College and Community Innovation Program

Important Information

• Background – College and Community Innovation Program
• Useful Definitions for Applicants to the College and Community Innovation Program
• Frequently Asked Questions
• College and Community Innovation Grants Financial and Administration Guide

The College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program is managed by NSERC in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Objective

The objective of the CCI Program is to increase innovation at the community and/or regional level by enabling Canadian colleges to increase their capacity to work with local companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It supports applied research and collaborations that facilitate commercialization, as well as technology transfer, adaptation and adoption of new technologies.

Anticipated Impact of the Program

Over the long term, the CCI Program will increase the economic development of the community and create new quality jobs based on know-how and technological innovation. This will be achieved by increasing the capacity of the colleges to transform the results of research and development (R&D) into economic activities easier and faster.

The impact of the program will be demonstrated by:

• increased awareness by local industry of the capacity of the colleges to assist with applied research projects;
• involvement of the colleges with key industry and other relevant stakeholders in the community;
• increased involvement of faculty in applied research;
• increased applied research capacity at colleges;
• college students acquiring applied research knowledge and experience, and exposure to business work environments;
• new technologies and processes adopted by local industries and other organizations;
• increased applied research collaborations between colleges, local industries and other organizations;
• increased R&D investment by local industries and other organizations;
• increased productivity and competitiveness of local industries and other organizations;
• enhanced reputation of colleges as applied research partners for local industries and other organizations; and
• other specific impacts identified by the college.

Description

The CCI Program supports applied research and technology transfer in the four Canadian priority areas of research:

• environmental science and technologies;
• natural resources and energy;
• health and related life sciences and technologies;
• information and communications technologies;
• as well as in other areas of research that will advance the principles and goals of the Government of Canada’s science and technology (S&T) strategy, Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada’s Advantage.

The CCI Program will stimulate applied research that brings together necessary expertise from diverse fields such as natural sciences and engineering, social sciences and humanities, and/or health sciences to address business-driven problems.

CCI grants provide funding to colleges on a competitive basis to strengthen their applied research capacity, and carry out applied research and technology transfer activities (in collaboration with, and to the benefit of, industry, in particular SMEs) in one area where the college has recognized expertise and that meet local or regional needs and has the potential to increase economic development of the community.

Funding Level and Duration

Entry Level CCI grant

Funding – Years 1 and 2 – Base funding of up to $100,000 per year.

Five-Year CCI grant

Funding – Years 1 to 3 – Base funding of up to $500,000 per year.
Funding – Years 4 and 5 – Four-fifths of the annual base funding.

Grants are generally paid by NSERC. Proposals including research areas in the social sciences, humanities and/or health sciences are paid by CIHR or SSHRC, as appropriate.

To build the applied research capacity at the college and strengthen partnerships with local or regional industry, the program provides either a two-year or a five-year grant. For the two-year grant (Entry Level CCI grants), $100,000 per year for each of two years is provided. For the five-year grant, a base grant of up to $500,000 per year for the first three years. During the course of the grants, colleges are expected to increase progressively their complementarity and effective collaboration with local or regional companies, and other existing community resources. To ensure increased and sustained commitment and involvement from college partners, this program will provide only four-fifths of the annual base funding in the fourth and fifth years of the five-year grants. We expect that other sources of support would become available from industry and other partners (either cash or in-kind contributions). This will build-in the requirement for sustainability.

Each grant will be administered by an NSERC-eligible college and will be composed of a portfolio of fixed applied research projects and technology and knowledge transfer/outreach activities where funds could go to individuals, or teams of faculties, who will be working on specified collaborations with industry. The activities supported must be incremental to those already planned by the college, and the college must demonstrate this incrementality in its application. The grants are intended to be flexible and to accommodate a variety of activities and address the needs of a range of colleges (from small to large, rural to urban, etc.). All proposals must include a plan to involve faculty and students enrolled in programs at the college and how they will work with the local industry and, possibly, other relevant partners.

Eligibility

Only NSERC-eligible colleges may submit a CCI Letter of Intent (LOI).

The following exceptions to the NSERC institution eligibility requirements apply:

• The college must offer programs in the natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities and/or health sciences.
• The college’s faculty members involved in CCI grants are permitted to engage in research in the natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities and/or health sciences.
• The college will provide the basic facilities and services (including space) to enable its natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities and/or health sciences faculty members to conduct research.

Colleges must offer programs in line with the research area proposed in the CCI application. If an award is recommended for a proposal that does not include an NSE component, an appropriate mechanism will be put in place to enable the grant to be made through the appropriate granting agency (i.e., by SSHRC and/or CIHR).

Entry Level CCI grant

• Only colleges without a CCI grant are eligible to apply for an Entry Level CCI grant.
• If a college succeeded in obtaining a CCI grant, no further Entry Level CCI grant instalments would be paid.
• Colleges are not eligible to submit an Entry Level CCI grant proposal to the same competition to which they are submitting a Letter of Intent or full application for a CCI grant.

The Applicant

College and Community Innovation grants are institution grants. As such, it is expected that the applicant will be a senior manager in the administration of the College. While the applicant may be the College’s Research Grants Officer, the person authorizing the College’s application must be a peer or superior to the applicant.

College and Industry Participation

College

The college is responsible for:

• providing space and some support to faculty professors, as well as technical and other staff;
• applied research and technology transfer activities;
• providing accounting and financial reporting for NSERC funds and non-NSERC contributions;
• reporting on the grant progress.

At the application stage, the college will need to demonstrate existing applied research capacity and potential to strengthen it.

Industry

Industry must participate in the CCI grant and must be engaged at the application stage, as well as throughout the grant period. Colleges will have to demonstrate that they have leveraged in-kind support for the CCI proposal from industry partners that could benefit from the activities. Cash contributions from industry are also expected, but a minimum level is not required since most of the companies will be SMEs. NSERC expects to see an increasing level of industry contributions and engagement as the work progresses. At the LOI stage and at the full application stage, NSERC will require letters of support from industry.

The purpose of the program is to support collaboration with a range of companies. To ensure companies are involved in the grant, industry participation will be monitored closely throughout the grant and before releasing annual installments. Past and future contributions (in-kind and cash) from local or regional companies involved in the CCI grant will have to be reported on an annual basis to NSERC. Eligible industrial contributions considered by NSERC:

• must relate directly to the activities proposed by the college;
• must be for a collaborative applied research, not a contract for services rendered;
• that are cash contributed by the industrial partner, must be paid to the college (deposited in a grant account).

In-kind contributions must be valued according to NSERC’s Guidelines for Organizations Participating in Research Partnerships Programs. NSERC may reserve the rights to terminate or suspend a grant should industry no longer be involved in the initiative.

For five-year grants, at the time of the progress reports (18 months and 36 months), updated information on budget expenses, partner contributions, associated F183As and letters of support can be provided to NSERC to reflect additional partners that have joined the project (not applicable for the Entry level CCI grant).

Other Organizations

Even though not required, active participation and contributions (cash and in-kind) from government (provincial, municipal, federal) and any other organizations will strengthen the application since they broaden the impact of the application on the local or regional community.

To demonstrate the importance of the economic area of the CCI application, colleges will be encouraged to submit, as part of the full application, letter(s) of support confirming the needs for more applied research and technology transfer activities from local or regional industrial associations, chamber of commerce and/or provincial and federal government offices.

Application and Review Procedures

Applicants must comply with the CCI Program’s requirements related to the Use and Disclosure of Personal Information.

Entry Level CCI grant

There is a one-stage evaluation process for these grants. Proposals will be peer-reviewed against the established CCI Program selection criteria.

The application must include:

• an application for a College and Community Innovation Grant Program (Form 103), pages 1 to 3.
• a description of the proposed initiative (up to five pages) focusing on one thematic element of the college’s applied research capabilities or plans describing:
  • in short summaries, three to five key personnel in the project (perhaps three sentences per person);
  • the applied research to be carried out;
  • the involvement of industry, faculty and students and, if any, other relevant partners.
• a budget justification (one page only).
• a letter of support from at least one potential partner.
• a letter of support from the college.

Five-Year grant

There is a two-stage evaluation process. Both stages will be peer-reviewed against the established CCI Program selection criteria.

Stage I: Letters of Intent

Colleges must submit LOIs that describe:

• a plan for increasing the applied research capacity of the college in the area of the proposal and for facilitating its transfer to industry;
• the applied research to be carried out;
• the involvement of industry, faculty and students and, if any, other relevant partners;
• the fit of the proposal to the needs of local industry and the college’s strategic plan;
• in short summaries, three to five key personnel in the project (perhaps three sentences per person);
• the gaps in applied research capacity that need to be filled, the expected outcomes and benefits to local industry;
• the requested funds.

LOIs must:

• be prepared according to the detailed instructions for the program;
• be accompanied by a letter from the president of the college, outlining the institutional support for the application and the relation to the college’s strategic plan;
• include two letters from local companies, outlining their support of the need for applied research in the area of the application and describing how the initiative will benefit them and contribute to local and/or regional innovation.

LOIs will be evaluated based on the selection criteria listed below by a multidisciplinary CCI Review Committee, consisting of members nominated by NSERC who understand the role of colleges in economic development and their link with SMEs, and have experience in innovation activities at the community level. This committee will provide advice and comments on each LOI to the Private Sector Advisory Board (PSAB), that will then recommend to NSERC the colleges to be invited to submit full applications.

Applicants will be advised of the results of the LOI competition by the deadline dates indicated above. A confidential evaluation report including the comments of the multidisciplinary CCI Review Committee, as well as PSAB, will be made available to each applicant. Based on the review, applicants may be invited by NSERC to submit a full application.

Stage II: Full Application

Colleges proceeding to Stage II will be invited to submit full applications which will include:

• a description of the proposed initiative, including information on the involvement of students, faculty, and local industry and, if any, other relevant organizations;
• a work plan for the duration of the proposed initiative including performance measures;
• the strategic plan of the college;
• brief curricula vitae for those involved in managing the initiative and any faculty or professional/technical staff already identified as participants;
• a budget detailing the planned use of the funds;
• a letter from the president of the college, confirming the institutional support for the application and the relation to the college’s strategic plan;
• letters of support from a local industry and, possibly, any other relevant stakeholders (if any) that will be involved in and benefit from the initiative;
• an Information Required from Organizations Participating in Research Partnerships Programs (Form 183A) for each company making a cash and/or in-kind contributions to the projects; and
• a list of five possible reviewers to be suggested by the college from different sectors.

Colleges invited to submit full applications will be invited by NSERC to send a representative to participate in a workshop to assist them in preparing the full application. If requested, NSERC will allow participation of up to two additional college representatives at the workshop at their own expense.
The onus is on the college applicant to provide sufficient information to enable review committees to evaluate the relationship with other sources of support (held or applied for) and to recommend the appropriate CCI funding level. The consequence of not providing adequate information is that the PSAB may recommend reduced or no funding.

All full applications undergo peer review. Each CCI Five-Year grant application will be reviewed by external referees. The multidisciplinary CCI Review Committee will synthesize the results of the peer review of the individual applications and provide advice and comments on each application to the PSAB for its review. Based on the review, PSAB will recommend to NSERC the colleges to receive grants. For those full applications judged to be excellent, the PSAB may recommend a balanced distribution of grants across the different fields supported by the CCI Program.

Selection Criteria

LOIs and full applications will be judged in the context of the environment in which the college operates, including its available resources and opportunities, and the commitment of the college to undertake this initiative. Contributions to local innovation will be of primary importance.

To ensure that the program objectives are met, LOIs and full applications will be assessed against the CCI Program selection criteria outlined below.

Potential to Contribute to Local or Regional Innovation

• The extent to which the proposal addresses the needs of the local community or region, and the potential to have a significant and sustainable impact on local or regional innovation.
• The effectiveness of the plan for transferring technology to local or regional industry.
• The involvement of various partners in the community, specifically companies (especially SMEs) and, if any, other relevant stakeholders from the public sector and non-governmental organizations, as well as prospects for increasing commitments as the work progresses.
• The track record of the college in contributing to local or regional innovation and the potential to enhance its capacity to work with local or regional businesses.
• The quality and incrementality of the training and the need for these enhanced skills in the local community or region.

Excellence of the Proposal

• Focus and clarity of the specific objectives of the proposal.
• Quality and feasibility of the work plan.
• Merit of the applied research activities and their potential to achieve the objectives.
• The quality of the team and the availability of the right skills to accomplish the work plan.
• The appropriateness of the plan for involving faculty and students in the context of the strategic plan of the college.
• The quality and appropriateness of the administration and management of the initiative.

Need for, and Use of, Resources

• The demonstrated need for increased capacity for applied research in the area of the proposal at the college and for supporting technology transfer.
• The total resources available for this initiative from the college, the private sector and, if any, other sources such as public sector and non-governmental organizations.
• The overall budget and the justification of the individual budget items.
• The likelihood for this investment to result in sustainable capacity at the college allowing for continued collaboration with local industry in the area of the proposal.

Announcement of the competition results for full applications

Applicants will be advised of the results of the competition by the deadline date indicated above, and funding will commence shortly after. A confidential evaluation report including the comments of the expert reviewers, the multidisciplinary College Review Committee, as well as the PSAB will be made available to each applicant.

Grantees will be invited by NSERC to send a representative to participate in a workshop on how to manage the NSERC CCI grant. If requested, NSERC will allow participation of up to two additional college representatives at the workshop at their own expense.

Use of Funds

In principle, CCI funds must be used for direct costs of research; however, some limited funds could be used for operating and equipment costs (up to 20 percent of the total award), as well as for overhead and administration costs (up to 20 percent of the total award). This section summarizes eligible expenditures supported under a CCI grant. Further details are available in the College and Community Innovation Grants Financial and Administration Guide.

The following eligible expenditures are supported under a CCI grant, where attributable to the specific projects/activities undertaken.

Salaries

• Salaries and non-discretionary benefits for technical and professional staff carrying out applied research, research administrators, business development and technology and/or knowledge transfer personnel.
• Limited costs for course load reduction for faculty to support their involvement in applied research projects (e.g., about $7,000 per course load reduction).
• Student salaries and non-discretionary benefits/stipends (e.g., stipends as internships as per NSERC programs, up to $4,500) to support their involvement in applied research projects.

Please note that salary support as consulting fees or honoraria (additional to normal salary) to a college professor is not an eligible expense under the CCI grant.

Knowledge Dissemination/Networking

Knowledge and dissemination/sharing eligible expenses, limited to costs attributable to specific projects/activities to be undertaken, could include:

• costs relating to communications activities and networking, including hosting technical lectures and workshops, and attending professional and technical conferences and lectures; and/or
• activities aimed at increasing awareness of local industry of the applied research expertise available at the college, including literature, meetings and workshops; lectures and meetings and workshops open to the local community to raise awareness of the college’s work and to share results that could have an economic, social and/or environmental impact.

Research and Technology Transfer Support Services

Research and technology transfer support services eligible expenses, limited to costs attributable to specific projects/activities to be undertaken, could include:

• research planning and promotion, and public relations;
• pre-commercialization support services (e.g., intellectual property protection where appropriate, market studies, business plan development, counselling and technology evaluation);
• administration of invention patent applications;
• administration of agreements and partnerships with industry;
• support for technology licensing; and
• marketing of technology; data sets and data bases; software, computer models and other tools; survey instruments; and teaching materials arising from the applied research.

Please note that for most technology transfer expenses, costs must be shared with the partners.

Operating and Equipment

Operating and equipment expenses, limited to costs attributable to specific projects/activities to be undertaken, could include:

• maintenance and operation of the applied research facility and equipment;
• materials, supplies and other consumables necessary to conduct the applied research;
• small equipment to conduct the applied research;
• professional and technical services; and
• prototype development provided that a partner is involved to share in the costs of development.

The maximum allowable percentage for operating and equipment costs expenditures will not exceed 20 percent of the total grant awarded to a recipient college.
Funding cannot be used to support routine testing of samples or products or for technical consulting, or solely for the purchase of equipment. Requests for equipment must be incorporated into the CCI full application; separate equipment requests will not be accepted in this program.

Applicants must justify the need for the small equipment to effectively conduct the activities described in the proposal. CCI grants only support expenditures related to the purchase, installation and development of research equipment, as well as the operation of an applied research facility. Where CCI-funded equipment is later sold, NSERC expects that the proceeds will be re-invested in research. Expenses related to the construction, purchase or lease of a building are not eligible expenditures.

Overhead and Administration

As funding received through the CCI Program is not eligible for the Indirect Costs Program, colleges may request funds for overhead and administration costs attributable to the specific initiative, but not for general overhead and administration costs of the college as a whole. The maximum allowable percentage for overhead and administrative costs will not exceed 20 percent of the total grant awarded to a recipient college.

Overhead and administrative expenses are limited to costs attributable to specific CCI projects/activities and include:

• institutional support for the completion of grant applications/research proposals;
• acquisition, maintenance and/or the upgrade of information systems to track grant applications, certifications and awards;
• acquisition of library holdings;
• upgrades to research equipment;
• upgrades to research facilities and equipment to meet regulatory requirements;
• financial and other administrative services;
• training for faculty and other research personnel in animal care, ethics review, handling radiation and biohazards, and environmental assessments; and
• technical support for animal care.

The CCI Program does not support major infrastructure requests related to the initiative.

Note: During the tenure of the CCI grant, reallocation of more than 20 percent of any budget item to other items is permitted upon NSERC’s approval of a revised budget and justification for the changes.

Intellectual Property

NSERC makes no claim to ownership of any intellectual property (IP) generated from the research it funds.

The NSERC policy on intellectual property does not apply to the College and Community Innovation program. The intellectual property treatment for the College and Community Innovation program is described below.

At the full application stage, the college must describe a plan and a rationale on how to manage the IP generated by the grant. As a general principle, colleges need to develop and sign an agreement with each industrial partner on the ownership and disposition of IP arising from the CCI-funded applied research before initiating any CCI activities. Any agreements made regarding the ownership of the IP resulting from the CCI-funded research must take into account the CCI objective of creating partnerships. This implies a sharing of eventual benefits between the partners commensurate with their respective contributions, as well as the sharing of the costs to protect the IP.

Given the purpose of the projects and the fact that they are industry-driven, the college must have the right to use the new knowledge or technology in future teaching and research; and faculty and students must have the right to describe the project on their curricula vitae.

Reporting

CCI grants are monitored closely. The college is required to provide financial annual reports on expenditures and non-NSERC past and future contributions from industry and other partners. Major progress reports will be required:

Entry Level CCI grant

• after 12 months (before the release of the second year funding);

Five-Year CCI grant

• after 18 months (before the release of the third year funding);
• after 36 months (prior to the release of the fifth-year funding).

Performance will be based on the degree to which the objectives of the original proposal have been achieved and a demonstration of the short-term impacts. Release of subsequent instalments of the grant depends on satisfactory progress and ongoing industry participation.

For the Entry Level CCI Grant funding for the second year would depend on satisfactory progress, demonstrated by:

• the launch of at least three projects with partners;
• appropriate use of grant funds, and;
• demonstrated need for funds.

For the Five-Year CCI grant all applicants will be required in their full application to:

• provide baseline information on appropriate performance measures;
• identify any additional measures for their proposed activities;
• make projections on changes to these measures during the tenure of the CCI grant.

Within three months of the end of both Entry Level and Five-Year CCI grants, grantees must submit a final report:

• outlining the tangible and intangible outcomes of the funded activities;
• disclosing all sources of funding at the end of a project.