Form 181 - Instructions

Grants Programs

Letter of Intent to Apply for a Major Resources Support Grant  

How to Complete Form 181

GENERAL INFORMATION

For deadlines and other information, consult the Major Resources Support program description in the Program Guide for Professors.

Read the following documents before you begin completing Form 181:

1. General instructions on how to complete Form 181. These instructions are found below.
2. The Major Resources Support (MRS) Program Description in the Program Guide for Professors.
3. The Use of Grant Funds section of the NSERC Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide for information about the eligibility of expenses for the direct costs of research and the regulations governing the use of grant funds.

Whom should I contact if I need help?

If you have questions regarding:

1. the program to which you are applying (e.g., content of the application, program deadlines, eligibility, budget), contact the staff responsible for the program;
2. the On-line System, send an e-mail to webapp@nserc-csrng.gc.ca or call 613-995-4273.

Include in your message the e-mail address where you may be contacted, as well as your telephone number.

Contents

• Before you begin
• Completing Form 181
• Attachments
• How to submit your Form 181

Before you begin

Note that you can only submit Form 181 by mail. After completing the PDF version of the Form, you must print and send it to NSERC (see the How to submit your Form 181 section for NSERC’s mailing address). For the free-form pages that you can attach to your Form 181, use your word processor to complete these pages in accordance with the presentation standards listed under the Attachments section of these instructions.

Collection and Use of Personal Information

The information you provide on your Form 181 is collected under the authority of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Act.

The information is stored in a series of NSERC data banks described in Info Source. Details on the use of this information are provided in the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act (ATIP).

Completing Form 181

A Letter of Intent to Apply for a Major Resources Support Grant must be submitted prior to sending a full application. The Letter of Intent will be used for screening purposes. For any prospective application, the Letter of Intent will undergo a review process to ensure that the resource meets the program’s objectives and guidelines. Only those applicants whose Letters of Intent are accepted will be invited to put forward a grant application.

Only Form 181 can be used to submit a Letter of Intent to Apply for a Major Resources Support grant. The Form must be submitted by the deadline date.

In the case of resources that will be reviewed by the subatomic physics evaluation section, Form 181 will not be used for screening purposes. It will solely be used to determine the most appropriate review mechanism for the grant application. All subatomic physics applications will be accepted, and NSERC will not communicate with the applicants to invite them to submit their grant applications.

Applications that are submitted without first submitting a Form 181 will not be considered.

APPLICANT

The applicant will administer the grant. This person is responsible for completing Form 181 on behalf of the group.

In this section, you must provide your family name and given names, initials, NSERC Personal Identification Number (PIN), affiliation, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail address.

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.

APPLICATION PROFILE

Title – Name of Resource

The title should indicate the name of the resource to be supported. It will be used for publication purposes. It should not contain a company or trade name. Spell out scientific symbols and acronyms.

Language of Application

Indicate in which of the two official languages the application will be written, should the Letter of Intent to Apply be accepted.

Key words

Provide a maximum of 10 key words that describe:

1. the resource; and
2. the research programs that depend on access to the resource.

Interdisciplinary/Multidisciplinary Nature of the Research

If the research programs that rely on access to the resource are interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary, all relevant disciplines must be listed.

Past and Current MRS or MFA Support

If applicable, you must provide the financial support obtained from the MRS or MFA programs in the previous and current fiscal years. The fiscal year starts on April 1 and ends on March 31.

Note: The Major Facilities Access (MFA) program was replaced in the spring of 2006 by the MRS program.

Amount Requested from NSERC

You must provide the amounts requested from NSERC for each of the years financial support is being requested. MRS grants can be awarded for up to three years.

Note that MRS grants cannot be used to pay for any indirect costs of research or expenses that are central or departmental institutional costs.

The amounts requested in the Form 181 must not differ by more than 10 percent from those that would be included in the grant application Form 101, if invited. Should there be any unusual reasons for a larger deviation, the resource will need to justify the latter and obtain NSERC’s approval before submitting the grant application.

Description of the Resource

In the available space, plus up to two additional free-form pages, provide a description of the resource, a brief explanation of the requested budget and a brief overview of the research programs that depend on access to the resource.

Note that pages in excess of the number permitted will be removed and not taken into account during the screening process.

CO-APPLICANTS

Co-applicants are major users of the resource. NSERC suggests that a few co-applicants be drawn from the management team of the resource.

It is important to note that all co-applicants must be eligible for NSERC funding. Please consult NSERC’s Eligibility Criteria.

There is no typical number of co-applicants for an MRS application. However, the maximum number of co-applicants is 10. NSERC recognizes that not all resources are the same and that the profile of co-applicants will vary accordingly. The decision of which major users to include as co-applicants is left to the discretion of the applicant.

List all co-applicants, their affiliations, as well as their full contact information.

COLLABORATORS

A collaborator is a major user who is expected to contribute to the overall intellectual and scientific direction of the resource’s activities and research programs. Collaborators must be qualified to undertake research independently. Collaborators are not eligible to hold NSERC grants. Examples of collaborators are government scientists, company personnel, or research scientists from other countries. There is no typical number of collaborators and no limit on this number.

Provide up to 10 collaborators and their affiliations.

UNIQUENESS OF THE RESOURCE

As of fiscal year 2009-10, the Major Resources Support (MRS) program provides support only to unique national or international (located in Canada) research resources. Ongoing grants to any type of resource are not affected by the program’s new focus. At the time of renewal, the resources are required to demonstrate that they fully satisfy the revised program’s objective and selection criteria.

In the available space, plus up to two additional free-form pages, you must address the following factors and explain how your resource meets each of them:

1. research resource not standard in a discipline and not commonly available in Canadian universities;
2. national or international nature of the resource;
3. uniqueness of the resource compared to any other Canadian resources that may be providing similar services; and
4. significant use of the resource by a sufficiently large number of users, including academic and non-academic ones, from outside the host institution and region.

Note that pages in excess of the number permitted will be removed and not taken into account during the screening process.

REFEREE SUGGESTION

For each invited grant application, NSERC may request an assessment of the full grant proposal from individual referees with relevant expertise.

Give the name and complete mailing address of five individuals who could provide an independent assessment of your application, and 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 must not:

• be from the same university or organization as any of the applicants;
• have been a research supervisor or graduate student of the applicant, or any of the co-applicants, within the past six years;
• have collaborated with the applicant and any of the co-applicants within the past six years, or have plans to collaborate in the immediate future;
• have been a user of the resource applying for support within the last six years, or have plans to become a user in the immediate future;
• be providing letters of support for the application;
• be an employee of a non-academic organization with which the applicant, or any of the co-applicants, has had collaboration within the past six years;
• have been a member within the past six years of any advisory body, such as a committee, to the resource applying for support;
• be in a potential conflict of interest (e.g., personal, financial).

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, in a letter, 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 181 as an attachment.

Note that your letter may be accessible to these researchers under the Privacy Act.

Please note that NSERC reserves the right to select any or none of the suggested referees.

Attachments

The only attachments allowed are:

1. up to two free-form pages as part of the Description of the Resource section;
2. up to two free-form pages as part of the Uniqueness of the Resource section; and
3. up to one free-form page to request not to use specific researchers as referees.

General Presentation of Attachments

Attachments are free-form. They should be printed on regular white paper and attached to Form 181 before sending.

• Use white paper, 8 1/2 x 11 inches (21.5 cm x 28 cm), portrait format, with a single column.
• Set margins at 3/4 of an inch (1.9 cm) (minimum) all around.
• Enter your name and PIN (if available) at the top of every page, outside the set margins.

How to submit your Form 181

You must send your Form 181 to NSERC by mail.

Submit five copies, including the original. Form 181 must be received at NSERC no later than the deadline date. Do not send any other correspondence in this mailing.

NSERC does not accept packages sent COD.

Your package should be mailed to the following address:

NSERC
Research Grants Office
Section 1051 (Major Resources Support)
350 ALBERT STREET
OTTAWA ON K1A 1H5