What is the Research Support Fund?
Canada's Research Support Fund (RSF) assists Canadian postsecondary institutions with the costs associated with managing their research enterprise. Helping Canadian institutions maintain a world-class research environment positions Canada better to be a world leader in research and development.
RSF grants can include the costs of maintaining modern labs and equipment; securing research from threats; providing access to up-to-date knowledge resources; providing research management and administrative support; meeting regulatory and ethical standards; or transferring knowledge from academia to the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. At VIU, RSF funds are used to support research management and administrative support.
Research grants from Canada’s three federal funding 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) fund the direct costs of research, such as research salaries, travel expenses, student stipends, materials for example.
There are also indirect costs associated with research, which are often more difficult to identify and quantify. These include expenses such as: provision of space including the costs of maintenance and utilities; maintenance and repair of research equipment; computing resources; library resources; insurance; and support by VIU service departments (Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity Office, Finance, Human Resources, Facilities, Information Technology, Library).
Research and scholarship are part of a teaching-intensive regional university and contribute significantly to excellence in undergraduate education and advance commitments in VIU’s Strategic Plan. In our research and through our partnerships, we seek to understand the rich diversity of our region and to encourage the well-being of our communities.
To maintain transparency and to demonstrate the importance of the RSF program to our researchers, students, community members and elected officials, this report is prepared and made public annually.
Description of the Use of the Research Support Fund at VIU
The Research Support Fund allows for five expenditure categories:
- Research facilities
- Research resources
- Management and administration of an institution's research enterprise
- Regulatory requirements and accreditation
- Intellectual property and knowledge mobilization
At VIU, our priority is to maintain a base level of support for the research administration function and to ensure compliance with Tri-Agency guidelines; therefore, we have directed funds for the past 7 years to the category of management and administration of the institution's research enterprise. Over the past 3 years, VIU has received $3,268,179.79 in funding from the Tri-agencies and our 3-year average was $1,089,393.26.
- 2025-26 RSF allocation was $565,757
- 2024-25 RSF allocation was $468,236
- 2023-24 RSF allocation was $382,904
- 2022-23 RSF allocation was $266,437
- 2021-22 RSF allocation was $193,408
- 2020-21 RSF allocation was $151,921
- 2019-20 RSF allocation was $122,469
Impacts of the Research Support Fund at VIU
The Research Support Fund is critical to VIU as we build and maintain systems to support research. Without this grant, VIU would need to find alternative sources of funding to support administrative and regulatory processes that are imperative in order for us to maintain eligibility to receive Tri-Agency funding.
Some of the general benefits of the RSF at VIU include:
- Grant facilitation services for researchers;
- Maintenance of an online system to enable the administration of research grants and contracts, Animal Use protocols, and Human Ethics applications;
- Assistance and advice in the negotiation and finalization of research contracts/agreements;
- Research ethics and animal care services for researchers;
- Researcher professional development; and
- Support for implementing institutional research data management, research security, and financial compliance guidelines and training.
Specific impacts of the RSF:
- The RSF enables VIU to partially fund salaries and benefits of staff (Director of Research Services; Manager, Research Development; Research Grants Facilitators; Contracts Specialist, Research; Financial Administrator, Research; Research Ethics Officer; Director, Research Operations) who support faculty and student researchers.
- VIU's support of grant facilitation, research administration and compliance has enabled VIU researchers to develop research programs that result in partnership agreements, collaborative research projects, etc. Through supported research projects, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral fellows, have been hosted at VIU. Our teams also develop and deliver professional development workshops for students and faculty.
- The RSF allows VIU to subscribe to an online research administration portal (Romeo) to maintain effective submission, review and management of research grants and contracts, research accounts, animal care protocols and human ethics applications
- Further, due to the RSF support, VIU’s Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity office is able to re-direct some institutional funding to dedicated student research staff, such as a Student Research Engagement Coordinator to support student training, research-related funding and scholarships, and assisting students with sharing their research through annual events such as CREATE (Celebrating Research Engagement and Talent Exposition).
Research Support Performance Objectives
2020-21 Research Support Performance Objectives