Funding for Collaboration

Learning more about each other

Working together requires learning about each other's strengths, interests and goals. Queen's can help industry tap into government funding for building relationships and developing collaboration projects.

• NSERC Interaction Grants will provide up to $5,000 for travel and meeting costs over three months.

• NSERC Strategic Workshops will fund up to $25,000 for universities and industry to meet face-to-face to map out future collaborative efforts.

Short-term projects focused on specific technical challenges or opportunities

A great way to get started in collaborating with Queen's is through short-term, well-defined collaborative projects that deliver immediate results and often lay the foundation for a longer-term relationship that benefits both partners. Typical program investments are in the range of $25,000 to $75,000.

• FedDev Queen's University Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative (QUARC) is a funding opportunity which encourages Industry-University Collaborations specifically between small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and researchers. Funds will be provided to conduct pre-commercialization activities that will help to move innovative practices, processes, and products to market. The 2011 competition for funds is now closed. A backgrounder with information about the QUARC 1 project participants is available HERE.

• Ontario Centres of Excellence Technical Problem-Solving (TPS) funding supports short-term projects that solve clearly defined technical challenges.

• NSERC Engage Grants will fund new relationships between companies and researchers that address short-term R&D projects targeting a specific problem facing the company partner. Funding of up to $25,000 is available with no matching contribution required. Projects must be completed within six months.

Longer-term research collaboration projects

You may know that you need scientific or technical breakthroughs but aren't sure how to get there. There is funding available for 2-3 year projects that focus on industry's needs while taking time to explore solutions in depth.

• NSERC Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) matches contributions from industry partners to fund well-defined projects up to 5 years in length, but typically are 2-3 years long.

• Ontario Centres of Excellence Collaborative Research matches contributions from industry partners for projects lasting 1-3 years where the outcome will produce new revenues and jobs for Ontario-based companies.

Long-term discovery research

Companies, universities and government collaborate in research areas with complex problems that call for a wide range of skills sets and where the business opportunities are not yet clear, but which hold the promise for clear competitive advantage.

• NSERC Strategic Projects typically last 1-3 years for early-stage research in targeted areas that have the support of at least one Canadian-based company that will apply the results.

Building a highly-trained work force in areas of competitive advantage

Some companies and sectors rely on Queen's to produce the highly-trained personnel they need to keep their competitive edge. Some funding programs will support training programs in highly-specialized fields that serve targeted recruitment needs of Canadian industry.

• NSERC Industrial Research Chairs (IRC) build a critical mass of both faculty members and graduate students working in a field of direct interest to industry partners. They also provide opportunities for ongoing interaction through personnel exchanges and visits.

• Mitacs Accelerate funds internships in engineering, biology, math, psychology, history, chemistry, and business -- and all points in between -- where the intern's time is split between the industry partner's physical location and the university setting.

• Mitacs Elevate invests directly in holders of PhDs who can become business-ready by learning professional and non-technical skills while contributing directly through targeted research of strategic importance to their industry sponsor.

Other funding opportunities

The Office of Industry Partnerships has expert knowledge in hundreds of collaborative industry-university R&D programs from around the world. We are glad to discuss your specific interests for any of these programs.