Call for Nominations

Nomination deadline: June 7, 2011

Eligibility

Candidates should have successfully defended their doctoral thesis within the last 12 years (i.e., 1999 or later) and hold a grant from NSERC. (Parental leave taken for child bearing and rearing is not counted as part of the 12-year period; however, such periods must be identified in the letter from the nominator.)

Candidates may be nominated by any individual or group; however, the nominators must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada and be senior members of the Canadian science and engineering community. Self nominations will not be accepted. The nominations must be endorsed by the executive head of the candidate's university. NSERC reserves the right to rule on the eligibility of nominees.

University officials must screen the nominations and forward up to six nominations that are demonstrably outstanding.

Individuals who are awarded a Discovery Accelerator Supplement and an E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship will be entitled to receive both awards, but not concurrently. Please contact NSERC program staff for more specific information.

Selection Criteria and Evaluation

A selection committee of distinguished university, government and corporate research representatives, from a variety of disciplines, will review the nominations and recommend the successful candidates to the President of NSERC.

The nominations will be reviewed according to the following criteria:

• candidate's stature in the scientific or engineering community—both national and international;
• importance and scope of the candidate's research and its impact on the field;
• candidate's specific accomplishments within his or her field; and
• candidate's overall suitability for the award.

How to Submit a Nomination

The nomination process involves three people:

• The nominator(s);
• The executive head of the university; and
• The nominee.

Since the selection committee is multidisciplinary, the nomination material should be written for non-specialists.

The nominator(s) writes a letter that:

• explains why the nominee deserves consideration for the Fellowship, with emphasis on contributions to, and impact on, the field;
• explains how this award could help the nominee in his or her career development; and
• includes the nominator's e-mail address.

The executive head of the university provides a letter endorsing the nomination.

The endorsement letter should list the current teaching and administrative responsibilities of the nominee and indicate how the university will fully relieve the nominee of these responsibilities during the tenure of the award.

The nominee provides:

• a two-page summary of the research that would be pursued during tenure of the Fellowship;
• a completed NSERC Personal Data Form (Form 100);*
• copies of the nominee’s three most significant research contributions; and
• the names and addresses (mail and e-mail) of five to seven referees. The referees should be internationally recognized experts in the nominee's field, from whom NSERC may request impartial assessments of the nominee's suitability for the Fellowship.**

Please note that additional letters of support will not be included in the review process.

Participants are encouraged to submit the nomination material electronically, preferably in PDF format, to inquiries.steacie@nserc-crsng.gc.ca . If the total size of the e-mail attachment exceeds 5 MB, the documents must be forwarded one at a time. CD-ROMs, memory sticks and printed copies sent by regular mail will also be accepted. Please see the Award Contact page for information. NSERC will send an electronic acknowledgement of receipt to the nominator(s) and nominee within one month of the closing date of the call for nominations.

*Nomination material should conform to NSERC presentation standards, as described in the Form 100 Instructions. When completing Form 100 to apply for a Steacie Fellowship, follow the guidelines except that: a) contributions do not need to be limited to those in the last six years; and b) there is no page limit. Note that the online system will not accept contributions that exceed five pages. You may attach your contributions manually to the rest of your Form 100 once you have saved it to your computer or submit your contributions as a separate document.

**Referees should not be members of the nominee's university, former professors or supervisors, or present or former collaborators or colleagues. NSERC also seeks the advice of referees other than those suggested in the nomination.

More Information About the Awards

Fellows will be asked to confirm, by e-mail or letter, their acceptance of the award and to confirm their ability to use the full value of the award. The award must be used to pay for research activities, in accordance with the rules that govern NSERC Discovery Grants. University officials must report annually on how they used the funds they received.

The start date of the fellowship should be between April 1, 2012, and March 31, 2013, and the award is normally paid in two instalments of $125,000 per year. 

Fellows will be eligible to submit an application to the Research Tools and Instruments Grants Program for equipment funding related to their research funded by the Steacie Fellowship.

At the end of the Fellowship, Fellows must report on its impact on their research and career, and how they used any supplemental support they may have received.

Announcement

Successful candidates are notified in December. They are also informed of the procedures for requesting supplementary funding.

The names of the recipients will be announced in 2012.