The notice of decision is a notice of the result of the application or proposal from the agency or sponsor to the researcher. Notices of Award are required to open your research grant account and set up access to your funds. If you have received a Notice of Award by email or postal mail, please be aware that ORIS may not have also received a copy. You should upload your Notice of Award to an approved ERSO file using the Event form "Upload documentation".
Notices of Decision from NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR are sent directly to the researcher. Researchers must upload their Notice to the relevant ERSO record in order to have a grant account established and access awarded funding.
In the case of a sponsored research project, the sponsor usually sends the researcher a letter of offer or an agreement (contract). The letter of offer and/or agreement contract will list terms and conditions that must be met before funding is released. Researchers who receive notification from the sponsor should upload a copy of the letter and/or your response (e.g., your acceptance of the award) to ERSO for processing and administration of the award in compliance with University and sponsor requirements.
If you are working directly with an industry or community partner, your documentation may take the form of a research contract, rather than a Notice of Decision. Please note that individual researchers do not have the authority to bind the University of Windsor by signing research contracts. Your contract must be reviewed and authorized by the Office of Research and Innovation Services. Please contact our Contracts Manager to have your agreement reviewed.
The Office of Research and Innovation Services offers numerous internally-adjudicated seed grant programs, as well as a program to support travel and knowledge mobilization. You will receive a Notice of Decision from our office, but do not need to upload it to an ERSO file. If you've been awarded a grant by your department, Faculty, or another UWindsor office such as the Centre for Teaching and Learning, please log in to ERSO and submit a new file using the form type "UWindsor Faculty or Departmental Award". Make sure you upload the Notice of Award you received from the awarding office on the Attachments tab!
Once a project has been created in the financial system and all criteria for release of funds have been met, the researcher will be notified by Research Finance that funds are available. Neither the agency notice of decision nor the letter of offer is the official notice from the ORIS.
There could be various reasons why a project has not been set up even though a researcher has received notification of award from an agency. For example:
- ORIS has no record of the award, agreement or contract;
- The agreement has not been signed by all parties;
- Human ethics, animal care, biohazards or radiation certification has not been acquired or ORIS has not received notification that certification has been granted;
- The Agency has placed a hold on the funding;
- The start date is still in the future.