How to Complete Form 180

For deadlines and other information, consult the Discovery Grants program description in the Program Guide for Professors.

Read the following documents before you start completing Form 180:

1. The Frequently Asked Questions on how to use the On-Line System;
2. The General Instructions on how to complete Form 180. These instructions are found below;
3. The List of Evaluation Groups and Research Topics to assist you in identifying the appropriate evaluation group to review your application.

Whom should I contact if I need help?

If you have questions regarding:

1. the Discovery Grants Program, contact the Program Officer indicated in the Evaluation Groups Contacts List, or send an e-mail to resgrant@nserc-crsng.gc.ca.
2. the On-line System, send an e-mail to webapp@nserc-crsng.gc.ca or call 613-995-4273.

Please include in your message the e-mail address and telephone number where you may be contacted.

Contents

1. Before you begin
2. Completing Form 180

Before you begin

NSERC will only accept Forms 180 submitted through its Online Services. You can access the form through NSERC’s On-line Services page. You should use the following instructions to complete the form. The list of contributions, the list of co-applicants, if you are applying for a team grant, and any other documents (if applicable) are "free form" and must be attached to the forms submitted electronically. For more information, read the NSERC On-line Presentation and Attachment Standards.

Collection and Use of Personal Information

The personal information you provide to NSERC in your application is collected under the authority of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Act.  It is described in a series of program-related information banks in Info Source, a public registry of federal government information holdings. Details on the precise uses of this information are provided in the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act (ATIP). Submitting Form 180 to NSERC signifies that you have read this document and that you agree to the uses and disclosures of your personal information described in it.

Completing Form 180

For Discovery Grant applications or Discovery Project Grant applications (Subatomic Physics only), you must submit a Form 180 with required attachments. These documents allow NSERC to start the review process (e.g., preliminary Evaluation Group [EG] assignment, selection of appropriate referees and establishment of the subject matter eligibility). At any time during the review cycle, if NSERC determines that the subject matter is outside of it’s mandate, the application will be rejected.

For team applications, one person must be designated to administer the grant. This person is called the applicant. The applicant is responsible for completing Form 180 on behalf of the team.

Note: Once submitted to NSERC, your form will no longer be available for revision.

Your Research Grants Office will be provided with a list of all Notifications of Intent to Apply for a Discovery Grant (Form 180s) received from your institution in September. The Research Grants Office, in turn, will advise your department.

FORM PROFILE

Some of this information was transferred from the New Application screen. You may update the fields as needed.

Evaluation Group Assignment

In the “suggested evaluation group” selection box, select List to choose the Evaluation Group you feel should review your application. Click on the instructions icon “i” to view the research topics covered by each Evaluation Group.

For further information, contact the program officer responsible for the evaluation group you think is most appropriate, as indicated in the Evaluation Groups Contacts List.

Note: NSERC reserves the right to make the final evaluation group assignment.

PERSON PROFILE

This information was transferred from the New User Registration information screen. You may update the fields as needed and complete the missing information.

Name

If you have changed your name since you last applied for support from NSERC, enter your previous family name.

Personal Identification Number (PIN)

All NSERC applicants have been, or will be, given a PIN. Once you have your PIN, use it each time you apply for a grant and in future correspondence with NSERC. If you have not yet been issued a PIN, or if you don't know your PIN, leave this space blank.

AREA(S) OF RESEARCH

Research Topics

Consult the List of Evaluation Groups and Research Topics. All applicants are required to select a “primary” research topic within the selected evaluation group. The “primary” research topic should be the most pertinent to the program of research you are proposing. You may enter up to four additional research topics (as needed) if your research overlaps with other areas or disciplines. These should be in order of relevance. 

Key Words

Provide a maximum of 10 key words that best describe this proposal.

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

Include only current and/or completed degree programs or postdoctoral experience. If you have completed a Personal Data Form (Form 100), some of the information was already transferred. You should complete the missing information or update the current information.

SUMMARY OF PROPOSAL

In the space provided:

• state the objectives of the proposed research program;
• summarize the scientific approach;
• highlight the novelty and expected significance of the work to a field(s) in the natural sciences and engineering.

Note: NSERC supports research in the natural sciences and engineering (other than the health sciences). Please refer to the Program Guide for Professors, Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency, for more information.

In addition to the above information, for project grant applications (Subatomic Physics only), the applicant must also indicate the range (within a few tens of thousands of dollars) of the annual funding required. This information will be used for the advance planning of the competition.

Your summary must not exceed forty five lines on the final version. To ensure that your text will fit in the limited space, save your information, select Preview, and then adjust accordingly.

Note: Should your proposed research program change substantially from the time you submit your Form 180 to the time you submit your full proposal, please contact the program officer responsible for the evaluation group you have selected.

REFEREES

Give the name and complete mailing address of five individuals who could provide an independent assessment of your application and that are not in a conflict of interest. For each referee, describe in a few words their area(s) of expertise.

Specify:

• Family Name and Initials;
• Institution / Company (full name);
• Department (full name);
• Street Address / P.O. box;
• City, Province (or state);
• Postal code;
• Country;
• E-mail address (if known).

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.

Referees should be capable of reviewing your application in the language in which it is written and may be from foreign universities, government or industry, as appropriate.

We ask applicants not to contact suggested referees in advance.

You may request that some researchers not be involved in the review of your application. This request should specify the above-mentioned information for referees and should be submitted with your Form 180 as an attachment using the "Other Documents" page of the eSubmission system. Note: The request may be accessible to these researchers under the Privacy Act.

CONTRIBUTIONS

Submit an up-to-date list of research contributions. This list should include significant publications or other relevant research contributions (books, patents, etc.) over the last six years, i.e., last six years from the deadline date for the submission of the application (for example, a 2011 deadline means 2005 inclusively). This list is used to facilitate the selection of referees and is not used to evaluate your application.

CO-APPLICANTS

For team applications, attach a list of the co-applicants, including their contributions. Indicate the name of the person designated to administer the grant on the top right corner of each page.

This list should include the following information for each member:

• Family Name
• Given Name and Initial(s)
• Personal Identification Number (PIN)
• Institution
• Department
• Academic Background (Degree, Institution, Supervisor and Year)
• Contributions

Note: A list of contributions is not required for co-applicants participating in Subatomic Physics Project Grant applications.

OTHER DOCUMENTS

You are asked to provide a letter of explanation if you are requesting that some researchers not be involved in the review of your application.

Note: The request may be accessible to these individuals under the Privacy Act.