University of Saskatchewan

May 23, 2013   

Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)

2008 Leading Edge Fund (LEF) and New Initiative Fund

Leading Edge Fund: To enable institutions to build on and enhance already successful and productive initiatives supported by past CFI investment(s)*, and thereby secure and further enhance highly competitive research or technology development efforts.
*through the Innovation Fund, Research Development Fund, International Joint Venture Fund

New Initiatives Fund: To support infrastructure initiatives in which the CFI has not previously invested and that enable institutions and their partners to develop their capacity in promising areas of research and technology development, as well as to improve their research competitiveness and international leadership.

Announcement - Vice-President Research
Expression of Interest - Internal Form Word PDF
Timelines

LEF/NIF Application Procedures and Information

Important Information
Institutional Commitments
Key Information regarding UofS Decision Process
Operations and Maintenance Plan

Procedures
Submitting your on-line NOI
Submitting your draft full application
Submitting your Full Application final version
Tips for Completion and Submission of the CFI on-line forms

UofS Links
Strategic Research Plan - U of S
Foundational Document Research, Scholarly and Artistic Work
UofS CFI Advisory Committee
UofS CFI Contacts

CFI Links
CFI Call for Proposals and Searchable Notices of Intent
CFI On-line Forms for Researchers
CFI Policy and Program Guide - CFI website

Institutional Commitments

  1. Any institutional resources (space, funds, equipment, staff positions etc.) committed to the project must be approved in writing by the relevant Department Heads and Deans.  This written documentation must be submitted to the Innovation Programs Unit before final submission to CFI of the full application. 
  2. You must work with your Associate Dean on the content of the Institutional Priority and Commitment section of the application.  Please refer to #8 of this message for special form-filling procedures related to this part of the application.

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 Key Information regarding UofS Decision Process:

  1. Final decisions regarding applications submitted within the University’s CFI envelope will be made on review of the draft full application. CFI Advisory Committee decisions on whether the application will proceed will be provided to the Project Leader by August 29, 2008.
  2. The Project Leader will be responsible for securing the resources (for both matching and operations & maintenance) required by the project.
  3. Preliminary decisions regarding the provincial matching funds available to each project will be made in time for submission of the application to CFI.  The final allocation of provincial matching funds will be made after CFI award announcement in June 2009.

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Operations and Maintenance Plan:

  1. Project Leaders are responsible for securing the Operations and Maintenance funding required for the project.  The Operations & Maintenance Plan is subject to University approval before the application is submitted to CFI.  Please work with the Financial Officers in the Innovation Programs Unit to develop a realistic Operations & Maintenance Plan for review by the University.  

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Submitting your on-line NOI (repeated from previous communication):

  1. Log-in with your CFI PIN and password at http://www.innovation.ca/index_2.html (click on-line forms for researchers) (same as for CFI CV).  Complete the form, return to the portfolio page and click ‘Yes’ to submit.
  2. Clicking ‘Yes’ to submit, submits the form to the University.  Before submission to CFI, the University will ensure that relevant internal review comments are addressed in the NOI form.  The Innovation Programs Unit will ensure that the forms are complete, obtain the required University signatures, submit the form to CFI, and then notify Project Leaders as soon as submission is complete.
  3. See below for Tips. 

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Submitting your full draft application:

  1. Log-in with your CFI PIN and password at http://www.innovation.ca/index_2.html (click on-line forms for researchers) (same as for CFI CV).  Complete the form on-line.  Note following sections which must be completed separately:
    • Institutional Priority and Commitment Section – this section is accessible only through the institution log-in (i.e., Innovation Programs Unit in Research Services).  Please prepare this section in your word processor (limit of 7000 characters).  You must email this section to Marci or Doreen for pasting into the form before final submission of the application.  You must work with your Associate Dean Research in preparing this section.
    • 10 additional pages may be attached to the application.  We are waiting for confirmation from CFI of any conditions of eligibility (i.e. size of project total) to use the additional 10 pages.  These must be completed in a Word or txt file and appended/uploaded to the CFI form.  Use a 10 point font and 1 inch margins.
    • Budget Justification is completed in a Word or txt file and is appended/uploaded to the CFI form.  Use a 10 point font and 1 inch margins. 
  2. Complete the form, submit # hard copies to the Innovation Programs Unit.  Please assemble the sections in the following order:
    • Project Description Section
    • 10 Additional pages (if applicable) – completed in a separate document
    • Institutional Priority and Commitment Section – completed in a separate document
    • Financial Information
    • Budget Justification – completed in a separate document (10 pages maximum)
    • CFI CVs for the Project Leader and for up to 10 Principal Users.  Project Leader’s first and the remaining alphabetically.

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Submitting your Full Application final version

  1. The University will communicate to Project Leaders its decision to submit the application to CFI by August 29, 2008.  Information on issues that must be addressed before submission will provided.  In addition, feedback for improvement of the application may be included.
  2. Log-in with your CFI PIN and password at http://www.innovation.ca/index_2.html and make any relevant changes based on the information provided (see previous bullet). 
  3. Return to the portfolio page and click ‘Yes’ to submit.
  4. Clicking ‘Yes’ to submit, submits the form to the University.  Before submission to CFI, the University will ensure that relevant issues (see first bullet) are addressed.  The Innovation Programs Unit will ensure that the forms are complete, obtain the required University signatures, submit the form to CFI, and then notify Project Leaders as soon as submission is complete.

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Tips for completion and submission of CFI on-line forms:
  1. Prepare the text off-line and paste it into the form to avoid possible loss of data if the network goes down.
  2. Be aware that the recommended character and spaces count is high compared to the actual number that will fit.
  3. The forms will automatically adjust the font face and size.  Bold and italics are NOT recognized by the forms.  Use all-capitals headings and paragraph spacing to improve the appearance and readability of the document.  Special symbols will not be recognized by the forms; please restrict your text to the standard alpha/numeric characters.
  4. Write in the third-person.
  5. Be sure to save each page.
  6. Return to the portfolio page and click the printer icon to check the pdf view before submitting.  Some text will appear in the on-line form but will be cut-off in the pdf view.
  7. When the form is complete to your satisfaction, return to the portfolio page and click ‘Yes’ to submit the form.

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Resource People: 
  1. The following people in the Innovation Programs Unit are available to respond to any questions or concerns that you may have throughout the LEF/NIF application process.

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