CFI John R. Evans Leaders Fund

NEW-June 2025 JELF Internal FoMD Selection Process

The Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry invites its faculty members who require eligible infrastructure to submit an Internal Selection Form (ISF) for the June 2025 JELF competition.

Timeline:
  • Internal Selection Forms intake start date: July 15, 2024
  • Internal Selection Forms intake end date: September 30, 2025
  • Internal Selection decision communication: October 15, 2024
  • FoMD letters of support: Provided before January 9, 2025
  • RTA Submission Reminder: Successful projects must submit an RTA to RSO by January 9, 2025

Please choose the appropriate link to start your submission for the Internal Selection process:

*FoMD co-applicants must ensure that all lead Faculty processes and internal deadlines are followed and met. Please note that the deadlines indicated in the JELF 2025 FoMD Internal Selection Process Timeline above also apply to non-FoMD-led CFI JELF projects.
FoMD-led projects (Faculty members who are the lead applicant of the proposed JELF project) Non-FoMD-led projects* (Faculty members who are co-applicants in JELF projects led by other Faculties)
June 2025 JELF - FoMD INTERNAL SELECTION FORM June 2025 JELF - Statement of Interest

 

What is the Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund?

The CFI John R. Evans Leaders Fund (CFI JELF) is a federal program providing funding for research equipment and infrastructure that supports innovative research. Every 3 years the FoMD is provided with an allocation of funds from the central UofA pot.

When are the competitions held?

CFI has three annual deadlines for submission (February 15, June 15 and October 15). Applications for provincial match funding are submitted each October. FoMD applicants typically submit to the June 15 CFI deadline and the Government of Alberta Research Capacity program the following October. 

Important Links:
CFI Policy and Program Guide
CFI JELF Guidelines for Proposal
Research Administration Services CFI JELF Website 

2023-2025 JELF Allocation

For the 2023-2025 period, the FoMD received a CFI JELF funding allocation of $4,529,954. Of the original allocation, $2,068,908 remains to be assigned over the next 2025 calls. 

These allocation funds only represent the CFI contribution to the infrastructure cost (40%) with additional funding typically coming from the Government of Alberta (40%) and supplier discounts/other sources (20%).

Who can apply for the FoMD allocation?

The FoMD prioritizes the following types of JELF requests:
1. New investigators: this includes new faculty members who are appointed above the assistant professor level. Investigators should have a significant portion of their time (≥40%) dedicated to research.
2. Infrastructure to be placed in FoMD Core Facilities
3. Department Core/Shared Infrastructure: infrastructure available to a broad user group within a department or group of labs.

The FoMD will give priority to applications that satisfy the above criteria in the following order:

  1. New investigators with equipment housed in core research facilities
  2. New investigators to equip their laboratories
  3. Faculty managed core research facilities
  4. Shared infrastructure 
  5. Individual investigators

Requests that do not align with the above FoMD priorities will not be considered for a JELF. Other federal programs such as the CFI Innovation Fund and NSERC RTI Program are also available or infrastructure funding requests.

How much funding can be requested?

The maximum CFI allocation request for a CFI JELF grant is $800K ($2 million in total project cost). However, due to the finite amount of FoMD CFI JELF funding allocation, researchers will be allocated a maximum of $200K from the CFI JELF pot ($500K total project cost, including renovations). Larger CFI allocation amounts might be considered for proposals requesting equipment to be placed in a core research facility.

FoMD JELF Allocation Adjudication Process

Researchers who have a request that aligns with FoMD JELF priorities are invited to submit their proposals to be evaluated for the opportunity to apply for JELF funding.

The process takes place over two steps: Internal FoMD Selection Process, and Research Administrations Services (RAS) Request to Apply (RTA) submission

Step 1. Internal FoMD Selection Process:
  1. Applicants are required to complete a JELF-FoMD Internal Selection form (ISF) where they will provide the following information: 
    • Summary of research/technology development plan and alignment with FoMD strategic priorities.
    • Justification of infrastructure request, including its planned location.
    • Fully developed budget.
    • CFI format quotes for all infrastructure items.
  2. A review committee chaired by the Vice-Dean Research, Basic will evaluate and adjudicate the applications.
  3. Applicants will be notified via email whether their proposals were selected or not.
  4. Official FoMD letters of support required for the RSA RTA will be provided to successful applicants.
Step 2. Research Administrations Services (RAS) Request to Apply (RTA) submission:
  1. Successful applicants are required to submit their finalized RTA form and all attachments to RAS.
  2. As indicated, only successful ISP applicants will be provided a letter of support from the FoMD to be added to their RTA form.
  3. At this time any comments provided by the ISP committee should be incorporated in the RTA form elements for final submission.

For more information on the RSO RTA process and a link to the RTA form visit: John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF)

 

If you have any questions about the CFI JELF program and the FoMD allocation, please contact Gonzalo Vilas, Director Research & Innovation, Office of Research (gvilas@ualberta.ca)

Facility Requirements and Core Facilities:

For information on facility requirements for equipment (e.g. renovations, specifications, space, etc.), please contact Brian Reuter (breuter@ualberta.ca).

If your proposal includes equipment for potential placement in core facilities, please contact Colleen Sunderland (crreid1@ualberta.ca).