The word “enterprise” is no exaggeration when it comes to describing the modern university research program: from grant writing and award administration to regulatory compliance, reporting and managing the use of funds, today’s researchers are part of a vast, complex operation with several moving parts.

Enter the Research Facilitator, one of the best tools universities can offer their researchers for navigating the ins and outs of successful grantsmanship.

Thanks to the federal Research Support Fund, this role is being filled at Lakehead University by several staff in the Office of Research Services: Andrew Hacquoil, Research Facilitator (Institutional Programs); Dr. Alexandria Haslehurst, Research Facilitator (Natural Sciences, Engineering and Health); Dr. Rebecca Heffernan, Research & Strategic Initiatives Facilitator (Orillia Campus); Jill E. Sherman, International Research Facilitator, and Dr. Nicole Westlund Stewart, Research and Knowledge Mobilization Facilitator.

Depending on a faculty member’s specific grant facilitation needs, a specific research facilitator is available to them. At both the Thunder Bay and Orillia campuses, our research facilitators are a welcome resource for information and support on attaining increasingly competitive publicly funded research awards.

“Since the specific research facilitator positions were established starting with the Research and Knowledge Mobilization Facilitator in July 2011, Lakehead University has seen its grant success rates increase to meet and exceed national levels,” says Anne Klymenko, Director, Research Services. “Furthermore, in their roles, our research facilitators are able to help researchers with the full spectrum of resources needed for successful grant writing, from identifying opportunities, application development, review and editing, to partnership development with academic, indigenous, and not -for-profit partners, through to supporting development of knowledge mobilization plans.” Research facilitators are also able to help researchers develop equity, diversity and inclusion plans as well as research data management plans.

Our Tri-Agency research facilitators also lead our annual CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC Enhancement Programs, a series of workshops to encourage and support researchers who are preparing applications to the Tri-Agencies, with the ultimate goal of increasing overall success rates.

“Feedback from Enhancement program participants has been very positive,” says Westlund Stewart. “Researchers who were previously unfamiliar with applying for Tri-Agency grants come away with a solid understanding of the Tri-Agency grant-writing process. An added bonus of the program is that the researchers get feedback from both their peers and a research facilitator, which sets them up for a greater chance of success down the road.”

The Research Support Fund is a federal funding program for post-secondary institutions in Canada to support some of the costs associated with managing research funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. In 2020/21, Lakehead University received nearly $2 million in assistance from the Research Support Fund to support the indirect costs of research, which includes costs for supporting the management of intellectual property, research and administration, ethics and regulatory compliance, research resources, and research facilities.