RSF - About the Program
The cost of research includes both direct and indirect costs. Indirect costs include maintaining the research space and libraries; cost of utilities for that space; management and administration of research, finances, regulatory requirements and compliance; and liability insurance amongst other costs. It is difficult to assign these indirect costs to specific projects since the costs are shared across projects.
The Research Support Fund (RSF) (formerly the Federal Indirect Cost Program) is a Government of Canada funding program to assist Canadian post-secondary institutions in offsetting some of the indirect costs involved in administering Tri-Agency awards. The funds provided are to assist with expenses in five major categories: Facility, Management & Administration, Resources, Regulatory Requirements and Intellectual Property. RSF grants are allocated annually based on a 3-year rolling average of an institution’s Tri-Agency revenue.
For more information:
RSF at USask
Under the oversight of the Provost’s Committee on Integrated Planning (PCIP), the USask grant is managed by the Office of the Vice-President Research (OVPR).
At USask, the funding from this program is used to cover expenditures in all five categories. As recommended by the OVPR and approved by PCIP, each year’s RSF allocation is directed to three areas within the UofS: Canadian Light Source, Operating Budget Support and Research Support.
- Canadian Light Source (CLS): All of the RSF grant that is directly attributable to CLS Tri-Agency awards is transferred to the CLS to cover the indirect costs related to the operations of this national research facility.
- Operating Budget Support: This category receives 50% of the remaining RSF grant, which is used to provide funding to the operating budget for infrastructure that supports research such as facilities (utilities and rent), library acquisitions and information technology resources, regulatory requirements (ethics, waste disposal), as well as financial and program management.
- Research Support: This category receives the other 50% of the remaining RSF grant, which is used to fund research support initiatives in areas such as: college-specific activities through the College Priority Fund; support for Research Centres through an allocation to the Strategic Research Fund, internal assistance programs that support and promote individual and collaborative research proposals, as well as financial and program management.
Calculation of the Research Support Fund Grant
|
2024-25
|
2023-24 | 2022-23 | |
| Facilities |
$4,790,505
|
$1,813,173
|
$1,529,288
|
| Resources |
-
|
$409,760
|
$1,145,072
|
| Management and Administration |
$1,841,833
|
$4,318,583
|
$4,054,211
|
| Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation |
$1,500,000
|
$1,134,018
|
$1,134,018
|
| Intellectual Property |
-
|
$1,522,155
|
$241,590
|
|
$8,132,338
|
$8,063,671
|
$8,104,179
|
RSF Expenditures Highlights
Facilities
Funds allocated within the Facilities category allowed coverage of a variety of expenses such as technical support salaries, repairs to existing equipment, insurance for research spaces, leased space for research administration, and cost of utilities for research spaces.
Resources
Monies allotted within Resources ensured the continuation of available library resources, including a searchable database and e-documents. As well, these funds contributed to various salaries and maintaining services provided by the IT department to support research, annual memberships and costs associated with participation in multi-university, national & international research collaborations.
Management and Administration
This allocation assists primarily in funding salaries in support of research enterprise in numerous units such as: Audit Services, Financial Reporting, Office of Vice-President Research, Canadian Light Source, various centres that support research, and a number of colleges and schools.
Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation
Funds allotted in this category assist in providing technical support, upgrades within Regulatory Requirements, and training in Regulatory Requirements including salaries support within Human Research Ethics, Animal Research Ethics, Animal Resource Centre, CLS and Medicine. Indirect Costs funds ensures that ethical, compliance & safety requirements are met before funding is released to researchers which is highly reassuring to funding agencies.
Intellectual Property
Indirect Costs made available in this category provide researchers access to a dedicated office providing support & expertise in ensuring all aspects of intellectual property are effectively managed such as research commercialization and patenting. Within this dedicated office, the following expenses are covered with these funds: invention/patent administration, Technology Licensing, Industry Partner Administration, and Incubators and Spinoff Company setups.
RSF Performance Objectives 2020-2025
Previous Research Support Fund Grant Allocations
Each year that the RSF allocation is received, USask must report on expenditures incurred during the federal fiscal year. The grant allocation and summary of expenses from past years are available below:
RSF - Affiliated Institutions
The following affiliated institutions are included by the RSF to determine the amount of Tri-Agency funding associated with the university and the corresponding RSF funding.
Affiliated health agencies/(hospitals)
Regina Qu-Appelle Health RegionSaskatchewan Cancer AgencySaskatoon Health RegionOther affiliated institutions
Canadian Light SourcePrairie Swine Centre Inc.Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear InnovationBriercrest College and SeminaryCollege of Emmanuel and St. ChadGabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied ResearchHorizon College and SeminaryLutheran Theological SeminarySt. Andrew’s College (SK)St. Peter’s College (SK)St. Thomas More CollegeIncremental Project Grants (IPG)
About the program
The Incremental Project Grants (IPG) funding opportunity is a stream of the Research Support Fund (RSF) that provides support for the indirect costs of research, in addition to the RSF Grant.
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).
Current Year
| Incremental Projects Grant | 2024-25 | 2023-24 | 2022-23 |
| Facilities renewal, including deferred maintenance | $505,000 | $505,000 | $250,000 |
| Innovation and commercialization activities | $834,176 | $800,258 | $800,000 |
| Equity, diversity and faculty renewal | - | - | $250,459 |
| $1,339,176 | $1,305,258 | $1,300,459 |
Research Security
About the Program
The objective is to help Canadian postsecondary institutions ensure their federally funded research projects are conducted in world-class facilities with the best equipment and administrative support available. By directing funds to specific investments and to annual or multiyear projects initiated by institutions, research security funding will help to build capacity within postsecondary institutions to identify, assess and mitigate the potential risks to research security.
The funds granted to institutions are be used to build capacity to identify, assess and mitigate potential risks to research security, in support of the full implementation of the National Security Guidelines on Research Partnerships. Institutions must spend the funds in the year of the award and report on the use of these funds annually.
Research security funds can be used to support multiyear projects whose outcomes will be available only at the end of a longer period of up to three years. The application allows your institution to apply for funding for the next phase of the project, provided the institution continues to meet reporting and eligibility requirements.
Current Year
| Research Security Projects | 2024-25 | 2023-24 | 2022-23 |
| Research Security Specialists | $538,752 | $501,360 | - |
| IT Infrastructure upgrades | - | - | $501,151 |
| Security software | $34,000 | $60,000 | $60,000 |
| $572,752 | $561,360 | $561,151 |