2024 Transformation: Frequently Asked Questions

The expectation is that projects submitted to and funded through the Transformation stream will be large-scale projects that address a defined problem and have the potential for significant impact. Smaller-scale projects designed to test or establish novel interdisciplinary approaches or ideas could be better suited for the Exploration stream.

One of the objectives of the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) is to increase collaboration among disciplines that do not traditionally conduct research together, in the hope of achieving new breakthroughs. The group-level Canadian Research and Development Classification (CRDC) codes are used to confirm that the proposed research meets a minimum threshold for interdisciplinarity.

To meet the requirements for the Transformation stream, the proposed research must also incorporate areas of research that fall under the mandates of at least two federal research funding agencies (the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) or the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Projects are expected to engage the full range of disciplines required to achieve the project goals.

The multidisciplinary review panel members will ultimately assess the interdisciplinarity and determine whether the proposed research meets the requirements.

The objective of the Transformation stream is to support projects with the potential to create significant change in addressing a well-defined problem, and not a program of research. The proposed project may be broken down into discrete phases, but it must constitute one larger project with distinct short-, medium- and long-term objectives. The grant duration is limited to six years; it is expected that the project will be completed within that time.

The objective of the Transformation stream is to support projects with the potential to create significant change in addressing a well-defined problem.

The objective of the Transformation stream is to support projects with the potential to create significant change in addressing a well-defined problem. While acknowledging that training of highly qualified personnel is important, and that this training may take place as part of the projects funded through the Transformation stream, a training program is not a “project” with specific short-, medium- and long-term objectives and, therefore, is not eligible.

An individual may apply to NFRF competitions in different streams concurrently (e.g., Exploration and Transformation), if the objectives of the proposed projects are independent. For example, an application to the Exploration stream should not propose a project that is included in an application to the Transformation stream. The objectives of the program’s three streams differ, and it is highly unlikely that a proposal would be appropriate for more than one stream.

If the proposed project’s objectives are different than the previously funded project’s and it fits the objectives of the NFRF competition, it could be eligible for submission to one of NFRF’s funding opportunities. Please contact NFRF to further discuss details specific to your proposed project.

A researcher who is a nominated principal investigator (NPI), co-principal investigator (co-PI) or co-applicant on an NFRF grant cannot be paid from CFREF grant funds. If a CFREF-funded researcher is an NPI, co-PI or co-applicant on a successful NFRF application, they must be paid from another source as of the start date of the NFRF grant. It is not possible to defer the start date of the NFRF grant to maintain CFREF salary support (or for any other reason).

If an individual is listed as a principal investigator (either nominated or co-PI) on more than one application, they will be required to remove themselves from all but one at the full application stage. In such cases, the application may be removed from competition if the team’s minimal requirements are not met.

A federal government employee who is formally affiliated with a Canadian academic institution as an adjunct professor is eligible to be a collaborator.

In cases where students, registered at the academic institution and formally supervised by the adjunct professor, will be participating in the research project, the adjunct professor is eligible to be a co-applicant. In such cases, the use of funds is limited to salaries or stipends and travel costs for the students under the adjunct professor’s supervision.

Adjunct professors are eligible to be a co-PI or co-applicant in exceptional cases where their planned contributions to the project do not fall within the mandate of their federal organization and will not be performed within the employer’s facilities or with the employer’s resources.

An individual whose primary affiliation is with an Indigenous government is eligible to be a co-PI, co-applicant or collaborator. For those who are co-PIs or co-applicants, eligible expenses are limited to those related to the execution of the project that are not within the mandate of the Indigenous government.

Individuals who are indirectly employed by a federal, provincial or municipal government (e.g., employees in police services, education, or health care) are eligible to be co-PIs or co-applicants, with their eligible expenses being limited to those that are related to the execution of the project and are not within the mandate of the individual’s organization of employment.

An early career researcher (ECR) is a researcher within five years of the start date of their first research-related appointment, minus the length of any eligible delays in research (e.g., illness, maternity, parental), as of the first month in which the competition is launched. More details are available in the competition overview under the Early Career Researcher section. An ECR must also be considered an independent researcher.

ECRs must be included as confirmed members in all teams.

The research administrator of the NPI’s primary affiliation will confirm the ECR status of team members (if applicable). At any point in time, staff may request additional information to verify an applicant’s ECR status.

All eligible leaves (including parental, medical, bereavement and family care) that occurred after your first academic appointment will be considered, as long as they adhered to the requirements of your institution. The amount of time deducted for eligible leaves will be doubled, prolonging the period for which you remain eligible as an ECR.

For example, if the date used for calculating ECR eligibility is January 1, 2019 (please consult the competition overview for the actual ECR eligibility date for your competition), your first academic appointment was on September 1, 2012, and in 2014 you began a parental leave for a period of one year, your calculation for ECR eligibility would be as follows:

Since the maximum allowable duration to have ECR status since your first academic appointment is five years (or 60 months), you would, in the above example, be eligible to apply to this funding opportunity as an ECR.

Research interruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., closures) are recognized as, and may be counted as, eligible delays (credited at twice the amount of time) beginning March 1, 2020.

The agencies defer to your institution’s policy on what is considered a part-time appointment. Please contact the institution where the appointment is or was held to confirm whether it was part-time or full-time.

An academic appointment is one in which an individual holds a position at a postsecondary institution (either in Canada or internationally) that allows them to be an independent researcher. It does not include positions where the individual is under the supervision of another person. An academic appointment can include part-time positions, contract positions, adjunct and sessional instructors.

While it may be the policy of certain institutions to consider postdoctoral fellowships an academic appointment, for the purpose of this funding opportunity it is not considered to be one.

The team must reflect the required expertise, experience and resources required to meet the project’s objectives. The Transformation stream has been designed with flexibility in mind to allow projects of varying scope, size and focus to be eligible. The appropriate team size can vary between projects.

At the NOI stage, a minimum of five confirmed members (excluding collaborators) is required. Additional members can be added at each stage of the competition process.

Core members of the team must be confirmed when the LOI is submitted.

Can changes be made to the project team (e.g., change of role, removal)?

It is highly recommended that the NPI ensure that the most appropriate individuals are added to the team and matched with the appropriate role prior to the submission of the LOI.

A minimum budget has been set to provide direction on the scale of projects that are expected to meet the expectations of having transformative potential, while also acknowledging that different types of research incur varying costs. Requested budgets should be an accurate reflection of the cost of undertaking the project as it is proposed. The focus of the evaluation is on the approach to the challenge, the potential impact of the proposed project and the likelihood of real change. The requested budget size will not factor into the evaluation of these aspects but will be reviewed to assess the relevance and appropriateness of the planned expenses.

The NFRF program uses the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration to determine the eligibility of expenses and the guidelines for the use of funds related to the direct costs of research. Exceptions to those policies for NFRF grants can be found in the Use of Grant Funds section of the Competition Overview. Limits for specific expenses have not been set for Transformation grants; the multidisciplinary review panel and jury will be asked to consider the relevance and appropriateness of the planned expenses as part of their evaluation.

Funding will only be available to applications awarded a grant. Funding is not provided to assist in the development of applications.

A budget needs to be confirmed at the LOI stage. If an application is invited to the full application stage, team members will be able to update the budget table in the Convergence Portal, and will also be required to submit a second more detailed Excel budget table.

No. There is no mechanism to renew a grant. Teams may apply for a new grant for a new project that builds on their successes, or for a project in a completely different area, after the completion of their grant.

Given the expected scale of the projects to be funded, with contributions from multiple partners, there is a need for clear management approaches to ensure that the project remains on track, that resources (including grant funds) are allocated appropriately and that changes can be made to project plans or directions, if needed, following unanticipated results. Management plans ensure that roles and responsibilities are assigned and that processes are in place to ensure appropriate oversight.

If the participant is from North America, they may self-identify as Indigenous (e.g., First Nations, Métis, Inuit or North American Indian). If the participant is from outside North America (e.g., New Zealand), they may self-identify as a member of a visible minority in the Canadian context. While we acknowledge Indigenous Peoples outside of North America, data collected through the Convergence Portal helps in evaluating participation among Indigenous Peoples within the Canadian context.

There is no mechanism to include a letter of support in the application. A description of the support can be included in the Budget Justification section.

There is no mechanism to include letters of support in the application. A description of the support can be included in the Budget Justification section (in the case of cash or in-kind contributions) and in the application itself. The time commitment of the individual(s) at the partner organizations will demonstrate their support and interest in contributing to the project meeting its objectives.

In the Convergence Portal, include all of your current affiliations and identify your primary affiliation. Include the affiliation associated with your NOI, even if you have not yet started the appointment. Enter both your current and your upcoming affiliations, indicating your current affiliation as your primary one. In the eligibility profile, when asked to choose the affiliation associated with your application, select your upcoming one.

No. There are no quotas or limits to the number of applications from one institution, but research administrators are expected to submit only applications that comply with eligibility requirements and fit the program.

The list of NOIs that a research administrator can view is based on the affiliation the NPI selected in their eligibility profile. Before contacting the Helpdesk, please confirm with the NPI that they selected your institution as their primary affiliation in the Participant Eligibility section.

If the status of the application is:

• in progress, there is no need to return it, as the NPI has not yet submitted it to the research administrator;
• received by administrator, you can return the application by clicking “Return to applicant”;
• received by agency, it can no longer be returned to the applicant, as it has already been submitted to the agencies.

The same terms and conditions are used in the Research Portal. There is no formal mechanism for notifying institutions if any of their employees are co-PIs or co-applicants in an application. An NPI’s research administrator is responsible for informing the institutions. Each institution can develop its own process to address this clause. No copies of the written approval will be requested from the agencies for submission.

Transformation grants are awarded to an NPI at an eligible institution. The grants are administered by the institution, but under the direction of the NPI and co-PIs, if applicable.

Yes. NFRF follows CIHR’s Considerations when paying patient partners in research.

Indirect costs can equal up to 25% of the direct costs of the proposed research. For more information, please refer to the indirect costs section of the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration and the Research Support Fund’s list of eligible and ineligible expenditures.

A breakdown of the indirect costs is not required, but these costs must be included as an amount in the budget table. The NPI’s research administrator will need to confirm that the indirect costs are appropriate before they forward the application.

The amount being claimed is allocated to the NPI’s primary affiliation (the administering organization) to offset the indirect costs of proposed research. It is not possible to increase the amount of direct costs being requested by reducing the amount of indirect costs.

Indirect costs are incurred where the research is done. Accordingly, indirect costs are expected to be shared among applicants in the same proportion that the direct costs would be shared (if applicable). The administering organization (i.e., the NPI’s primary affiliation) will administer the process.

Agreements are required, as outlined in the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration. Institutions may adopt any additional agreements or MOUs as they see fit, but it is not a requirement of the program.

Institutions may use whatever processes are eligible under the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration.

The NPI, co-PI and co-applicants have authority to expend only the funds supporting the direct costs of research. The host institution has authority to expend the funds for the indirect costs. It is expected that the host institution will distribute a portion of these costs to the institutions of the co-PI and/or co-applicants.

The Statement of Account Form (PDF, 500 KB) (Form 300) is to be used to report the annual financial expenditures for NFRF grants. Two accounts must be created at the host institution for each grant: one account to track expenditures related to the direct costs of research and another to track expenditures related to the indirect costs of research. The indirect funds received for a NFRF grant must not be transferred to the Research Support Fund account at the institution.

Only one Statement of Account Form (PDF, 500 KB) (Form 300) per grant is required to report expenditures. The expenditures of indirect funds, therefore, must be included. This is to be captured in line item 11 (Other Expenditures) as a single value. A breakdown of expenditures is not required for indirect costs. It is expected that the expenditure of indirect funds will be proportional to the expenditure of direct research funds, as reflected in the application.

For example, if a nominated principal investigator was awarded $3,000,000 for direct costs and $750,000 for indirect costs in Year 1 and they only spent $1,500,000 for direct costs, the amount charged for indirect costs would be: ($750,000 ÷ $3,000,000) × $1,500,000 = $375,000.

Email NFRF-FNFR@chairs-chaires.gc.ca, copying the individuals you wish to add and providing an explanation for their inclusion in the project, along with first name, family name, role on the project (i.e. co-applicant or collaborator), position or role in their organization, department (optional), organization, and country of organization. The request will be reviewed and other information may be requested prior to a decision being made regarding the inclusion of additional participants.

Yes. As per the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration, the administering institution (the NPI’s primary affiliation) may require international researchers to provide a letter from their employer attesting that the individual is not being compensated by the employer for time spent on the grant-funded research/activities.

All funded projects will undergo a mid-term review by a multidisciplinary review panel. The mid-term review will assess the project’s progress to date, as well as the plan for the time remaining in the grant. The assessment will consider whether the project has met milestones and is on track to meet all long-term objectives within the time remaining. Given that research is, by its nature, driven by hypotheses and that outcomes are uncertain, it is understood that approaches, goals and objectives may have to be modified as the project progresses. If unanticipated outcomes from early stages have required a shift in the focus or approach, the mid-term review will allow for the new direction to be evaluated.

If the results of the mid-term review are unsatisfactory, the NFRF Steering Committee has the option to direct the termination of the funding.

We value our community’s feedback, and it helps us shape future competitions. You may direct your feedback to NFRF-FNFR@chairs-chaires.gc.ca.