Science Communication Skills grant (pilot)

How to apply

Submit your application electronically via the Secure Submission Site for NSERC’s Innovative Collaborations and Science Promotion Programs. Applications that are submitted by means other than the Secure Submission Site will not be accepted. For both the Program and Competition selection dropdowns, select Science Communication Skills. Combine all the parts of your application into a single document in Portable Document Format (PDF).

Material or updates to your application received separately (before or after the deadline date) will not be accepted.

Your application must include:

• Application Summary Form
• Proposal
• Budget
  • Budget justification
  • Explanation of any relationship and/or overlap, conceptual or financial, with other NSERC grants or federal funding held by your organization
• Proof of registered non-profit status
• Terms and Conditions of Applying Form
• Letters of support (up to two total)
• Environmental Information Form (Appendix A) (for proposals with potential environmental impact)

The proposal (up to four pages maximum) must include:

• an executive summary of up to 150 words describing the nature and goals of the activity, the target audience, and an overview of how NSERC funding would be spent
• a description of the training activities under headings corresponding to the selection criteria: Organization, Quality of the activity, and Impact and reach, with subheadings corresponding to the indicators to measure these criteria
• the planned approach for promoting participation from a diverse group of trainees (including from under-represented and disadvantaged groups) while taking into account equity in trainee recruitment and ensuring that training activities are inclusive. This should be discussed under the heading “Quality of the activity.”

NSERC is acting on the evidence that achieving a more equitable, diverse and inclusive Canadian research enterprise is essential to creating the excellent, innovative and impactful research necessary to advance knowledge and understanding, and to respond to local, national and global challenges. This principle informs the commitments described in the Tri-Agency Statement on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

Inclusive training consists of activities in which all people are respected and have access to the same opportunities, and where each individual — including those from under-represented and disadvantaged groups — can reach their full potential, unimpeded by inequitable practices. All organizations must commit to implementing specific actions that acknowledge and address barriers to participation (such as physical, procedural, visible, invisible, and unintentional barriers) in order to broaden access to the largest pool of potential participants and to improve the impact of training.

The budget should include:

• projected revenues for your activity (break down income by source: for example, NSERC, federal government, provincial government, private sector, foundations, self-generated, postsecondary institution, etc.)
• anticipated expenses of your activity (break down expenses by expenditure: for example, salaries, equipment, materials and supplies, travel costs, publicity, etc.)
• estimated in-kind contributions (salaries, equipment, space, etc.), clearly indicated and included as a separate category
• justification for each budget item (indicate any priorities for funding) — one page maximum
• explanation of any relationship and/or overlap, conceptual or financial, with other NSERC grants or federal funding held by your organization — one page maximum

For further details on the eligibility of expenses, see the Use of Grant Funds section of the PromoScience Grants Guide, which will be used for this pilot. The information in this guide may change without notice.

You must submit proof of non-profit status, which may be a certificate of incorporation, audited financial statement or notification of registration. Such proof is not required for applications from postsecondary institutions.

Before you submit your application to NSERC, you must read and agree to the terms and conditions listed on the Terms and Conditions of Applying Form. It is your responsibility to retain a copy of the agreed terms and conditions for your records.

Letters of support

Your organization may provide up to two letters to support your application and demonstrate the need for the activity. These may include:

• Letter(s) from the organization/group hosting the activity (e.g., postsecondary institution) to confirm the need for the proposed training
• Letter(s) of commitment to confirm funding agreements or in-kind contributions from outside sources and/or from the host organization (e.g., postsecondary institution)

Environmental Impact

• If your proposal could have an environmental impact, you must complete the Environmental Information Form (Appendix A). For more information, consult NSERC’s Guidelines on Environmental Review and Assessment.

Presentation guidelines

• Your application must conform to general presentation guidelines set by NSERC. Applications that are incomplete or do not meet the presentation standards may be rejected or be at a disadvantage in the competition. Where page limits are stated, extra pages will be removed. The selection committee will receive only the documents requested by NSERC.
• Do not include link to websites in application documents, including in letters of support. Committee members will ignore any links in documents received.
• Encourage persons providing letters of support to use the presentation guidelines as well. If support letters are not readable, the application may be at a disadvantage in the competition.

What's next?
Review process