Research Support Fund

The Research Support Fund (RSF) is an annual grant awarded to the University of Lethbridge to support the indirect costs of research. These funds are crucial for maintaining the university's research enterprise.

The Government of Canada introduced the Research Support Fund as part of its strategy to position Canada as one of the world's top countries in research and development. It reinforces the federal government's research investment by helping institutions cover a portion of the indirect costs associated with managing the research funded by its three granting agencies (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC), collectively known as the Tri-Agency.

The Government of Canada introduced Research Security funding in Budget 2022 to further support the activities related to the indirect costs of research security and to support the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships. The goal is to "help build capacity within postsecondary institutions to identify, assess and mitigate the potential risks to research security."

Indirect costs are any expenditure that cannot be traced to a specific research project but are costs incurred by the University to provide the resources and infrastructure required to allow a research project to proceed. Indirect costs can include, but are not limited to:

Provision of space
Administration
Maintenance of buildings
Utilities
Accounting
Payroll
Human resources and information technology services
Grants and contract administration
Provision for equipment replacement

uLethbridge must apply annually for the federal RSF. The amount awarded is based on the average Tri-Agency funding received by uLethbridge in the previous three years.

RSF supports activities/expenses not directly traceable to specific research programs/projects, such as:

maintaining, repairing, and renovating research spaces
IT and operating costs (utilities, custodial, security)
research and central administration (grants and contracts administration, regulatory requirements, research accounting, etc.)
intellectual property and technology transfer costs

RSF Reporting

uLethbridge's allocation for the 2025/26 fiscal year is $2,592,196, plus an additional $53,866 for research security.

Allocation

The following table provides an overview of how the funds are allocated under each of the five expenditure categories.

Research Facilities	Research Resources	Management & Administration	Regulatory Requirements & Accreditation	Intellectual Property	Research Security
$55,000	$302,196	$1,070,000	$1,045,000	$120,00	$53,866