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Research support fund

The federal Research Support Fund helps Canadian post-secondary institutions with the indirect costs associated with managing their research enterprise.

What is the Research Support Fund?

The Indirect Costs Program has been replaced by the Government of Canada's Research Support Fund program.

Established in 2003, the Research Support Fund (RSF) helps Canadian universities and colleges, along with their affiliated health research institutes and research hospitals, with the indirect costs associated with federally-funded research.  At Dalhousie University and affiliate hospitals, the RSF supports research space facility fees, electronic data access and resources, Research Services’ staff, regulatory compliance, and research commercialization and intellectual property services and support.

Outcomes

Research Support Fund Accountability and Public Acknowledgment

Research Support Fund reports

Research Support Fund stories

March 9, 2024

Dalhousie’s Office of Commercialization and Industry Engagement (OCIE) serves as the university’s gateway, connecting companies and organizations in the region, across Canada, and around the world with Dalhousie's research expertise.

As a Business Development Advisor, Aishwarya Mohan is a key part of the OCIE team, providing support to the university’s researchers in building external partnerships through funding programs offered by Mitacs, a not-for-profit organization that empowers Canadian innovation through impactful partnerships.

She also engages with industry and community partners to understand their research or innovation needs with the goal of aligning them with the expertise offered by Dalhousie’s talent pool. Additionally, she keeps Dalhousie researchers and industry partners informed of Mitacs programs, initiatives, and funding opportunities through presentations and one-on-one meetings.

“I hope to be a part of the ecosystem to support collaborative research and create more awareness of Mitacs programming among Dalhousie researchers and industries intending to partner with Dalhousie researchers,” says Mohan. “I support Dalhousie researchers with Mitacs as a vehicle for funding collaborative projects.”

To learn more about her work building bridges between Dal researchers and industry, we invited Mohan to participate in the following Q&A.

How does your work allow researchers to advance their objectives?

In simplified terms, I support researchers with the Mitacs application process to secure matching funds for their applied research projects with an eligible partner organization. Some of the Mitacs programs that researchers can tap into include:

  • Mitacs Accelerate, a program that builds research partnership projects supporting undergraduate students, graduate students, recent graduates, and postdoctoral fellows to address research and development challenges.
  • Mitacs Elevate, which supports postdoctoral fellowships applied to partner research and development challenges.
  • Business Strategy Internship, a program that provides funded internships with partner organizations in Canada in support of innovation activities, including improved products, processes, or services.
  • Globalink Research Award, which supports travel for 12- to 24-week research projects between Canada and eligible countries and regions to strengthen international research networks. Open to senior undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows, in Canada and abroad.

When should a researcher consider coming to you for support?

Researchers can reach out to me when exploring funding options to enhance their research through collaboration with industry or community partners. This includes when they are interested in aligning their academic work with partners and want to access Mitacs funding as a vehicle to collaborate. They can also consider approaching me when looking for resources to facilitate internships, training programs, or other initiatives that bridge the gap between academic research and applied solutions.

In addition to the programs that support industry or community partner-based research, Mitacs Globalink programs support student travel and building international collaboration. Researchers interested in sending or hosting students with their international collaborators can connect with me to explore the funding option for international collaboration.

What industries should look to you for support?

Mitacs programs are sector-agnostic and fund projects in different disciplines, including STEM, social innovation, and numerous interdisciplinary fields. I work with a wide range of external partners, including for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, municipalities, and hospitals seeking R&D and innovation collaborations with Dalhousie researchers and the talent pool of students and postdoctoral fellows. Industry partners interested in learning more about Mitacs programs can contact me as well.

You work for both OCIE and Mitacs. Please describe how having a foot in both organizations helps you achieve your objectives?

Having both Dalhousie (OCIE) and Mitacs hats to wear gives me a unique vantage point to understand how Dalhousie researchers can further their research applications and collaboration through Mitacs funding. On the other hand, I witness the impact Dalhousie researchers create through Mitacs funded projects that, in turn, strengthen the role of Mitacs in the innovation ecosystem. Being part of both Mitacs and OCIE gives me a better understanding of what’s possible when researchers are empowered by Mitacs programs, enabling me to help the researchers and their partners navigate the process more easily and impactfully.

Describe how you support industry with student research placements?

I connect the R&D needs of various industry partners with the wealth of research expertise available at Dalhousie University. Once a collaboration is forged, researchers can leverage a partner’s cash contribution with Mitacs programs to fund their undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows to partake in applied research projects that are relevant to industry needs.

Students and postdoctoral fellows can gain valuable skills and knowledge that are directly implemented in the real world. And partner organizations benefit from new perspectives and ideas that can contribute to the development of new technologies and solutions. These collaborative placements create networking opportunities for both students and industry professionals, fostering long-term relationships and collaborations.

DalCore - January 10, 2024

Dalhousie’s shared research facilities provide access to equipment, services, and technical expertise that empower research excellence and innovation across the university. ‘Core’ research facilities are recognized as critical to the success of Dalhousie’s research mission and require centralized supports and investment for sustainable operations.

Read the full story

Research Security - March 31, 2023

Canadian universities are facing an increasing number of online security threats that can compromise their research, innovation, collaborations, and partnerships, domestically and internationally. While an open and collaborative research enterprise leads to transformative discoveries, it risks knowledge theft, interference or the unwanted transfer of data across borders.

To equip Canadian research institutions and their research teams with the tools and knowledge to secure their research, the Government of Canada has implemented dedicated research security funding through the Research Support Fund (RSF). The funding stems from an investment of $125 million over five years that started in 2022-23.

Grants Dalhousie receives will help the university build its capacity to identify, assess and mitigate potential risks associated with research security. We talked to Jody Couch, Dalhousie’s chief information officer and associate vice president for the university’s Information Technology Services to learn more.

Why is Dalhousie making new investments through grants from the Research Support Fund to improve digital research security?

The threat landscape facing research universities in Canada has increased significantly over the last few years. As the COVID pandemic occurred across the country, the requirement for Dalhousie community members to engage in remote work, teaching, and research became a critical requirement. The global nature of higher education’s work and the need to connect and collaborate with colleagues all over the world means that the university must remain open enough to engage globally while securing the borders of the institution against those who look to do harm.

How can our efforts better protect research data?

Information security is an ever-changing field that takes dedicated experts to develop the most effective programs to support research activity. When researchers work together with security professionals, they are able to make plans to limit risk with the least impact possible while still allowing for collaboration with peers and access to needed resources. Setting up a secure environment at the beginning allows researchers to focus on their research while maintaining the integrity of their data.

Can you describe the investments Dalhousie is making to conduct open-source due diligence searches?

This year Dalhousie is investing in new security personnel who specialize in threat assessment with an in-depth view of the open-source intelligence security landscape. We are also acquiring a curated threat intelligence portal from one of the world’s leading information security firms, which is available to our team of security experts. This will allow researchers to consult with Dal experts in the field of open-source intelligence gathering for their research projects, to help identify risks and potential threats in their research environments and partnerships. In addition, we are investing in new networking equipment that will create a more secure environment for researcher activities across the university.

Should our research community anticipate any changes to the way they conduct their research?

While some things may change with updates to the network, better storage options, or increased security, the intent is to limit impact to researchers. Many of the technology changes underway on campus will allow for a better computing environment and should be a positive change. In addition, the level of support provided for consulting around security planning will increase on campus allowing for more effective security operations with less effort from individual researchers.

How are we working to balance increased security with the external collaboration needed for transformative discoveries?

The global nature of research at Dalhousie offers opportunities for researchers to join with others outside the institution to contribute to answering life's big questions, but it also requires a level of openness to our technology resources that can cause security challenges. The focus of the information security program to support research on campus is to standardize and limit risk wherever possible, while at the same time offering tools and education to researchers so they can freely collaborate with their colleagues all over the world.

Support for Researchers from Human Resources - February 14, 2023

In March 2020, Britney Sears stepped into a new Dalhousie HR Consultant term role dedicated to supporting the needs of principal investigators (PI) and grant-paid employees. She said the timing was fortuitous as she came into the position just as the COVID-19 epidemic started and impacted business as usual for the university’s research community.

“It was the best time my role could have become a full-time position because things completely changed over night,” says Sears. “It was a challenging time and the university really needed someone focused on working with PIs to help navigate remote work, new funding, and staffing issues.”

Grant-paid staff are integral to Dalhousie’s research mission. The employee group consists of approximately 1,500 full time, part time, student, and casual staff, who work for PIs on research projects and are funded by external granting agencies, industry partners and other organizations.

Now that we’ve entered a post-pandemic period, Sears says things have returned to a new normal. She notes the value of having an HR person in place dedicated to PIs and grant-paid employees has made a large impact to the research community. With the assistance of the Government of Canada’s Research Support Fund, Dalhousie transitioned the role into a permanent, full-time position beginning in May 2022.

The Office of Research Services talked to Britney to learn more about her work.

Who do you support?

Anyone who receives funding from an external granting agency, such as the Government of Canada’s Tri-Agencies, and wants to hire a grant-paid employee for their research project. I’m here to support Dalhousie’s PIs, grant-paid employees themselves, administrators, and research centres and institutes– essentially anyone that is involved with grant-paid positions.

How do you support the PIs who manage grant-paid employees?

I offer a full continuum of service. If a PI needs help initially to build out a budget for staff in their grant proposal, I can help with that. But for the most part, I get involved after they have received the funds from a granting agency. I walk them through creating a job description, the hiring process, offer letters and on-boarding, compensation, and overall terms and conditions of employment. I also assist if there are any performance-related issues and in the management of employment contracts when the employment relationship ends.

How do you support academics who are unfamiliar with HR practices and processes?

It really is about education and guiding them through the different processes. Through supporting PIs, you get to know them and build strong relationships. They have a lot of questions, because HR is not their area of expertise, and most haven’t been involved in it previously. So, they are relying on me as a resource to help guide them through these processes. I also bring relevant Dalhousie policies and employment legislation to help PIs make informed decisions for their HR matters.

Why is it important to Dalhousie’s research mission to have a HR professional dedicated to grant-paid staff?

As the research enterprise at Dalhousie continues to grow, it’s about creating a collaborative and productive research work environment. We are making sure that grant-paid employees have a positive work experience, which in turn helps attract future sought-after talent to the university.

March 27, 2022

Dalhousie’s Aquatron offers support to accommodate almost any lab-based aquatic experiment. The largest university aquatic research facility in Canada, it is comprised of six large tanks holding a combined volume of more than 2,000 cubic metres, as well as a wide variety of smaller tanks, research spaces and equipment.

The facility attracts a wide range of university, government and industry researchers who come from across the country and around the world and have completed thousands of successful projects with support from the Aquatron’s team since the facility first opened in 1974.

John Batt, the Aquatron’s Managing Director, who has been at the facility for approaching 25 years, says researchers come year-round for the Aquatron’s temperature-controlled sea- and freshwater environments and support from the professional team of biologists and mechanical operators who run its systems. He says the mechanical operations of aquatic systems offer an unmatched research environment to those studying underwater life.

“Aquatron has a broader range of facilities than just about any other lab. We have small wet labs where we can do really finely controlled experiments in tanks down to a liter, and then we have the very large tanks in excess of 600,000 liters,” says Batt. “We are continually visited from scientists from around the world. To date, no one has ever identified another facility surpassing the broad range of services we have.”

The facility is currently supporting projects with the aquaculture industry, Parks Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans and research based at Dalhousie’s Faculties of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Agriculture. They are supporting researchers investigating everything from endangered species to climate change.

Batt notes that serving the Aquatron’s large clientele, and ensuring the facilities offer the level of support and sophistication necessary, takes continual maintenance and improvement. He says the Dalhousie’s Research Support Fund is essential to the operation’s ability to maintain the high-quality environment required by Dalhousie scholars and the larger community.

“We have to remember that the level and standards of research are constantly evolving, and we need to keep up with those standards,’ says Batt. “Without support from the Research Support Fund, we would not be able to keep up and our world class reputation would be in jeopardy.”

And their work is critical. For example, in December of 2018 the Aquatron took in 25 Atlantic whitefish from Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans which would have been released to the wild and may have died. The fish are endangered and thought to exist in only one river system in Nova Scotia. Batt says it was believed that there were less than 300 of the animals left in existence. The Aquatron has played a key role in strengthening their numbers.

“The whole Dalhousie community got behind the project which injected new life into the Atlantic whitefish community. Now, three and a half years later we have a small, funded program with 105 Atlantic Whitefish which bred this spring. With a little luck, we could be returning some young Atlantic Whitefish to the wild this summer or fall.”

$100-million Investment in Research Equipment - December 21, 2021

New core facilities project begins to explore a coordinated approach

Dalhousie research facilities consists of more than $100 million in platforms, technologies, and equipment that play a critical role in supporting scientific inquiry across the university. Largely acquired by leading researchers through grants from government agencies and other funders to advance specific areas of investigation, Dalhousie’s research infrastructure has a tremendous impact in advancing new discoveries.

Large investments have been made to propel research across the university. Lifesaving medical research is powered with equipment that supports optical and electron microscopy, cytometry, and mass spectrometry – techniques scientists use to examine, parse, and analyse cells and molecules at minute levels. Likewise, funding has been dedicated to nuclear magnetic resonance equipment imperative to chemical and biological research. Technologies to create surveys, develop statistical models and interpret data are being used to advance social and health sciences, and other fields. This is just a sampling of the platforms that underpin university’s thought leadership.

Exploring efficiency

With such large and continued investment, it is important to have a full understanding of how the university’s research facilities are being used and managed. To take on this challenge, a core research facilities pilot project was initiated to ascertain how the university operates and maintains its major research equipment and efficiencies that can be pursued. Ultimately, a major goal of the project is to free principal investigators from time spent managing and maintaining equipment so they can focus on producing globally competitive research.

“Research-intensive universities are trending toward intentional, organized, shared use of research infrastructure resources,” says Kirk Feindel, who joined Dalhousie in 2020 to begin staking out the core facilities project after gaining significant experience in the leadership of shared research facilities at the University of Western Australia.

Dalhousie’s research infrastructure has grown substantially over the past few decades with tens of millions of dollars flowing to the university to support the acquisition of equipment, technologies, and platforms. Feindel says now is an opportune time to look at what has been gained, and the work that has already taken place to maximize the investments, to ensure researchers and ultimately the larger community experience their full benefits.

“Our assets have grown quickly, and we have a great opportunity to build institutional supports around them. It is a good moment to say, ‘okay we should assess what we have and what other research-intensive institutions are doing to observe how they're managing these large resources,’” says Dr. Feindel, who, in addition to his work at Dal, was recently elected Eastern Canada’s representative for the Canadian Network of Scientific Platforms, a body that works to raise awareness and promote utility of shared scientific platforms in the country.

Dr. Feindel says some good work is already underway at the university. “Through the Centralized Operation of Research Equipment & Supports (CORES) program, the Faculty of Medicine has demonstrated the effectiveness of a coordinated approach at the faculty level – the core facilities project is considering how coordinated supports may be beneficial across the faculties and campuses.”

Pairing people and platforms

Feindel explains that while a research platform may be brought to the university through a grant for a specific area of research, the principal investigator who acquired it may not always be using 100 per cent of its capacity. Consequently, there may be opportunities for other researchers to use the equipment to pursue new fruitful lines of inquiry. For instance, a marine biologist may benefit from a cell sorting platform at the Faculty of Medicine that has some downtime. Or an economist may benefit from statistical software acquired within the Faculty of Health. Finding ways to fully engage the platforms could bring significant benefits.

A part of the solution that is being explored is the potential for more strategic pairing of equipment with dedicated staff who understand how it functions and can coordinate its use for stakeholders across the research community, says Dr. Feindel.

“As platforms become more specialized it becomes more important to pair specific individuals who have niche expertise around the equipment itself. Then they're able to support broad groups of cross-disciplinary investigators on the same piece of equipment.”

Further, Feindel suggests that it may be possible to identify opportunities for industry partners to leverage resources, allowing the university to draw revenue while also offering a valuable resource that can propel private sector research and development in the region and beyond.

But managing these relationships is time consuming. It involves policy and procedure development, process management and paperwork. All of this would chew into valuable research and teaching time for principal investigators. This is where a well-managed core facilities plan could come into play, says Feindel.

Next steps

With an initial scan of Dalhousie’s research facilities complete, Dr. Feindel is working on a plan for a project dedicated to process improvement which he will put forward for consideration by the Offices of the Vice President Research and Innovation and the Vice President Finance and Administration.

“The project will focus on things like invoicing and billing and tracking usage – developing aspects of the process that aren’t something our professors, their students or academic staff should have to dedicate valuable time to.”

He says that the aim will be to standardize processes across the university, increase coordination and automate where possible.

Eventually, he says he would like to see a core facilities program aid the university in its recruitment of faculty and graduate students. He notes that if early and mid-career researchers know that they will have access to key technologies, platforms, and equipment it will make their decision to come to Dalhousie that much easier.

“When you're coming in as a new professor, having access to the equipment and staff expertise that you can rely on is a real benefit,” he says. “If Dalhousie can make its excess capacity available to new, up-and-coming researchers, it could be very attractive.”

 

Industry Engagement and Research Commercialization - January 11, 2021

When it comes to commercializing research, Dalhousie has long been a leader in Atlantic Canada. By building productive partnerships between the university’s research community and industry, the Industry Liaison and Innovation (ILI) office has helped to address real-world problems, deliver critical innovations to the public, drive economic growth, and train the next generation of innovators, problem-solvers, and entrepreneurs.

However, ILI’s business model that has evolved significantly over that past few years, and it became time to undergo a strategic review of its operations - with a view to finding more efficient ways for its stakeholders to engage with the office, and provide greater transparency around processes, procedures and timelines. Staff members looked at best practices across North America and beyond; mapping out and refining work processes to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

The result is a renewed emphasis on communication, including a new website that is a substantial expansion to the information readily available online. Team members captured some of their most in-demand knowledge and experience in the form of overviews and FAQs. Processes, procedures and timelines have been clearly documented, which will help new and returning stakeholders know what to expect. Finally, the resources most in-demand (including funding sources, commercialization support, related resources, and agreement templates) are easier to find. Making this essential information more available helps stakeholders, and also allows team members to focus on what they do best: providing personalized service to guide researchers to commercial opportunities, and connect companies to research talent.

A name change was also required to better describe the office’s evolving role in connecting the university to industry. As of January 4, 2021, ILI will now be known as the Office of Commercialization and Industry Engagement (OCIE).

“It was important to revisit our process and procedures to make them more efficient to support our research community,” says Stephen Hartlen, Assistant Vice President, Industry Relations. Our new name is more reflective of our office’s mandate, and our new online resources will help streamline industry engagement.”

OCIE will continue to serve as Dalhousie’s gateway for:

  • Collaboration between industry and Dal’s talented research teams
  • Support for the business and economic development community
  • Access to the university’s innovations, such as its intellectual property
  • Early assistance in the creation of startups based on Dal research.

Learn more about OCIE by visiting dal.ca/ocie

Research Innovation and Tech Transfer in the Ocean Industry - December 2, 2020

Canada has the longest coastline and includes some of the vastest ocean resources in the world, but currently squeezes comparatively less economic benefit from those assets than other ocean nations. That is why in 2018, our country took the next big step in becoming a global leader in the knowledge-based ocean economy with the development of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster.

The Ocean Supercluster (OSC), of which Dalhousie University is a founding post-secondary partner, is an industry-led transformative cluster focused on tackling the shared challenges across ocean sectors through a collaborative program designed to accelerate the development and commercialization of globally-relevant solutions, while also building a highly capable, inclusive workforce.

The OSC was one of five successful initiatives across the country that attracted substantial federal funding to match private-sector investments in a new approach to fostering innovation and economic growth. More than 70 organizations committed over $200 million in cash and in-kind investments. Companies from different ocean sectors – including fisheries, renewable energy, aquaculture, oil and gas, shipping, and defense – have co-invested in adopting and commercializing technologies to solve shared challenges.

University partnerships helping to accelerate industry

Although the private sector is leading the charge with the Ocean Supercluster, the partnership with Dalhousie and other universities is critical to its success. Universities are the key suppliers of talent, perform research and development, and offer state-of-the-art facilities. An example of this is the recently funded Vitality project, which involves Dalhousie’s own Dr. Mike Smit, an Associate Professor in Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management. This project is a transformative approach to address the shared data challenges of the ocean economy.

Vitality will help develop new, lost-cost data streams, tools to manage those streams, and software to make the application of this data easier. There will also be new training programs available to address skill gaps and build on existing resources and expertise, which will create 10 new jobs with 100 trainees. The project is valued at $3.8 million, with the Ocean Supercluster providing funding in the amount of $1.5 million. The balance of funding is coming from project partners.

“We’re still in the early days of a digital transformation that we didn’t invite, but which we cannot avoid,” says Dr. Smit. “Data plays an essential role in the Blue Economy, so the Vitality project is an essential investment in the people, infrastructure, and technology needed for Canada to remain internationally competitive.”

Vitality will see the development of new, applicable low-cost data streams, and the development of tools to manage those streams, as well as software that lowers the barrier to entry for the application of this data. This includes the creation of training programs to address skill gaps while incrementally building on existing resources and expertise, and the development of new tools and linkages between the Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System (CIOOS) and three emerging environmental technology and data-heavy ocean sectors: aquaculture, tidal power, and offshore wind.

The project is being led by Pisces Research Project Management Inc. together with project partners from across Canada, in addition to Dalhousie. This includes: Perennia Food and Agriculture Inc, Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy, University of Victoria, St. Lawrence Global Observatory, Tula Foundation and the Hakai Institute, Marine Renewables Canada, and COINAtlantic.

March 27, 2020

A longstanding partnership between Dalhousie University and Mitacs is helping to develop the next generation of researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders.

Mitacs is a not-for-profit organization that fosters growth and innovation in Canada by solving business challenges with research solutions from the best academic institutions at home and around the world. Working with 60 countries, 4,000 companies, and both federal and provincial governments, they build partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada.

Through a suite of programs, including Globalink Research Awards, Elevate, Accelerate, and Step, collaborations between industry, academia and government in Canada are able to be advanced, and international research networks between Canadian universities and the world are further developed.

Spotlight on programming: Globalink Research Awards and Accelerate

Globalink Research Awards: Unique opportunities for international collaboration

In the fall of 2019, Dalhousie and Mitacs signed an agreement to provide students with a unique opportunity for international collaboration.

For the period 2019-2022, the Mitacs Globalink Research Awards is providing $6000 for 150 senior undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows (in any discipline) in Canada to conduct 12-24 week research projects at universities overseas. An opportunity is also available for 150 senior undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows from eligible countries to come and study at Dalhousie.

The funding provided by Mitacs covers research costs, student stipends, and travel/living expenses. Incoming and outgoing applicants must secure a Dalhousie faculty member as their home/host supervisor prior to applying.

Participating countries at time of writing include: Brazil, China, European Union (France, Germany, United Kingdom, Wallonie-Bruxelles), India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, Tunisia, and the United States.

Accelerate: Applying specialized expertise to business challenges

Accelerate connects companies with over 50 research-based universities in Canada through graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, who apply their specialized expertise to business challenges. Interns transfer their skills from theory to real-world application, while the companies gain a competitive advantage by accessing high-quality research expertise.

Marciel Gaier, the Chief Technology Officer of Graphite Innovation and Technologies Inc. and a Dalhousie alumnus (Faculty of Engineering), has firsthand experience on what this program is able to offer.

"With the support of Mitacs and Graphite Innovation and Technologies Inc., I have achieved success in creating a product that helps protect oceans and reduce the use of environmentally harmful materials. Not only that, but I was also able to expand and grow my business to a higher scale," says Gaier.

Facilitating relationships and building collaborative research projects:

Dalhousie has a dedicated staff member who helps make all of this possible. Kathleen Mifflin works alongside both the Office of Commercialization and Industry Engagement team, and other Mitacs Business Development Specialists to facilitate relationships and build collaborative research projects between academia and industry/not-for-profits.

Kathleen also helps Dalhousie students and post-doctoral fellows access non-competitive funding for their research, and build their networks for their careers beyond graduation. Because the research projects are carried out in a collaborative manner between an industry partner and a student or postdoctoral fellow, benefits go beyond the academic context, and promote the kind of innovation that grows economies and job opportunities.