Procedures

BUDGET

1) Release of NSERC Funding

NSERC will release $1 million funding for the first year and $1,125,000 for years 2-5 in 2 installments per year according to the schedule outlined in the Terms & Conditions of the Award. In order for each installment to be released, the following are required:

  • Progress Reports Theme Summary Reports and updated Milestones will be submitted 2 times per year and Form 300’s will be requested annually for the period April 1st to March 31st: completed by the Theme and Project Leaders along with the Research Services offices of the partner universities. (See more under Reporting).
  • Scientific Committee Meetings 2 times per year (once in person at the AGM’s and once via WebEx) to review and approve progress reports and budgets and report to the Network Advisory Board.
  • Advisory Board Meetings 1-2 times per year (in person at the AGM’s and via WebEx, as required) to review the progress reports, budgets and recommendations from the Scientific Committee and Lead PI/Scientific Director. (The NSERC Account Manager, Ms. Jennifer Mills, is a member of the Board of Governors.) (See more under Meetings in the following sections).

Note #1: all partner universities must prove “need” by spending at least 50% of each installment and not having a large “carry-over.” Total remaining funds from the annual budget for all 6 partner universities must not exceed $250K in order for the release of the next installment of funding from NSERC.

Note #2: Major deviations of more than 20% from the approved budget must be justified and approved by the Scientific Committee and the Advisory Board. In addition, the numbers of HQP should follow the numbers and salaries as outlined for each Theme in the Research Proposal.

2) Transfer of NSERC Installments to Partner Universities

As each installment is released by NSERC, UBC will arrange for the transfer of budget funding to the other 6 university partners on a bi-annual basis. Please see the NSERC Revised Terms and Conditions of Award in the Reference Material section on this page for details of the NSERC installment dates and amounts.

Industry Contributions and Transfers

UBC:  The Industry Partners for UBC (Pratt & Whitney Canada, Sandvik, Boeing (USA), ITRI) will be invoiced for their contributions annually (due July 1) and when the contributions are received in UBC’s University-Industry Liaison (UILO) office, instructions will be given to UBC Research and Trust Accounting to transfer the Pratt & Whitney Canada funds to the designated partner universities (McMaster, École Polytechnique, Waterloo, and Calgary). These contributions are handled on a cash-only basis and transfers will only be made after the funds have been received and deposited at UBC. UBC has received $100,000 from Tenaris Tamsa to cover 3 years. The Scientific Committee will review support from Tenaris Tamsa year 4.

McMaster: The Industry Partner for McMaster University will be invoiced directly by McMaster annually. Honda will send their contributions directly to McMaster.

Waterloo:  The Industry Partners for Waterloo (Cadlink, Ontario Drive and Gear, and Danobat) will be invoiced for their contributions annually (due July 1) and when the contributions are received in UBC’s University-Industry Liaison (UILO) office, instructions will be given to UBC Research and Trust Accounting to transfer the funds to Waterloo. These contributions are handled on a cash-only basis and transfers will only be made after the funds have been received and deposited at UBC.

Calgary: The Industry Partner for Calgary (SMIC-Korea) will be invoiced for their contributions annually (due July 1) and when the contributions are received in UBC’s University-Industry Liaison (UILO) office, instructions will be given to UBC Research and Trust Accounting to transfer the funds to Calgary. These contributions are handled on a cash-only basis and transfers will only be made after the funds have been received and deposited at UBC.

3) Overhead

Overhead on NSERC Funding: There is no overhead charged on Tri-Council grants as universities receive an overhead allocation for these grants from Ottawa.

Overhead on Industrial Funding: Industrial funds will be sent to the universities indicated in the original Budget. Each school will deduct the overhead according to their policies. UBC will not deduct any overhead on behalf of the other schools.

Each school’s overhead policy is different, and none or only a small part of the overhead may return to the research group in each school. The (researchers) are free to use them as soft funds as they see fit. CANRIMT has no control on the overheads at the partner universities.

4)   Salaries

From Research Proposal:

Ph.D.: $21,250/yr for 4 years ($85K total)
Master’s: $17,500/yr for 2 years ($35K total)
Undergraduate student stipends (UG) (4 months): $6K/student total
PDF: $50K/yr (including benefits)
Res. Eng. $70K/yr (average, including benefits)

NOTE: External funding for students is to be reported to the Network Coordinator for the budget summary.

MEETINGS

  • Scientific Committee Meetings 2 times per year (once in person and once via WebEx)

    (2017) 1st Meeting (WebEx – February 24, 2017)
    (2017) 2nd Meeting (May 29, 2017 – AGM and VMPT Conference, École Polytechique)

  • Advisory Board Meetings 1-2 times per year (once in person at AGM and once via WebEx, as required.)  One Board meeting per year will be combined with NSERC CANRIMT presentations at annual Canadian conferences (CANCAM, CSME and CIRP).

    (2016) 1st Meeting
    (WebEx – September 19, 2016)
    (2017) 2nd Meeting
    (May 29, 2017 – AGM and VMPT Conference, École Polytechique)
  • Technology Transfer Committee Meetings
    The Technology Transfer Committee Meetings will be scheduled by the Chair of the Technology Transfer Committee, Mr. Don McIntosh, Pratt & Whitney, Canada.

REPORTING

  • Progress Reports & Summary Reports (forms available under the Templates menu) : Progress reports for each project and summary reports for each Theme will be requested 2 times per year.
    Progress Reports will be required (and DUE) for the following periods (the Theme Summary Reports will be due approximately 2 weeks after the Progress Report deadline). Note: Late submission of the Progress Reports may result in the report not being sent to the Network Scientific Committee and Advisory Board for review.

     Reporting Period                                         Report DUE date            
      July 1, 2016 – January 31, 2017   January 15,  2017
     February 1, 2017 – April 30, 2017  April 28, 2017 (for AGM)
     May 1, 2017 – October 31, 2017  October 15, 2017
    November 1, 2017 – April 30, 2018  April 15, 2018
     May 1, 2018 – October 31, 2018  October 15, 2018
     November 1, 2018 – April 30, 2019  April 15, 2019
    May 1, 2019 – October 31, 2019  October 15, 2019
     November 1, 2019 – April 30, 2020  April 15, 2020
     May 1, 2020 – October 31, 2020 October 15, 2020
    November 1, 2020 – April 30, 2021  April 15, 2021

    Note: reporting deadlines are FIRM; any delay in submitting a report may result in its not being included in the material submitted to the Scientific Committee and the Advisory Board for review. This may result in the cancellation of the project.

  • Milestones (latest version available under the Research menu):
    Project milestones will be updated by each project leader along with their progress reports.
  • Form 300 (NSERC)(form available under the Templates menu):
    Each university partner will be required to complete a Form 300 1 time per year.
    These forms will be submitted to NSERC along with the UBC annual budget report for the Network.
  • Theme Summary(form available under the Templates menu):
    Each theme leader will be required to complete a Theme Summary 2 times per year.
  • NSERC Mid-Term Report (form available under the Templates menu):
    The 30-month report is due on January 31, 2018.
  • NSERC Final Report (form available under the Templates menu):  The NSERC Final Report will be due on June 30, 2021.