The Research Handbook includes information, policies, procedures and external links to help guide researchers, students, employees, and industry and community research partners through the various stages of the research process at BCIT.
Any questions about research at BCIT should be directed to the Applied Research Liaison Office (ARLO), which supports research across BCIT.
Stage 1: Idea to Approved Proposal
Stage 1 includes all necessary steps to be completed by a faculty or staff principal investigator (PI) before an application for research funding is developed, submitted and approved, and before any legal document leaves BCIT.
If you think you have a viable research idea, you should contact your School Research Committee and your Department Head and/or Dean for approval to develop your research idea further. Once you get approval, you should contact the Applied Research Liaison Office (ARLO) for assistance with processes that lead to the development of a successful research proposal.
Researchers are advised to seek the advice and assistance of ARLO before negotiating research contracts with industry sponsors and/or writing a research grant applications. ARLO can help you to negotiate a contract that represents BCIT’s and the researchers’ interests and complies with BCIT’s research policies. Also, in many cases, a Non-Disclosure Agreement is required.
ARLO can also determine at an early stage whether there is an opportunity to obtain matching government funds. The prospect of a matching grant is often an effective bargaining tool in dealing with an industry sponsors. The ARLO may also assist the industry sponsor with completing the corporate part of the application, and any other documentation that may be required from them.
The writing of a research grant application or proposal is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator (PI). ARLO can provide some assistance with this key task, e.g., executing literature searches, providing examples of other successful proposals, experienced proof-reading, etc.
Stage 2: Approved Proposal to Funded Research Project
Stage 2 of the research process begins once the proposal is reviewed by the School Research Committee and approved by the respective Dean. Working with ARLO, the PI applies for ethics approval from the BCIT Research Ethics Board, clarifies ownership of Intellectual Property (IP) and submits the final grant application(s) or industry contract(s) to various funding sources.
Before the application(s) or contract(s) are submitted, the PI is responsible for ensuring the proper signatures have been obtained: Associate Dean, Dean, and for significant research grants or contracts, approval by the Vice President,Academic.
The meaning of signatures:
For the federal Tri-Council funding agencies – NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR – the signatures of the institutional authorities certify that:
- the institution will abide by the roles and responsibilities as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding with the three Federal Granting Agencies;
- the applicant has met or will meet the eligibility requirements;
- the institution agrees to comply with the agency’s data protection requirements and has adequate safeguards in place to protect sensitive information entrusted to it by the agency for the purpose of administering applications and awards; and
- if the applicant discloses any potential intellectual property arising from the research, he or she and the institution will endeavour to obtain the greatest possible economic benefit to Canada from the resulting commercial development.
Note: The above requirement for disclosure is not intended to supersede the intellectual property ownership policy that the institution might already have in place.
Please coordinate the submission of applications with Stefan Joseph, BCIT’s Research Grants Officer in ARLO. Some government programs require the submission of applications by the Research Grants Officer, not by the PI directly.
Stage 3: Research Project Implementation to Completion
In Stage 3 the PI starts working on the research project once award notification is received, all ethical and research policies are addressed, and a research budget is established. When award notification has been received, please contact ARLO so it can be recorded and reported as an Institute research project, and your success can be communicated to the BCIT community.
Once the grant award/contract funding is received, unless other arrangements are made, your School or Department will be responsible for administering grants/contracts. While responsibility for fulfillment of the research requirements resides with the PI, your School will be responsible for reviewing expenditures for compliance and providing financial reporting for research grants/contracts as required.
Upon completion of the project the PI works with ARLO to disclose and manage any IP resulting from the research project.
Any applied research activity involving human subjects carried out by a person connected with the Institute must be reviewed and approved by the BCIT Research Ethics Board (REB) before work is started.
- BCIT Institute Research Funds
- Every application for external funding must be accompanied by a signed
BCIT Research Funding Application Approval Form [XLSX]
Research data management (RDM) refers to the processes applied through the lifecycle of a research project to guide the collection, documentation, storage, sharing and preservation of research data.
- Tri-Agency Overview of Research Data Management
- Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy
- Portage DMP Assistant (Data management planning tool)
- Digital Research Alliance of Canada – Research Data Management resource site
- BCIT Library Research Data Management page
The Federal Tri-Agencies are the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Funding from these agencies is governed by: