Eligibility Criteria – For Faculty

You may participate in research grant programs as an applicant, co-applicant or collaborator.

• Applicant: Principal investigator on an application (i.e., university faculty). You must meet the eligibility criteria.
• Co-applicant: Member of a research group applying for a team grant (i.e., university faculty or college faculty). You must meet the eligibility criteria.
• Collaborator: A research scientist or engineer from any sector, e.g., government scientist, academic researcher, company staff member, can be a member of a research team that is applying for a team grant. You will not have access to these grant funds. You must be qualified to undertake research independently and will be expected to contribute to the overall intellectual direction of the research project, or program of research, and bring your own resources to the collaboration.

University faculty: To be eligible as an applicant or co-applicant, you must hold or have a firm offer of¹ an academic appointment at an eligible Canadian university at the time of application². The appointment can be:

• a tenured, tenure-track or lifetime professor emeritus position; or
• a term or contract position of no less than three years³.

Note on Adjunct professors: Adjunct professors who meet NSERC's eligibility criteria and whose primary place of employment is at an eligible Canadian university may apply to NSERC grants programs. Those whose primary place of employment is outside the university sector (e.g., government, industry or colleges) are eligible to apply for a Discovery Grant as principal applicants as well as to other NSERC grants as co-applicants. NSERC will normally award funds to adjunct professors working outside the university sector only for the direct support of students (salaries or stipends and student travel costs); all other costs must be covered through other sources of funding.

College faculty: To be eligible as an applicant or co-applicant, you must hold or have a firm offer of¹ a faculty appointment at an eligible Canadian college at the time of application². The appointment can be:

• a permanent position; or
• a term or contract position of no less than three years³.

Colleges and college faculty that meet the eligibility criteria can participate in a number of NSERC programs.

Additional Eligibility Requirements (for both university and college faculty)

• The academic or college appointment must be ratified by the person(s) or body responsible for approving appointments or their delegate(s), and must be in accordance with university or college statutes.
• For university faculty, the position must require you to engage in research that is not under the direction of another individual and must authorize you to supervise or co-supervise the research of students registered in an undergraduate or graduate degree program, or postdoctoral fellows (e.g., thesis supervision and not supervision of regular course or laboratory assignments).
• For college faculty, the position must permit you to engage in research-related activities that are not under the direction of another individual.
• You must engage in research in the natural sciences or engineering (relevant exceptions are noted in the program descriptions).
• Your salary must not be paid out of NSERC, SSHRC or CIHR grant funds, except for Scientific Directors of Network Centres of Excellence (NCE). Remuneration through salary support programs is acceptable.
• You must not have been declared ineligible to apply for and hold funding from NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR or any other research funding organization, for reasons of breach of standards of ethics or integrity (including financial or scientific misconduct).
• You must have accounts in good standing with NSERC, including having paid or returned all money owing to NSERC. The determination of whether or not an account is in good standing shall be at the sole and absolute discretion of NSERC.

During Tenure of the Award⁴

• You must hold an eligible academic appointment at an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution as stipulated above.
• If you live abroad, or hold a position of any kind outside of Canada other than for a sabbatical leave, you must spend a minimum of six months per year at an eligible Canadian institution (see Sabbatical Leave in the Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide).
• You must not be enrolled in a graduate program in the natural sciences or engineering.
• Team members cannot be paid a salary or consulting fee from the grant funds if their status makes them eligible to apply for funding independently (see Use of Grant Funds, Non-Eligible Expenses in the Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide).

Keep in Mind

You must notify NSERC immediately if your eligibility status changes (see Continuing Eligibility in the Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide).

Footnotes

1. Appointments that are conditional on obtaining NSERC grants or other sources of support will be considered ineligible.
2. In exceptional circumstances, offers that are still pending approval at the time of application can be finalized and confirmed in writing to NSERC within six weeks following the application deadline.
3. Appointments for which the source of funding is not guaranteed for at least three years (e.g., renewable yearly subject to the availability of funds) will be considered ineligible.
4. Before any funds can be released on an NSERC grant, the applicants must take up the position and complete all degree requirements. For Discovery Grants, this can be no later than September 1 of the year of the award.