1. When will my research account be opened?
   • You will receive an email notification from Research Financial Services that your fund has been opened. The message will contain critical information about your funding, so please read it carefully.
2. How can I find the balance?
   • Check your research fund and its balance in FAST.
   • If you have questions, please email financial.systems@carleton.ca. Training is available for the Finance Reporting application, Budget Adjustment and Forecasting (BAR), and Journal Voucher applications.

• Canadian Academy of Health Sciences Fellowships
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
• Northern Science Award
• Steacie Prize for Natural Sciences
• Trailblazer Awards

• CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars Program
• Dan David Prize
• Frontiers of Knowledge Awards
• Frontiers Planet Prize
• Global Young Academy
• Guggenheim Fellowships
• L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards
• Sloan Research Fellowships

For a database of international awards, check out the Global Excellence Initiative by Universities Canada.

• Awards in Sciences and Humanities
• Carleton Intellectual Property Impact Award
• Early Researcher Awards
• John Charles Polanyi Prizes
• Mitacs
• National Killam Program
• Order of Canada
• Order of Ontario
• Robbins-Ollivier Award for Excellence in Equity
• Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize for Mental Health Research
• Royal Society of Canada

Any research funding issued in a foreign currency will be converted to Canadian dollars, and the spending power in the fund will be assigned based on the exchange rate used at the date of fund creation. Researchers are thus encouraged to build their budgets in Canadian dollars to ensure that sufficient funding exists to conduct the work.

The exchange rate is determined on the day the payment is made. Therefore, a calculation made at the time of application is likely to have a variance from that which will be processed.

For example, if 1.00 CAD = 0.78 USD, at an exchange rate of 0.7808 (using nominal rate). In this case, we recommend assuming a 1.00 CAD = 0.68 USD to ensure that sufficient funding is requested in case the exchange rate fluctuates over the course of the project.

Note: Researchers are encouraged to use the Bank of Canada rate and then apply an additional reduction (usually 10¢) to the rate of exchange.

An honorarium is a nominal payment made in recognition of a specific activity. An honorarium is not intended to pay for a service; it serves as a token of appreciation.

The amount of the honorarium is not intended to represent the fair value of the contribution made to the university: it should only be a small portion of what the service would normally cost. Honorarium payments greater than $500 are reviewed and confirmed by Financial Services to ensure the payment meets the criteria outlined above. Honorariums are not paid to individuals who are university employees.

This depends on the terms and conditions of the grant. For Tri-Council grants, NSERC and SSHRC permit the transfer of grant funds (accountable cash advances) to co-applicants and co-directors, but not to collaborators. This means that payments to collaborators must operate on a cost-recovery basis.

Further, SSHRC stipulates that “with the exception of certain travel- and subsistence-related expenses, SSHRC does not cover expenses that research collaborators incur in the conduct of research or research-related activity.” It is thus important to carefully consider whether an individual should be a co-applicant or a collaborator on your project.

NSERC only permits the transfer of grant funds to NSERC-eligible institutions (i.e., only to Canadian post-secondary institutions). All other costs would be treated on a cost-reimbursable basis.

Not all postdoctoral fellows are unionized at Carleton. Unionization depends on the funding. Your PDF is in the union if you are contributing at least half of the minimum hosting salary.

All postdoctoral fellows are eligible for benefits; however, they are not automatically enrolled in the plan. If your PDF is in the union and they opt into the benefit plan, you will be responsible for paying 70 per cent of the monthly benefit premiums. If your PDF is not in the union, then they are required to pay 100 per cent of their monthly benefit premiums.

Yes. The Collective Agreement stipulates minimum gross salary/stipend for unionized post-doctoral candidates.

Also, note that on May 1st of each year of the current collective agreement, unionized PDFs receive a 2% annual salary increase. Please ensure that you budget for this amount.

Yes, you need to meet with Graduate Studies.

For Domestic Postdoctoral Fellows (PDFs): Graduate Studies requires a minimum of 1.5 months advance notice of the PDF’s start date to ensure they are registered on time. This also ensures that their first payday is not missed.

For International PDFs: Graduate Studies requires a minimum of 3.5 months advance notice of the PDF’s start date so the PDF has time to apply for a work permit.

Research personnel can receive a stipend or a salary.

A stipend is a fixed payment made to an individual registered in a graduate program to cover their living expenses during a period of training. To be considered in training, the individual must be actively involved in the research of a faculty member in their related area of study and must be gaining experience in this area as a result of their research assistantship. A stipend is not paid in exchange for quantifiable work performed or for financial gain. There are no deductions at the time of payment, and the individual will receive a T4A for the amount paid during the calendar year. Only graduate students and postdoctoral fellows may be paid a stipend.

A salary is paid when an employee-employer relationship exists and a quantifiable amount of work has been performed. Salary payments, whether hourly, recurring, or lump sum, are subject to mandatory source deductions and will include 4% vacation pay. Personnel with this type of income will receive a T4 denoting the total amount of employment earnings paid during the calendar year.

Carleton does not have established maximum rates of pay for research personnel (minimum rate of pay must follow minimum wage).

For all individuals paid a salary, the researcher must budget for additional costs, above and beyond the rate of pay to the individual, which will be charged to the grant.

For example, if an hourly rate of $25/hr is promised to the research personnel, then the researcher’s account will be charged as follows:

• Hourly rate: $25/hr
• Statutory deductions (includes 4% vacation pay): 12%
• Discretionary benefits, if applicable*: 15%
• Amount Charged to the fund: $32.75/hr

* Discretionary benefits may be included at the request of the researcher in consultation with their research personnel. Discretionary benefit rates vary based on the individual’s circumstances but are usually between 15-17%.