Summary of Changes – 2011-2012 Program Guide for Students and Fellows

NSERC has revised the Program Guide for Students and Fellows. A summary of the most significant changes appears below.

This summary is meant only to help you focus on the main changes. Please read the program descriptions that are relevant to you, and the appropriate instructions to review all the changes.

Undergraduate Programs
USRA – Industrial Undergraduate Student Research Awards Program Revision: June 15, 2011	Submit applications using Form 202 in the On-line System.
USRA – Undergraduate Student Research Awards Program Revision: June 15, 2011	Submit applications using Form 202 in the On-line System.
Postgraduate Programs
CGS/PGS – Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships and NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships Revision: August 18, 2011	Note that applications that are incomplete will be rejected.
Summer Programs in Japan or Taiwan Revision: August 18, 2011	Note the new application deadline.
Vanier CGS – Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program Revision: August 18, 2011	Consult the  Vanier CGS Web site for information on program changes.
Postdoctoral Programs
JSPS – Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowships Revision: August 18, 2011	Note the new eligibility criteria.
PDF – Postdoctoral Fellowships Program Revision: August 18, 2011	Candidates who request to hold their PDF at the institution granting their PhD are no longer required to provide support letters. The request must be explained in detail by the applicant in the section “Justification for location of tenure” of the application. Note that applications that are incomplete will be rejected.
RDC and ACOA IRDF Supplement – Research & Development Corporation and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Industrial R&D Fellowships Supplement Created: February 21, 2011	This new supplement is available to NSERC IRDF applicants from Newfoundland and Labrador.
Award Holder's Guide
For Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship Holders Created: April 7, 2011	An Award Holder's Guide for Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship Holders and a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship Post-award Form have been created for this program.
For NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship (PGS) Holders at Foreign Institutions Revision: October 7, 2011	PGS/CGS award holders may now accept supplements from NSERC grants.
For NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship (PGS) or Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship (Alexander Graham Bell CGS) Holders at Canadian Universities Revision: February 25, 2011	PGS/CGS D award holders may be granted one four-month interruption to take up an Industrial Research and Development Internship (IRDI). Interruption to take up an IRDI will not be permitted for PGS/CGS M award holders.
Revision: October 7, 2011	PGS/CGS award holders may now accept supplements from NSERC grants.
For Postdoctoral Fellows (PDF) Revision: February 25, 2011	To hold an award, successful PDF candidates must meet all the requirements for their PhD by September 1 of the year the fellowship is awarded. Award holders may be granted one four-month interruption to take up an Industrial Research and Development Internship (IRDI).
Visiting Fellows Award Holder's Guide Revision: January 25, 2012	The Invention Agreement (Form E-4) has been revised.
Policies and Guidelines
All program instructions and entry pages of NSERC’s On-line System Revision: November 18, 2011	All applicants submitting applications or accepting funding from federal granting agencies as of November 17, 2011, are required to consent to the disclosure of personal information in cases of serious breach of agency policy. Refer to the Tri-Agency Statement: Consent to Disclosure of Personal Information.
Eligibility Criteria for Students and Fellows Revision: August 18, 2011	Ensure that you also consult the tri-agency policy  Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency.
How to Apply Revision: June 15, 2011	USRA and Industrial USRA applicants must complete and submit Form 202 using the On-line System.
List of Research Subject Codes for Scholarships and Fellowships Revision: August 18, 2011	S&F Selection Committee 193 has been renamed to “Civil and Mechanical Engineering”. S&F Selection Committee 194 has been renamed to “Chemical, Biomedical and Materials Science Engineering”. S&F Selection Committee 176 has been split into two distinct committees and renamed: S&F Selection Committee 197 is now “Electrical Engineering” and S&F Selection Committee 198 is now “Computing Sciences”. S&F Selection Committee 195 has been renamed to “Plant and Animal Biology”.
Requirements for Certain Types of Research Revision: August 4, 2011	In the requirements for Research Involving Humans, the text has been revised to make reference to the second edition of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2) that replaced the first edition of the TCPS (1998) as the official human research ethics policy of NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR.
Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency Revision: December 2, 2010	The following three policies have been replaced by the single tri-agency (NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR) policy  Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency: Guidelines for the Evaluation of Subject Matter Eligibility of Applications Related to the Health Sciences; Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency and Addressing Other Sources of Funding; and Support of Research in Psychology. Information about addressing other sources of funding may be found in the policy document entitled Relationship Between NSERC Proposals and Other Sources of Funds.
Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research Created: December 5, 2011	NSERC, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research launched the new Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research. This new Framework replaces the previous integrity policy and related documents, including the Tri-Agency Policy Statement: Integrity in Research and Scholarship (TCPS-I, 1994), the Framework for Tri-Council Review of Institutional Policies Dealing with Integrity in Research (1996) and the Tri-Agency Process for Addressing Allegations of Non-compliance with Tri-Agency Policies (2010). All researchers and institutions will be required to adhere to the Framework and to the policies referenced in it.
Forms
Form 201 - Application for a Postgraduate Scholarship or Postdoctoral Fellowship Revision: August 18, 2011	A Justification for Eligibility of Proposed Research must be completed if the proposed research is in a discipline that falls under the mandate of more than one federal granting agency.
Form 202 (Part I) – Application for an Undergraduate Student Research Award and Industrial Undergraduate Student Research Award Revision: June 15, 2011	Submit applications using Form 202 in the On-line System.
Revision: August 18, 2011	Transcripts must be attached to Part I.
Form 202 (Part II) – Application for an Industrial Undergraduate Student Research Award Revision: June 15, 2011	Submit applications using Form 202 in the On-line System.
Form 202 (Part II) – Application for an Undergraduate Student Research Award Revision: June 15, 2011	Submit applications using Form 202 in the On-line System.