Alliance Advantage
Review of your application
When NSERC receives an Alliance application, it first undertakes an administrative assessment to ensure the application is complete and complies with all requirements. Once the administrative assessment is satisfactorily completed, NSERC proceeds with the merit assessment of the application, using a variety of tools and taking into account the average annual amount of funding requested.
Merit assessment mechanisms
| Small project | Medium project | Large project |
Annual request of at least $20,000 up to an average annual request of $75,000 for 1 to 5 years |
Average annual request of more than $75,000 up to $300,000 for 1 to 5 years |
Average annual request of more than $300,000 up to a maximum annual request of $1,000,000 for 1 to 5 years |
| Small project | Medium project | Large project |
NSERC file managers Evaluation supported by existing NSERC peer review (the applicant and each co-applicant – except co-applicants who are early career researchers – must hold an active peer-reviewed grant from NSERC as primary applicant at the time of application) External reviewers If there is no existing NSERC peer review for the applicant or one of the co-applicants (except co-applicants who are early career researchers), external reviewers with expertise directly related to the proposal will be used |
External reviewers With expertise directly related to the proposal Provide review based on the evaluation criteria |
External reviewers With expertise directly related to the proposal Provide review based on the evaluation criteria |
NSERC reserves the right to select the most appropriate review process, regardless of the amount of funding requested.
The merit of your application is evaluated using merit evaluation criteria.
For reviewers and selection committees
If you are a reviewer for Alliance grant applications, you will use the following instructions to complete your review:
Instructions to external reviewers
Risk assessment
In the case where your proposal involves one or more partner organizations from the private sector, including when they participate alongside other partner organizations from the public and/or not-for-profit sectors, NSERC will review the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships’ risk assessment form that you provided with your application (including the risk mitigation plan, when applicable). When additional expertise is required, NSERC will seek advice from Canada’s national security departments and agencies, and/or from academic experts.
Funding decision
NSERC’s funding decision will take into consideration the merit evaluation as well as the assessment of potential risks for Canada’s national security, when applicable.
NSERC will use the merit indicator ratings assigned to applications to select proposals for funding on a competitive basis. Decisions stemming from the national security risk assessment will be based on the risks identified and the mitigation measures proposed.
| Small project | Medium project | Large project |
5 to 9 weeks if evaluation is supported by existing NSERC peer review |
9 to 18 weeks |
14 to 24 weeks |
NSERC is committed to achieving these service standards for 80% of applications, recognizing that some proposals may require additional time.
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Contact
alliance@nserc-crsng.gc.ca
1-855-275-2861
Application deadline
No deadline
