Institutional Funding

The John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) is a Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Program designed to help universities attract and retain the best researchers at a time of intense international competition in priority areas as identified in the university’s Strategic Research Plan. It allows UBC to acquire infrastructure for their UBC Okanagan research faculty to undertake cutting-edge research and create competitive packages of research support for infrastructure, direct research costs and operating funds.

Program Details

application process

Information on UBC-wide procedures is available on the Applying for CFI Funding page on the Institutional Programs website. A detailed description of the UBC Okanagan CFI Application Instructions & Deadlines (for UBC Okanagan applicants) is available below.

One month following the submission to CFI, a matching funds application must be submitted to the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF). A full BCKDF Step 1 proposal is part of the internal adjudication and selection of proposals. Refer to the BCKDF website for guidelines and application forms.

evaluation

Proposals are vetted internally and only strong proposals are selected for submission to CFI. As internal screening is rigorous, applicants are encouraged to prepare well-developed applications.

Apply

• IPO Notice of Intent (online form; CWL login required)
• UBCO Equipment Pre-Purchase
• CFI Policy and Program Terms
• JELF Guidelines
• BCKDF Guidelines and Forms

Key dates

UBCO Proposal Development Workshop: October 5, 2023. RSVP by email to nishat.tasnim@ubc.ca

*All deadlines are due at 12:00pm. Dates may change, please contact Nishat Tasnim to confirm.

Contact

Nishat Tasnim
Institutional Programs Officer, Strategic Initiatives and Operations
250-681-4133 Ext. 79451 | ADM006
nishat.tasnim@ubc.ca

CFI’s Innovation Fund program is a large-scale, team infrastructure grants program within CFI that requires a minimum request of $1 million. The fund provides continued investments in infrastructure across the full spectrum of research, from fundamental to applied, and also supports technology development.

Program Details

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

CFI’s permanent funding model permits Innovation Fund competitions at regular intervals of 24 to 30 months.

In anticipation of this program launch, the Office of the Vice-Principal, Research and Innovation (VPRI) is developing a plan to support the development of competitive IF proposals at UBCO.

INTERNAL PROCESS

In order to support the development of strong applications for UBC-wide selection, the Office of the Vice-Principal, Research and Innovation (VPRI) will work in collaboration with the Institutional Programs Office to advise research teams on the development of competitive IF proposals.

Key Dates

The CFI has released a tentative timeline for the 2025 Innovation Fund competition. Dates are subject to change.

• CFI issues call for proposals: Spring 2024
• Deadline to submit notices of intent: October 2024
• Deadline to submit proposals: February 2025
• Decision by CFI Board of Directors: November 2025

Contact

Pierre Rondier
Manager, Strategic Initiatives and Operations
250-807-9438 | ADM006I
pierre.rondier@ubc.ca