The General Research Fund (GRF) is a special trust account into which the unspent funds of expired or terminated grants are transferred with the authorization of the granting agencies.
HEC Montréal is required to keep a separate GRF account for each agency: namely, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The financial administration of these two GRFs must also be kept separate. The funds must be administered in a centralized manner and the institution must manage the funds meticulously.
Transfers to the GRF are authorized by the agencies under the following conditions:
In all cases, professors wishing to obtain such funds must forward a completed application to the Research Office, including the project description, justification of the requested budget, and anticipated impact of the research. These applications are then evaluated by the Research Council, which is responsible for the allocation of funds.
The policies and requirements of the agencies stipulated in the Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide apply at all times to the use of GRF funds.
HEC Montréal is responsible for ensuring that GRFs are used to cover eligible expenses related to the direct costs of research and that all expenses charged to the GRF are authorized by the person responsible within the establishment.
Each year, HEC Montréal is required to submit a statement of account for each GRF (NSERC and SSHRC) to the agencies.