016–2017 2017–2018 2018–2019 2019–2020 2020–2021 2021–2022
Research Facilities $28,724 $5,790 $0 $0 $0 $0.0
Research Resources $12,766 $25,595 $19,999 $23,075 $51,115 $67,518.8
Management and Administration $10,213 $6,146 $6 $10,918 $2,321 $1,467.7
Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation $3,191 $10,491 $12,512 $7,424 $6,339 $264.9
Intellectual Property and Knowledge Mobilization $13,236 $4,343 $13,388 $1,772 $2,382 $265.6
Total RSF Amount $68,130 $52,365 $45,905 $43,189 $62,157 $69,517.0
Expenditure Category 2022–2023 2023–2024 2024–2025
Research Facilities $0.0 $0 $0
Research Resources $70,900.8 $55,011 $42,902
Management and Administration $931.9 $7,593 $12,426
Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation $8,563.5 $6,981 $7,738
Intellectual Property and Knowledge Mobilization $265.8 $0 $0
Total RSF Amount $80,662.0 $69,585 $63,066

Acknowledgement

UCN gratefully acknowledges the support of the Tri-Council Research Granting Agencies (CIHR, NSREC and SSHRC) and Government of Canada for their Research Support Fund.

Contact

For more information contact:

Guru Chinnasamy, Ph.D.
Manager of Research