CFI John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF)
The intake of forms is now CLOSED
June 2025 JELF Competition-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, 2024
- Internal Selection decision communication: October 15, 2024 NEW: OCTOBER 23, 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
Before choosing the appropriate link to start your submission for the Internal Selection process, please read the eligibility for FoMD allocation and the maximum amount of funding that can be requested by opening appropriate links in the "More information about the JELF program" section below.
| FoMD-led projects (FoMD faculty members who are the lead applicant of the proposed JELF project) | Non-FoMD-led projects* (FoMD 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 |
More information about the JELF program
CFI has three annual deadlines for JELF 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
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%).
Eligibility
Investigators are eligible to apply only if they have a significant portion of their time (≥40%) dedicated to research and have not submitted a JELF application within the last 5 years.
Only applications that align with the FoMD’s research and strategic priorities and CFI’s objectives will be supported.
Priority
The FoMD prioritizes the following types of JELF requests:
1. New investigators: this includes new faculty members who are appointed at or above the assistant professor level.
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 adjudicate applications that satisfy the above criteria in the following order:
- New investigators with equipment housed in core research facilities
- New investigators to equip their laboratories
- Faculty managed core research facilities
- Shared infrastructure
- 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 for infrastructure funding requests.
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:
- Applicants are required to complete a JELF-FoMD Internal Selection form (ISF) or Statement of Interest 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.
- Budget.
- CFI format quotes for all infrastructure items.
- A review committee chaired by the Vice-Dean Research, Basic will evaluate and adjudicate the applications.
- Applicants will be notified via email whether their proposals were selected or not.
- Official FoMD letters of support required for the RSA RTA will be provided to successful applicants.
- Successful Internal FoMD Selection Process (ISP) applicants are required to submit an RTA to RAS.
- As indicated, only successful ISP applicants will be provided a letter of support from the FoMD to be added to their RTA form.
- At this time any comments provided by the ISP committee must incorporated in the RTA form 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)
Application development (post-RTA stage)
Once the RTA is approved, each project team must establish a committee to oversee application development and review. In addition to the project leaders, the committee should include:
- Vice Dean of Research (Basic) and/or Vice Dean of Research (Clinical)
Director, Chair or delegate of the Institute(s) and/or Department(s) sponsoring the submission. - Subject matter experts (minimum of 2, can be external to the UofA)
- Director, Research & Innovation
- Manager, Core Research Facilities
- Director, FoMD Facilities Planning and Projects
- Scientific Equipment Advisor, FoMD Facilities Planning and Projects
Internal FoMD deadlines for project development milestones will be provided at a later time.
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).