Fund
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The Research Support Fund (formerly called the Indirect Costs Program) provides support toward the indirect costs of federally-funded research. The amount of funding that OCAD University receives through the program is directly related to its share of funding awarded by the three federal research funding agencies (SSHRC, NSERC, and CIHR).
What are indirect costs?
Indirect costs are the “hidden costs” associated with enabling research to take place at OCAD University. This includes things such as the cost of maintaining physical research spaces, staffing in the offices of Research & Innovation, Finance, and People & Culture, managing the activities of the Research Ethics Board, and providing IT research supports such as data storage, security and networking.
Research Support fund allocation
2025-26 Notional RSF Allocation
In the 2025-26 fiscal year, OCAD University received $668,695 from the Research Support Fund. These funds were used to support researchers through the following mechanisms:
Research Resources - $ 50,041 (7%)
- IT resources to support research including cyber security, data centre maintenance, and access to ORION high speed research network
Management and administration of the institution's research enterprise - $ 618,654 (92.5%)
- Salaries for administrative staff in the Office of Research, Finance, and People & Culture: $588,632 (88%)
Services provided:
- Grant application development
- Grant writing workshops and networking events
- Training for faculty and research personnel on project and financial management
- Partnership development
- Research contract review and negotiation
- Financial administration of Tri-agency and other external research funds
- Research project management
- Coordination of research ethics review processes
- Hiring processes for research personnel
- Research communications
License for the ROMEO research award and research ethics certification management software used to track grant applications, certifications and awards: $ 29,993 (4.5%)
2025–26 RSF Performance Objectives
Institutional performance objectives established for OCAD University’s 2025-26 Research Support Fund grant:
Eligible program expenditure category | Output (investment or expense of RSF grant funds) | Performance objectives | Performance indicators | Target outcomes | Outcomes achieved in 2025-26 |
| Management and administration of OCAD U’s research enterprise | $668,695 to be invested in administrative support staff in the Offices of Research, Finance and People & Culture | Grow research capacity. | Number of applications submitted to the Tri-agencies in 2025–26. | Grow number of eligible submissions to the Tri-agencies in 2025–26 by 5% relative to 2024–25. | Applications submitted to the Tri-agencies increased by 8% in 2025-26 as compared to 2024-25. |
| Strengthen research partnerships. | Number of applications to SSHRC Research Partnerships Program grants. | 5% increase in the number of applications to SSHRC Partnership Engage, Partnership Development, or Partnership Grants in 2025–26 as compared to 2024–25. | Applications submitted to the SSHRC partnership programs increased by over 16% in 2025-26 as compared to 2024-25. | ||
| Improved research administration processes and communications. | Initiate transition from Romeo research administration software to improved platform. | Research administrators and researchers will gain more efficient and intuitive tools for managing grant applications, disbursements, and research approval processes. | The Office of Research & Innovation has initiated initial stages of the procurement process in collaboration with IT Services. Informational meetings have been conducted with vendors that participated in OECM’s #2023-449 Request for Proposals for Electronic Research Administration Systems. |
Institutional Investment Stories
In 2025–26, the Office of Research & Innovation (ORI) achieved significant milestones in research communications and outreach, advancing OCAD University’s commitment to sharing the breadth and impact of art and design research with students, faculty, and the broader public.
Annual Lab Crawl: Opening Research to the Public
In October 2025, the ORI organized OCAD University’s second annual Lab Crawl — a public event that invited the wider community to explore the university’s vibrant research culture firsthand. More than 20 research labs and centres opened their doors, giving visitors the opportunity to engage directly with faculty researchers and discover the wide-ranging work being conducted across campus.
The event drew an enthusiastic and diverse audience, including OCAD U students, alumni, faculty, and staff, as well as visitors from neighbouring universities, private sector partners, and funding sponsor representatives. Despite inclement weather on the day, attendee feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Visitors noted that the Lab Crawl gave them a clearer understanding of the scope and real-world impact of OCAD University’s research — work that is making a meaningful difference across sectors such as health, agriculture, and climate action.
This Is Research: A Revamped Digital Newsletter
To complement its in-person outreach efforts, the ORI launched a newly redesigned digital newsletter, This Is Research. Distributed by email to the OCAD U community, the newsletter serves as a regular touchpoint for sharing stories about current faculty-led research projects, upcoming events, notable achievements, and available research funding opportunities.
Since its relaunch in December 2025, This Is Research has seen strong and growing engagement: reaching over 500 views per edition — a clear sign that the OCAD U community values timely, accessible information about the research happening within its walls.
Together, these initiatives reflect the ORI’s ongoing commitment to building a culture of research awareness and engagement at OCAD University — ensuring that the remarkable work of its researchers reaches and resonates with audiences near and far.
2024-25 RSF Allocation
In the 2024-25 fiscal year, OCAD University received $595,861 from the Research Support Fund. These funds were used to support researchers through the following mechanisms:
Research Resources - $25,019 (4%)
IT resources to support research including cyber security, data centre maintenance, and access to ORION high speed research network
Management and administration of the institution's research enterprise - $570,842 (96%)
Salaries for administrative staff in the Offices of Research, Finance, and People & Culture: $541,581 (91%)
Services provided:- Grant application development
- Grant writing workshops and networking events
- Training for faculty and research personnel on project and financial management
- Partnership development
- Research contract review and negotiation
- Financial administration of Tri-Agency and other external research funds
- Research project management
- Coordination of research ethics review processes
- Hiring processes for research personnel Research
- Communications
- License for the ROMEO research award and research ethics certification management software: $29,261 (5%)
2024-25 Performance Objectives
Institutional performance objectives established for OCAD University’s 2024-25 Research Support Fund grant:
Eligible program expenditure category | Output (investment or expense of RSF grant funds) | Performance objectives | Performance indicators | Target outcomes | Outcomes achieved in 2024-25 |
Management and administration of OCAD U’s research enterprise | $595,861 invested in administrative support staff in the Offices of Research, Finance and People & Culture | Increase research capacity | Number of tenure-track and tenured faculty members submitting applications to the Tri-agencies in 2024-25 | 5% increase in the number of tenure-track and tenured faculty members submitting applications to the Tri-agencies in 2024-25 as compared to 2023-24 | Applications submitted to the Tri-agencies increased by more than 30% in 2024-25 as compared to 2023-24 |
Strengthen research partnerships | Number of new research partnerships developed | 5% increase in the number of new research partnerships in 2024-25 as compared to 2023-24 | Research partnerships increased by 10% in 2024-25 as compared to 2023-24 | ||
Improved research administration processes and communications | Creation of internal online “Knowledgebase” to support researchers in locating information, tools and resources needed to support their research | Researchers will have an easier time locating the information they need and will have access to more guidance on spending their research funds | Online resources to support research ethics processes are completed; Research Knowledgebase is under development |
Institutional Investment Stories
Investments in Research Grant Facilitation
In 2024-25, a portion of OCAD University's Research Support Fund was used to offset the costs of staffing support in the Office of Research and Innovation. Staff provided grant application development support and facilitation to faculty members who had recently joined the university as well as those that had yet to attempt submission of an application to one of the Tri-agency programs. As a small, specialized art and design university, many of OCAD University's faculty members are new to academic research and Tri-agency programs. Staff ran a series of webinars aimed at increasing the research capacity of early career researchers and creative practitioners. One-on-one coaching and guidance was also provided to help researchers with crafting their research questions, refining methodologies, and strategizing on the best funding opportunity to suit their project's objectives. As a result of these efforts, the university saw a 33% increase in the number of new applications submitted in 2024-25 and success rates grew by nearly 50% over the previous year.
Investments in IT Resources for Research
In 2024-25, OCAD University’s Research Support Fund contributed towards the costs of on-premise hosting services for OCAD U’s Inclusive Design Research Centre and other research compute and storage needs. The Data Centre also provides support for the Network Operations Centre provisioning secure research VLAN, cyber security monitoring and connection to advanced high speed research networks. Researchers also benefitted from OCAD University’s participation in the Ontario Cybersecurity Higher Education Consortium providing services and information sharing to mitigate cyber security threats that target research and education across the sector.
In the 2023-24 fiscal year, OCAD University received $551,462 from the Research Support Fund. These funds were used to support researchers through the following mechanisms:
Research Facilities - $4,875 (0.9%)
- Maintenance and support for the institution's research website
Research Resources - $38,669 (7.0%)
- IT resources to support research including cyber security, data centre maintenance, and access to ORION high speed research network
Management and administration of the institution's research enterprise - $507,918 (92.1%)
- Salaries for administrative staff in the Offices of Research, Finance, and People & Culture providing support to researchers in:
- Grant application development
- Grant writing workshops and networking events
- Training for faculty and research personnel on project and financial management
- Partnership development
- Research contract review and negotiation
- Financial administration of Tri-Agency and other external research funds
- Research project management
- Coordination of research ethics review processes
- Hiring processes for research personnel
- Research Communications
- License for the ROMEO research award and research ethics certification management software.
2023-24 Performance Objectives
The following are the institutional performance objectives established for OCAD University's 2023-24 Research Support Fund grant:
Eligible program expenditure category | Output (investment or expense of RSF grant funds) | Performance objectives | Performance indicators | Target outcomes | Outcomes achieved in 2023-24 |
Management and administration of OCAD U’s research enterprise | $507,918 invested in administrative support staff in the Offices of Research, Finance and People & Culture | Increase research capacity | Number of grant applications submitted in 2023-24 | 5% increase in grant applications submitted in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23 | Applications submitted to the Tri-agencies increased by more than 37.5% in 2023-24 |
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| Strengthen OCAD U’s research culture | Number of research events hosted by the Research Office | Increased number of research events hosted in 2023-24 as compared to 2022-23 | The Research Office hosted 15 events in 2023-24 including 3 book launch events, an 8-week grant writing webinar series, and 4 webinars focused on specific Tri-agency programs |
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Improved research administration processes and communications |
Resources created to support researchers in managing their research funds |
Develop tools and resources to streamline administrative processes |
Preliminary work on the development of an online resource to support researchers in managing their research funds began in early 2024 |
In the 2022-23 fiscal year, OCAD University received $ 486,230 from the RSF. It was used to provide support to researchers through the following mechanisms:
Management and administration of the institution’s research enterprise - $486,230 (100%)
- Salaries for administrative staff in the Offices of Research, Finance, and People & Culture providing support to researchers in:
- Grant application development
- Grant writing workshops and networking events
- Research contract review and negotiation
- Financial administration of Tri-Agency and other external research funds
- Research project management
- Coordination of research ethics review processes
- Hiring processes for research personnel
- Research Communications
- License for the ROMEO research award and research ethics certification management software.
In the 2021-22 fiscal year, OCAD University received $ 448,456 from the RSF. It was used to provide support to researchers through the following mechanisms:
Management and administration of the institution’s research enterprise - $448,456 (91%)
- Salaries for administrative staff in the Offices of Research & Innovation, Finance, IT, and Human Resources providing support to researchers in:
- Grant application development
- Grant writing workshops and networking events
- Research contract review and negotiation
- Financial administration of Tri-Agency and other external research funds
- Research project management
- Coordination of research ethics review processes
- IT support for procurement and operations of research infrastructure
- Hiring processes for research personnel
- Research Communications
- License for the ROMEO research award and research ethics certification management software
Research Resources – $40,066 (9%)
- Data Centre maintenance, compute and storage, cybersecurity, and access to high speed research networks.
In the 2020-21 fiscal year, OCAD University received $ 373,817 from the RSF. It was used to provide support to researchers through the following mechanisms:
Management and administration of the institution’s research enterprise - $373,817 (100%)
1. Salaries for administrative staff in the Offices of Research & Innovation, Finance, IT, and Human Resources providing support to researchers in:
- Grant application development
- Grant writing workshops and networking events
- Research contract review and negotiation
- Financial administration of Tri-Agency and other external research funds
- Research project management
- Coordination of research ethics review processes
- IT support for procurement and operations of research infrastructure
- Hiring processes for research personnel
- Research Communications
2. License for the ROMEO research award and research ethics certification management software.
In the 2019-20 fiscal year, OCAD University received $ 299,938 from the RSF. It was used to provide support to researchers through the following mechanisms:
- Salaries for administrative staff providing support to researchers in:
- Grant application development
- Grant writing workshops and networking events
- Research contract review and negotiation
- Financial administration of Tri-Agency and other external research funds
- Research project management
- Coordination of research ethics review processes
- IT support for procurement and operations of research infrastructure
- Hiring processes for research personnel
- Research Communications
- License for the ROMEO research award management software (which is also used for REB protocol submissions and reviews)
In the 2018-19 fiscal year, OCAD University received $ 286,359 from the RSF. It was used to offset the costs of salaries for administrative staff providing support to researchers in the areas of:
- Grant application development
- Financial administration of Tri-Agency and other external research funds
- Hiring processes for research assistants, post-doctoral fellows, and other research personnel
- Coordination of research ethics reviews
- IT support for research and research equipment procurement
- Research project management
- Research Communications; including OCAD U’s PULSE Research & Innovation Newsletter, and ‘This Is Research’ campaign
In the 2017-18 fiscal year, OCAD University received $293,804 from the RSF. It was used to offset the costs of salaries for administrative staff providing support to researchers in the areas of:
- Financial administration of Tri-Agency and other research funds
- Hiring processes for research assistants, post-doctoral fellows, and other research personnel
- Coordination of research ethics reviews
- Research project management
- Research Communications
In the 2016-17 fiscal year, OCAD University received $256,913 from the RSF. It was used to provide support to researchers through the following mechanisms:
- License for the ROMEO research management software (which is also used for REB protocol submissions and reviews)
- Maintenance on network infrastructure
- Salaries for research administration-related staff, including:
- Manager of the Research Ethics Board
- Research Projects Officers
- Research Accountant