Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
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Summary of Changes – 2010-2011 Program Guide for Professors

  1. NSERC has revised the Program Guide for Professors. A summary of the most significant changes appears below.
  2. The Summary of Changes to the Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide will be updated in mid-September.
Programs (in alphabetical order)
CHRP – Collaborative Health Research Projects Program
Revision: March 1, 2010

For the upcoming 2011 competition, the CHRP program will be using NSERC’s on-line Form 182 for the submission of all Notifications of Intent (NOI).

Highlights for the 2011 competition:
  • All Notifications of Intent will be submitted electronically using NSERC’s on-line Form 182.
  • Co-applicants will not be required to provide electronic consent to their participation on the NOI application. However, co-applicants and collaborators need to be informed of the precise uses and disclosures of their personal information.
  • Research Grants Offices (RGO) will not need to approve NOIs prior to submission to NSERC. However, RGOs will have view-only access to the NOIs via the Institution Service.
  • The full application will be submitted electronically using NSERC’s on-line Application for a Grant (Form 101).
CREATE – Collaborative Research and Training Experience Program
Revision: April 7, 2010

Changes are explained in a separate document.
DAS – Discovery Accelerator Supplements Program
Revision: May 11, 2010

Individuals who are awarded both a DAS and an E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship will be entitled to receive the two awards, but not concurrently. Please contact NSERC program staff for more details.
DG – Discovery Grants Program
Revision: July 22, 2010

  • Holders of Discovery Grants (individual grants) may participate on Team Discovery Grants on the understanding that their current Discovery Grant will be cancelled.
  • The $15,000 minimum Discovery Grant has been removed; NSERC now applies the principle of a discipline-specific minimum Discovery Grant amount.
  • The selection criteria Merit of the Proposal and Relative Cost of Research have been reworded.
G8 Research Councils Initiative on Multilateral Research Funding
Created: February 5, 2010

This initiative is aimed at supporting excellent research on topics of global relevance that can best be tackled by a multinational approach. Funding should help researchers to cooperate in consortia consisting of at least three partners from three of the participating countries.

GEM – NSERC/ESS Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals 
Revision: August 18, 2010

NSERC, together with the Earth Sciences Sector (Natural Resources Canada), support research projects that focus on one of the following four priority areas:

Letters of Intent to apply are due September 15, 2010.

MRS – Major Resources Support Program
Revision: March 29, 2010

Starting from fiscal year 2009-10, the Major Resources Support (MRS) program will only provide support to unique national or international (located in Canada) research resources.

Effective immediately, the duration of new MRS grants will be reduced from five to three years. This change is in effect for the 2010 and future competitions.
SWP – Strategic Workshops Program
Revision: March 2, 2010

The SWP pilot has been extended until March 2011.

Workshops funded by the SWP are no longer required to be aligned with one of the seven Strategic Project Grants and Strategic Network Grants target areas.
Tri-Agency Partnership on Knowledge Syntheses on the Environment
Revision: August 13, 2010

NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR launched a third call for proposals under the Tri-Agency Partnership on Knowledge Syntheses on the Environment.

October 1, 2010 is the application deadline.
Forms for Professors (in numerical order)
Common changes to most forms
Revision: 2010 on-going

To simplify and streamline form instructions on the NSERC Web site, the following changes in format and shared content will be implemented over the coming year:
  • Instructions will comprise four sections: General Information, Application Instructions, Signatures and Checklist for a Complete Application. The General Information and the Signatures sections will be common to all instructions. Application Instructions and Checklist sections will provide program-specific application information.
  • Links are provided to a number of important documents on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, the Use and Disclosure of Personal Information, Data Retention Information, the Web Privacy Statement and to other shared content such as presentation standards.
  • All references to submitting paper applications will be removed from instructions to programs that no longer accept paper applications.
  • The Signatures section has been clarified and re-ordered to reflect the meaning of signatures at the time of application and during tenure of a grant.
  • Under Signatures of the institutional authorities, a bullet was added to certify that the institution obtained approval from other institutions involved in the application process prior to submission.
  • NSERC no longer requires that one copy of grant application bearing the original signatures of applicants, co-applicants and university presidents (or their representatives) be kept at the institution when applications are submitted electronically using the On-line System.
  • The French translation for “co-applicant” is changed to “cocandidat.”
Form 101 CHRP - Collaborative Health Research Projects
Revision: Mid August, 2010

Applicants are asked to use NSERC’s On-line System to complete applications to the CHRP Program. The previous system (EAMS) is no longer available. The instructions and forms have been revised accordingly.
Form 102 CREATE - Collaborative Research and Training Experience Grant
Revision: July 12, 2010

In the Budget Justification section of the instructions, a table format is proposed to report the number of students/fellows expected to receive CREATE funds.
Policies and Guidelines (in alphabetical order)
Application Deadlines and Notification of Decision
Revision: August 13, 2010

NSERC is adding a time to its deadlines. Applications must be received at your institution’s research grants office by their internal deadline. If not received by the deadline, it may be rejected by the institution. It must be received at NSERC by 5:00 p.m. local time (at the applicant’s location) on the deadline date. Applications received after the deadline will be considered late and will be rejected.
Eligibility Criteria - For Faculty
Revision: July 22, 2010

A number of criteria have been clarified and/or simplified. For example,
  • “Group grants” are now called “team grants.”
  • In the section on Adjunct Professors, “academia” has been replaced by university sector; as well, NSERC translation for “Adjunct Professor” has changed to “professeur auxiliaire.”
  • The French translation for “co-applicant” is changed to “cocandidat.”
  • The list of salary support programs has been removed. Researchers receiving salary support grants are eligible as long as they meet the eligibility criteria.
  • Readers are referred to the Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide for information on the various leaves.
The source of funding for irregular positions has to be for a minimum of three years.
Guidelines for the Evaluation of Subject Matter Eligibility of Applications Related to the Health Sciences
Revision: July 26, 2010

The principles used to evaluate the subject matter of various grants and scholarships applications in the health sciences have been rewritten and expanded.
Requirements for Certain Types of Research
Revision: July 22, 2010

In the requirements for Research Involving Humans, the text has been revised to be consistent with the new version of the policy: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans.
Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency and Addressing Other Sources of Funding
Revision: July 26, 2010

This section has been rewritten to clarify the guidelines for researchers and students working in areas that overlap the mandates of the granting agencies.
Support of Research in Psychology
Revision: July 22, 2010

These guidelines were removed from the section Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency and Addressing Other sources of Funding, and were clarified.
People Discovery Innovation