The CFI launched the following Call for Proposals in October 2002 for its Fourth Innovation Fund Competition.

The Call for Proposals is reproduced in this section.

Reaching for new heights

To be successful in the global knowledge-based economy and to address today’s health, environmental, and social challenges, Canada must focus on excellence and innovation. It needs to support the research that will lead to groundbreaking discoveries at a time when new knowledge is being created faster than ever. The ability of Canada’s research community to compete at the forefront requires, among other things, access to state-of-the-art infrastructure to tackle research that is increasingly multidisciplinary and sophisticated.

CFI investments of almost $2 billion in research infrastructure over the past five years are having a significant impact on the capacity of the Canadian research community to compete internationally. State-of-the art infrastructure is helping to:

• transform the way research is done;
• create a strong and vibrant research environment across Canada;
• attract and retain excellent researchers;
• enhance research productivity and the training of highly qualified people;
• build new national and international networks and partnerships.

The research enabled by this infrastructure is generating benefits for Canada through new products and services, as well as leading to health, environmental, and social improvements.

Now is the time to take our research capacity to the next level. With this Fourth Innovation Fund Competition, the CFI challenges Canadian institutions and their researchers to go one step further by reaching for new heights of excellence, improving their competitiveness, and attaining international leadership. This will help Canada to achieve its goal of being one of the most innovative societies in the world-socially, economically, and technologically for the benefit of all Canadians.

The Innovation Fund enables institutions to strengthen their research infrastructure in all areas of research, including the social sciences and humanities.

The CFI requires institutions to have strategic research plans that set priorities based on their strategic vision for the future. Institutions are especially encouraged to set priorities in areas that integrate ideas and knowledge from many disciplines and sectors and that build on their distinct advantages.

The CFI expects that institutions will submit only projects of exceptional quality that are consistent with their strategic research plans and reflect institutional priorities. The CFI will require that institutions indicate in their proposals the ways in which they will support these projects (e.g. institutional resources committed to capitalize on the proposed infrastructure, the creation of new research positions or research chairs in these areas, etc.). It will also be important to provide a convincing case that sufficient research and operating funds will be available to maximize the use of the research infrastructure being requested.

The CFI urges institutions to develop projects that anticipate future research infrastructure needs and that build Canada’s capacity for innovation. The reports on eight thematic workshops held in 2001 may be a valuable resource in this regard.

The CFI will contribute to institutional infrastructure projects that:

• promote innovative research that is currently beyond the means of Canadian institutions, and that is linked to new ideas and concepts, as well as to different and better ways of performing research;
• capitalize on excellent research opportunities that draw on the local, national, and international intellectual capital;
• attract and retain the best researchers;
• create a stimulating and innovative training environment that will prepare Canadians for research and other careers that will benefit Canada;
• support the development of novel research instrumentation;
• create opportunities to fuel the development of clusters, including the commercialization of research results;
• lead to new public policies and improvements in society.

Innovative research may require multidisciplinary approaches and contributions from individuals from a variety of institutions or sectors. The CFI therefore encourages institutions, where appropriate, to come together in regional or national consortia, and to plan cooperatively to acquire or develop infrastructure. The development of partnerships and cooperative arrangements within the institution and with other public or private organizations should help establish clusters and networks of related infrastructure. This will allow for better research, and the more effective and efficient use of available research resources.

How much funding is available?

Taking into account the commitments made to date, the CFI will invest no more than $450 million in the 2003 Innovation Fund Competition. The next Call for Proposals for the Innovation Fund will likely be announced in 2005.

Will support be provided for operations and maintenance costs?

The CFI will contribute to the operating and maintenance costs of projects funded under the Innovation Fund through its Infrastructure Operating Fund. Up to $135 million will be available for this purpose.

When submitting a proposal, institutions must provide an outline of the anticipated operating costs, as well as an indication of the sources of funding for these costs for the first five years of operation of the infrastructure. In doing so, institutions must demonstrate that they have adequate funds to ensure that the infrastructure will be operational and sustainable for at least five years.

Who is eligible to apply?

Universities, colleges, hospitals, and not-for-profit research institutions that have been recognized as eligible by the CFI can apply, provided they have filed the summary of their strategic research plan with the CFI, and signed an institutional agreement.

What projects are eligible?

The CFI expects that total project costs should be a minimum of $150,000. Given that the CFI will provide funding for up to 40% of the eligible costs (see Section 2.4) of a project, this represents a minimum CFI contribution of $60,000.

Note the following important conditions:

• In-kind contributions from external partners and cash expenditures by the institution must have taken place after January 1, 2002.
• In the Equipment category, individual items costing less than $8,000 are ineligible.

Further, the infrastructure will be located at an eligible institution(s) or at any other location, as specified in the application. Infrastructure may be located outside an eligible institution when it can be shown that this is the most effective way to proceed, and as long as the eligible institution(s) still has majority interest and exercise de facto control over the use of the infrastructure. Construction/renovation costs at another location may also be considered eligible in exceptional circumstances.

Are there additional guidelines for specific types of infrastructure?

See Section 5 for specific types of infrastructure (i.e. campus networks, construction, databases, high performance computing, and digital libraries). The following paragraphs highlight some of the major changes.

Databases

The CFI funding of databases will focus on the design, development, or acquisition of a research database to the point that it is ready for exploitation by a designated research community. The costs of primary data collection are ineligible, as this activity is deemed an integral part of the research process.

Construction of New Buildings and Major Renovations

The CFI will fund proposals seeking a contribution towards the construction of a new building or development of new space (e.g. new floors) in an existing building only when it is essential to house equipment and other eligible infrastructure being acquired. The CFI will fund the construction cost of space of the size and type necessary for housing the infrastructure, which could include some previously acquired equipment. However, justification for new or renovated space must be based primarily on the infrastructure being acquired.

Infrastructure projects that include construction of new buildings or major renovations must be well beyond the conceptual stage at the time of submission. The institution will normally have defined the needs for the building, explored and decided upon the best feasible option, and have reliable estimates of the construction costs, such as a quantity surveyor’s report.

Institutions have 18 months following the award announcement to begin the building phase of the project. Should an institution not be able to reach the building phase of the project within that time frame, the CFI's contribution to the construction will normally be withdrawn. In exceptional cases, the CFI may grant an extension of a few months if a compelling justification is provided.

The transfer of funds from other budget items into construction costs will not be allowed after award finalization. Please refer to Sections 7.6.1 and 7.6.3 for further details.

What is the application process?

Applying organizations must:

• By November 22, 2002: submit a request for eligibility status if eligibility has not yet been established and the organization wishes to participate in the 2003 competition (see Section 2).
• By December 18, 2002: submit electronically a Notice of Intent (NOI) for each project, and a covering letter signed by their President/CEO, listing all the NOIs the institution is submitting, along with one complete paper copy of each NOI. A NOI must be submitted in order to submit an application. The revised NOI form is available.
• By May 30, 2003: provide the CFI with the most recent Strategic Research Plan Summary. This should be in the common format agreed on for the CFI and the Canada Research Chairs.
• By May 30, 2003: submit the complete application(s) electronically and provide a covering letter signed by their President/CEO, listing all the proposals the institution is submitting, along with one complete paper copy of each application.

The revised application forms should be available on the CFI website in December 2002. Please note that the CFI CV module will continue to be used. While the CFI is participating in the discussions of the “Common CV,” the CFI will not accept the Common CV for this competition.

How will the CFI use the Notices of Intent?

The CFI will publish the list of NOIs received on its website to encourage institutions that have similar projects to consider potential collaborations or joint initiatives where appropriate to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the infrastructure. In addition, the CFI may draw attention to possible project overlaps and synergies.

Should the NOIs indicate that the competition will be heavily over-subscribed, the CFI may find it necessary to urge institutions to be even more selective.

The CFI will also use the information in the NOI to plan the assessment process.

What are the assessment criteria?

The CFI will evaluate proposals on the basis of the three criteria that reflect its mandate:

1. Quality of research and need for the infrastructure

• Quality, innovation, and transformative potential of the research
• Research contributions of the principal user(s) or their potential to capitalize on innovative research opportunities
• Effectiveness and efficiency of the infrastructure in the context of the research
• Effective management, operation, and maintenance of the infrastructure on an ongoing basis

2. Contribution to strengthening the capacity for innovation

• Enhance the institutional capacity in its strategic research priority areas
• Build regional or national capacity for innovation and for international competitiveness in the research area(s)
• Attract and retain the best researchers or those with the highest potential
• Create a stimulating and enriched environment for training highly qualified personnel
• Strengthen multidisciplinary approaches, collaborations among researchers and partnerships among institutions or sectors

3. Potential benefits of the research to Canada

• Contribute to job creation and economic growth in Canada
• Support improvements to society, quality of life, health, and the environment, including the creation of new policies in these areas

To be funded, a project must satisfy all three criteria to a degree appropriate to the size and complexity of the project.

What happens if the total value of recommended projects exceeds the budget available?

Should the $450 million budget provided for the competition be insufficient to fund all proposals recommended by the Multidisciplinary Assessment Committees (MACs), a committee will be tasked with recommending-among projects of comparable merit overall-those that most effectively support the mandate of the CFI and research in Canada. To this end, it will take into account strategic considerations, including the following:

• Transformative capacity of the research and its potential social and economic benefits to Canada
• Ability of the proposed infrastructure to serve the research communities in a region or across the country
• Distribution of projects among fields of research
• Institutional priorities or provincial priorities, where available
• Distribution of awards among institutions

How will the CFI assess proposals?

The CFI will verify proposals for eligibility and completeness, and may request additional material to ensure that all essential information is available for the assessment. The assessment of each proposal will be tailored to the nature and complexity of the proposal. Various mechanisms will be used, including written external reviews, as well as expert committees for groups of similar or related proposals.

If an institution expresses an interest, the CFI will design jointly with the federal granting agencies an assessment process for applications seeking significant amounts of research funding directly related to the infrastructure. Institutions are asked to advise the CFI of their interest in pursuing such an option at the time of submission of the NOIs.

All proposals and assessments will be forwarded to one of several Multidisciplinary Assessment Committees (MACs) which together will be responsible for reviewing all proposals and making recommendations on funding to the CFI Board. Each MAC will review applications from institutions in one of the following three categories:

• Category A: Degree-granting institutions receiving more than 1% of federal granting agency funding; hospitals; not-for profit organizations.
• Category B: Degree-granting institutions receiving less than 1% of federal granting agency funding.
• Category C: Colleges that do not confer degrees.

The category of an application will be determined according to the applicant. By participating as a co-applicant, an institution may be involved in more than one category. There are no separate funds set aside for particular categories of institutions.

The CFI will use the same general considerations to choose members for all MACs. In addition, members of the MACs assessing category B and C projects will be specifically chosen for their understanding of the environment and of the niches of innovative excellence in these institutions. This will allow for consideration to be given regarding differences in the research environment and the nature of the projects found in smaller universities and colleges.

These differences (e.g. number of researchers, level of participation of highly qualified personnel, nature of the projects, linkages with other sectors, linkages with local industry) fall mainly under the assessment of the contribution for strengthening the capacity for innovation. The quality of the research, the need for the infrastructure, as well as the benefits to Canada will be assessed according to the same standards across the three categories.

The CFI will establish a committee that will review the MACs’ recommendations to ensure consistency among the MACs. This same committee will also be tasked with recommending those projects that most effectively support the mandate of the CFI and research in Canada, should the budget provided for this competition be insufficient to fund all recommended projects.

Who will make the decisions and when?

The CFI Board of Directors will make the final decision on funding for each project at its March 2004 meeting. Summary comments will be provided to the institutions for all projects.

When and how will institutions find out competition results?

Institutions will be informed of competition results shortly after the decisions of the CFI Board of Directors. Lists of successful applications will be published on the CFI website. Institutions will also be informed of comments pertaining to each project and of any funding conditions related to a project. It is the responsibility of the recipient institution to submit the documents necessary to finalize the award amount and the payment schedule for each approved project (see Section 7.2).

Are any public announcements planned?

The CFI will make a national public announcement of the Board decisions within two weeks, whenever possible. Events are organized in various locations across Canada at an institution that has been awarded funds. Institutions are not to make these decisions public until the announcement is made. We also look for other opportunities to work with institutions on local/regional announcements related to awards to institutions following the national event.