College and Community Innovation Program – College-University Idea to Innovation Grants

Important Information

• College and Community Innovation Program
• College and Community Innovation Program Financial Administration Guide

The College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program is managed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). All applications must be submitted to NSERC. CU‑I2I Grants support projects across the spectrum of the natural and social sciences, engineering, humanities and/or health sciences fields. Grants are given by NSERC, with the exception of funded proposals exclusively in the social sciences, humanities and/or health sciences, which will be given by SSHRC or CIHR, as appropriate.

Objectives

CU‑I2I Grants are intended to develop and strengthen research links between colleges, universities and businesses to accelerate the development of promising technologies and promote their commercialization into the Canadian marketplace.

Description

CU‑I2I Grants support college-university collaborations working with the business sector to realize successful commercialization. Direct project costs are shared by the company partner(s) and the CCI Program. Projects may span up to three years in duration.

All proposals require evidence of strong partnerships with firms, detailed planning, sound budget justification, and a clarity and focus of research objectives, and must clearly spell out the underlying assumptions, intended approaches, milestones and deliverables.

CU‑I2I Grants are intended to support college and university participation in the improvement or extension of existing company technology or commercial products, processes and/or services. Commercialization projects that seek to deliver new products, processes or services based on academic background intellectual property should seek support from NSERC’s Idea to Innovation Grants or CIHR’s Proof of Principle program.

CU‑I2I Grants can be up to $250,000 per year for both the college and university participants combined. The maximum grant for either participant is $125,000. Company partner contributions can be matched at a maximum level of 1:1 for both the college and university participants (e.g., if the company partner contribution is $100,000, NSERC will leverage this contribution with a maximum of $100,000 for the college participants and $100,000 for the university participants). The leverage ratio cannot exceed 1:1 for either institution, and the award amounts to the institutions do not have to be equal. Distribution of funds may vary from year to year.

Partnership Arrangement

CU‑I2I Grants capitalize on the broad spectrum of capacities available in Canadian colleges and universities. Either the college or university applicant can be the project lead. The project lead must be eligible to administer federal granting agency funds according to the eligibility requirements for colleges or universities (as appropriate) of at least one of the three federal granting agencies (NSERC, CIHR and/or SSHRC). Grants will be given to, and administered by, the project lead’s institution. Once the grant funds have been transmitted to the lead institution by NSERC, CIHR or SSHRC, the project lead institution will transfer funds to the other institution in accordance with the application’s approved budget.

The company partner(s) must participate in the project and contribute to the direct project costs of the applied research and development project with cash, in-kind contributions or a combination of both. 

Year-to-year funding profiles may change due to the progress of the project and the associated activities that are engaged by each of the institutional applicants. For example, one institution may receive the majority of funding in early years for technology development, while the other institution may receive greater amounts in later years for technology transfer activities.

NSERC will recognize only those in-kind contributions that are fully documented and considered essential to carry out the work outlined in the proposal. For a full discussion of the eligibility and value of in-kind contributions, refer to the Guidelines on Eligibility and Value of In-Kind Contributions section of the Guidelines for Organizations Participating in the College and Community Innovation Program.

Cash contributed before the proposal is submitted may be used to start the project, but NSERC will not recognize company funds spent more than three months prior to the submission date of the application. CU‑I2I Grant funds cannot be applied to expenses incurred prior to the project’s approval.

Note: To be eligible, a company partner must operate from a Canadian base and must be able to fully exploit the results of the applied research so that it will lead to significant economic benefit to the company and/or Canada. A sufficient maturity or capability must be demonstrated by at least one of the contributing company partners. If a company partner organization has been established within the past year, only under exceptional circumstances will it be considered to be an eligible partner organization. An exceptional circumstance may include, but is not limited to, detailed and well-justified information demonstrating the company’s ability to exploit the applied research results in a manner that will lead to significant economic benefits to the company and/or Canada. In all cases, companies must demonstrate the ability to exploit the project results. In this context, the capabilities and experience of the company and its staff are relevant.

Intellectual Property

NSERC makes no claim to the ownership of any intellectual property (IP) generated from the research it funds. As a general principle, colleges and universities need to develop and sign an agreement with each company partner on the ownership and disposition of IP arising from the CU-I2I Grant-funded applied research before initiating any CU‑I2I activities. Any agreements made regarding the ownership of the IP resulting from the CU‑I2I Grant-funded research must take into account the objective of CU‑I2I Grants—creating partnerships. This implies a sharing of eventual benefits between the partners commensurate with their respective contributions, and the sharing of the costs to protect the IP.

Application Procedures

NSERC must receive the application by the deadline date. Applications must be submitted using an Application for a Grant Form (Form 103), a Personal Data Form (Form 103CV or Form 100), and an Information Required from Organizations Participating in Research Partnerships Programs Form (Form 183A). An application must include at least one eligible college and one eligible university, as well as an eligible supporting company. Full instructions for the applicants and their company partner(s) for completing the forms and the on-line submission are found on NSERC's On-line Services page.

Review Procedures

All applications undergo peer review. Each CU‑I2I Grant application will be reviewed by external referees and their evaluation will be taken under consideration by the multidisciplinary College and Community (CCI) Review Committee during its deliberations. The CCI Review Committee will provide advice and comments on each application and will recommend to NSERC the applications to receive CU‑I2I Grants.

Note: Technology Transfer Offices (TTO) may submit applications on behalf of the university. As such, they would be responsible for the research expenditures, and would be expected to play an active role in the project management of the research activities.

Selection Criteria

Applications are evaluated on the following criteria:

• Technical merit: The project must be scientifically sound and technically feasible, and must promise to apply knowledge in an innovative manner and/or to lead to new knowledge. The project plan must be appropriate, sufficiently detailed and reasonable. For complex applications, the proposal must demonstrate adequate college and university support for the project by detailing the institutions’ specific commitments regarding the provision of financial support, equipment and/or access to facilities.
• Synergies from the college-university collaboration: The application must clearly demonstrate how the collaboration between the college, university and company partner(s) will lead to synergies and enhance the research proposal. This may include enhanced activities resulting from the:
  • enrichment of essential technical expertise;
  • availability of highly qualified personnel (HQP);
  • access to specialized research tools and facilities;
  • background IP; and
  • increased interactions with private-sector partners.
• Team expertise: The research team must have all the expertise required to address the project objectives competently and to complete it successfully. Institutional expertise may be complemented with the know-how residing with the company partner(s).
• Potential for innovation, technology transfer and commercial benefits: The proposal must identify how the proposed project will lead to commercialization impact for the company partner(s). For example, it must identify (in reference to company operations) potential new business opportunities, new or improved products or services, increased competitiveness, and the creation or maintenance of jobs. In addition, the proposal must demonstrate that the exploitation of the project results will benefit the Canadian economy within a reasonable time frame.
• Private-sector support: The company partner(s) must contribute an appropriate amount from its own resources to the project, consistent with the risks and rewards involved, and must be in a position to exploit the research results.
• Contribution to the training of highly qualified personnel: The proposal must include a student training component and should indicate how the knowledge and experience gained by students, research assistants or others (including company personnel) are relevant to developing practical applications of knowledge or to strengthening the industrial innovation and applied research base. The number of students trained is expected to be commensurate with the size of the project.
• Benefit to Canada: As well as the economic benefit to Canada described under the “Potential for innovation, technology transfer and commercial benefits” criterion above, the proposal should outline any additional economic, social and environmental benefits that could be realized in Canada.

Eligible Expenses

A list of all eligible expenses is detailed in the CCI Financial Administration Guide. The following specific limitations apply to CU‑I2I Grants:

• Certain expenditures related to project management are eligible as a direct cost of research up to a maximum of 10 percent of the total direct costs;
• Course load reduction costs for faculty are not eligible for universities;
• The maximum allowable percentage for operating and equipment costs expenditures will not exceed 20 percent of the total grant awarded to a recipient college or university; and
• Overhead costs are allowed up to 20 percent of the total award for both colleges and universities.

Reporting

The reporting requirements vary with the project duration:

• For projects up to 12 months in duration, grantees must send NSERC a final report and a Grants in Aid of Research – Statement of Account (i.e., Form 301). The company partner(s) will be asked to submit comments on the project's success directly to NSERC.
• For projects of more than one year, an annual Grants in Aid of Research - Statement of Account (i.e., Form 301) is required. Companies are required to confirm their continued participation in the project and indicate their level of satisfaction with the progress to date. Where the company satisfaction with the project’s progress is not clear, NSERC will request a progress report and appoint a technical liaison officer to assist in monitoring progress.

Final reports presenting the impacts of the research and development are required for all projects. In cases where the partner is a large consortium of private-sector companies and/or where a formal administrative structure exists within the consortia, one company or the consortium administrator may provide this report on behalf of the group if appropriate.

Based on the results obtained or problems encountered, grantees may propose amendments to the project objectives, milestones or budget. Grantees proposing to change the allocation of project resources by more than 20 percent per budget line-item require prior approval by NSERC and must provide NSERC with a revised budget, a rationale for the proposed change(s) and documentation from the partner(s) supporting the proposed change(s).

For projects of more than one year, the amounts of second and subsequent installments are contingent on a demonstrated need for NSERC funds. The next installment will not be released until the company partner(s) has made its previous year’s contribution(s), re-confirmed its commitment to contribute in the next year and commented on the project’s progress.

Grantees or companies that have failed to provide the requested feedback on projects may be declared ineligible to apply for, or sponsor, new proposals.