In 2003, the Government of Canada introduced the Indirect Costs Program to help post-secondary institutions offset the less obvious costs of research. The Indirect Costs Program was completed after the 2014-2015 fiscal year and replaced by the Research Support Fund.
The Research Support Fund assists Canadian postsecondary institutions and their affiliated research hospitals and institutes with the expenses associated with managing the research funded by Tri-Council agencies (CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC). The annual grant helps institutions manage the financial demands of the indirect costs of research. By easing the institutional financial burden, the Research Support Fund helps the university create an environment where researchers can focus on their research, collaborate with colleagues, and translate their discoveries and innovations.
In order for research projects to step off the pages of the funding application and come alive in an active, collaborative environment, there is a host of everyday, practical requirements that must be addressed and in place. These requirements, that may not be directly obvious, have associated costs; these are the indirect costs of research. Some of the specific costs include those behind-the-scenes expenses incurred by the university supporting the day-to-day research enterprise. Without heat, electricity, computer and network maintenance or administrative staff, research projects would be near impossible to complete. Costs incurred to keep the lights on, maintain database servers, or the wear-and-tear maintenance for lab space all contribute to the indirect cost of research.
The total amounts of RSF grants, as well as overviews of how the institution allocated its grant funds under each of the five expenditure categories (organized by fiscal year) for previous years:
Climate dynamics research conducted by Tier 1 Canada Research Chair Dr. Hugo Beltrami is supported, in part, by the federal Research Support Fund.