What is the Research Support Fund?
Canada's Research Support Fund (RSF) assists Canadian postsecondary institutions with the costs associated with managing their research enterprise. Helping Canadian institutions maintain a world-class research environment positions Canada better to be a world leader in research and development.
RSF grants can include the costs of maintaining modern labs and equipment; securing research from threats; providing access to up-to-date knowledge resources; providing research management and administrative support; meeting regulatory and ethical standards; or transferring knowledge from academia to the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. At VIU, RSF funds are used to support research management and administrative support.
Research grants from Canada’s three federal funding agencies (the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR); the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC); and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) fund the direct costs of research, such as research salaries, travel expenses, student stipends, materials for example.
There are also indirect costs associated with research, which are often more difficult to identify and quantify. These include expenses such as: provision of space including the costs of maintenance and utilities; maintenance and repair of research equipment; computing resources; library resources; insurance; and support by VIU service departments (Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity Office, Finance, Human Resources, Facilities, Information Technology, Library).
Research and scholarship are part of a teaching-intensive regional university and contribute significantly to excellence in undergraduate education and advance commitments in VIU’s Strategic Plan. In our research and through our partnerships, we seek to understand the rich diversity of our region and to encourage the well-being of our communities.
To maintain transparency and to demonstrate the importance of the RSF program to our researchers, students, community members and elected officials, this report is prepared and made public annually.
Description of the use of the Research Support Fund at VIU
The Research Support Fund allows for five expenditure categories:
- Research facilities
- Research resources
- Management and administration of an institution's research enterprise
- Regulatory requirements and accreditation
- Intellectual property and knowledge mobilization
At VIU, our priority is to maintain a base level of support for the research administration function and to ensure compliance with Tri-Agency guidelines; therefore, we have directed funds for the past 8 years to the category of management and administration of the institution's research enterprise. Over the past 3 years, VIU has received $2,998,815.52 in funding from the Tri-agencies, and our 3-year average was $$999,605.17.
- 2026-27 RSF allocation was $529,803
- 2025-26 RSF allocation was $565,757
- 2024-25 RSF allocation was $468,236
- 2023-24 RSF allocation was $382,904
- 2022-23 RSF allocation was $266,437
- 2021-22 RSF allocation was $193,408
- 2020-21 RSF allocation was $151,921
- 2019-20 RSF allocation was $122,469
Research support performance objectives
VIU’s Research Support Fund allocation for 2026-27 is $529,803.00. Funds are projected to be allocated to the eligible program expense categories as follows: management and administration – 100%.
Management and administration
Invested in staff who manage pre-and post-award supports, and invested in an online research administration portal.
- Performance objective
Maintain institutional support for research proposal development, grant management, compliance and post-award administration. - Performance indicators
Annual grant funding, # of active research project files, # animal use protocols, and # human ethics applications supported. - Targeted outcomes
Research administration support is effective, and year-over-year research revenue is maintained or growing. Effective submission, review and management of research grants and contracts, animal care protocols and Human Ethics applications. - Targeted outcomes reported
[outcomes to be reported here at year-end]
VIU’s Research Support Fund allocation for 2025-26 is $565,757. Funds are projected to be allocated to the eligible program expense categories as follows: management and administration – 100%.
Management and administration
1.Invested in staff who manage pre-and post-award supports.
- Performance objective
Maintain institutional support for research proposal development, grant management and post-award administration. - Performance indicators
Annual grant funding. - Targeted outcomes
Research administration support is effective, and year-over-year research revenue is maintained or growing. - Targeted outcomes reported
Year-over-year research revenue was maintained with ~$7M of research revenue distributed in the fiscal year. Further, newly awarded grant and contract funding increased by over 10% in the fiscal year.
2. Invested in an online research administration portal.
- Performance objective
Maintenance of an online research administration portal (Romeo). - Performance indicators
# of active research project files, Animal Use protocols, and Human Ethics applications supporting research. - Targeted outcomes
Effective submission, review and management of research grants and contracts, animal care protocols and Human Ethics applications. - Targeted outcomes reported
~125 new externally funded research grant and research contract files.
Animal use protocols: 2 research protocols and 8 teaching protocols.
New human ethics files: 98 new files, 27 renewed files, 20 amendments and 37 active harmonized files.
3. Invested in staff who manage research ethics, animal care and use
- Performance objective
Maintain compliance with regulatory requirements. - Performance indicators
Animal Use protocols and Human Ethics processes effectively supported the CCAC certification is maintained. - Targeted outcomes
Compliance with the Canadian Council for Animal Care and the Tri-Council Policy Statement is maintained. - Targeted outcomes reported
Staff successfully supported animal use protocols (2 research protocols and 8 teaching protocols) and human ethics files (98 new files, 27 renewed files, 20 amendments and 37 active harmonized files). Compliance with the Canadian Council for Animal Care and the Tri-Council Policy Statement was maintained.
Investment story: Impacts of the Research Support Fund at VIU
The Research Support Fund is critical to VIU as we build and maintain systems to support research. Without this grant, VIU would need to find alternative sources of funding to support administrative and regulatory processes that are imperative in order for us to maintain eligibility to receive Tri-Agency funding.
Some of the general benefits of the RSF at VIU include:
- Grant facilitation services for researchers;
- Maintenance of an online system to enable the administration of research grants and contracts, Animal Use protocols, and Human Ethics applications;
- Assistance and advice in the negotiation and finalization of research contracts/agreements;
- Research ethics and animal care services for researchers;
- Researcher professional development; and
- Support for implementing institutional research data management, research security, and financial compliance guidelines and training.
Specific impacts of the RSF:
- The RSF enables VIU to partially fund the salaries and benefits of staff (Director of Research Services; Manager, Research Development; Research Grants Facilitators; Contracts Specialist, Research; Financial Administrator, Research; Research Ethics Officer; Director, Research Operations) who support faculty and student researchers.
- VIU's support of grant facilitation, research administration and compliance has enabled VIU researchers to develop research programs that result in partnership agreements, collaborative research projects, etc. Through supported research projects, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral fellows, have been hosted at VIU. Our teams also develop and deliver professional development workshops for students and faculty.
- The RSF allows VIU to subscribe to an online research administration portal (Romeo) to maintain effective submission, review and management of research grants and contracts, research accounts, animal care protocols and human ethics applications
- Further, due to the RSF support, VIU’s Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity office can redirect some institutional funding to dedicated student research staff, such as a Student Research Engagement Coordinator, to support student training, research-related funding and scholarships, and assist students with sharing their research through annual events such as CREATE (Celebrating Research Engagement and Talent Exposition).
- Eligible program expenditure category
Management and administration of an institution’s research enterprise - Output (investment or expense of RSF grant funds)
Projected: 100% of RSF funding invested in management and administration - Performance objective
Maintain institutional support for research proposal development and grant management. Support faculty and students in professional development workshops. - Performance indicator
Grant application success rate. Total annual grant funding. Increase # of professional development workshops. - Target outcome
Maintain and improve performance levels by increasing service levels to internal and external stakeholders. - Reported outcome
Target met: maintaining a 10% increase in grant applications submitted in 2023-24 compared to the 2022-23 year. Maintain an average 2-week turnaround time for complete REB applications.
- Eligible program expenditure category
Management and administration of an institution’s research enterprise - Output (investment or expense of RSF grant funds)
Projected percentage of RSF grant invested in management and administration of research enterprise: 100% - Performance objective
Maintain and improve institutional support for research proposal development, grant management, and research personnel hiring for faculty and students applying for and holding Tri-Agency grants and awards. - Performance indicator
Grant application success rate. Total annual grant funding. - Target outcome
Maintain and improve performance levels by increasing service levels to internal and external stakeholders. - Reported outcome
Target met: 9 percent increase in grant and award applications processed 2020-21 compared to 2019-20