Research Services Office

Coordinates Animal Care Committee (ACC) facility site visits, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) inspections and Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) assessments and responses; Approves animal orders; tracks and reports animal use numbers to OMAFRA and the CCAC and manages the process for the approval of standard operating procedures in animal facilities.

Provides administrative support to the Associate Vice-President (Research Services), provides budgeting and human resource administration for the Office, and coordinates the activities of the Research Services Sub-Committee. 

Leads development of systems to evaluate and report on all aspects of the University’s research performance by collecting, synthesizing, curating, and conducting analysis of research performance data from internal and external sources. Provides intelligence on research performance within the University. Oversees analytics process of the research enterprise.

Responsible for administrative review of research proposals, as well as drafting and negotiation of research-related grant agreements and research contracts for agencies and sponsors, including NSERC's Alliance program and Mitacs. Amy also provides leadership support to the NSERC Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) program and negotiates participant agreements, subcontracts, and service agreements.

Coordinates all aspects of the Research Ethics Board (REB) review process for research involving human participants. Conducts proficient, critical reviews of protocols to ensure the highest ethical standards are met, as captured in the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct of Research Involving Humans, 2nd Edition (TCPS2). Provides guidance to researchers, as well as administrative support to the REB-General and REB-Natural, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

Coordinates all aspects of the Research Ethics Board (REB) review process for research involving human participants. Conducts proficient, critical reviews of protocols to ensure the highest ethical standards are met, as captured in the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct of Research Involving Humans, 2nd Edition (TCPS2). Provides guidance to researchers, as well as administrative support to the REB-General and REB-Natural, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

Provides advice and leadership to integrate EDI and indigenization into the research enterprise. Leads the implementation of strategic projects to advance EDI and indigenization in research, such as those identified in the Indigenous Initiatives Strategy. Supports researchers from all disciplines to ask critical questions and incrementally advance EDI and indigenization over time. Builds networks of collaborators across campus to continue building a culture where EDI and Indigenization considerations are foundational in the development of research teams and research design.

Provides administrative leadership for strategic research and infrastructure programs including Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU), Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE), Canada Research Chairs (CRC), Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) and major prestigious research honours and awards, such as Royal Society of Canada (RSC), Trudeau Foundation, Killam, and others.

Provides clinical and support services to researchers, facility veterinarians and facility managers working with livestock animals and horses; assists researchers with Animal Utilization Protocol (AUP) development; instructs in the Animal User Training program including mentor-facilitated training.

Provides pre-award application support (i.e., administrative review of proposals) and non-financial post-award services (i.e., review of agreements and account set up) to researchers for SSHRC programs: Insight Grants, Insight Development Grants and Institutional Grants (SIGs), CIHR, NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) and Tri-Agency sub-awards from other institutions. Other funders include: Cystic Fibrosis, Canadian Cancer Agency, Heart and Stroke Foundation; Ontario Problem Gambling, Equine Guelph, and Centers for Disease Control (CDC), OVC Pet Trust, Polar Knowledge Canada - Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP), and other arts, humanities, social sciences, health and veterinary-related grant programs.

First point of contact for submission of and initial processing of research grant and award applications, including OR5 Forms, and research contractual agreements.  Patti will inform researchers to whom their submission is assigned within the Research Services Office for further review and processing. 

Leads projects implementing new initiatives, technologies, policies, and processes. Leads needs assessments, strategic planning, process re-engineering and risk assessments; evaluates solutions to meet business needs. Works with stakeholders across campus to initiate, plan, execute and control all project related activities from initial project planning through project execution, including managing project scope, cost, timelines, and risks.

Oversees planning and coordination of educational offerings such as the Faculty Information Exchange Series, Graduate Research and Program Management course, CITI Program and sponsor workshops as well as completes special projects for the Research Services Office. Affiliated with the Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre.

Responsible for administrative review of research proposals, as well as drafting and negotiation of research-related grant agreements and research contracts, including participant agreements, subcontracts, service agreements, access agreements for agencies and sponsors such as Ontario Centres of Innovation (OCI), Genome Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC)- Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP), National Research Council, and Polar Knowledge Canada.

Provides administrative and logistical support for strategic research and infrastructure programs including Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities, Canada Research Chairs (CRC), Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC), Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) and University of Guelph Major Proposal Development Grants (MPDG).   Also provides pre-award application support (i.e., administrative review of proposals) and non-financial post-award services to researchers for various Sponsors.

Responsible for administrative review of research proposals, as well as drafting and negotiation of research-related grant agreements and research contracts, including participant agreements, subcontracts, service agreements, access agreements for agencies and sponsors such as the Canadian Space Agency, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Southern Ontario Smart Computing Innovation Platform (SOSCIP), European Union, US Dept. of Agriculture, US Dept. of Defense, and other US Sponsors.