Canadian Common CV

How to complete NSERC’s version

• General information
• How to access and complete the NSERC CCV
• How to submit your CCV to NSERC
• Detailed instructions on how to complete the NSERC CCV
• Personal information
• Education
• Recognitions
• Employment
• Research funding history
• Activities
• Memberships
• Contributions
• Obtaining consent from individuals supervised

General information

Who must complete the Canadian Common CV (CCV)?

All applicants and co-applicants for NSERC grants who use the NSERC Research Portal, as well as all Alliance applicants and co-applicants, must complete the NSERC version of the CCV.

Whom should I contact if I need help?

Consult the  Help Manual on how to use the CCV before you start completing the CCV. For technical issues, send an email to support-soutien@cihr-irsc.gc.ca or call 1-888-603-4178. If you have questions related to a competition or to the instructions on how to complete the NSERC CCV, send an email to webapp@nserc-crsng.gc.ca or call 613-995-4273. Include in your message the email address and telephone number where you may be contacted.

How will my personal information be collected and used?

The information you provide in your application is collected under the authority of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Act and stored in a series of NSERC data banks described in Info Source. Details on the use and disclosure of this information are described in the Use and Disclosure of Personal Information Provided to NSERC, in the NSERC program literature and below. The information is used in accordance with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act (ATIP). Consult the CCV Web site for the  Privacy Statement on the Canadian Common CV (collection and use of personal information in the CCV).

How to access and complete the NSERC CCV

Step 1—Register and log in

Go to the  Canadian Common CV Web site. Follow the instructions to register and log in. 

Step 2—Select the NSERC CCV

• Select Funding from the CV drop-down menu located in the top menu bar.
• From the drop-down menus, select NSERC as the Funding Source and NSERC_Researcher as the CV Type, then click Load.

Note: Select the NSERC_CV and not the generic CV to ensure that you complete all the fields required by NSERC. If you have previously entered information in the generic version of the CCV, this information will automatically populate any identical sections in your NSERC CCV. The NSERC CCV can be written and/or downloaded in either official language.

Step 3—Add and Edit Entries in the NSERC CCV

• Click the (Edit) icon to complete or update a section.
• Click Add to create new entries in a section or subsection.
• Click Done when you have completed a section or subsection.
• Within a section, use the Submit check box beside each entry to selectively choose the entries to be included in your NSERC CCV.
• Sections that have errors or that are incomplete are denoted with an X.

All mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk (*).

Review all of the sections to ensure that you have completed those that are relevant to your application.

How to submit your CCV to NSERC

Do not use the PIN/System Account functionality to submit your CCV.  NSERC does not use this functionality to validate your account.

• Once you have completed the NSERC CCV, click Submit.
• A confirmation number will automatically be provided onscreen after you agree to the consent statement. Click History in the top menu bar to view your Submission History.

For the Research Portal (including Discovery Grants)

• Log in to the Research Portal to attach your CCV to your application.
• On your Welcome Page open your application.
• Go to the Canadian Common CV Uploaded section, click Attach.
• Enter your NSERC CCV confirmation number and click Upload. A message will appear indicating that you have successfully uploaded your CCV.
• Within the Uploaded Canadian Common CV section, click on the CV link to preview your CV.
• If you are unable to preview your CCV or receive an error message, verify that you have the correct confirmation number. If the errors persist, contact the On-line Services Helpdesk.

For the NSERC Online System (including Alliance Grants)

• To upload a PDF version of your completed Common CV, from History select the PDF icon to Preview your completed version.
• Download and save a copy
• Attach that copy to the Personal Data Form with CCV Attachment (Form 100A)

In absence of these steps, only a draft copy will be included with your Personal Data Form with CCV Attachment.

Detailed instructions for completing the NSERC CCV

• In the CCV, click on the  (help) for information on what needs to be provided in a section or a field.
• NSERC imposes a 6 year limit in certain sections. The system will validate the information that can be included back to January 1 of the first permissible year. Entries exceeding the limit will be indicated as an error.
• The “End Date” field is mandatory in certain sections. You must enter the anticipated end date if the activity is in progress.
• For some programs, NSERC requires additional information to assess the excellence of the researcher and contributions to the training of highly qualified personnel (HQP). Consult the program instructions for details.

Personal information (mandatory)

Identification, language skills, address, telephone, email
Note: Peer reviewers will have access to your family name, middle name and first name, but no other personal information.

Education (mandatory)

Degrees and diplomas

Recognitions

Prizes and awards made to you (not to your trainees) over the last six years. Describe the recognition received and its importance in the textbox provided.

User profile (mandatory)

Research Specialization Keywords - Enter keywords that best describe your area of expertise.

Employment (mandatory)

Academic work experience

Enter your current and past academic work experience. 

If you currently have a firm written offer but have not taken up the position at the time of application, enter the information related to the offered position.

If you currently hold one of the following positions, you must complete the Work Description field:

• an adjunct professor
• a professor emeritus
• a part-time position  
• an appointment that is not a tenure or tenure-track

In the Work Description, if applicable, you must provide the following information:

• the nature of your research, teaching, training, administrative and other activities;
• the time typically spent on location at the post-secondary institution on each of these activities (e.g., one day every week, two weeks every four months).

Non-academic work experience

Enter your current and past non-academic work experience.

If you currently hold a non-academic position, you must complete the Work Description field and provide the following information:

• the nature of your research program and other activities at your other place of employment;
• the relationship between your research program at this organization and the proposed research. Refer to the institution’s involvement in research and development, if possible.

Leaves of absence / Delays and their impact on research

Provide information on any leave of absence or delay that affected research activities and/or dissemination of research results within the last six years (e.g., parental leave, bereavement, illness, extraordinary administrative duties). In the case of a medical leave, it is not necessary to explain the illness or the treatment but rather its impact on your research.

• Provide the start and end dates.  
• Clearly explain the impact of the delay on your research activities, especially if a formal leave was not taken.

Research funding history

List all sources of support (including NSERC grants and university start-up funds) held as an applicant or a co-applicant, such as:

• support held in the past six years but now completed;
• support currently held;
• support currently applied for (under review).

Notes  

• do not include unsuccessful applications.
• enter all amounts in Canadian dollars (CDN$).
• for Portion of Funding, enter the amount allocated to you personally.

A “Declined” funding status in this section refers to an award that was offered and then declined by the applicant.

Activities

Include your activities over the last six years that are relevant to the application you are submitting to NSERC.

Supervisory activities - student / postdoctoral supervision

The Supervisor Activities section includes students ranging from undergraduate theses and summer projects to trainees at the postdoctoral level, and includes research associates and technicians.

• Do not use “Academic Advisor” in your NSERC CCV. Include only the roles of “Principal Supervisor” and “Co-supervisor.”
• Include only highly qualified personnel (HQP) whose research training was under your direct and formal supervision. Do not include students supervised as part of your undergraduate course, a postdoctoral position, a thesis advisory committee, or normal teaching duties like undergraduate courses and capstone design projects.
• Complete the fields Present Position and Present Organization to show where the HQP is currently working or studying. This information is used by reviewers to assess the impact and success of highly qualified personnel (HQP) training.

Administrative activities

Services contributed in administrative, institutional and executive activities.

Advisory activities

Expert witness activities - services contributed to a legal proceeding.

Assessment and review activities - organizational review activities

Include only review activities related to the assessment of an institution.

Do not include other assessment and review activities such as journal reviews and external reviews of research funding applications in the CCV. You may describe these activities in the application as part of the Additional Information on Contributions section, if relevant.

Knowledge and technology translation activities

List activities related to practical application such as community engagement and outreach, activities with industry, activities with government, and innovation.

International collaboration activities

Enter international collaborations where you have worked with others outside of Canada on administrative, professional, research, or knowledge translation projects. These activities should be relevant to the application you are submitting to NSERC.

Include work with international researchers, where you have participated jointly in research as the result of a research grant. Briefly describe the nature of the collaboration and the research project.

Memberships

Committee and other memberships over the last six years.

Do not include activities as part of thesis committees.

Contributions (mandatory)

Include your contributions to research over the last six years that are relevant to the application you are submitting to NSERC.

Presentations

Presentations that you have given at conferences and events.

Do not include presentations given by highly qualified personnel (highlight these HQP achievements in the application instead, not in your CCV). Do not duplicate information listed under Conference Publications.

Interviews and media relations

Broadcast Interviews, Text Interviews

Publications

Journal articles, journal issues, books, book chapters, reports, manuals, conference publications (e.g., abstracts, papers, posters)

List publications for which you are an author or a co-author.
In the list of authors, use an asterisk to identify highly qualified personnel whom you supervised or co-supervised .

To import publications go to Utilities in the top menu bar. Select Import publication from Web or Import publication from file.

Intellectual property

Patents, licenses, disclosures, registered copyrights, trademarks.

Obtaining consent from individuals supervised

To comply with federal Privacy Act provisions governing the collection of personal information, applicants are asked to obtain consent from individuals they have supervised before providing personal data about them to NSERC. In seeking this consent, the NSERC applicant must inform these individuals which data will be supplied and assure them that information will be used solely by NSERC and only for the purpose of assessing the applicant’s contribution to training of highly qualified personnel. To avoid the need to seek consent several times for multiple applications, applicants only need to seek consent from an individual supervised once for a six-year period.

The Consent to Provide Limited Personal Information about Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) to NSERC form must be obtained from these individuals and retained by the applicant. If the trainee provides consent by email, the message must include confirmation that he or she has read and agrees to the text of the consent form.

If consent cannot be obtained, applicants are asked to withhold names or other information that would identify those supervised. You may enter “Unknown” in those cases and provide the type of training and status, number of years supervised or co-supervised, a general description of the project or thesis and a general indication of the individual’s present position, if known.