Please read Instructions to Referees on the Privacy Act, Confidentiality and the Use and Disclosure of Information.
Note: Your signature on the paper version of the review form, or transmission of your final evaluation to NSERC either by mail or by using the electronic evaluation process, means that you have read these instructions and that you consent to these uses and disclosures.
In addition, you may refer to:
Information on the following topics is provided below:
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If you are in a conflict of interest or for any other reason unable to act as a referee, please contact us directly or send us an e-mail at referee.polayni@nserc-crsng.gc.ca as soon as possible. In order to identify yourself and the application(s) you are unable to review to NSERC, please indicate your Personal Identification Number and the application number in the SUBJECT line of the electronic message followed by your message.
Suggested referees should not be in a conflict of interest. Refer to the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy of the Federal Research Funding Organizations for more information. In addition, referees (external reviewers) must sign the Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Agreement for Review Committee Members, External Reviewers, and Observers before they access the application material.
Allegations of misconduct must be treated separately from the peer review process. Should your review reveal concerns of possible misconduct, please report any allegation separately to the Research Ethics Coordinator. Your report should only address the application and selection criteria and make no mention of the misconduct concerns.
The selection committee for this prestigious award is a multidisciplinary group of distinguished scientists and engineers and relies heavily on the opinions of external referees in reaching a final decision on each nominated individual or team. Therefore, when preparing your appraisal, please bear in mind that you are writing to non-specialists. The selection committee would greatly benefit from specific as well as general comments about the recent achievement(s) for which the individual or team is nominated.
The NSERC John C. Polanyi Award was created to recognize and support a university researcher or team of researchers whose work has led to a recent outstanding Canadian advance in a field of the natural sciences or engineering.
Nominations will include:
In assessing the merits of the nomination, please comment on the following:
Please note that stature of the candidates is not an evaluation criteria for this prize. The focus is rather on the significance and impact of the advance.