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Accessing Your Research Funds

Once a research grant or contract is awarded, the money is sent to the university and held in trust for you. Both the researcher and the university are accountable to the funding agency for complying with the terms of the award and reporting on how the funds are spent.

Together with Research and Trust Accounting, we provide support and assistance in terms of managing your awarded research funds.

  1. IF AWARDED:
    • RECEIVE:
      • Notice of Award (NOA)
      • Assessment of Research Compliance (ARC)
  2. OBTAIN COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATIONS:
    • Submit required ARC form.
    • If compliance is required, initiate REB application in IRIS Portal.
    • If funds are required immediately, complete request for release of funds
  3. RECEIVE FUNDED RESEARCH NOTICE (FREN):
    • You may now access your funds!
    • FReN outlines:
      • Terms of Award
      • Disbursement of funds
      • Account information
    • To transfer funds to another institution, contact ORS.

Once a research grant or contract is awarded, you will receive:

  • A Notice of Award (NOA) outlining the basic features of your award from both the sponsoring agency and ORS.
  • An Assessment of Research Compliance (ARC) form via email from us.
At the time of award and annually thereafter, we must confirm that all research involving Research Ethics or Safety Committee approval receives certification prior to the release of funds and commencement of research activities. To establish a research account and start accessing your funds, you must first complete and return the ARC form to us. You must have all necessary certifications in place before starting research activities. If Research Ethics or Safety Committee approval is not required until a later stage of the project, you will be contacted to complete a Request for Release of Funds (RRF) form, which will allow you to access your funds on a pro-rated basis.

 

  • Establishing a Research Account

    Once you have returned the ARC form to us and you have obtained any necessary research ethics and safety approvals, we will authorize Research and Trust Accounting to open an account to manage your funds in Banner, the university’s financial management system. You will receive a Funded Research Notice from Research and Trust Accounting, which will include the following information:

    • award amount
    • Banner project number
    • special conditions attached to the award
    • start and end dates

    As soon as you have your account number, you are ready to start spending.

  • During Tenure of Your Award

    Contact ORS for all issues, including:

    • extensions
    • changes in certification requirements
    • changes in project status
    • research, parental or medical leaves
    • grant funds transfer
    • significant changes to the use of funds
    • changes to the project team members including industry partners

    If you need to transfer a research grant to the university or you are relocating to another institution, you must contact us to discuss the procedure for doing this. Although Research and Trust Accounting will be involved in the transfer of funds, we must initiate the process. If you want to transfer funds to another institution for research collaboration, contact us to facilitate the transfer. We will prepare a sub-grant agreement that requires you to provide the following information at a minimum:

    • Amount of the transfer.
    • Co-investigator's name (this person must be listed as a co-applicant on the application for Tri-Agency grants).
    • Eligible expenses for your co-investigator. From this information, we will draw up an agreement that ensures the receiving institution abides by the same terms and conditions imposed on the university by the sponsor. As a further condition, the receiving institution will be required to provide proof that your co-investigator has received compliance certification to conduct the research.
    • Time period of transfer. 

    The Research and Trust Accounting FAQ has additional details on finances related to research activities on campus.

  • Overhead and Indirect Costs

    The university takes on overhead and indirect costs to benefit and support research. Although they cannot easily be attributed to a specific research project, they are necessary for the conduct of research and include:

    • Faculty time.
    • Provision of space and its maintenance and servicing (utilities).
    • Use and maintenance of equipment.
    • Proportionate share of other costs, such as insurance and legal services.
    • Services provided by the university's support staff (e.g. ORS, Research and Trust Accounting, Human Resources, Purchasing Services, Facilities Management and the Campus Libraries). 

    The university seeks to recover indirect costs on research funded through grant and contract agreements according to its approved overhead policy. Principal investigators are required to budget overhead in their applications for research funding using the rates appropriate to the funding mechanism outlined in the university's Indirect Costs of Research Policy and the sponsor's guidelines.

    Direct all inquiries regarding research overhead and indirect costs to research@ontariotechu.ca.