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The Government of Canada to support global centres for research on climate change and clean energy

General news

February 8, 2023

The Government of Canada, through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), is pleased to join efforts with international partners to take part in the inaugural Global Centres initiative, led by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), for use-inspired research addressing global challenges in climate change and clean energy.

NSF Global Centres is a collaborative effort among NSERC, SSHRC, NSF, Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to support the creation of international hubs of research excellence on the themes of climate change and clean energy that advance knowledge, empower communities, and generate discovery and innovative solutions at the regional and/or global scale. Through a lead agency model, the US Principal Investigator will submit a single collaborative proposal on behalf of the international research team, which will undergo a single review process at NSF, the lead agency. Eligible Canadian researchers may receive funding from NSERC or SSHRC, and their international collaborators may receive funding from their respective funding agency.

International and interdisciplinary research collaborations that bring together research on topics such as greenhouse gas emissions, atmospheric and oceanic circulation drivers, impacts of natural and built environment, human behavior, and policy constraints are needed to develop innovative solutions and approaches to tackling the complexity of climate change and clean energy. Canada’s participation in this initiative aligns with efforts outlined in Climate Science 2050: Advancing Science and Knowledge on Climate Change, an effort to identify and understand climate change science and knowledge gaps and advance the collaborative and interdisciplinary scientific efforts needed to inform climate action.  

Canadian university researchers in the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences, and engineering are invited to work in partnership with collaborators from the US and optionally the UK and/or Australia as well as other countries. NSERC and SSHRC encourage the full range of disciplinary, multi-disciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches that address research needs under the climate change and clean energy themes.  The Global Centres initiative includes two tracks:

• Track 1 – Implementation: Funding up to $750,000 per year for four to five years for the establishment of a Global Centre
• Track 2 – Design: Funding up to $100,000 per year for one to two years for coordination and preliminary research efforts aiming to foster future Global Centres proposals

Applications to Track 1 must be submitted by May 10, 2023, and between April 12 and May 10, 2023, for Track 2. Please read the funding opportunity for more details. Additional information is also available on the Global Centres (GC) page.

For questions on the Global Centres initiative, please contact RP-Initiatives-PR@nserc-crsng.gc.ca.

Quotes

“As Canada, and the world, contend with the unprecedented challenge of climate change, deploying world-class expertise and accelerating discovery have never been more critical. NSERC is proud to take part in the inaugural NSF Global Centres initiative, an exciting opportunity for Canadian researchers to collaborate with their international peers on innovative and interdisciplinary climate action solutions.”
 - Prof. Alejandro Adem, FRSC, President, NSERC

“Tackling climate change and advancing global clean energy adaptation are societal issues at heart, which is why it’s so important that social sciences and humanities researchers bring their perspectives and insights to this international undertaking. SSHRC is proud to be partnering on these Global Centres to enable robust interdisciplinary approaches that are vital to finding long-term sustainable solutions to complex societal challenges.”
 - Ted Hewitt, President, SSHRC 

Information sessions

NSERC and SSHRC will be offering joint information sessions on the NSF Global Centres initiative.

• English: Thursday, March 9, 2023, from 11 am to 12 pm (EST) (Password: GRC2023)
• French: Thursday, March 9, 2023, from 2 pm to 3 pm (EST) (Password: GRC2023)

Additional information

Canada is leading a complementary initiative, the International Joint Initiative for Research on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation. This initiative represents a collaboration between research funders from Brazil, Germany, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States to leverage international expertise to further the design and implementation of adaptation and mitigation strategies to tackle climate change. This competition is administered by Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund and researchers are required to submit their notice of intent to apply by May 2, 2023.For questions on this initiative, please contact NFRF-FNFR@chairs-chaires.gc.ca.