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GRANT CALCULATIONS

Method used to calculate indirect costs grants
Funding formula
Flow-through funds
NCE funds
Multi-institutional grants
Funding exclusions

Method used to calculate indirect costs grants

Grants are awarded annually and cover a portion of the indirect costs of research incurred by universities, colleges and their affiliated health research institutes and research hospitals during that year. Institutions must re-apply every year to continue receiving funds.

Indirect Costs grants are based on the funding received by researchers from the three granting agencies—CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC—in the three most recent years for which data is available.

For the 2010-11 fiscal year, for example, calculations are based on the research funding received and the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) funds spent in fiscal years 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09.

Funding formula

The value of each grant is calculated as a percentage of the institution's total federal research funding based on the following formula:

*In the event that Parliament changes the amount of funds available for the
Indirect Costs Program, the program's Steering Committee reserves the right to change the value of its grants.

The above formula provides higher rates of funding for the institutions that receive the least amount of money from the federal granting agencies. In this way, the program helps smaller universities and colleges provide adequate support to their research programs and strengthen their research capacity.

Flow-through funds

Flow-through funds originating from sources other than the three federal granting agencies are not included in the calculations. All programs funded by the granting agencies are included in the calculation except those listed under funding exclusions.

NCE funds

For funds received from the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE), a tri-agency program administered by NSERC, the calculation is based on dollars spent, not awarded. Funds spent by administrative centres hosted by a university are attributed to the host university, for eligible categories. Funds spent by non-university administrative centres are not.

Multi-institutional grants

Multi-institutional grants are divided proportionally among participating institutions based on the number of participating researchers from each institution. The share for a non-eligible institution is redistributed among eligible institutions. Researchers who join a team after the initial award is made are not taken into consideration.

CIHR awards to research institutes and hospitals are attributed to the parent university, if applicable.

For consortia that are eligible for NSERC funding, awards are divided among participating universities according to actual expenditures as per the methodology used for NCEs (Institute of Particle Physics), or attributed equally to each institution as per the methodology used for multi-institutional awards (TRIUMF, Centre de recherche informatique de Montréal (CRIM), Huntsman Marine Science Centre, Bamfield Marine Station).

Since indirect costs incurred at regional/national facilities (NSERC Major Resources Support grants) are neither proportional to the number of applicants nor the number of users from a given institution, the practice is to credit the institution receiving the grant (since, in the majority of cases, it is the institution incurring the costs). The onus is on the other institutions to negotiate their share of the Indirect Costs grant with that institution, if their participation in the project incurs indirect costs.

Funding exclusions

Each year, the Secretariat meets with the vice-presidents of programs from the three federal granting agencies to review all new agency programs and assess their eligibility for inclusion in the base for calculations for Indirect Costs grants. This body is called the interagency program review committee (IPRC).

The following programs are not included in the calculations for
Indirect Costs Program grants:

CIHR exclusions

• All training awards (summer student programs, studentships, doctoral research awards, fellowships, Clinician Scientists Awards—Phase 1)
• CIHR ICR National Tumour Banking Network Grants
• Ethical, Legal and Social Issues in Health and Health Res-Res Network Grants
• Institute of Genetics—Grants for Short Term Research Visits
• Institutional Development Grants
• International Scientific Exchanges
• Mexico-Canada Joint Health Research Program in Tuberculosis
• National Council on Ethics in Human Research
• Ontario Women's Health Council / CIHR Institute of Gender and Health New Investigator
• President's Fund
• Public Engagement Pilot
• Randomized Controlled Trials: Mentoring
• Research Consortium on Clostridium Difficile
• Youth Outreach Program / Youth Mentorship Initiative
• 50 per cent of the value of Institute Support Grants

NSERC exclusions

• Aboriginal Ambassadors in the Natural Sciences and Engineering
• College and Community Innovation
• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Invitation Fellowships
• Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion
• Postdoctoral Fellowships, and Industrial Research and Development Fellowships
• Postgraduate Scholarships (all types)
• Presidential Fund
• PromoScience
• Regional Opportunities Grants
• Students Promoting Awareness of Research Knowledge
• Undergraduate Student Research Awards
• 13.5 per cent of the value of the Canadian Microelectronics Corporation Grants

SSHRC exclusions

• Aid and Attendance Grants to Scholarly Associations
• Aid to Research Workshops and Conferences in Canada
• Aid to Scholarly Journals
• Aid to Scholarly Publications
• Canadian Initiative on Social Statistics Data Training Schools
• John G. Diefenbaker Award
• Knowledge Impact in Society
• Postdoctoral Fellowships
• President Fund
• Public Outreach Grants
• SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships
• Thérèse F.-Casgrain Fellowship

NCE exclusions

Under Administrative Centres:

• Operational budget
• Technology transfer

Under Core Facilities:

• Operational budget

Business-led NCE exclusions

• Expenditures of administrative centres
• Research-related expenditures in non-eligible institutions

Other tri-agency program exclusions

• Canada Graduate Scholarships
• Canada Research Chairs
• Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research
• Industrial R&D Internships