Ontario Research FundResearch Excellence

Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities Round

September 2011

Introduction

• The Ontario Research Fund Research Excellence (ORF-RE) program promotes research excellence in Ontario by supporting transformative, internationally significant research

• The Ontario Research Fund Research Excellence (ORF-RE) Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities Round recognizes the importance of the arts, the humanities and the social sciences to innovation, the development of social knowledge, and the advancement of social and economic well-being in this province

·ORF-RE Builds research teams (graduate students, PDFs)

led by established scientists (principal investigators and co-investigators)

OICR, OBI, PIContinue to raise Ontario’s

global reputation in research community

Comprehensive Research Investments Create Capacity and a Strong Knowledge Base

 ·ORF-RI: Large-Scale Infrastructure Grants for Transformative Research

·Post-Doctoral

Fellowship Program (PDF) ·Early Researcher Awards (ERA)

ORF-RI: Small Infrastructure Grants to Attract

and Retain Researchers

MRI DIRECT DELIVERY builds capacity by providing comprehensive research support in all research disciplines

PEOPLE: Research talent programs, a central part of the knowledge creation ecosystem, support attraction/retention of researchers throughout their career development

INFRASTRUCTURE: Ontario Research Fund –Research Infrastructure (ORF-RI) supports modernization, development and acquisition of new infrastructure (small/individual to large/institutional) and is administered in concert with Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)

OPERATIONS: Ontario Research Fund –Research Excellence (ORF-RE) supports transformative, internationally significant research projects

INSTITUTE MODEL, funded by MRI to advance translational and focused research in specific research areas

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) is an internationally renowned hub for multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaborations in translational cancer research

The Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) facilitates multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional research collaborations in neuroscience

ONTARIO RESEARCH FUND (ORF) is Ontario’s Flagship, Best-in-Class, Research Program

Since 2004, $1.17B committed towards 1,500 research projects in OIA focus areas, leveraging $2.5B leveraged from partner funding from institutions, federal government and the private sector.

Digital media and ICT

$152M

Other Disciplines

$204,5M

Advanced Health Technologies

$575M

Bio-economy and clean technologies

$215.2M

ORF Share of Funding by Focus Areas

SOCIAL SCIENCES, ARTS AND HUMANITIES

• ORF-RE SSAH was posted on August 29, 2011

• Submission deadlines are:– Notice of Intent (NoI): November 4, 2011

NoIs posted on our website will enable institutions to identify appropriate opportunities for collaboration prior to applying

– Applications: February 15, 2012

• The minimum support in the SSAH Round provided by the ORF-RE to a project is $200,000 and the maximum support provided is $1 million

ORF-RE SSAH: Mandate

• ORF-RE SSAH Round will focus on:– Quality of research – Strategic value to Ontario– Attraction, retention and fostering of research

talent

• Projects supported by the ORF-RE are expected to produce results that may have a beneficial impact on Ontario’s quality of life and economy and may raise its profile in the global academic community

Eligibility

• The ORF-RE funding is open, on a competitive basis, to Ontario’s:– Publicly assisted universities – Colleges of applied arts and technology– Hospital research institutes– Not-for-profit research institutes affiliated with the above– Consortia of the above, with one institution as lead applicant, assuming responsibility and

accountability for the consortium – Other Ontario not-for-profit research institutions at the discretion of the ORF Advisory Board

• Where an institution's eligibility to apply for ORF-RE funding may be in question, such institutions must request and receive confirmation of eligibility from the ORF Advisory Board

• ORF-RE will not support proposals seeking funding for:– Contract R&D where the private sector owns the IP– Clinical trials– Endowed research chairs– High performance computing platforms

Funding Formula

• ORF-RE supports total operating costs, including an indirect cost component of up to 40% of a project’s direct costs

• Project funding is achieved through contributions from the Ministry, institutions, the private sector, and community partners

• ORF-RE will contribute a maximum of 1/3 of total project costs, with the remaining 2/3 coming the applicant institution, community partners and the private sector

• Financial support from a community partner is considered solely as a component of the institutional contribution to a project

• When constructing the budget please ensure the cash flow is close to the spending profile, i.e. not divided equally over four years

Conditions Of Funding

• Institutions will be also required to have in place:– Plan for youth outreach/mentorship activities

(Successful applicants may use up to 1% of the ORF contribution to undertake annual youth science and technology outreach activities)

– Intellectual Property (IP) arrangement

ORF-RE SSAH: Selection Criteria

• In the SSAH Round, the ORF-RE proposals will be judged on:– Research quality– Strategic value to Ontario– Development of research talent– Project management

• To be considered for funding, all proposals must meet the minimum threshold of excellence in the following criteria:– Quality of research– Strategic value to Ontario

Application Process

• Institutions submit Notices of Intent (NoI) by November 4, 2011 • NoIs are posted on the Ministry website to:

– Help institutions identify opportunities for collaboration (where applicable)

– Allow Ministry staff to conduct early searches for external reviewers

• Institutions submit applications by February 15, 2012• Applications must be received and/or postmarked no later than

February 15, 2012• Late and incomplete applications will not be accepted

Adjudication Process

• MRI staff review applications for completeness • Applications are forwarded to external expert reviewers for

quality of research, training of HQP, and appropriateness of project budget

• Applications and external reviews are forwarded to peer review panels for a review against the full set of criteria

• Review panels make recommendations to the ORF Advisory Board

• ORF Advisory Board makes recommendations to the Minister• MRI Minister makes final decisions• Decisions are communicated to institutions by way of a letter to

the Vice-President, Research, Lead Institutional contact and the Principal Investigator of the lead institution

Common Application Errors and Weaknesses

• failure to meet research excellence criterion • failure to indicate how the proposal differs from the current state of the art

research in the field, within the Ontario context as well as nationally and internationally

• proposed research lacks focus (numerous, unrelated or loosely related projects)

• failure to “make the case”, i.e. to explain the steps that led to the proposed research concept

• failure to demonstrate the strategic value of the research to Ontario• proposed research is not ground-breaking or innovative (e.g. small scale,

single experiment focused) • the budget appears inflated and/or expenses are not adequately justified • the management structure is poorly defined• the governance structure lacks autonomy

• For more information on ORF-RE or other MRI programs please visit our web-site at:http://www.mri.gov.on.ca/english/programs

Or:

http://www.mri.gov.on.ca/english/programs/orf/re/program.asp

• Contacts:– Mima Vulovic (416) 212-7060

mima.vulovic@ontario.ca

– Joel Bartczak (416) 326-1111 joel.bartczak@ontario.ca

FAQ’s - Start-date for Eligible Expenditures

Q. What is the "Start-date" for eligible expenditures under the ORF-RE program?

A. The "Start-date" for eligible expenditures of ORF-RE projects is fixed as of the date of the Award Notification Letter. In exceptional circumstances and depending on the merits of the proposal and recommendation from the review panels, the ORF Board may advise and direct Ministry staff to negotiate an earlier “Start-date”. If an earlier “Start-date” is allowed it will not be any earlier than the date of the call for proposals for that round of competition. For ORF-RE SSAH, this date is August 29, 2011.

FAQ’s - Philanthropic and Foundation Contributions

Q. Do philanthropic and foundation contributions qualify as private sector contributions?

A. No, in ORF-RE philanthropic and foundation contributions do not qualify as private sector contributions. However, in the SSAH Round financial support from philanthropic organizations and foundations are enthusiastically welcomed and will be considered a component the institutional contribution to a project.

FAQ’s – Top Ups

Q. Will the ORF allow awardees, who have received operating funding at a reduced level in an ORF competition, to seek additional funding in order to “top up” their existing grant in a later competition?

A.  No. The Ontario Research Fund Research Excellence (ORF-RE) program seeks to fund only new and transformative research projects, not incremental research.

To that effect applicants must provide a justification of the relevance of the research proposed, both within the national/international context, and within the context of previous Ontario government funding or ongoing Ontario research initiatives.

In addition the research proposals should indicate the percentage of each investigator’s time on a proposed project and identify whether a co-investigator is also working on another project submitted to the ORF.

 

FAQ’s – Overhead Calculation

Q. How do you calculate the maximum amount that can be taken from the ORF contribution toward overhead (indirect costs)?

A. No more than 40% of the direct cost portion of the ORF contribution can be used for indirect costs.

To determine the maximum amount that can be taken from the ORF contribution toward overhead, please use the following formula:

Overhead amount = grant amount / 1.4 x 40%

For example, for a grant of $1,000,000, the maximum that can be taken for overhead purposes is ($1,000,000 / 1.4) x 40% = $285,714.

Overall Project Budget

Indirect costs =

40% of direct costs

ORF FundsInstitutional

contribution

Private sector

contribution

Direct

costsORF Funds

Institutional

contribution

Private sector

Contribution

FAQ’s – Peer Review Panels

Q. In the case of a proposal re-submission to a current or later round, do the peer-review panels get to see the comments made on proposals from the previous rounds and/or does the Ministry re-use the comments provided by reviewers in the previous round?

A. No.  Written comments provided by expert and Panel reviewers in one round are not re-used from round to round.  ORF-RE applications stand on their own merits in each Round. 

A Complex Program With Significant Industry Participation

• Industry is an integral part of program policies:

• Applicants are required to include private sector partners (PSP) in their project proposals

• Program evaluation criteria includes ‘strategic value to Ontario’ and ‘commercialization’

• Industry representatives and commercialization experts are a part of adjudication

• MRI funding is contingent on industry participation