Major Resources Support Program – Frequently Asked Questions

Program

1. I currently hold a Major Facilities Access (MFA)¹ grant for a resource. How will the replacement of the MFA program by the MRS program affect this grant?

Current MFA grants are not affected by the implementation of the MRS program. Current and subsequent instalments of MFA grants will be paid according to the schedule and conditions (if any) given in the Award Letter(s). Please note that the payment of future instalments, as is the case for all programs, is subject to the availability of funds through parliamentary appropriations.

2. I currently hold an MRS grant for a resource that is regional in nature. Since fiscal year 2009-10, the MRS program only provides support to unique national or international (located in Canada) research resources. How will this affect my grant?

MRS grants that were awarded to regional resources will not be affected by the fact that the MRS program will solely concentrate on supporting unique national or international (located in Canada) resources. Current and subsequent instalments of MRS grants to regional resources will be paid according to the schedule and conditions (if any) given in the Award Letter(s). Please note that the payment of future instalments, as is the case for all programs, is subject to the availability of funds through parliamentary appropriations. At the time of renewal the resources will need to demonstrate that they fully satisfy the revised program’s objective and selection criteria.

3. I am an individual researcher from a Canadian institution, and I want to use a unique national resource based in Canada. Does the MRS program directly assist individual researchers in paying for the use of such resources?

No, the MRS program does not directly assist individual researchers in paying for the use of national resources located in Canada. Rather, the MRS program contributes to the operating and maintenance costs of such resources in order to facilitate their use by researchers.

4. I am an individual researcher from a Canadian institution, and I want to use a major resource based outside Canada. Does the MRS program directly assist individual researchers in paying for the use of such resources?

The MRS program aims to assist Canadian researchers in accessing major resources located abroad, the equivalent of which is not available in Canada. This support is not, however, given to individual researchers but to national user consortia. The consortia must be composed of researchers from several institutions (including universities, government laboratories, or industry) across Canada. Such support excludes any direct contribution towards the operating and maintenance costs of foreign resources.

Application

5. Can I submit a grant application without first submitting a Letter of Intent to Apply for a Major Resources Support Grant (Form 181)?

No. A Letter of Intent to Apply for a Major Resources Support Grant (Form 181) must first be submitted by any applicant intending to apply to the program. Full applications submitted without a Form 181 will not be considered.

6. Will NSERC contact the applicants to acknowledge receipt of the Letters of Intent?

Yes, NSERC will contact all applicants by e-mail to acknowledge receipt of the Letters of Intent. This will be done no later than three weeks after the submission deadline.

7. Once the screening process is completed, will NSERC contact all applicants to inform them of the status of their Letters of Intent?

Yes, NSERC will contact the applicants whose Letters of Intent have been accepted, as well as the applicants whose Letters of Intent have been rejected.

All subatomic physics applications will be accepted. NSERC will not communicate with these applicants to invite them to put forward their grant applications.

8. What is the difference between a co-applicant and a major user?

All co-applicants are major users of the resource, but not all major users are co-applicants. NSERC suggests that some 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 (refer to NSERC’s Eligibility Criteria). Therefore, the application should include a Personal Data Form (Form 100) for each of the co-applicants. Information regarding major users can be provided in the full grant application (Form 101). The group of co-applicants can be a subset of the major users. The layout of the application, the use of the available space and the decision on which researchers to include as co-applicants are left to the discretion of the applicant.

9. What is the typical number of co-applicants?

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 applicants and co-applicants will vary accordingly.

10. Are co-applicants necessary, or can the application refer to major users without having any actual co-applicants?

The layout of the application, the use of the available space, and the decision on which researchers to include as co-applicants are left to the discretion of the applicant. However, without co-applicants and their Personal Data Forms, the MRS Selection Committee could have some difficulty in assessing the excellence of the users and the national or international scope of the resource.

11. What if a significant major user is not eligible for NSERC funding?

An applicant may list the major users who are not eligible for NSERC funding but who are important to the merit of the proposal as collaborators. Collaborators, and any other users, may be listed within the maximum number of free-form pages allowed to describe the proposal and address the selection criteria in Form 101.

12. What is a collaborator?

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 do not have access to NSERC grant funds. 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. Collaborators may be listed within the maximum number of free-form pages allowed to describe the proposal and address the selection criteria in Form 101.

13. If invited to submit an application, by how much could the amounts requested in Form 101 vary from those presented in the Letter of Intent (Form 181)?

The amounts requested in Form 101 must not differ by more than 10 percent from those included in Form 181. 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.

14. What is the maximum number of pages for Form 101? Are figures and attachments (e.g., List of Users, List of Contributions, List of Cultures, Letters of Support) to be included in the free-form pages of Form 101, or can extra pages be used?

All information must be contained within the page limits stipulated in the instructions on how to complete a Form 101 for the MRS program. These are as follows:

• An unlimited number of free-form additional pages are allowed to explain and justify proposed expenditures in the Budget Justification section of Form 101. Applicants must only use these pages for this purpose (i.e., explaining and justifying proposed expenditures).
• An unlimited number of free-form pages can be used in the Relationship to Other Research Support section in order to explain the relationships and/or overlaps (conceptual or financial) between activities supported by NSERC and activities supported by other funding sources. Applicants must, however, only use these pages for this purpose (i.e., explaining and justifying relationships and/or overlaps).
• One free-form page can be added to the Expected Revenues from the Use of the Resource section. Applicants must use this additional page only for the purpose of explaining the user fee structure and expected revenues.
• For applications requesting an average (over the requested duration) of up to $499,999 per year, a maximum of 15 free-form pages is allowed for the description of the proposal and to address all selection criteria.

For applications requesting an average (over the requested duration) in the range of $500,000 to $999,999 per year, a maximum of 20 free-form pages is allowed for the description of the proposal and to address all selection criteria.

For applications requesting an average (over the requested duration) of $1,000,000 per year or more, a maximum of 25 free-form pages is allowed for the description of the proposal and to address all selection criteria.

• One additional page for the applicant and one additional page for each co-applicant are allowed. This should be used to describe the use of the resource, the importance of the resource to their individual research programs and to the training of their highly qualified personnel, and to list relevant contributions. Co-applicants are those eligible researchers listed on page 2 of Form 101 and whose Forms 100 are attached to the application.
• One additional page is allowed to list references that are used in the description of the proposal.

Applicants should note the following in regard to lists and other additional material:

Letters of Support

NSERC does not require letters of support from the university or other organizations. Applicants who wish to include letters of support may do so within the maximum number of pages allowed for the description of the proposal in Form 101. NSERC reserves the right to request letters of support for specific resources.

Lists of Users

The List of Users should be included in the description of the user fees in Form 101. Information regarding major users may also be presented within the maximum number of pages allowed for the description of the proposal.

List of Contributions

For the applicant and each co-applicant, the list of contributions within the last five years related to the use of the resource is to be included within the additional page that is allowed in Form 101 to describe the use of the resource. Therefore, such information does not need to be presented again within the maximum number of pages allowed for the description of the proposal.

List of Culture Collections

A List of Culture Collections should be presented within the maximum number of pages allowed for the description of the proposal.

15. What happens if any section of my application exceeds the stipulated maximum number of pages?

For any section, pages in excess of the number permitted will be removed.

16. Can I use a font size and margin spacing that are smaller than the ones prescribed in the General Presentation section of the instructions on how to complete a Form 101 for the MRS program?

All text, including references, must conform to the stipulated standards. Applications that do not meet the presentation standards may be rejected or be at a disadvantage in comparison with those that respect the standards.