FAQ
Can SFU help me apply to these opportunities?
Absolutely. Please contact your Research Grants Facilitator in the first instance, in the case of funding opportunies, or the Major Awards Office with regard to major non-discipline-specific awards, honours and prizes.
What is an “internal deadline” for submitting applications to these opportunities?
The internal deadline—usually a few business days before the funding agency’s deadline—is the date when SFU’s Office of Research Services needs to receive a complete application package (through ors@sfu.ca), including the signed signature sheet, to ensure the application is in good order for submission and that all proposed resources have been approved, if and when funded. Applications received after the internal deadline will be processed to the best of our abilities after applications that were received on time are submitted. Because ORS processes a large number of submissions for concurrent funding opportunities, we cannot guarantee full diligence (e.g. completeness of application package, inconsistencies, regulatory requirements, indirect costs, etc.) for late submissions.
SFU’s requirements for submitting funding applications can be found here. If you think there are special challenges with your application, please contact us for assistance at an early stage.
In the case of institutional award nominations, internal deadlines are set far in advance of the agency’s deadline so that Institutional Strategic Awards can manage institutional quotas and prepare materials for submission. Please refer to the individual opportunity page for details or contact awards@sfu.ca.
Why isn’t field [x] on the list of disciplines?
The database includes a list of academic areas so that funding opportunities can be tagged with the areas that qualify, in order to facilitate a useful, at-a-click way to search for the opportunities most relevant to you. Choosing the classifications requires a trade-off between brevity and granularity, so not every academic area you might be familiar with is included by name. However, after some research, the Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (with slight modifications) was found to offer a good balance of precise divisions, complete coverage, and compactness. (As an aside, the Tri-Agencies are currently considering adopting this classification system in their upcoming systems refresh). Any academic field can fit fairly intuitively into one (or more) of the articulated categories (detailed examples). If you disagree, let’s talk about it – email ors@sfu.ca.
Why am I getting emails from the Funding and Award Opportunities database? How can I change the emails I receive?
When the system sends a reminder or update about a particular funding or award opportunity, everyone who is subscribed to a relevant topic will get that email. You can make sure you are subscribed only to the topics you are interested in by visiting https://ops.its.sfu.ca/Home/Subscribe. If you do not wish to receive any emails from the database, simply uncheck every topic.
I am not receiving email updates that I think I should be.
First, check whether you are subscribed to the topics that should be associated with the opportunities you want to be notified about. If that is not the problem, the right topics might not have been associated with the opportunities in question (you can see them listed under the opportunity on its detail page). In that case, drop us a line (ors@sfu.ca) and we’ll rectify it.
Can I request notifications about a specific opportunity?
No. Your notifications are determined by the topics you are subscribed to. Particular opportunities are selected for notifications, and everyone who is subscribed to the topic(s) relevant to those opportunities receives the notifications. However, for future database development phases we are looking into a feature that would allow you to select individual opportunities and get deadline reminders and other updates about them. Please let us know if that would be a useful feature (ors@sfu.ca).
Can I add funding and award opportunities that seem to be missing from the database?
Yes – if you are aware of funding and award opportunities that we are missing, please let us know. You can email details, or a link to a relevant website, to ors@sfu.ca.
I have spotted a mistake!
Thanks! Please let us know at ors@sfu.ca so we can fix it