Research Support Fund

There are numerous institutional costs incurred to conduct research at a university ('indirect costs of research'). Such costs include maintenance of the buildings where research is conducted, the electricity used to power the specialized equipment, or the staff that provide support for research funding applications/agreements,oversight and compliance. The Government of Canada’s Research Support Fund (RSF) assists Canadian postsecondary institutions and their affiliated research hospitals and institutes with the expenses associated with managing the research funded by the three federal research granting agencies:

Every year, the federal government invests in research excellence in the areas of health sciences, engineering, natural sciences, social sciences and humanities through its three granting agencies. The Research Support Fund reinforces this research investment by helping institutions ensure that their federally funded research projects are conducted in world-class facilities with the best equipment and administrative support available.

Eligible institutions receive an annual grant through the fund to help pay for a portion of the central and departmental administrative costs related to federally funded research.

The program (formerly known as the Indirect Costs Program) was introduced in 2003 as part of the federal government’s strategy to make Canada one of the world’s top countries in research and development. It currently has a budget of $369 million and serves 125 postsecondary institutions across the country.

The five main expenditure areas of the Research Support Fund are: Facilities; Resources; Management and Administration; Regulatory Requirements and Intellectual Property.

Examples of costs supported by the program are:

Institutional support for the completion of grant and award applications/research proposals;
Training of faculty and research personnel for health and safety;
Costs related to the maintenance of libraries and laboratories; and
Administrative costs associated with patent applications.

Calculation of the Research Support Fund Grant

The University of Windsor's Research Support Fund allocation is calculated based on Tri-Council (CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC) funding awarded in the previous fiscal year.

In 2025-26 UWindsor notional allocation is $ 3,613,383 dedicated to five expenditure categories:

This allocation supports central research administration and core facilities including operating expenditures, technician salaries, operation and maintenance of equipment, central administration, library costs, research planning and promotion, upgrades to facilities, training of faculty and students in research safety and biohazards, patent applications, central computing service costs and database and information system upgrades.

The Research Support Fund (RSF) is the major source of funding for infrastructure support used to attract and retain high-quality researchers to the University of Windsor. Our researchers depend on this support to conduct their research activities which creates research programs that are crucial to their overall research success.

Incremental Project Grants

The Incremental Project Grants (IPG) provides support additional to the Research Support Fund which provides further support for the indirect costs of research.

The IPG provides eligible institutions with additional support for projects that focus on a set of priorities that cut across the RSF’s five existing categories of eligible expenses. The initial four IPG priority areas are:

innovation and commercialization activities;
facilities renewal, including deferred maintenance;
information resources, including digital resources, open access and databases; and
equity, diversity and faculty renewal (in the context of equity, diversity and inclusion).

In 2025-2026 the University of Windsor notional IPG amount is $270,504. This funding is used to provide support to UWindsor’s research and innovation community and to support research partnerships.

Research Security

Introduced in 2022, Research Security is categorized as a fifth priority area of the IPG. Research Security funding will help build capacity within postsecondary institutions to identify, assess and mitigate the potential risks to research security.

Further information on Research Security is available on the website.

In 2025-2026 the University of Windsor notional Research Security amount is $132,016. This funding is used to provide support to UWindsor’s research community by helping researchers identify, assess and mitigate potential risks to research security.

Institutional performance objectives

Institutional Investment Stories

Institutional Investment Stories 2024-2025

Space Transformation in Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation (CEI)

The Research Support Fund played a pivotal role in transforming research spaces within the Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation (CEI) to meet the evolving needs of our researchers and their federally funded projects. Several rooms were reconfigured into specialized research facilities to support advanced computational modeling, additive manufacturing, sustainable pavement and transportation research, hydrogen cell containment studies, and structural engineering innovation.

These upgrades included installing new electrical systems, improving ventilation and exhaust configurations, adding water systems and sinks, and modernizing workstations to accommodate high-performance computing and equipment. In addition, spaces were adapted to house cutting-edge additive manufacturing technology and sustainable infrastructure testing facilities, ensuring compliance with safety standards and operational efficiencies.

By investing in these facility improvements, the University of Windsor has strengthened its ability to conduct world-class research in areas critical to Canada’s future such as clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and sustainable infrastructure and transportation. The RSF program’s support ensures that researchers have access to modern, well-equipped spaces that foster collaboration, attract external funding, and enable groundbreaking discoveries.

Addition to DETECT Laboratory

The DETECT Laboratory at the University of Windsor is a unique research space dedicated to forensic taphonomy and decomposition chemistry. Researchers using this facility investigate the chemical processes that occur after death, focusing on identifying biochemical markers that can improve time-since-death estimation and assist law enforcement in locating and recovering human remains. The Research Support fund has been critical to this facility’s launch and operation and maintenance.

RSF support helped fund the addition of dedicated compressed air and electrical infrastructure. This upgrade was essential to support advanced instrumentation and experimental setups required for cutting-edge forensic science research.

This improvement not only supports federally funded projects in natural sciences but also strengthens Canada’s leadership in forensic research. The enhanced facility enables researchers to conduct experiments with greater accuracy and efficiency, fostering innovation and collaboration with national and international partners.