Research Support Fund

Definition of Indirect costs: the operational costs that underpin an institution’s research activities (i.e., heating, lighting, ethics reviews, facilities for animals used in research, management of intellectual property, environmental assessment and safety compliance). The services that give rise to indirect costs are institutionally based and are not specific to individual research grants.

Institutions have flexibility in deciding how to use their RSF grant, provided that the funds are used for the payment of current expenditures of indirect costs attributed to federally sponsored research that falls within the following five categories:

1. Research Facilities
2. Research Resources
3. Management and Administration of the Institution's Research Enterprise
4. Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation
5. Intellectual Property and Knowledge Mobilization

The expenditures must always adhere to the general principles of the RSF program.

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Allocation of the Grant- Bow Valley College allocates the entirety of RSF each year for: Management and administration of the institution's research enterprise

Specifically:

1. Institutional support for the completion of grant and award applications/research proposals and in support of the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships, including:
   • salaries and benefits for staff who work on grant applications and research proposals (e.g., grant facilitators, award/prize facilitators, and administrative assistants).
2. Training of faculty and research personnel, including:
   • costs associated with attending research administration-related conferences for professional development (e.g., CARA, CAUBO).

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Bow Valley College’s RSF Communication plan

The Research Support Fund (RSF) fosters excellence in Canadian research by providing indirect cost. This fund helps optimize institutional capacity to conduct high quality research by supporting essential equipment and administrative services.

Bow Valley College (BVC) has recently established a knowledge mobilization plan (2025-2028) through collaboration among the Applied Research, Communication, and Marketing teams. This multi-disciplinary team is committed to supporting innovation by fostering a culture of collaboration, advancing the communication of research impact, and promoting knowledge mobilization best practices. The plan is designed to engage BVC’s faculty, students, leadership internally; and inspire diverse external stakeholders – industry partners, government, policy makers, public and others.

Strategic goals and key activities

Goal #1: Share our stories: optimize communication & dissemination of research results. Inspire and engage BVC research community, industry partners and public.

Activities

• Refresh BVC website
• Publish research stories throughout its life cycle
• Increase social media presence
• Leverage media channels
• Host research showcase events at the college

Goal #2: Build partnership/collaboration with key industries and community. Engage, recruit and retain industry partners and create opportunities for partners and end-users to see the value of knowledge.

Activities

• Develop a partnership engagement strategy aligned with research goals
• Showcase facilities for partners
• Plan for select engagement events at the campus
• Host sessions for relevant stakeholders to disseminate results
• Partner narratives on research impact

Public Acknowledgment

Bow Valley College is committed to publicly acknowledging the support of the Research Support Fund and will communicate research results as per the above plan. The College will continue to support its research community and collaborate with partners to enhance impact.

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Total amount of the RSF grant received by Bow Valley College for the previous five years: