Collaborative Research and Training Experience Program

Important Information

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Summary of Major Changes to CREATE program for the 2010 Competition
• Current Grant Recipients

Objectives

The Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) Program supports the training of teams of highly qualified students and postdoctoral fellows from Canada and abroad through the development of innovative training programs that:

• encourage collaborative and integrative approaches, and address significant scientific challenges associated with Canada’s research priorities; and
• facilitate the transition of new researchers from trainees to productive employees in the Canadian workforce.

These innovative programs will encourage one or more of the following:

• The acquisition and development of important professional skills among students and postdoctoral fellows that complement their qualifications and technical skills;
• Student mobility nationally and internationally between individual universities and between universities and other sectors; and
• Interdisciplinary research within the natural sciences and engineering (NSE), or at the interface between the NSE and health, and/or the social sciences and humanities.

Description

The CREATE program is designed to improve the mentoring and training environment for Canadian researchers of tomorrow by improving areas such as communication, collaboration and professional skills, as well as providing experience relevant to both academic and non-academic research environments. The program promotes and furthers the development of new researchers within the natural sciences and engineering (NSE) disciplines or at the interdisciplinary frontier between NSE and the areas covered under the umbrella of the two other federal granting agencies; the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) if, by combining the strengths of the various disciplines, a greater impact is achieved for the trainees. Where appropriate, proposed initiatives could also encourage interaction with the users of research and future employers of the trainees, or contribute to providing additional opportunities for students to participate in exchanges at the national or international level. The training initiative should be focused on providing a value-added experience to the university training environment to better prepare research trainees for their future careers in industry, government or academia.

To build on Canada’s research strengths and priorities and to enhance our success, at least 60 percent of the CREATE funding will be directed to the following priority areas:

• Environmental science and technologies;
• Natural resources and energy;
• Health and related life sciences and technologies; and
• Information and communications technologies.

Successful applicants will consist of a group of accomplished researchers, who will work collaboratively to offer a defined research training program to a group of trainees. This environment will provide trainees with experience relevant to both academic and non-academic careers. The research training experience can target any trainee level: undergraduate students, graduate students (master’s and doctoral) and postdoctoral fellows. Successful applications will be those best able to demonstrate the benefits of their proposed research training experience to their targeted trainees.

Supported training programs will be recognized nationally for:

• their innovative nature to create a rich research training environment;
• the excellence of the researchers, and their success in training highly skilled and educated personnel for future employment in all sectors including industry, government and academia;
• their capacity to raise the standard for best practices in research training and development of professional skills of new researchers; and
• encouraging student mobility, as appropriate, either between different Canadian universities or between the universities and potential workplaces or among participating Canadian and international institutions thus promoting international awareness.

Eligibility

Eligibility conditions for applicants, co-applicants and institutions apply. CREATE grants are tenable only at NSERC-eligible Canadian universities and the applicant must hold an eligible position at that university. Researchers at non-eligible organizations may participate as collaborators. Ensure that you consider the eligibility requirements for applicants, co-applicants and collaborators described on NSERC’s Web site under Eligibility Criteria as well as the Institutional Eligibility Requirements.

The following conditions also apply:

1. In the case of multi-organization collaborations (academic, industrial, government and/or not-for-profit sectors), the applicant must be from an NSERC-supported field at an NSERC-eligible university. One person must be designated to administer the grant. This person is the “applicant” and is responsible for completing and submitting the Letter of Intent and the full application (if invited) on behalf of the group. The applicant’s university will be the lead institution.
2. The majority of the group must be from NSE fields, but co-applicants at the interdisciplinary frontier between NSE and the areas covered under the umbrella of SSHRC and CIHR may be incorporated into proposals. Applicants submitting proposals at the interdisciplinary frontiers of the granting agencies may be required to justify why NSERC is in fact the most appropriate funding agency for their training proposals.
3. The focus should be on new training initiatives. Existing initiatives must justify the incremental value that will accrue from the CREATE Program.
4. A yearly quota has been established for each university and only those researchers selected at their university can submit Letters of Intent. In addition, a researcher may only be the applicant on one CREATE initiative annually. There is no limit to the number of times a researcher or an organization may participate as a co-applicant/collaborator.
5. Each training program will have a program committee responsible for overseeing the progress of the program and its future directions. The applicant may not be the Chair of the program committee.
6. The approval of each annual report by the program committee Chair will be required for NSERC to release grant funds for the following year.

Award Information

Funding of up to $150,000 in the first year, and up to $300,000 annually in subsequent years, will be provided by NSERC for a total period of six years. Partners may contribute additional funds. The full application must provide a detailed justification of all expenses.

The following sections of the Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide apply to the CREATE program:

• Responsibilities and Accountability;
• Annual Funding of Grants;
• Use of Grants Funds (only Preamble and General Principles sections);
• Reporting; and
• Administrative Matters.

The allowable expenses are limited to:

1. Stipends

• At least 80 percent of the CREATE grant must be used for trainees’ stipends.
• Up to 30 percent of this portion can be distributed to trainees who are not enrolled in the NSE; and
• stipends for students and fellows are based on NSERC scholarships and fellowships, as follows:
  • Undergraduate - $4,500* for 16 weeks;
  • Master’s - $17,300 annually;
  • Doctoral - $21,000 annually; and,
  • Postdoctoral - $40,000 annually.
• Students holding Postgraduate Scholarships, Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships or other scholarships should be encouraged to participate in the training program, although they will not be allowed to receive a stipend from CREATE during tenure of their other scholarships;
• Direct scholarship support for graduate studies through NSERC, including stipends from CREATE grants, is limited to a lifetime maximum of four years full-time equivalent for each individual. NSERC will include any graduate-level support offered by SSHRC and CIHR, and taken up, in the calculation of available support;
• CREATE stipends to postdoctoral fellows are normally limited to two years of support. Three years of support is acceptable, when justified, to attract exceptional foreign candidates. The three-year appointment must be offered up front and reported to NSERC with a written justification within one month of an offer being accepted; 
• International students and fellows may be offered stipends. Persons paid from NSERC grants are not considered NSERC employees; and
• While the stipend levels have been established to match NSERC’s awards and that is the amount that can be paid from NSERC funds, contributions from partners or other sources (except from NSERC) may be used to top up the recommended amounts for students.

Note: The 80-20 percent ratio is over the course of the grant.

* Undergraduate stipends must be supplemented by 25 percent of their value with funds coming from:

• the original CREATE stipend budget;
• an external source of funding (e.g., industry contributions, institutional funding, Discovery Grants); or
• any combination of the above.

Up to 20 percent of the CREATE funds may be used for the following expenses (sections 2-5 below combined):

2. Training program structure

• Funds towards the development and the coordination of the training program structure, format and content, i.e., costs for the purchase of books or periodicals, specialized office supplies, computing equipment and information services not formally provided by the institution to its academic and research staff, costs involved in providing personnel with training and/or development in novel techniques required for the training program, etc.;
• The salary of a program coordinator, in the first two years of the grant. Universities and/or other partners are expected to assume any such costs after this initial period;
• Advertising and trainee recruitment costs, including travel costs to bring potential candidates in for interviews; and
• Costs associated with short-term training related to professional skill development for trainees.

3. Travel

• If the program involves institutions located in different cities, funds for the travel of trainees between locations;
• Travel and accommodation expenses of trainees for exchanges nationally among universities located in different cities, between universities and other sectors, and/or internationally;
• Air travel must be claimed at the lowest rate available and may not exceed full economy fare;
• Cost of land travel, up to the equivalent of economy airfare;
• Travel cancellation insurance;
• Travel health insurance for trainees who do not receive any such benefits from their institution and/or other sources;
• Safety-related expenses (for trainees) for fieldwork, such as protective gear, immunizations, etc.; and
• Entry visa fee (for trainees) when required for the purpose of research.

4. Dissemination of training materials and research results

• Funds for the development and dissemination of training materials;
• Costs of developing Web-based information, including Web site maintenance fees;
• Costs associated with the dissemination of findings (i.e., through traditional venues as well as videos, CD-ROMs, etc.); and
• Costs of holding a workshop or seminar, the activities of which relate directly to the funded research (including non-alcoholic refreshments or meal costs).

5. Services and miscellaneous expenses

• Networking costs (non-alcoholic refreshments or meals) for networking purposes in the context of formal courtesy between the grantee and guest researchers and research-related activities in the context of assemblies that facilitate and contribute to the achievement of the research objectives (e.g., grantee meeting with partners and stakeholders).

Items other than those indicated above are not eligible (e.g., other salaries, materials and supplies, field work, other travel, publication costs, relocation costs). These are the responsibility of researchers through their research grants.

Application Procedures

Applying to the CREATE program involves a two phase application process:

Phase 1: Letter of Intent

Phase 2: Application

The CREATE program is highly selective, with pre-screening based on the Letter of Intent. Only applicants successful at the Letter of Intent stage will be invited to submit a full application.

Phase 1: Letter of Intent

To apply for a CREATE Program Grant, researchers must first submit a Letter of Intent for a Collaborative Research and Training Experience Program Grant (Form 187). Refer to Form 187 instructions for complete information or contact your university research grants office. NSERC must receive the required material by the deadline date.

A complete Letter of Intent includes the following:

• a Letter of Intent for a CREATE Grant (Form 187);
• a Personal Data Form (Form 100) for the applicant; and
• a letter from the applicant’s university Vice-President, Research.¹

¹An earlier deadline may be established by the university to review Letters of Intent and to select those they will put forward to NSERC. The letter must clearly confirm that the applicant’s proposal is one of the proposals endorsed by the university as part of their quota of submissions, and must describe the university’s support and commitment for this new initiative. 

Phase 2: Full application

If invited to apply, you must then submit the following documents to NSERC by the deadline date:

• an Application for a CREATE Program Grant (Form 102);
• a Personal Data Form (Form 100) for the applicant and up to ten co-applicants;
• Letters of support from the university;
• Letters from collaborators (maximum three), if applicable.

Refer to Forms 100 and 102 instructions for complete information or contact your university research grants office.

Review Procedures and Selection Criteria

One or more multidisciplinary NSERC selection committees will review the Letters of Intent and the invited full applications.

Letter of Intent

At the Letter of Intent stage the training program will be assessed in relation to:

1. The merit of the proposed training program (50 percent)
2. The excellence of the team of researchers (50 percent)

Refer to the selection criteria described below for details.

Full application

The training program's excellence in the full application will be assessed in relation to its:

• innovative, collaborative, and integrative character;
• capacity to better prepare trainees for the workforce; and
• potential to support teams of outstanding students and postdoctoral fellows.

In arriving at an overall rating for the application, the committee will take into consideration the factors listed below.

Note: The three criteria listed will be weighted equally.

1. Merit of the proposed training program

Applicable to all proposals:

• The extent to which the program will provide a high quality of training and facilitate the transition to the workforce;
• The extent to which the program will allow trainees to analyze, synthesize and harmonize links within and between disciplines into a coordinated and coherent whole;
• The research program’s focus and clarity of objectives, both short- and long-term; and
• How the research relates to the current scientific and/or technical developments in the field with references to the current literature.

As appropriate to specific proposals:

• The extent to which the program will encourage the trainees to develop professional skills;
• How the training will benefit from the mobility of students and fellows between academic institutions and organizations within Canada or abroad, and the extent to which the program will promote interaction of the trainees with non-academic sectors, such as private companies, industry associations, not-for-profit organizations, government departments, etc.; and
• The degree to which the training program fosters research at the interface between the NSE and the health and/or social sciences and humanities.

2. Excellence of the team of researchers

See the Policy and Guidelines on the Assessment of Contributions to Research and Training

• Quality and impact of team members’ past contributions on their respective areas of research;
• Complementarity of expertise of the members of the group; and
• The quality and extent of past contributions to the training of highly qualified personnel.

3. Program management and long-term sustainability

• The appropriateness of the proposed management structure, including the composition, the role, and the responsibilities of the program committee;
• The reliability of the project management plans for the implementation of the training program, and for the evaluation of the program's performance against stated objectives;
• The recruitment strategy for attracting a high quality and diverse group of trainees and the selection process that will be used, as well as the appropriateness of the various level of trainees involved (undergraduate to postdoctoral level);
• The evidence of institutional commitment to facilitate and further the plans and goals of the CREATE Program, during and beyond the term of the grant; and
• The provision of adequate facilities for carrying out the research.

Contact

Tel.: 613-943-1363
E-mail: create@nserc-crsng.gc.ca