Changes to On-line Personal Data Form (Form 100)

Background

Recently, NSERC has noted an increase in the number of problem eligibility cases involving Full Professor, Associate Professor and Assistant Professor positions. Normally, these are fully eligible, tenure-track or tenure positions. We have noted cases where these positions are for terms of less than three years and are, therefore, not eligible. Information provided on the Personal Data Form (Form 100), however, did not allow us to easily identify these and other potential eligibility cases.

Therefore, changes have been made to the Personal Data Form (Form 100), effective October 10, 2006. In the Current Employment page, all applicants are now asked to indicate whether their positions are tenured or tenure-track. All applicants holding non-tenured positions are required to complete Appendix B – Eligibility Questionnaire for University Faculty and Appendix C – Description of Applicant’s Activities.

NSERC had planned to implement the changes by the beginning of this year’s competition cycle (i.e., the launch of program literature and forms on August 8, 2006); however, due to time constraints, this was not possible.

We will be working on adding an automatic link to the Current Employment page of Form 100 to Appendices B and C for next year.

The Impact

1. All Personal Data Forms (Form 100) that have a “completed” status will be reset to the status of “in progress.” In order for applicants to return their forms to a status of “completed,” they will be required to answer the question regarding the nature of their position in the Current Employment page of the Personal Data Form.
   
   
2. Applicants whose Personal Data Forms have a status of “in progress” will notice the addition of a question regarding the nature of their position and will be required to answer this question in the Current Employment page in order to successfully verify their form.
   
   
3. Applicants who have electronically linked their Personal Data Forms (Form 100) to an application will not be required to take any action. However, NSERC will verify the eligibility of these applicants and will follow-up with the Research Grants Offices, as necessary, to resolve any problem cases. All future submissions to NSERC will require a revised Personal Data Form.

All applicants who indicate that their position is not tenured or tenure-track will be required to complete Appendices B and C of the Personal Data Form.

We wish to thank you for your cooperation and assistance regarding this issue and invite you to communicate any comments or questions to:

Andréa Rousseau
Secretariat Officer
NSERC Secretariat
350 Albert Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1H5

Fax: 613-943-1222
E-mail: andrea.rousseau@nserc.ca