University Research Fund—Two Streams: New Faculty and Established Faculty
Application Guidelines and Procedures
Introduction
The University Research Fund (URF) provides research support to both new and established eligible
faculty who hold a faculty appointment at UNB.
The Fund is intended to assist permanent faculty members to prepare projects for future submission
to the tri-agency granting councils. It is expected that successful URF applicants will apply for a triagency grant within two years of their URF award. URF-funded projects should, therefore, be
completed within one year, and must fit within the mandate of the tri-agency program to which the
researcher will apply. The URF is not a substitute for external funding sources, and faculty members
are expected to make every effort to obtain support for their research from external granting agencies.
Subject Matter Eligibility
There is no restriction on the field of research that may be supported. Applicants who wish to obtain
support for projects involving human subjects, the use of animals, or possible biological hazards must
demonstrate adherence to the pertinent university policies and procedures prior to any funds being
released.
Applicant Eligibility
Applicants must be eligible to apply to one of the tri-agency granting councils. However, due to
restrictions to the funds available for this competition, established faculty who currently hold triagency funding are not eligible to apply for a URF grant, unless they wish to have UNB support for
one of the priority areas listed in the research notice for the current competition.
New faculty are those who are within two years of their appointment at UNB and who do not
currently hold tri-agency funding. Those who do hold tri-agency funding are eligible to apply for
UNB support for one of the priority areas listed in the research notice for the current competition.
Established faculty who currently have tri-agency applications under review may apply for a URF,
but if the pending NSERC, SSHRC, or CIHR grant application is successful, any URF funds that
have been awarded must be returned to the university.
All applicants must hold a remunerated position at UNB for the duration of the grant.
Anyone currently enrolled as a student at this or any other university at the time of application is not
eligible to apply.
Items and Activities Eligible for Support
Grants may be requested for such items as the purchase of research equipment and supplies not
provided for in departmental budgets, for the hiring of research assistants, especially graduate
students, and for travel directly related to the proposed research. Research assistants must be paid at
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the rates set by Human Resources for the appropriate class of employee and must include appropriate
fringe benefits.
Research travel may include travel to other universities, libraries or research centres for research
purposes, and field trips for the purposes of making observations or measurements, for data
collection, etc.
Travel expense claims must comply with the current University regulations that govern
transportation, accommodation, and meal costs. Grants from this Fund must not be used to provide
personal remuneration for the grantee or for members of the grantee's family.
Items and Activities not Eligible for Support
Items not eligible for support include telephone and fax charges, the purchase of books already
available in any UNB library collection, periodical subscriptions, page charges for journal articles,
publication support costs, and the purchase of computer software duplicating UNB site licenses.
Expenses for travel to conferences, symposia, special courses, etc. are not eligible.
Application Procedures
Applications for grants up to $7,000 must be completed using the URF application forms found on
the ORS website (http://www.unb.ca/research/ors/preaward/internal-funding.html). These include the
Application Form (pdf), the Detailed Proposal Form (Word doc), and the Budget Justification form
(Word doc). Since applications will be ranked and signed by department Chairs (if applicable) and
Deans; please contact your Department/Faculty to enquire about internal deadlines and the number of
printed or electronic application packages required. Your Department/Faculty will deliver your
signed and ranked application to ORS by the deadline date.
Applicants are asked also to email one complete copy of their application package to ors@unb.ca by
the competition deadline date. “URF Grant Application” should appear in the subject line. The
application package must include the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Application Form – 1 page
Detailed Proposal Form – 2 pages
Budget Justification Form – 1page
If Applicable: URF Priority Area form, as described in the research notice for the current
competition.
Please convert all documents to PDF. It is understood this emailed package will not contain
signatures or be ranked by the Chair or Dean.
Due to the tight schedule involved in the review process, late applications cannot be accepted.
Eligible faculty members may submit one application only and all information must be contained
within the forms provided. No other attachments are permitted.
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Grant Selection Procedures
All applications will be reviewed and awards determined by a Grant Selection Committee, chaired by
the Vice-President Research in two streams: new faculty and established faculty. The committee will
evaluate applications with regard to the soundness of the proposed research, appropriateness of and
justification for the budget, the nature and extent of student training (where appropriate), the
relevance of the project to the department concerned, and the Chair’s/Dean’s ranking. The standards
applied by the Committee will be at the level of those used by national granting agencies.
As the membership of the Selection Committee is representative of a broad spectrum of research
interests, applicants should refrain from extensive use of technical terms or jargon. A clear statement
of objectives, methodologies, potential results, and the significance of the research should be made.
All proposed expenses must be justified and sufficient detail given to enable an adequate assessment
of the merit of the proposal and the budget by the Selection Committee.
Availability of Grant Funds / Duration of Grant
In most cases grant funds will be available for use beginning April 1st of the competition year. If
your research requires certification, funds will be held until the Office of Research Services receives
approval for the project. Funds will be made available in the form of a restricted research account
administered by the Office of Research Services.
The URF program is partially supported by funds from the NSERC and SSHRC General Residual
Fund (GRF). These funds must be spent in a timely manner, as per the Tri-Agency Financial
Administration Guide (Administrative Matters section: Residual Balances): http://www.nserccrsng.gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/FinancialAdminGuide-GuideAdminFinancier/AdminMattersQuestionAdmin_eng.asp. In 2015 we were advised that the agencies expect “at least 50% of
available funds [to] be spent on a yearly basis.” This includes monies transferred to researchers
through the URF program. To meet this requirement, researchers are encouraged to spend 50% of
their award by December 31st of the year of the grant award. If remaining funds are not used within
one year of the grant award (i.e. by March 31st of the following year), awardees can request an
extension of no more than one year to use any remaining funds, but monies not spent by March 31st
of the extension year will be automatically returned to the URF general account.
Reports on Use of Grants
Each grantee must submit a brief report to the Office of Research Services concerning the use made
of his or her grant within 18 months of receipt of the grant.
Further Information
Further information may be obtained by contacting ORS at (506) 453-4674 or ors@unb.ca.
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