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SFU Internal

Simon Fraser University is committed to supporting its faculty in their research and creative endeavours. The list below includes some examples of internal funding opportunities for faculty and staff.

For a full list of opportunities, please see the SFU Funding Opportunities database.

On this page

VPR Travel Grants, Social Science & Humanities
University Publication Fund
William and Ada Isabelle Steel Fund
SSHRC Small Explore Research Grants (SFU/SSHRC Institutional Grants)
France-Canada Research Fund New Collaborations
SFU Open Access Fund

VPR Travel Grants, Social Science & Humanities

Pool 1: Travel beginning April 1 - August 31. Applications will be accepted from April 1 - August 31 or until funds are exhausted. 

Pool 2: Travel beginning September 1- March 31. Applications will be accepted from September 1 - March 31 or until funds are exhausted. 

NEW: As of Pool-2 2023, Chair Evaluations are no longer required as part of the application process. The new application has removed this section (previous version of the application is otherwise the same and will still be accepted). 

COVID-19 Travel related advisory: As per SFU’s Interim University-Related International Travel Policy, eligible applicants must follow specific steps before submitting the final application to ORS. Please refer to the Risk and Safety webpage for more details.

VPR Research Travel Grants are provided for faculty in areas supported by SSHRC to attend North American (max. $900) and international (max. $2,000) conferences to present a paper (including poster presentation), to serve as a keynote speaker or in the case of faculty in the School for the Contemporary Arts, to present one’s own creative work to a peer group. There are two intakes annually.

Eligibility: Faculty members are considered eligible to apply for one conference every second fiscal year. Applications from "special case" applicants will be considered towards the end of the fiscal year. In the case of joint authorship, only one presenter will be funded. For more information on eligibility, please see the guidelines below:

Please note that funds are allocated on a first come, first served basis. The grants will remain open until funds are exhausted. Please submit your application to Research Services (ors@sfu.ca).

Please see this video for complete instructions for submitting a VPR Travel Grant in Kuali Research.

For VPR Travel Grant submission to Kuali approval workflow, please choose:

  • Activity Type: Funded research
  • Lead Unit: Search for and select your department
  • Sponsor Name: SFU Vice President Research
  • Funding Program: VPRI Travel Grant Pool 1
  • Attachments: Proposal and Budget are mandatory, if you have no budget document, you need to upload the application again or a supporting document to satisfy system requirements
  • Help: ata26@sfu.ca

University Publication Fund 

Rapid Response - Ongoing;
Single and Serial - Accepting Applications April 12 through May 13

The University Publication Fund (UPF) is established under the authority of the Vice-President, Research for the purpose of providing support to faculty and staff of Simon Fraser University for their academic publications. The UPF is split into three streams:

  • The Rapid Response Publications supports a maximum of $2,000 with applications accepted all year.
  • The Single Event Publications support applications over $2,000 with an annual intake occurring between April 12th – May 13th
  • The Serial Event Publications supports applications over $2,000 with an annual intake occurring between April 12th – May 13th

For more information on these programs, please check the guidelinesPDF

Please note that the UPF program is administered by Research Services under authority of the University Publication Fund Committee.

  • UPF Committee MembershipPDF
  • UPF Committee Terms of ReferencePDF

William and Ada Isabelle Steel Fund

Opens April 18. Applications accepted until May 18

The William and Ada Isabelle Steel Fund reflects the intent of the endowment left by William and Ada Isabelle Steel for research studies into any aspect of alcoholism and/or drug addiction.

  • Application deadline: April 18 – May 18
  • Guidelines and forms
    • GuidelinesPDF
    • ChecklistPDF
    • Application FormPDF
    • Form B -Steel Fund Completion ReportPDF

Please note that this program is funded by William and Ada Isabelle Steel Endowment, where its annual income allocation is used support this annual competition. This year’s program has $30,000 to fund any number of projects relating to alcoholism and/or drug addiction. This program is administered by Research Services and adjudicated by the Vice-President, Research. Please submit your application to Research Services (ors@sfu.ca).

SSHRC Small Explore Research Grants [SFU/SSHRC Institutional Grants]

Spring Intake - Online application deadline June 1, 4:30 p.m.
Fall Intake - Online application deadline December 15, 4:30 p.m. 

SSHRC Small Explore Research Grants support scholarly research in the contemporary arts, humanities and social sciences for expenses up to a maximum of $7,000. A lead applicant, together with one or more eligible co-investigators may apply in a single application for up to a maximum of $10,000. There are two intakes (i.e., spring and fall) annually.

  • Application guidelines and forms:
    • GuidelinesDownload.pdf
    • Application: Apply on InfoReady Portal: https://sfu.infoready4.com
    • Form B: Revised format now included in InfoReady portal
    • Chair Evaluations: Not required
    • InfoReady application instructionsDownload.pdf
    • Approved Kuali Proposal (this replaces the previously required SFU signature sheet); Please see this video for complete instructions for submitting a SSHRC Small Grant in Kuali Research.

Funding for this competition is provided by the SSHRC Institutional Grants. All successful applicants must adhere to SFU and Tri-Agency guidelines. For more information, please check Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide.

The SSHRC Small Explore Research Grants program is administered by Research Services under authority of the SFU/SSHRC Institutional Grants Committee. Please submit applications to Research Services (ors@sfu.ca).

New Collaboration Support Program (FCRF)

Accepting applications until Monday, November 18, 2024.

The France-Canada Research Fund (FCRF) "New Research Collaboration Program" provides financing for new projects jointly developed by French and Canadian teams that have never worked together before. The financing is awarded to two-year projects in amounts ranging from $8,000 to $15,000, according to the needs expressed by the principal investigators. This financing is primarily intended to support the mobility of young researchers and their students.

The 2025 call for applications in now open. This application has an internal deadline (Thursday, November 14, 2024) and external deadline (Monday, November 18, 2024; 23:59 PT).

  • Internal application to include an approved Kuali proposal (this replaces the previously required SFU signature sheet)
  • Upon confirmation of internal approval, applicants must email their complete application to ors@sfu.ca by November 18, 2024.

Please note

  • The FCRF only accepts a maximum of five proposals per institution. Should more than five applications be submitted, SFU’s Institutional Strategic Awards will oversee the selection of applications that will move forward as part of a final application process, occurring after the submission stage.
  • Application requires a signature of the “Director or Vice-Dean Research in Canada”. For SFU, this is the Director of Research Services, who will sign the application once reviewed by Research Services.
  • The Mitacs Globalink Research Award (GRA) listed under Appendix 2: Complimentary Funding on the Guide is currently not available for SFU applicants due to the program being on hold at SFU.

For more information, please see the France Embassy website: https://francecanadaculture.org/france-canada-research-fund/

SFU Open Access Fund

The SFU Open Access Fund supports SFU authors publishing in fully open access journals that charge Article Processing Charges. 

Article Processing Charges are an eligible expense for certain grants to cover the cost of open access publishing, especially when open access publishing is a requirement of the grant. SFU Library has tips for estimating these costs and sample wording to request funding in your grant proposal. See Open Access Funding and Grant Proposal for details.

Please note: this Fund is administrated by SFU Library. No SFU Signature Sheet or internal approvals are required.