Technology Access Centre grants – Instructions for completing a letter of intent to apply for a Technology Access Centres grant

Table of contents

• General information
• Create your letter of intent
• Complete your letter of intent
• Submit your letter of intent

General information

About the grants

Read the Technology Access Centres (TAC) grants description before you complete the letter of intent (LOI).

Only colleges applying for a new TAC grant must complete an LOI. Existing TAC grant holders that are hoping to renew for an additional five-year term do not need to submit an LOI. The review committee will evaluate the LOIs using the merit evaluation criteria and recommend which colleges be invited to submit a full application.

Who completes the LOI?

TAC grants are institutional grants; the institution is identified as the grant recipient. Therefore, the applicant prepares the application and is responsible for administering the grant on behalf of the institution.

The applicant must hold a remunerated position at an eligible Canadian college and is responsible for creating and completing the LOI in the Convergence Portal. The applicant is typically a senior manager in the college’s administration who is delegated by the college president to manage the grant. The applicant must complete the My information section by entering CV details and uploading the CCI CV contributions document. The applicant should not be the college's research grants officer.

Contributors (optional) are individuals designated by the college that have access to edit the LOI, and who typically help the applicant complete the LOI, but do not participate in the research activities. The applicant invites the contributor(s) to access the LOI via Convergence, and those invited will receive an email asking them to accept the invitation. Upon accepting, contributors will be re-directed to Convergence to log in (or create an account). The contributor(s) information is not captured in the LOI.

Who approves and submits the LOI?

The research grants officer (RGO) is the designated institutional liaison officer. This role is called Research Administrator in Convergence, and they approve and submit the LOI on behalf of the college. The RGO must click on the Research Administrator button in the blue bar at the top in Convergence to access their account and see the LOI.

Whom should I contact if I need help?

• For program-related information, contact colleges@nserc-crsng.gc.ca.
• For matters related to the Convergence Portal, email websupport@convergence.gc.ca or call 1-855-275-2861.

Collection and use of personal information

The information you provide in your letter of intent 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  Information about programs and information holdings. Details on the use and disclosure of this information are described on the Use and disclosure of personal information provided to NSERC section, in the NSERC program literature and below. The information is used in accordance with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

LOI deadline

Your LOI must be received at NSERC by 8:00 pm (ET) on August 28, 2024.

You will not be able to edit your LOI once it has been submitted. You may not send material or updates separately before or after the deadline date.

Create your LOI

As the applicant, you must create, complete and submit your LOI using the  Convergence Portal. Convergence is only supported on the latest versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox.

Follow the instructions provided in Convergence to complete your LOI. Details on the information needed to complete an LOI are outlined below.

Steps

• Sign in to the  Convergence Portal. If you have an account on NSERC’s  Research Portal, please use your existing account credentials.
• Select Funding Opportunities.
• Select CCI Technology Access Centres grants, Stage: Letter of Intent then Create Application.
• Complete steps 1 to 5 detailed below and agree to the terms and conditions for applying.

Enrolment

The applicant will be required to complete enrolment steps when creating an LOI. If you have previously completed the enrolment steps in Convergence, some fields may be pre-populated.

You must complete the following steps; at this point, you can update any information that may have been previously provided.

Step 1 – Eligibility: Confirm that you have been delegated, by the college’s president, the responsibility of applying on behalf of the college.

Step 2 – Affiliations: List all of your current affiliations and identify your primary affiliation (select your current affiliation associated with the LOI).

Step 3 – Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI): Completion of the self-identification form is mandatory however, you may select “Prefer not to answer” for any or all questions; see the self-identification information section below for more information.

Step 4 – Fields of research: List at least two fields of research and indicate at least one as a primary area of research. These do not need to be directly related to the LOI.

Step 5 – Keywords: Provide a minimum of five keywords that best describe, overall, your areas of research. They do not need to be directly related to a specific application and will not be used for evaluation purposes.

Terms and conditions: Accept the terms and conditions to access the LOI.

Self-identification information

The applicant must complete the self-identification form to apply for NSERC funding. However, you may select “Prefer not to answer” for any or all questions. NSERC appreciates your participation, which supports the granting agencies in monitoring the equity of their programs and strengthening EDI in the research enterprise.

The self-identification information is collected as part of your user profile when you register in the  Convergence Portal. It is not part of your application and is not accessible to, or shared with, external reviewers and/or review committee members.

Complete your LOI

Select View application from the Applications tab to access the LOI.

My information

The applicant must complete the My information section of the LOI.

After completing the enrolment steps, you will be re-directed to the home screen. In the Applications tab, select the LOI you created from the Actions menu. Once the LOI is open, complete the My information section, including CV affiliation and employment, CV education, and the CV documents.

Once these sub-sections are completed and finalized, the information cannot be edited.

CV affiliation and employment: You must provide at least one employment experience that is an academic, research, professional or industrial position you have held.

If you are completing your My information section for the first time in Convergence, add past and current affiliations by selecting Add new affiliation. If you have previously completed your profile, you may add previously recorded affiliations by selecting Add existing affiliation.

CV education: You must provide at least one academic experience in a postsecondary program.

If you are completing your My information section for the first time in Convergence, add past and current education, if applicable, by selecting Add new education. If you have previously completed your profile, you may add previously recorded education by selecting Associate education.

CV documents (PDF attachment): You must attach a CV contributions document (or university equivalent). This free-form text document is limited to five pages, which should be used to list relevant experience and contributions to applied research and innovation in natural sciences, health and social sciences, including contributions to training. Ensure your name appears outside the set margins of the page, at the top right corner of each page.

Shared information

The applicant and contributor(s) must complete the Shared information section of the LOI.

Application details

Provide the name of the proposed Technology Access Centre—do not include other organization names or the full name of the college in the name. The main body of your letter of intent should be written in either English or French, rather than in a mix of both official languages.

Invitations

Click Invite participant to invite contributors (optional) to edit the letter of intent.

Participants

This section lists the contributors who have accepted your invitation and accessed Convergence. If an individual has not accepted your invitation, follow up with them to confirm they have received it.

Socioeconomic objectives

Provide at least one primary  socioeconomic objective relevant to the letter of intent. You may list up to three socioeconomic objectives in total.

Fields of research

List at least one primary  field of research that best describe the research focus of this LOI. You may list a maximum of five fields of research.

Keywords

List at least five keywords that best describe this specific proposal. You may list up to ten keywords.

Summary of proposal

The summary is intended to explain the proposal in language that the public can understand. Briefly describe the nature of the proposal, context, objectives, planned activities, and anticipated results, in addition to innovation benefits, derived from community organizations. This plain-language summary will be available to the public if your proposal is funded.

The maximum character count is 2,500.

Proposed budget

Before completing this section, please consult the Tri-agency guide on financial administration and the Specific rules for the use of grant funds for information about the eligibility of expenditures and the regulations governing the use of grant funds.

Use the Budget justification sub-section under Supporting documents (details below) to explain and justify each budget item.

LOIs can include a request for up to $350,000 per year over five years. For colleges in Quebec, given the substantial network of centres that support local/regional innovation requirements, proposals are limited to a maximum of $100,000 per year to support an added administrative, research management or client development position (and associated expenses) for an established centre of the college.

Supporting documents

You are responsible for submitting a complete letter of intent that conforms to the presentation standards established by NSERC. You must review the number of pages and formatting of any attachments uploaded to Convergence. Incomplete LOIs or LOIs that do not meet the presentation standards outlined below may be rejected, or be at a disadvantage, in comparison with those that are complete and respect the presentation standards. Where page limits are stated, pages in excess of the number permitted will be removed. If a submitted LOI contains one or more attachments that do not comply with the page length or formatting standard, the submission may be deemed ineligible.

Important notes:

• Any acronyms and abbreviations must be explained.
• Pages must be 8 ½ inches × 11 inches (216 mm × 279 mm).
• Text must be single-spaced, with no more than six lines of type per inch.
• All text must be in black, using the 11 pt Arial font; condensed fonts will not be accepted.
• Margins must be set at a minimum of ¾ inch (1.87 cm).
• In multi-page attachments, pages must be numbered sequentially.
• The applicant's name must appear outside the set margins of the page, at the top right corner of every page.
• The name of each document must appear outside the set margins of the page at the top left corner of every page (e.g., Proposal, Budget justification).

Convert the documents to PDF

All attachments must be converted to portable document format (PDF) before they can be attached to the application. The conversion process varies with the operating system and word processing or spreadsheet software you are using. If you have questions about converting your documents to PDF, contact your institution's technical support staff.

If you do not have a PDF conversion program, you may download a free version of  PrimoPDF. Macintosh users have a PDF conversion option in the Macintosh system's Print function.

The following supporting documents must be attached to the LOI. The File column in the Supporting documents section of Convergence indicates which documents are required.

Letter from the president of the college

Provide a letter from the president of the college (one page maximum) outlining the college's support for the proposed new centre and the relationship to the college's strategic plan.

Description of the proposed initiative

Your LOI will be evaluated according to the merit evaluation criteria detailed in the TAC grants description. The description of the proposed initiative should be a maximum of six pages and must address all criteria and sub-criteria to be considered for funding.

Write this description in clear, plain language. Avoid jargon, acronyms and highly technical terms. Using the criterion (e.g., Value added, Training, etc.) as headings and following the order listed below, describe the proposed activities in sufficient detail to allow the review committee members to make an informed assessment. Given the limited space at the LOI stage, a brief high-level description of the anticipated activities and preliminary plans for the TAC is enough. Should the college be invited to submit a full application, more space will be available to provide additional details on the anticipated direction of the TAC.

The brief instructions below are meant to provide some guidance on the contents of the LOI and are not meant to be exhaustive for all TACs. The proposed centre activities can vary greatly among colleges and depend on the specific TAC context. Use your best judgement when determining the information to include. In some cases, similar information can be placed under more than one heading. If that is the case, use the limited space strategically to avoid repetition.

Value added

• Describe the incremental value that the TAC grant will bring to the college’s existing activities in the targeted sector’s/region’s innovation capacity. Describe significant and lasting economic, social and/or health benefits that will result from this initiative.
• Describe the targeted community organizations, the major innovation needs of the organizations and how this initiative will help resolve these needs. Explain how the TAC's offerings are unique (not offered by other organizations) in the college's local/regional area.
• Describe potential synergistic collaborations with other innovation support providers within the colleges local/regional area.

Training

• Describe the centre's plan to incorporate student training as an integral component of the TAC's innovation support and research service activities and how this will lead to enriched student experiences in applied research and problem-solving skills and in professional skills that will align with the needs of future employers.
• Identify and describe planned measures to promote the participation of a diverse group of students and other trainees, including those from underrepresented groups, as well as to promote an equitable, inclusive and accessible training environment.

Organization structure and delivery plan

• Describe the organizational structure of the centre, its key personnel, and explain how this structure is designed to maximize student training and the delivery of innovation support and research services to the TAC's clientele.
• Describe the envisioned accountability framework and explain why it will result in effective leadership and sound financial decision-making.
• Describe the support from the college and the TAC's alignment with the strategic plan of the college.
• Describe the types of client innovation support and research services to be offered by the centre. Explain how these services will be delivered by outlining the major components of the innovation support and research service delivery plan, from initial client contact to final delivery of the agreed-upon services. Identify the processes in place to assure both the quality and timeliness of the delivered services.

Market opportunity

• Describe the activities the TAC will undertake to attract client organizations and develop consistent sources of client revenue for rendered innovation support and research services. Explain the proportion of revenue received from clients for standalone innovation support and research services (i.e., innovation support and research services not supported by other sources of grant funding such as a CCI program Applied Research & Development (ARD) or College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF) grant.
• Describe other expected sources of revenue from other innovation support organizations. These can be granting agencies as well as other organizations that will support the centre.

Applied research competence

• Describe the current level of college expertise and research infrastructure available within the TAC's innovation support and research services focus.
• Describe the anticipated quality of expertise and support capabilities to be offered by the centre to quickly launch, manage and successfully complete innovation support and research services that will lead to impactful results for the community organizations.
• Identify and describe planned measures to ensure that EDI is being intentionally and proactively considered in selecting, recruiting or integrating research personnel into the research team.

References

You may include one additional page for literature references. Use this section to provide a list of the most relevant literature references. Do not refer readers to websites for additional information on your proposal. Do not introduce hyperlinks in the list of references.

Budget justification

In a maximum of one page, provide a brief explanation and justification for each budget item identified in the budget table. For the letter of intent stage, the budget should be limited to the NSERC grant and cash support from the college and thus should predominantly cover only the core expenditures (e.g., fixed costs) of the centre. As a result, for the LOI stage, many of the budget line items, below, may not be applicable at this time. Should the college be invited to submit a full application, the budget should be augmented with estimates from other sources of revenue and should cover expenditures beyond the core activities (e.g., variable costs). Provide sufficient information for reviewers to assess whether the resources requested are appropriate.

Salaries and benefits

Give the names (if known), categories of employment, and proposed salaries (including non-discretionary benefits) of those in each of the positions listed below. Briefly describe the responsibilities for each position and indicate the amount of time they will spend on the centre's activities in support of clients' innovation needs over the term of this initiative.

• College students: Only include those contributing to the centre's activities. Former college students within one year of graduation may also be included here.
• Professional and technical services: Include research and technical services team members contributing to the centre's activities. Salaries associated with training students for specific research activities; salaries for technology and knowledge transfer activities; and salaries for researchers from other CCI program-eligible colleges as well as university students contracted by the college should be included here. Salaries for full-time college faculty are not an eligible expense.
• Faculty release: Include replacement faculty hired to backfill a college faculty member's involvement in the centre's activities.
• Part-time faculty: Include part-time college faculty contributing to the centre's activities.
• Research administrators: Include administrative personnel, including managerial staff and project managers, needed to conduct the centre's activities.
• Business development personnel: Include those dedicated to developing and strengthening collaborations with client organizations and other regional innovation support providers. Include marketing/advertising personnel here.
• Other: If applicable, other salary types, such as consultant costs, not listed above should be included in this category.

Operating expenses and supplies

• Material, supplies and operating costs: Provide an overview of the expenses required to operate the TAC facilities, including administrative, utility and other typical office-related expenses. Also describe the type and quantity of materials, supplies and other consumables necessary to conduct the centre's activities.
• Equipment: Provide an overview of expenditures related to the purchase, rental and use (including maintenance) of equipment. If applicable, provide rental of facility costs here. Rental of facilities owned by the college are not an eligible expense.
• Other: If applicable, other operating and equipment expenditure types not listed above should be placed in this category.

Miscellaneous

You may include other expenses attributable to specific projects or activities, as follows.

• Travel: Give an overview of the planned travel of the college personnel and explain briefly how it relates to the centre’s activities.
• Research and technology transfer support services: Provide details on and explain major items for research and technology transfer support services (administration of agreements and partnerships, meetings with clients, technology support, writing proposals, workshops, etc.).
• Knowledge dissemination and networking: Provide details on outreach activities (communications, networking, workshops, trade shows, etc.) and other major items that support collaboration and knowledge mobilization with the college's community, including students. Describe expenses related to client development, advertising, and costs of hospitality and promotional material.
• EDI-related expenses: Provide details on the costs of specific activities supporting EDI in the research and training environment (such as EDI training or workshops, outreach to underrepresented groups, hiring EDI-specific support, support for accessible facilities and equipment, childcare support, etc).

Other expenditures

If applicable, add any other expenditures not listed above in this section. You may add headings to indicate the type of expenditure.

Cash support from the college for the operations of the proposed centre

Indicate the amount the college will directly invest to fund the operational requirements of the TAC. The cash must go into an account that the college uses for the purposes of the grant, as set out in the budget of the grant application. Use of the cash contribution should be carefully accounted and recorded, as NSERC may request that the college complete a form 301 to confirm that the cash was provided and that the funds were used for the purposes of the grant.

Letters of support

Include two letters of support (one-page maximum each) from a senior representative of a regional, provincial and/or local supporting organization.

Each letter should include the following information:

• the need for innovation support services in the college’s local/regional area
• the anticipated impacts on the type of organizations targeted
• the current or past associations of the organization with the college

If you have identified several organizations who wish to provide a letter of support, consider providing a letter from one organization that summarizes the input anticipated from the other organizations.

Launching an additional TAC

Colleges that have already been awarded one or two TAC grant(s) but wish to launch a new TAC in a different applied research area may apply for another TAC grant. In a maximum of one page for each previously awarded NSERC TAC, provide a detailed explanation demonstrating that the targeted applied research area is distinct from the previous TAC(s). Explain also how the new TAC will require different expertise and facilities and will support a different and significant client sector from previous TAC(s). Describe how the TAC will add significant incremental value to the region’s innovation capacity.

Submit your LOI

The applicant must review the LOI to ensure that it is complete.

In the Finalize and submit section, follow the prompts to submit your LOI to your research grants officer (RGO).

After you accept the terms and conditions, the status of your submission will change to Received by Administrator. If you want to make any changes at this point, you may request that your RGO return the LOI to you.

Once your RGO has approved and submitted your LOI, the status will change to Received by Agency. No changes can be made after that point.

Submitting the LOI as the research grants officer

When you, as the RGO, receive an LOI submitted by an applicant at your institution, you will be asked to approve the LOI and submit it. By submitting it, you are confirming that the proposed centre activities meet the grant eligibility requirements (review the TAC grants description for more details).

By submitting the LOI, you, on behalf of your institution, are also certifying that the applicant:

• has been delegated by the college president to create, prepare and complete the LOI with all required documentation and to manage the grant
• is affiliated with the institution
• has the necessary time and resources to carry out the activities