Subatomic Physics Major Resources Support program

On this page

• Important information
• Objective
• Description
• Equity, diversity and inclusion
• Research security
• Eligibility of applicants and co-applicants
• Application procedures
• Use of grant funds
• Review procedures
• Selection criteria
• Conditions

Important information

• Memo to potential applicants – Notification of intent to apply for a Subatomic Physics Discovery grant
• Subatomic Physics Major Resources Support (SAP-MRS) program — Frequently asked questions

Objective

The objective of the Subatomic Physics Major Resources Support (SAP-MRS) program is to financially assist major and unique national and international (but based in Canada) research resources, to remain in a state of readiness for access by Canadian subatomic physics researchers. The SAP-MRS program also enables Canadian researchers to come together as national user consortia to access a necessary major international resource located outside of Canada.

Description

SAP-MRS grants assist major and unique national or international subatomic physics experimental and thematic research resources located in Canada to cover their operating and maintenance costs. Supported resources are those that cannot fully cover such costs by using other research grants or by user fees, or those where user fees cannot be leveraged. The grants assist resources that are significant in size, value or importance and that are not customary in the discipline or commonly available in Canadian universities.

Supported resources must be used by researchers from several institutions across Canada including universities, or government laboratories.

Major resources supported by this program may include

• unique specialized experimental facilities or items of research equipment
• thematic research institutes that promote and trigger interactions within the constituents of relevant communities
• a team of highly skilled technical or professional research support staff essential to the research activities of users
  • the team (resource) must be national or international in the nature of its support (i.e., must provide support to a national base of users, beyond one institution or region)
  • the team must be accessible to members of the community beyond the host institution or a region, and beyond a single project or collaborators
  • availability of the team and the access procedure must be made known to the subatomic physics community

SAP-MRS grants also assist Canadian researchers from more than one project who come together as national user consortia to access major resources located abroad, for which no equivalent is available in Canada. Such support excludes any direct contribution toward the operating and maintenance costs of foreign resources. The support is not given to individual researchers, but rather to the user consortia, which must be composed of researchers from several institutions (including universities or government laboratories) across Canada.

Research resources are defined as experimental research facilities or thematic research organizations such as institutes. An institute is defined as a research resource that promotes and triggers national, and possibly international, interactions within a given research community, and it provides a place where researchers meet, collaborate and exchange ideas. Institutes are infrastructures that provide an environment that serves to accelerate research.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

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 (EDI).

Applicants are expected to increase the inclusion and advancement of underrepresented groups in the natural sciences and engineering, as one means to enhance excellence in research and training. Where applicable, consideration of sex, gender and diversity in the research design should be addressed in the proposal. EDI considerations should be developed into the rationale for the composition of research teams, including trainees. For more information, refer to the application instructions and the NSERC guide on integrating equity, diversity and inclusion considerations in research.

Note: Research teams and collaborations should strive for a diverse group of team members, including balanced gender representation. EDI considerations should be reflected in the rationale of the team composition and in the designated roles within the team. Moreover, where applicable, the applicants should describe how they have implemented and/or will implement strategies and practices to support EDI within the team (e.g., recruitment of team members, management of the team, mentorship, etc.).

Research security

To ensure that the Canadian research ecosystem is as open as possible and as safeguarded as necessary, the Government of Canada has introduced the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC Policy). For more information about research security at the granting agencies, refer to the Tri-agency guidance on research security.

Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern

The STRAC Policy addresses risks related to Sensitive Technology Research Areas performed with research organizations and institutions that pose the highest risk to Canada’s national security. The STRAC Policy applies to this funding opportunity as of May 1, 2024.

To comply with this policy, applicants must identify whether the grant application aims to advance a Sensitive Technology Research Area. If so, the submission of attestation forms will be required from researchers with named roles (for this funding opportunity, these are the applicants and co-applicants) to certify that they are not currently affiliated with, nor are in receipt of funding or in-kind support from, a Named Research Organization (NRO).

Researchers should review the list of Sensitive Technology Research Areas and the list of Named Research Organizations carefully to understand which versions of the lists apply to this competition.

The Tri-agency guidance on the STRAC Policy provides more information on new applicable procedures and requirements, including responsibilities of researchers and institutions.

Eligibility of applicants and co-applicants

The applicant and all co-applicants must be eligible for NSERC funding. One person must be designated to administer the grant. This person is the “applicant” and is responsible for completing and submitting the notification of intent (NOI) to apply and the full application on behalf of the resource. For more information on the role of applicants and co-applicants, consult NSERC’s Eligibility requirements for faculty to apply for or hold grant funds (Sections 1.1, 2.1, 3 and 4 for university faculty) to ensure that you can participate in this grant program.

Application procedures

To apply to the SAP-MRS program, applicants must first submit a notification of intent (NOI) to apply by the deadline date. Resources for which an NOI is not submitted will not be able to submit a full application.

Both applicants and co-applicants must complete and submit the NSERC version of the Canadian Common CV (CCV) at both the NOI and full application stages for this program. The CCV can be updated following the submission of the NOI and before the submission of the full application.

Use of grant funds

Eligible costs

Support of resources located in Canada

SAP-MRS grants provide funding to assist with coverage of the following costs (where applicable):

• salaries of technical and professional research support staff employed to operate and maintain the resource and to provide assistance to users
• operation and maintenance of the resource
• materials, supplies and minor equipment essential to the operation and maintenance of the resource
• travel expenses for resource support staff of the facility to attend conferences, as part of the resource’s plan to keep abreast of scientific and technical advances
• dissemination costs, as part of the resource’s outreach activities toward relevant user communities
• operation of scientific review panels and governing bodies

Furthermore, in the case of thematic resources, SAP-MRS grants also provide funding to assist in paying the following costs, which should be listed as part of the operating costs:

• remuneration of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows involved in a context of thematic or collaborative programs
• visitor expenses, including travel and local support
• honoraria for invited speakers

In the case of resources that apply user fees for their access, the costs of operating the facilities should be split into two major components: non-recoverable and recoverable costs.

• Non-recoverable costs are those expenses necessary to keep the experimental resource in a state of readiness for researchers to use, and to increase the potential user communities’ awareness of the activities and opportunities offered by the resource. They are independent of the number of researchers using the resource and are not associated with specific research projects.
• Recoverable costs comprise expenses directly incurred when researchers and their highly qualified personnel use the resource. An example is the cost of consumables that are used for a specific project. The same user fees should be applied to all Canadian academic researchers and their students, without regard to their institution or project.

Support of access to resources located outside Canada

SAP-MRS grants assist national user groups, beyond one single project, in accessing major resources located abroad, the equivalent of which is not available in Canada. Such support excludes any direct contribution toward the operating and maintenance costs of such resources. The following costs are eligible for SAP-MRS funding:

• membership or access/user fees
• minor equipment needed to accommodate the specific needs of the Canadian users
• travel related to the use of the foreign resource (i.e., field work)
• salaries of Canadian technical and professional research support staff employed to assist in the use of the resource by Canadian users

Ineligible costs

SAP-MRS grants cannot be used to pay for any indirect costs of research or expenses that are central or departmental institutional costs. Examples of such indirect costs include, but are not limited to, those for the maintenance and renovation of research spaces and buildings, leasing costs of spaces and equipment, utilities, security and occupational safety, financial and administrative support, and insurance. Furthermore, SAP-MRS grants cannot be used to pay for the establishment, construction or infrastructure expansion of a resource. For further information on use of grant funds, consult the Tri-agency guide on financial administration.

Review procedures

SAP-MRS grant applications are reviewed by the Subatomic Physics Evaluation Section. No external input is sought, however the Section may request expert input from individual reviewers, if necessary. For any application requesting an average of $1,000,000 per year or more, the Section may also receive input from an expert ad-hoc committee that would perform an evaluation and review of the application. NSERC reserves the right to perform an evaluation and review of any subatomic physics resource, even for requests that are less than an average of $1,000,000 per year.

The Subatomic Physics Evaluation Section makes the conclusive recommendation to NSERC on any grant application to the SAP-MRS program.

Selection criteria

SAP-MRS applications will be assessed on the basis of the selection criteria listed below. The onus is on the applicants to thoroughly address each criterion in their application and provide detailed information to the Subatomic Physics Evaluation Section.

• Scope and added value of the resource
  • national or international nature of the resource
  • reach of the resource, within and beyond the research community regionally, throughout Canada and internationally, where applicable
  • extent to which activities and programs offered are unique and provide added value compared to other resources and programs
  • details of the complementarity, and additional context, in instances where there is a high degree of collaboration between or among several resources
• Opportunities for use of, and access to, the resource by the research community and students
  • past, current and projected level of use of the resource by researchers in the field nationally and internationally; can discuss trends as compared to past levels of use, if applicable
  • impact of the resource on the advancement of the research programs of current and projected users and, when applicable, on the dissemination and use of the knowledge generated in the supported area(s) of research
  • administration and allocation of access to the resource by different users (internal and external, from universities, government or industry)
  • existing or proposed initiatives that specifically encourage participation by under-represented groups
• Merit and impact of the research programs enabled by the resource
  • scientific excellence and impact of past, current and planned research activities
  • scientific excellence of the users and, in the case of thematic resources, excellence of activity organizers and users and their level of commitment to the activities within the resource
  • significance of the research activities to the research communities and related fields
• Fostering partnerships, interactions and outreach (for thematic resources; if applicable)
  • potential for partnerships with complementary Canadian or international resources; effectiveness of activities and plans for encouraging and supporting collaborations
  • outreach, engagement and/or collaboration activities with under-represented groups in natural science research
  • demonstrated outreach to potential Canadian or, if applicable, international user communities
  • demonstration of, or plan for, leadership and mentorship training events that strengthen EDI awareness or organizers and participants
• Contribution of the resource to the training and development of HQP (see new Guidelines on assessment of contributions to research, training and mentoring)
  • importance of the resource for training, including unique and inclusive mentorship and training opportunities that are complementary with, and add value to, training carried out in other sectors
  • extent and excellence of proposed strategies and plans to train and develop HQP in research areas critical to the advancement of new knowledge in the field
  • demonstration of EDI considerations in past and planned training activities
• Management and budget
  • effective management structure to direct, manage and integrate the activities of the resource
  • consideration of EDI in the composition of governance bodies
  • activities or initiatives aimed at supporting the establishment of and ensuring an equitable and inclusive research and work environment
  • effective research planning to sustain well-coordinated and innovation research activities
  • detailed budget for the proposed costs
  • demonstrated need for, and effectiveness of, support through a SAP-MRS grant as opposed to other NSERC grants (held or applied for) and contributions from other sources
  • nature and extent of the commitment and support from universities, other organizations and users

Conditions

For grants whose average award is $500,000 per year or higher, the payment of the second and any subsequent yearly instalment is conditional on the submission of an annual activity report to NSERC. The submission deadline for this report is January 15. NSERC reserves the right to request an activity report from any supported subatomic physics resource, even for grants that receive less than an average of $500,000 per year.