Research Support Fund

The indirect costs of research are defined as the costs that are not attributed directly to a university research project, but which are real costs to the university. This includes the provision of office and laboratory space and their on-going operation and maintenance; insurance; library resources; the provision of research-related professional services such as project documentation, accounting and audit supervision, payroll, personnel and purchasing services; the support of research ethics, animal care, health and safety, and radiation, biohazards and environmental safety; and the provision of intellectual property protection and technology transfer services.

The Government of Canada invests in research excellence in the areas of health sciences, engineering, natural sciences, social sciences and humanities through its three granting agencies: the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

The Research Support Fund (RSF), formerly the Indirect Costs Program, supports this research investment by helping Canadian postsecondary institutions, and their affiliated research hospitals and institutes, fund a portion of the indirect costs associated with this research. The grant funds are intended to support the indirect costs of research in the areas of research facilities, research resources, management and administration, regulatory requirements and accreditation, and intellectual property (the five categories of eligible expenses).

The Incremental Project Grant (IPG) is a stream of RSF. IPG provides further support for the indirect costs of research with a focus on priorities that cut across the five categories of eligible expenses. The four priority areas include: innovation and commercialization, facilities renewal, information resources, and equity, diversity and inclusion.

Research Security (RS) is a relatively new stream of RSF. RS is categorized as a fifth priority area of the IPG. RS funding provides support to activities related to the indirect costs of research security and to the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships. RS funding is intended to help build capacity within postsecondary institutions to identify, assess and mitigate the potential risks to research security.

UNB grant amounts

The RSF grant is based on the amount of funding institutions receive from the three federal research-granting agencies: NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR. The RSF grant formula takes the average of the three most recent years for which data are available. The IPG and RS grants are based on the RSF grant formula. The grants are awarded annually, and therefore institutions must re-apply every year to continue receiving funds.

2024-25 Research Support Fund Grant Amounts

The values of the 2024-25 grants, based on the eligible funding that UNB received from the three federal granting agencies during the 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 fiscal years, are as follows:

UNB RSF: $3,366,359
UNB IPG: $112,327
UNB RS: $107,169

2024-25 Research Support Fund Allocation

The allocation of the funds is proposed as follows:

UNB RSF: $3,366,359 allocated across the five categories of eligible expenses as per the below chart.
UNB IPG: $112,327 allocated for resource support for indigenizing research.
UNB RS: $107,169 allocated for resource support for research risk due diligence.

UNB Performance objectives

UNB Reporting

*RSF, IPG and RS reporting is September of each year.

Performance Objectives Outcomes Report

Statement of Account

*Statement of accounts include RSF, IPG and RS grant amounts.

Specific to IPG and RS, the grant amounts and associated priorty areas are listed below.

Year	Incremental Project Grant	Research Security
2022-23	$76,529 – innovation and commercialization (policy)	$98,976 – resource development
2021-22	$104,803 – innovation and commercialization (policy)	N/A
2020-21	$40,002 – innovation and commercialization (policy)	N/A
2019-20	$42, 274 – innovation and commercialization (policy)	N/A
2018-19	$32,310 – projects tied to lab facilities, and innovation and commercialization	N/A