Supporting Research
Research Funding and Grants
Administrative support and oversight for grant applications and grant management at Red Deer Polytechnic is provided by our Applied Research team. This work is supported in part by the Government of Canada's Research Support Fund.
Information about available funding opportunities, including deadlines and the application process, is available in the Research Funding section of the Research Common website.
Stantec Research Fund
Red Deer Polytechnic received a donation from Stantec to establish the Stantec Research Fund, which supports faculty research projects developed and completed in partnership with community organizations or groups and specifically related to marginalized communities in central Alberta. Two grants were awarded for $1,250 each:
- Lois Maplethorpe, “Exploring Home Literacy and Language Practices Within the Context of Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being”
- Dr. Krista Robson, “Post-Secondary Student Homelessness: Informing Prevention through Qualitative Analysis”
Funded Research at Red Deer Polytechnic
NSERC College & Communication Innovation Program — Technology Access Centre (TAC) Grant
Project Title: Centre for Innovation in Manufacturing — Technology Access Centre (CIM-TAC)
Principal Investigator: Centre for Innovation in Manufacturing (CIM)
External Partners: Central Alberta Access Prosperity, Catapult Entrepreneurs
NSERC College and Community Innovation Program — Build Innovation Enhancement (IE) Grant; Canda Foundation for Innovation (CFI) College – Industry Innovation Fund Stream 2; Alberta Jobs, Economy and Innovation Research Capacity Program
Project Title: Alternative Energy Management
Principal Investigator: Alternative Energy Lab (AEL)
External Partners: CBI Solar, EQUS, FortisAlberta Inc., Kuby Renewable Energy Ltd., Morgan Solar Inc., Stolz Williams Consulting, Suncor Energy Inc., Sunfind Solar Products Ltd.
College & Community Innovation – Engage Grants
Project Title: Increasing Machining Productivity of Inconel Components
Principal Investigator:CIM-TAC
External Partner: Lee Specialties
Project Title: Correlating Residual Stress to Tribology and Mechanical Testing in Quantitative Measurement of Deep Cryogenically Treated Parts
Principal Investigator: CIM-TAC
External Partner: Deep Cryogenics International
Project Title: Optimizing Battery Usage with Solar/Natural Gas Backup
Principal Investigator: AEL
External Partner: Cream Energy Group
College & Community Innovation – Engage Grants & Alberta Innovates – Campus Alberta Small Business Engagement Grants
Project Title: Optimizing Water Usage in a Mechanical Solar Panel Cleaning Device
Principal Investigator: CIM-TAC
External Partner: Wash-Bots Canada Ltd.
College & Community Innovation – Applied Research and Technology Partnerships Grant (ARTP)
Project Title: Using Advanced Manufacturing to Lower the Cost of Customizable Assistive Health Care Devices
Principal Investigator: CIM-TAC
Research Support Fund
The Government of Canada’s Research Support Fund assists post-secondary institutions with the expenses associated with managing research funded by the three federal research granting agencies (Tri-Agency): the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
Research funding provided through the granting agencies is generally limited to direct project costs (e.g., research equipment, salaries for research assistants, etc.). Institutions that receive funding for research also incur costs to manage their research enterprise, often called indirect costs of research (e.g., salaries for staff who administer the grants, maintenance of facilities, etc.). The Research Support Fund allows expenditures in five categories:
- Research Facilities
- Research Resources
- Management and Administration
- Regulatory Requirements and Accreditation
- Intellectual Property
Red Deer Polytechnic, along with Bethany Care Society - CollegeSide as our affiliated institution, applies annually to receive a grant through the Research Support Fund program to help pay for a portion of the administrative costs related to federally-funded research. The amount of the grant is based on the average Tri-Agency funding received by Red Deer Polytechnic in the previous three years. In the past, Red Deer Polytechnic has received the following awards:
- 2023-2024 - $8,122 (100% allocated to Management and Administration)
- 2022-2023 - $14,075 (100% allocated to Management and Administration)
- 2021-2022 - $15,061 (100% allocated to Management and Administration)
- 2020-2021 - $32,351 (100% allocated to Management and Administration)
- 2019-2020 - $37,179 (100% allocated to Management and Administration)
- 2018-2019 - $42,320 (100% allocated to Management and Administration)
Red Deer Polytechnic has used the Research Support Fund grants to help cover the costs of administering grants from the federal agencies, as well as to help cover the costs of managing research partnerships and training in grant writing.