Competition

* Unless explicitly noted, all times indicated for deadlines are for the appropriate NL timezone (NST or NDT)

The John R. Evans Leaders Fund enables a select number of an institution’s excellent researchers to undertake leading-edge research by providing them with the foundational research infrastructure required to be or become leaders in their field. In turn, this enables institutions to remain internationally competitive in areas of research and technology development, aligned with their strategic priorities.

This fund also offers institutions the opportunity to create competitive research support packages in the form of infrastructure and a portion of the operating and maintenance costs , coupled with direct research costs from partner organizations.

The CFI JELF is an allocation-based fund for degree-granting institutions whereby the CFI predetermines the maximum amount of funding available for each eligible institution. Eligible applicants must be current faculty members with a full-time academic appointment or in the process of being recruited to a full-time academic position. They must be recognized leaders in their field of research or show promise of becoming research leaders. They must be engaged in, or embarking on, an innovative research program for which the requested infrastructure is essential and will provide an enriched training environment.

Internal Deadlines (see uploaded document, below for full details)

Phase 1 – Expression of Interest

Monday, Aug. 11, 2025: Deadline for the submission of an Expression of Interest (EOI). All EOIs must be emailed to ris@mun.ca, with the email subject: CFI JELF EOI October 2025 Call.

Phase 2 – Full Application Selection and Submission to CFI

Monday, Sept. 15, 2025: Deadline for the submission of completed* CFI JELF applications invited from Phase 1 (EOI Call). Phase 2 applications will be submitted to RIS via its General Use Application on Memorial’s Researcher Portal. As CFI JELF applications are for infrastructure ONLY, no clearances are required. All received Phase 2 applications will be reviewed, and only those selected will be submitted to CFI.

Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025: Deadline for the penultimate version of those CFI JELF applications selected from Phase 2. These applications will be reviewed by RIS and their respective Academic Units prior to submission to CFI.

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025: Submission of finalized CFI JELF application(s) to CFI.

*Completed means ALL sections of the CFI JELF online application have been completed andsuccessfully validated by the applicants using the CFI CAMS system. All required files have beenuploaded, and meet the CFI formatting guidelines.

Internal Selection and Funding Caps

An internal Selection Committee will assess all EOIs / Phase 2 applications received. Chaired by the Vice-President (Research) or their delegate, the Committee will be comprised of Academic Staff Members from the Faculties / Schools of the lead applicants for each EOI submission, along with non-voting support from RIS, and other personnel as required. Only those EOIs selected by the Committee will be invited to proceed to Phase 2 for full application development and evaluation by the Committee. Based on the results of the Phase 2 evaluation, it is expected that only a subset of the full applications originally selected by the Committee will be eligible to proceed for submission to CFI. All applicants will normally be notified via email of the EOI / Phase 2 results within 3 weeks of the internal deadlines.

The CFI JELF is an allocation-based funding program whereby CFI predetermines the maximum amount of funding available to each CFI-eligible institution. For this call, each CFI JELF EOI, and Phase 2 application, will be limited to a maximum CFI request of $500,000, or a maximum of 40% of the total project cost (i.e., whichever amount is lower), regardless of the number of applicants per EOI. To confirm – the CFI requested amount is to remain the same in Phase 2 as that approved in Phase 1.

To be eligible, proposals must have a minimum CFI request of $75,001. However, CFI will allow the submission of proposals requesting less than or equal to $75,000 from the social sciences, humanities and arts.

Internal Memorial Process:  This competition involves a Memorial institutional internal adjudication or nomination process prior to submission to the external agency or sponsor. This process first requires Departmental and HSS Faculty approval and endorsement prior to submission of the EOI to Research Initiatives and Services (RIS).

CFI competitions are managed directly by RIS on behalf of the Office of the Vice-President (Research). Prospective applicants should contact RIS and HSS Research Support Services as early as possible regarding applications and expressions of interest. See the attached PDF for details regarding the internal process.

If you plan to apply to this competition or other research funding opportunities (as either PI or CI), e-mail an HSS Grants Facilitator, Heather C. O’Brien (HSSResearchAdmin@mun.ca or 864-8603) or Matthew Milner (HSSResearchGrants@mun.ca or 864-8050), to notify the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of your intent to apply. E-mailing the intent to apply as early as possible will help to facilitate an efficient review. A Grants Facilitator can answer any questions you may have about internal or external submission procedures and may also be able to help with proposal development.

• CFI JELF October 2025_EOI Call_July 16 2025.pdf