Indirect Costs of Research
There are numerous institutional costs incurred to conduct research at a university. Such costs include maintenance of the buildings where research is conducted, the electricity used to power the specialized equipment, or the staff that provide support for research funding applications/agreements,oversight and compliance.
About the Research Support Fund
The Government of Canada’s Research Support Fund (RSF) assists Canadian postsecondary institutions and their affiliated research hospitals and institutes with the expenses associated with managing the research funded by the three federal research granting 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).
Every year, the federal government invests in research excellence in the areas of health sciences, engineering, natural sciences, social sciences and humanities through its three granting agencies. The Research Support Fund reinforces this research investment by helping institutions ensure that their federally funded research projects are conducted in world-class facilities with the best equipment and administrative support available.
The program (formerly known as the Indirect Costs Program) was introduced in 2003 as part of the federal government’s strategy to make Canada one of the world’s top countries in research and development. It currently has a budget of $369 million and serves 125 postsecondary institutions across the country.
The five main expenditure areas of the Research Support Fund are: Facilities; Resources; Management and Administration; Regulatory Requirements and Intellectual Property.
- Research facilities;
- Research resources;
- Management and administration of an institution's research enterprise;
- Regulatory requirements and accreditation; and
- Intellectual property and Knowledge mobilization.
Examples of costs supported by the program are:
- Institutional support for the completion of grant and award applications/research proposals;
- Training of faculty and research personnel for health and safety;
- Costs related to the maintenance of libraries and laboratories; and
- Administrative costs associated with patent applications.
Calculation of the Research Support Fund Grant
The University of Windsor's Research Support Fund allocation is calculated based on Tri-Council (CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC) funding awarded in the previous fiscal year.
In 2024-25 UWindsor notional allocation is $3,639,464 dedicated to five expenditure categories:
This allocation supports central research administration and core facilities including operating expenditures, technician salaries, operation and maintenance of equipment, central administration, library costs, research planning and promotion, upgrades to facilities, training of faculty and students in research safety and biohazards, patent applications, central computing service costs and database and information system upgrades.
The Research Support Fund (RSF) is the major source of funding for infrastructure support used to attract and retain high-quality researchers to the University of Windsor. Our researchers depend on this support to conduct their research activities which creates research programs that are crucial to their overall research success.
Incremental Project Grants
The Incremental Project Grants (IPG) provides support additional to the Research Support Fund which provides further support for the indirect costs of research.
The IPG provides eligible institutions with additional support for projects that focus on a set of priorities that cut across the RSF’s five existing categories of eligible expenses. The initial four IPG priority areas are:
- innovation and commercialization activities;
- facilities renewal, including deferred maintenance;
- information resources, including digital resources, open access and databases; and
- equity, diversity and faculty renewal (in the context of equity, diversity and inclusion).
In 2024-25 the University of Windsor notional IPG amount is $182,629. This funding is used to provide support to UWindsor’s research and innovation community and to support research partnerships.
Research Security
Introduced in 2022, Research Security is categorized as a fifth priority area of the IPG. Research Security funding will help build capacity within postsecondary institutions to identify, assess and mitigate the potential risks to research security.
Further information on Research Security is available on the website.