Public Disclosure Statement for 2024-25
The Research Support Fund (RSF) helps Canadian postsecondary institutions with the costs associated with managing research funded by the three federal research granting agencies.
Indirect Costs of Research
The “hidden” costs associated with managing research are called indirect costs and include the cost many institutional activities and services that are required to support research but are not covered by research grants and contracts. Some of these are:
- Salaries for staff who provide administrative support for researchers and their projects (research office, finance, legal, IT, library);
- Costs related to the maintenance of laboratories and research facilities (power, security, building and equipment maintenance).
- Research resources
Research and scholarship are part of a teaching-intensive regional university and contribute significantly to excellence in undergraduate education. Research and scholarship enhance UFV’s social, cultural, economic, and environmentally-responsible development and contribute to the strategic goals of UFV.
The Research Support Fund is essential to building and sustaining a culture of research and scholarship at UFV as well as pragmatically supporting everyday activities and operations. The fund enables UFV to employ staff such as the Director of Research; Ethics and Compliance Officer, Grants and Contracts Officer; Research Services Assistant; Financial Analyst and Liaison who support faculty and student researchers. Many initiatives supported by the RSF showcase UFV faculty and student research and promote interdisciplinary networking within the institution and community.
The value of each grant is calculated as a percentage of the institution’s total federal research funding from NSERC, SSHRC, and CIHR with some exclusions. Detailed information about the Research Support Fund can be found here. The actual amount of the RSF grant that UFV receives does not cover the total amount of eligible costs, so the grant is attributed to the cost of maintaining the office of Research, Engagement, and Graduate Studies.
Allocation of UFV Research Support Funds 2024-25
The total amount of the RSF Grant for UFV in 2024-25 is $399,886.
The RSF grant will be used to support the management and administration of the university’s research enterprise (99.2% or $396,886) and regulatory requirements and accreditation (0.8% or $3000).
Research Management and Administration
The grant is used to support the salaries and training costs for staff who work on grant applications, research proposals, and support the research enterprise; costs associated with publications and events that highlight UFV research; costs of grant-writing workshops and professional memberships; financial administration; and research compliance.
Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation
A small portion of the grant this year is used to ensure that the Luminescence Dating Lab remains in compliance with the National Dosimetry Services.
The Research Support Fund plays a vital role in many of our successes, either directly or by allowing us to indirectly support research activities. Some examples of how we used the RSF grant to indirectly support UFV faculty and student researchers in the 2023-24 academic year are listed below:
- Committing funds in support of faculty research projects and assisting researchers from all disciplines.
- Offering annual workshops for faculty and students: Faculty Sabbatical Planning and Application workshop; Grant Mentorship Program; Research Option and Scholarly Activity workshop; Research Ethics Workshops, NSERC and SSHRC Scholarship workshops and ROMEO training workshops.
- Assisting more than 35 undergraduate students who presented at national and international professional conferences.
- Supporting seven students who received NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards.
- Supporting more than 414 undergraduate student research assistants.
- Hosting the Student Research Day where more than 100 students presented 94 posters while competing for 12 financial awards of $200 each.
- Reviewing over 187 research ethics protocols to ensure UFV met TCPS and CCAC compliance.
- Providing HREB members and Research Office staff opportunities to attend national conferences such as CAREB, CARA, and CCAC for training and networking.
RSF Public Disclosure Statement for 2023-2024
RSF Public Disclosure Statement for 2022-2023
RSF Public Disclosure Statement for 2021-2022
RSF Public Disclosure Statement for 2020-2021
RSF Public Disclosure Statement for 2019-2020
RSF Public Disclosure Statement for 2018-2019
