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Research projects can be complex beasts. In addition to the research questions themselves, one must coordinate with collaborators, organize team members, monitor timelines, achieve milestones, ensure funder compliance, and of course monitor and spend your budget, just to name a few of the many aspects of a research project. Research Project Managers can support research projects by helping to put structure behind all that needs to be done. They can look at the bigger administrative and logistical picture and help break down the steps needed to get to the finish line.  Furthermore, research project managers can enable a project to run more smoothly by anticipating needs and navigating challenges before they arise.

While formal project management principles have long been used in fields like IT and construction, they don’t always translate seamlessly into the research environment, where they can feel overly rigid or time-consuming. Research Project Management draws on established project management tools and best practices but adapts them to fit the unique contexts of research projects. The scope of research project management support can also vary depending on the project needs. In some cases, support could entail comprehensive planning and oversight of schedules, budgets, reporting, and communications with partners and stakeholders. For other projects, support may focus on targeted such as budget monitoring, complex procurement or hiring, renovations, or navigating institutional processes that span multiple departments or faculties. 

Not every research project requires a project manager, but many benefit greatly from having one on board. Projects that are large-scale, multi-institutional, high value, high risk, are subject to complex funder requirements, or just have lots of moving pieces particularly benefit from the involvement of a project manager. Having a project manager helps keep the work organized, compliant, and on track—allowing researchers to focus on advancing knowledge and impact.

In addition, there are some funders and funding programs that are more administratively onerous than SFU's standard supports can handle. For example, there are some programs with very complex expense eligibility rules, extensive reporting, or other complicated requirements.  For these programs, we ask that you include budget for project management in order to ensure your project can be properly supported.

The funders we have identified that often warrant a project manager are:​

• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation​
• Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Innovation Fund​
• Digital Research Alliance of Canada​
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)
• Genome Canada/Genome British Columbia​
• Grand Challenges Canada​
• Health Canada​
• Horizon Europe
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)​
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• Public Health Agency of Canada​
• Public Safety Canada​