The process for approving early release of funds prior to ethics approval enables researchers to access funds for pre-research activities.
Requests are administered by the Office of Research Ethics and the release of funds is administered by ORS (Office of Research Services) or UILO (University Industry Liaison Office).
Early release cannot be granted for activities that entail collecting research data.
Please review the instructions below before you submit your form.
The most current version of the early release of funds request form will always be accessible from this page.
If you have questions after reviewing the instructions on this page, please contact wendy.bond@ubc.ca in the Office of Research Ethics.
If you have any questions about your grant (dates or conditions of award, etc.) please contact your Awards Officer in ORS/UILO or your departmental administrator. If you are unsure, send a query to ors@ors.ubc.ca.
Early Release of Funds Request Form
When to use the early release request form
- When you have research project start-up costs that need to be expended before your research ethics application can be submitted or research ethics approval finalized.
- When conditional ethics approval has been granted, i.e., the researcher is waiting for administrative or other types of approvals needed before research can begin.
A conditional ethics approval is issued for the purpose of informing other organizations that – in the view of the REB – potential ethical issues have been addressed and no further changes to the ethics application are required other than the inclusion of institutional authorizations/documents, etc.- Conditional approval does not authorize the researchers to begin research activity for which ethics approval is required (recruiting participants, consenting participants, collecting data from human participants, etc.).
- Conditional approval also does not authorize the full release of funding held in a UBC grant account.
- In cases where operational approval (e.g., from a school board, health facility, etc.) is significantly delayed due to circumstances outside the researcher’s control, authorization for full release of funding may be considered. Send an email to wendy.bond@ubc.ca explaining the circumstances.
- When you will not be applying for ethics approval for research involving human subjects until Year 2 or later of the grant. In these instances, please contact wendy.bond@ubc.ca before submitting your form.
Who can use this form
Principal Investigators whose funding is administered from the Vancouver campus by ORS (Office of Research Services) or UILO (University Industry Liaison Office) may apply to have a portion of their funds released in advance of research ethics approval.
- The release of funds is typically processed within 2 weeks of approval.
Who cannot use this form
- Recipients of funds received from a granting body that does not allow release of funds before research ethics approval. The Tri-Agencies accept early release. For other funders (if you are unsure), please confirm with them before submitting your request.
- Public Scholar Award recipients. Please contact Serbulent Turan for a modified form (which requires approval from the Public Scholars Initiative Office before submission). serbulent.turan@ubc.ca.
- UBC-Okanagan award recipients. Please contact: lisa.shearer@ubc.ca.
- Recipients of funds that are not administered by ORS or UILO (e.g., funds administered by PHSA). If this applies to you, contact your home department or the administering office for guidance. The early release form should not be used to process internal departmental funding.
- Principal Investigators who want to have funds transferred to another institution that has its own policy for authorizing release of funds. Transfer requests can be sent directly to (UBC-Vancouver): ors@ors.ubc.ca or to (UBC-Okanagan): lisa.shearer@ubc.ca.
- Researchers applying to Animal Care or Biosafety review committees. Contact suzanne.richardson@ubc.ca for information. anchor
Early release of funds process
** Note that confirmations of award are communicated differently by different funding agencies. Some agencies send award notices directly to the PI before communicating with ORS/UILO. Requests for early release cannot be processed by ORS or UILO until they have received confirmation of the award. To avoid additional delays, please confirm that your Awards Officer has received notice of award from the agency before submitting the request form to ORE.