Eligibility Criteria
Students and Fellows Eligibility
Company Eligibility
Introduction
What kind of scholarship and fellowship funding does NSERC offer?
NSERC supports the development of highly qualified Canadians in the natural sciences
and engineering through a number of scholarships and fellowships programs.
These programs are intended to:
- stimulate the interest of undergraduate students in
research;
- provide financial support to graduate students and
postdoctoral fellows engaged in advanced studies and research; and
- assist recent recipients of doctoral degrees in adding to
their research experience.
NSERC scholarship support is limited to a maximum of four years full-time
equivalent at the graduate level:
- up to 24 months of support through CGS M, PGS M
or IPS1 or a combination of these awards;
- up to 36 months of support through CGS D, PGS D
or IPS2 or a combination of these awards.
If you hold or have held a CGS from another federal granting agency (CIHR or SSHRC) you are not eligible to apply to NSERC for support at the same level.
Frequently Asked Questions
For students and fellows
Are you eligible to apply?
To determine if you are eligible for a particular award, see the information
about eligibility criteria at the beginning of each program description.
NSERC uses the date of degree completion to determine the eligibility of
applicants. This is the date on which all the requirements of your degree have
been met, including successful defence and submission of the corrected copy of
your thesis (in accordance with your university's regulations).
Proof of citizenship
To be eligible for support for the majority of the programs (except for
Visiting Fellowships in Canadian Government Laboratories), you must be a
Canadian citizen, or a permanent resident of Canada, as of the deadline date
for application. Please note that NSERC may ask for proof of citizenship or
residency status before and while it provides funding.
Where can you hold these awards?
Scholarships and fellowships are generally tenable at institutions whose
standing is recognized by NSERC. When you select a location for tenure, you
should remember the importance of obtaining a diverse educational background
and varied experience by studying at more than one institution.
Selecting the appropriate federal granting agency
You may submit only one application per academic year to NSERC or CIHR or SSHRC.
There are two other federal granting agencies that offer support for which you may be eligible:
The agencies will collaborate and cooperate to prevent unnecessary duplication of effort. However, mutually exclusive guidelines are difficult to define and some research proposals will necessarily overlap the individual jurisdictions, priorities, and interests of the three agencies. Applicants should consult the guidelines of each agency to select the one best suited to consider their application.
If you are seeking support for interdisciplinary research that bridges the areas covered by more than one of the three agencies (NSERC, CIHR, and SSHRC) and are not certain about the eligibility of your proposed research, consult with one of the granting agencies well before any applicable deadlines.
Is your proposed research eligible for NSERC support?
To be eligible for support from NSERC, you must be undertaking a program of study or research in one of the fields that NSERC supports. The proposed research must clearly be intended to advance knowledge in one of the natural sciences or in engineering. In addition, for awards held at universities, the research must be supervised by a faculty member whose own research is in a field that NSERC supports.
Some eligibility conditions may apply if you intend to undertake research in
such fields as:
- anthropology/archaeology;
- business and management studies;
- environmental management;
- forensic science;
- geography;
- optometry;
- nutrition;
- pharmacology;
- physical education;
- psychology;
- speech pathology; and
- basic health sciences.
These fields lie at the interface between the disciplines supported by NSERC, CIHR, or SSHRC.
If you intend to undertake clinically oriented research, please note that these fields are not eligible for NSERC scholarship support. Contact CIHR for more information about funding for these fields.
In cases where the proposed research is deemed to fall within the mandate of either CIHR or SSHRC, NSERC will not accept the application.
If you receive an award from NSERC, but then change your field of study or research to a field that NSERC does not support, you will no longer be eligible. As a result, NSERC will cancel the award.
Is your proposed research in psychology?
The field of psychology is supported by the three granting agencies as
follows.
NSERC considers applications that relate to fundamental psychological
processes, their underlying neural mechanisms, their development within
individuals, and their evolutionary and ecological context. Fundamental
processes are understood to include:
- sensation and perception;
- sensorimotor integration;
- motivation, emotion, and reward;
- learning and memory;
- cognition and language; and
- sleep, arousal, and the chronobiological modulation of
behaviour.
NSERC also considers applications concerning statistical methods for
analysis of psychological data.
Clinical psychology programs are not normally eligible for NSERC support.
SSHRC considers applications in the broad area of social psychology. A
detailed description of the areas that fall under the jurisdiction of SSHRC is
published by that agency. These currently include, but are not necessarily
limited to:
- experimental social psychology: social behaviour in an
experimental setting including the dynamics and processes of interpersonal
relations; behaviour in small and large groups; interpersonal influence;
- communication: interpersonal communication; social aspects
of psycholinguistics; socio-linguistics and ethnolinguistics; mass media
effects;
- social processes and social issues: the examination of
social phenomena in a natural setting from a psychological perspective;
- personality: human personality traits and processes and their
behavioural manifestations, including emotions and non-pathological
emotional reactions; defence mechanisms, cognitive style, creativity,
self-concept, self-perception, and the measurement of these traits;
- developmental psychology: children's social and
personality development, social behaviour and personality in adulthood and
aging;
- educational psychology: educational research pertaining to
both normal and special populations; school learning and prediction of
achievement;
- history and philosophy of psychology and psychological
analysis of historical figures;
- theory and method: studies of a theoretical or
methodological nature; and
- applied psychology: projects in the areas of
organizational and industrial psychology, and environmental psychology.
CIHR considers applications for support of research on normal and abnormal
psychological processes with clear and direct relevance to human health. This
includes research on behavioural aspects of physical health and disease or
mental health and disorders.
Are you eligible to hold an award?
To hold an award, you must:
- accept the terms and conditions of the award, as set out
in this Guide, in the Notice of Award and in the appropriate
section of the Award Holder's
Guide;
Note: Awards may be cancelled without notice if the
conditions under which they are granted are violated.
Additional eligibility requirements may apply to specific programs and are
described in the relevant sections.
Company Eligibility
To participate in the Industrial R&D Fellowships (IRDF) program,
companies must be deemed eligible by NSERC. Eligible companies may also
participate in the industrial component of the Undergraduate Student Research
Awards (USRA) program.
To be eligible, a company must:
- be either federally or provincially incorporated in Canada
(companies that have not been incorporated may be considered if they are
wholly Canadian-owned);
- operate on a for-profit basis (government-owned companies will be considered provided they operate as regular for-profit enterprises, or on a cost-recovery basis; universities and other non-profit institutions that receive a significant portion of their operating budget from public funds are not eligible);
- possess adequate and sound financial resources;
- be engaged in R&D activities based, to a significant
extent, on technology derived from the natural sciences or engineering
(excluding clinical and health research);
- maintain appropriate research facilities (e.g.,
laboratories, computing equipment) on the company premises; and
- demonstrate that it can apply the results of its research
by completing subsequent development work in Canada and by marketing or
exploiting the products or processes from a Canadian base in the best
interests of the company and the Canadian economy.
Also eligible are organizations that represent a group of Canadian
enterprises or producers (such as agricultural or fishing cooperatives, or
trade associations), consulting firms, engineering firms, and other enterprises
that do not have production facilities. These types of organizations must
demonstrate their ability to fund and apply the research through a Canadian
company or association.
List of Eligible Companies
(alphabetically)
(PDF format – 331 KB – 59 pages)
List of Eligible Companies (by province)
Form 183B –
Application for Eligibility of Organizations to Participate in NSERC’s
IRDF and Industrial USRA Programs
|
