Lakehead University Canada Research Continuity Emergency Fund (CRCEF)

The Canada Research Continuity Emergency Fund (CRCEF) is part of the federal government's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. It has 3 funding stages to help sustain research activity at Canadian universities and health research institutions.  More information on the program can be found here:  https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/crcef-fucrc/index-eng.aspx. 

CRCEF's Stage 1 is to avert or reverse layoffs of eligible research personnel (e.g., research staff, students, post-doctoral fellows). Stage 1 funds are only for wage support for research personnel whose salaries were adversely affected by COVID-19, and who are paid in part or in whole by non-governmental sources.  

The CRCEF program expects universities and their affiliated health research institutions to establish “appropriate procedures, systems and controls to ensure that agency and program policies and requirements are followed,” a CRCEF Oversight Committee has been formed by the Vice-President Research and Innovation.  Committee members are from the Office of Research Services (ORS), Financial Services (FS), Office of Human Rights and Equity (OHRE), the Faculty of Graduate Studies, NOSM and TBRHRI. A CRCEF Oversight Committee will undertake an accelerated review process. Principles of equity, diversity and inclusion will be followed in all stages to prevent systemic barriers from impeding access to funds sought by equity-seeking groups. This is a people-centric program, and we are committed to ensuring our community is supported in an equitable way.

CRCEF has confirmed that Stage 1 is primarily a research accounting exercise and reimbursement of accounts is expected based on the receipt of an application confirming eligibility and availability of funds.

Faculty members will be contacted regarding the submission of salary funding requests for projects with eligible funding sources. A CRCEF application form can be accessed here and must be completed and submitted by August 5, 2020.  Applicants must attach a CRCEF Time Sheet for each eligible research personnel which can be accessed here.

Faculty members and scientists at NOSM and TBRHRI who have eligible non-government supported research personnel administered by these institutions will be contacted directly by them.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

As an inclusive employer, Lakehead University recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of our entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by equity-seeking groups in our society, and we strive to support all individuals in achieving academic and professional success.

In managing the CRCEF funds, we commit to fully comply with the program’s equity, diversity and inclusion decision-making and allocation requirements. Equity-seeking groups include, but are not limited to, women, racialized minorities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and persons from LGBTQ2+ communities.

IMPORTANT:  Determine eligibility before completing the form

Research-related personnel are those individuals employed by universities or health research institutions who are working for faculty members conducting research, or who are working in scientific and engineering facilities/laboratories supporting broad research objectives (e.g., graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and other personnel associated with research projects).  Principal Investigators are excluded from the research-related personnel definition.

If a salary is only paid in part by non-governmental sources, only that portion of the salary is eligible for CRCEF relief. Applicants must ensure personnel for whom they are requesting CRCEF wage support are not claiming other wage support (e.g., Canada Emergency Response Benefit - CERB, Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy - CEWS). Universities are responsible for distributing funds to eligible applicants within their institutions.

Coverage period is March 15 to August 29, 2020 for 12 cumulative weeks. CRCEF covers up to 75% of wages up to a maximum of $847/week over a 12 week period. Principal Investigators (hereinafter referred to as the “Applicant”) are responsible to cover the rest of the salary from other sources.

To receive CRCEF funding for your employees, you must take active measures to prevent systemic barriers that result in individuals from equity-seeking groups receiving unequal access to, or being excluded from participating in, employment, services, or programs in Canada’s research ecosystem. As such, please provide detailed information in your application about why specific positions are needed for your ongoing operations and the employee who will fill the role keeping systemic barriers, unconscious bias, and the Ontario Human Rights Code in mind should you need to choose among employees and students.  A resource to assist in this can be found here:
https://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/program-programme/equity-equite/bias/module-eng.aspx

You are strongly encouraged to contact Human Resources (HR) you are contemplating any layoffs or if you have previously laid off staff due to COVID-19 issues. HR may be reached at:  https://www.lakeheadu.ca/faculty-and-staff/departments/services/hr.

Health Research Affiliates:

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine and Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute (TBRHRI) are affiliated with Lakehead University and eligible to receive their proportionate share of the CRCEF attributable to their non-government total research income (three year average over three years (2015-2018) as reported in the Financial Information of Universities and Colleges (FIUC) from the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO).

If you are a NOSM faculty member or TBRHRI Scientist or Lakehead University-TBRHRI Research Chair, you will need to apply to the institution administering the non-government research grant/contract and employer of the research personnel to receive the wage subsidy.

Lakehead, NOSM and TBRHRI have agreed to share the Stage 1 CRCEF based on the CRCEF Grant allocation formula and attributable to each institution’s share of non-government funding.

For more CRCEF information and FAQs, please refer to:  https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/crcef-fucrc/index-eng.aspx

and:  https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/crcef-fucrc/stage-etape...

For more information on the administration of the CRCEF program, please contact:

Lakehead University Contacts:   Janet Skerget (Financial Services) at janet.skerget@lakeheadu.ca or Andrew Hacquoil (Research Services) at ahacquo1@lakeheadu.ca

The EUREKA clusters CELTIC-NEXT and Eurogia2020 have launched a joint call for proposals for research, development, and innovation (R&D&I) projects related to telecommunications and innovative energy technologies.

CELTIC-NEXT's mission is to catalyze research, development and innovation in areas of the next generation of enabling telecommunications technologies and end-to-end services.

EUROGIA2020 addresses all areas of the energy mix, from renewable energy to efficiency, and reduction of carbon footprint of fossil fuels.

Open to:

• small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
• large enterprises and industries*
• universities*
• research organizations*
• others*

*NRC IRAP funding is only available for eligible Canadian SMEs. All other organizations need to secure alternative funding.

Sectors of focus: Telecommunications, energy

Key technology application areas:

• 5G and beyond
• 5G and 5G applications
• Applications and services
• Digital transformation
• Energy efficiency
• Future internet
• Networking and cloud
• Renewable energy

Eligibility requirements

To be considered for funding, applicants must form a project consortium and develop a collaborative R&D project that meets the following criteria:

1. The project consortium must include at least:
   • 1 incorporated Canadian small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), defined as a for-profit company with 500 or fewer full-time equivalent employees and
   • 1 eligible partner in Singapore
2. The project partners that form the consortium must:
   • be capable of implementing the project including funding their respective share and
   • agree in advance on intellectual property rights and a commercialization strategy
3. The collaborative project must focus on co-developing a product, process, or technology-based service that:
   • is highly innovative
   • has significant commercial potential
   • has outcomes that can be realized within 3 years of completion of the project, and
   • does not involve R&D related to products, processes, or technology-based services with military or non-peaceful applications
4. The collaborative project must demonstrate:
   • the unique scientific and technological contribution that each organization brings to the project
   • an obvious advantage and added value for each project partner resulting from the collaboration, such as an increased knowledge base, an access to R&D infrastructure or new fields of application or a solutions for commercial needs, and
   • an adequate balance and significance for all project partners, with no more than 70% of the project budget contributed by any organization or country

In addition to the above eligibility requirements, each applicant must meet their country-specific requirements, outlined below:

3.1 Canadian eligibility requirements

Canadian applicant(s) must also meet the following criteria.

1. The Canadian SME must have a technology that is:
   • competitive in global markets, differentiated, and protectable, such as a unique or novel patentable technology that may alter the industry or market
     Note: preference will be given to existing commercialized technologies in Canada
2. The Canadian SME must be committed to:
   • pursuing growth and profit by developing and commercializing innovative, technology-driven new or improved products, processes or technology-based services; and
   • substantive growth through global market expansion
3. The Canadian SME must be ready, and have the resources to:
   • complete a collaborative project with international project partners, and
   • make a serious new market entry push.*
     *Note: for this reason, preference may be given to SMEs with at least 20 full time equivalent employees and $2 million CAD in annual revenue.

3.2 Foreign eligibility requirements

This call for proposals is being supported by government bodies in Singapore, Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Canada, Estonia, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the UK. Eligibility varies by country, please consult the EUREKA call for proposals announcement (available in English only) for Singapore's and other foreign partner eligibility requirements.

4. Funding

Eligible project participants in collaborative projects selected through this call for proposals may receive funding from their respective national funding body. Funds will be provided in accordance with the applicable laws, regulations, rules, and procedures established by the relevant national funding body, country, jurisdiction and/or program.

Non-eligible project participants (e.g. universities, research institutes, etc., and participants from other countries) are welcome to participate on a self-funded basis or as sub-contractors to funded participants, according to each country's funding regulations.

NOTE: One country and/or project partner cannot represent more than 70% of the total project budget.

Additional country-specific funding parameters are outlined below:

4.1 Canadian funding

In Canada, this call for proposals is offered through the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP). NRC IRAP is responsible for delivering of this call for proposals and for managing of any resulting funding agreements.

Eligible Canadian SMEs may receive up to 50% reimbursement of eligible project costs up to a maximum total funding amount of $600,000 over 12 to 36 months.

NOTE: Canadian SME applicants must be eligible for funding as NRC IRAP clients before they can be considered for funding through this call for proposals. For more information on NRC IRAP eligibility and becoming an NRC IRAP client, please contact NRC IRAP at 1-877-994-4727

Eurostars is a joint programme co-funded from the national budgets of 36 Eurostars and by the European Union through Horizon 2020. In the 2014-2020 period, it has a total public budget of €1.14 billion.

If you are a small company in need of public funding for your innovative idea, then Eurostars has been carefully developed to meet your specific needs With its bottom-up approach, it stimulates international collaborative research and innovation projects that will be rapidly commercialized.  It is your ideal first step in international cooperation.

Joining Eurostars will enable your company to:

• Turn an idea into a product and commercialize it. 
• Combine and share expertise and benefit from working beyond national borders.
• Grow faster

Call Description: Ontario Pork is pleased to offers an Open Call for Letters of Intent for swine research projects that focus on the Ontario swine industry. Ontario Pork recently completed a review of their research priorities and shifted focus from a priorities list to the overarching research objective:“Test potential improvements to swine industry practices”.

All research projects that align with this overarching objective will be considered, including, but not limited to, swine health, swine welfare, swine nutrition, swine husbandry, swine reproduction, barn design and management, employee health and safety, meat quality and safety, marketing and consumer trends and environmental and economic sustainability. Highest priority is given to projects that demonstrate scientific merit as well as strong identification of the benefit of project results to Ontario pork producers and indication of input or support of a project from swine industry members outside of academia.

NMIN’s Strategic Initiative (SI) program focuses on supporting just-in-time research development, commercialization and knowledge mobilization/transfer opportunities that arise in-year and/or require a rapid response in order to generate, promote or accelerate the economic and social benefits of previous or new NMIN or related research investments. These funds are intended to provide support for research, post-discovery commercialization, business planning and knowledge dissemination, mobilization, or translation activities. The projects must be scaled to be achievable within a one-year/12-month timeframe and be aligned with NMIN’s mission and vision. Ideally, the SI will be undertaken in partnership with NMIN partners, stakeholders, and/or end-user organizations.

NMIN’s Strategic Initiative (SI) program focuses on supporting just-in-time research development, commercialization and knowledge mobilization/transfer opportunities that arise in-year and/or require a rapid response in order to generate, promote or accelerate the economic and social benefits of previous or new NMIN or related research investments. These funds are intended to provide support for research, post-discovery commercialization, business planning and knowledge dissemination, mobilization, or translation activities. The projects must be scaled to be achievable within a one-year/12-month timeframe and be aligned with NMIN’s mission and vision. Ideally, the SI will be undertaken in partnership with NMIN partners, stakeholders, and/or end-user organizations.

NMIN will consider support for proposed projects that can be completed within a period of one year, and that include, but are not limited to, at least one of the following objectives:

1. Facilitation of projects that provide strategic added value to NMIN-funded research and development initiatives, as well as nanomedicine-related contributions to non-NMIN funded initiatives. Preference will be given to projects that are related or add value to existing NMIN funded projects. (Refer to NMIN’s Project Database.)

2. Development of a business plan towards facilitating a commercial legacy for NMIN research investments/teams.

3. Contribution to the translation, mobilization and/or application of NMIN-funded research findings to accelerate Canadian innovation, productivity and economic competitiveness and/or improve the quality of life for Canadians.

4. Development of policy frameworks, national strategies, tools, technologies, products, and/or services arising from NMIN research and/or aligned with NMIN’s vision and mission.

Budgets may be requested for a maximum of one year to a maximum value of $50,000.00.

Exceptional Contribution to Science Policy Award Nominate an individual who has made significant contributions to science policy! The second Exceptional Contribution to Science Policy Award celebrates an individual who has championed and inspired the science policy community in Canada. CSPC encourages all individuals and/or organizations to nominate a person who meets at least four of the selection criteria described here.  Application Deadline: August 28th.    Nomination Form About the Award Science Policy Award of Excellence Youth Category   Do you have a great idea for an evidence-based policy proposal to share with Canada? We want to hear it. Join the line-up of brilliant young awardees who have previously received this award and bring national attention to your proposal. We encourage all individuals below 35 years of age from any discipline, any sector, and at any stage of their career, to apply for this award. The deadline is fast approaching. More information on application and selection criteria are linked below.  About the Award Submit a Proposal