National Science Foundation Global Centres
Funding
Canada's participation in the inaugural NSF Global Centres competition is through NSERC and SSHRC. NSERC's total budget allocation for this call is expected to be CAN$15 million over five years, while SSHRC's total budget allocation is expected to be CAN$5 million over five years. NSERC will provide funding for the research undertaken by eligible Canadian applicants in the natural sciences and engineering fields, while SSHRC will support research in the social sciences and humanities fields. All expenditures are subject to the principles and directives governing the appropriate use of grant funds outlined in the Tri-agency guide on financial administration. You must only include NSERC- or SSHRC-eligible direct costs of research in the budget submitted to NSERC. Costs incurred by your international collaborator(s) are not eligible, and you do not need to include these in your budget submission to NSERC.
The funds from NSERC and SSHRC must be paid to eligible Canadian universities and cannot be used to buy equipment, products or services from any collaborating organization.
For Track 1 – Implementation proposals, you can request up to CAN$750,000 per year, for 4-5 years, from NSERC and SSHRC to support the costs of your participation in the Global Centre. The budget and justification details must be presented in Canadian funds.
For Track 2 – Design proposals, you can request up to CAN$100,000 per year, for up to two years, from NSERC and SSHRC to support the costs of your participation in coordination efforts to build partnerships, develop research questions and conduct exploratory research necessary to launch a Global Centre in the future. The budget and justification details must be presented in Canadian funds. Funding for Track 2 – Design is subject to the availability of funds.
Note that you must include a budget and budget justification for funds requested from the Canadian agencies in the Supplementary Documentation section of the application submitted to NSF.
Eligible expenses
You can only include NSERC- and SSHRC-eligible direct costs of research in your project budget. Examples of this include:
- salary support for research trainees (undergraduate and/or graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) to perform research and related training
- salary support for technicians and research professional personnel
- materials and supplies
- activities that support collaborations and knowledge mobilization related to the Global Centre
- activities to develop and grow the research collaborations with the international partner(s)
Refer to the guidelines on the use of grant funds in the Tri-agency guide on financial administration for more information.
You can also include the costs of equipment, provided that the equipment is:
- essential to achieving the objectives of the research project
- incremental to the equipment already available at your institution or your Canadian or international partner(s)
There should be no duplication of funding requests for the same items on budgets submitted to NSERC and SSHRC and budgets submitted to other funding agency partners.
Contact
RP-Initiatives-PR@nserc-crsng.gc.ca
Application deadlines
For Track 1: May 10, 2023, 8:00 p.m. (ET)
For Track 2: May 10, 2023, 8:00 p.m. (ET)