Eligibility Criteria

You may participate in research grant programs as an applicant, co-applicant, or collaborator.

• Applicant: principal investigator on an application (i.e., university faculty). You must meet the eligibility criteria.
• Co-applicant: member of a research team applying for a group grant  (i.e., university faculty or college faculty). You must meet the eligibility criteria.
• Collaborator: you are not eligible to hold NSERC grants, however you, as a government scientist, company staff member or research scientist from another country, can be a member of a research team that is applying for a group grant. You must be qualified to undertake research independently and will be expected to contribute to the overall intellectual direction of the research project or program of research and bring your own resources to the collaboration.

University faculty: To be eligible as an applicant or co-applicant, you must hold or have a firm offer of¹ an academic appointment at an eligible³ Canadian university at the time of application² and during tenure of the award. The appointment can be:

• a tenured, tenure-track or lifetime professor emeritus position; or
• a term position of no less than three years.

Adjunct professors who meet NSERC's eligibility criteria and whose primary place of employment is academia are eligible for all NSERC programs. Those whose primary place of employment is outside academia (e.g., government or industry) are eligible to apply for a Discovery Grant as principal applicants and all other NSERC grants as co-applicants. NSERC will normally award funds to adjunct professors working outside academia only for the direct support of students (salaries or stipends, and student travel costs); all other costs must be covered through other sources of funding.

College faculty: To be eligible as an applicant or co-applicant, you must hold or have a firm offer of¹ a faculty appointment at an eligible³ Canadian college at the time of application² and during tenure of the award. The appointment can be:

• a permanent position; or
• a term (contract) position of no less than three years.

Faculty members from eligible Canadian colleges can apply as an applicant to the Idea to Innovation (I2I) Program; they can also participate in the following project research programs, but only as co-applicants with university professors:

• Collaborative Health Research Projects
• Collaborative Research and Development
• Strategic Networks
• Research Partnership Agreements with Canadian Government Departments and Agencies
• Special Research Opportunity
• Strategic Projects

Additional Requirements (for both university and college faculty)

• The academic or college appointment must be ratified by the person(s) or body responsible for approving appointments or their delegate(s), and must be in accordance with university or college statutes.
• For university faculty, the position must require you to engage in research that is not under the direction of another individual, and must authorize you to supervise or co-supervise students registered in an undergraduate or graduate degree program, or postdoctoral fellows.
  For college faculty, the position must permit you to engage in research-related activities that are not under the direction of another individual.
• You must engage in research in the natural sciences or engineering (if there is possible overlap with other federal granting agencies [SSHRC or CIHR], refer to Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency and Addressing Other Sources of Funding).
• You must not have been barred from applying to NSERC for reasons of breach of standards of ethics or integrity (financial or scientific misconduct).

During Tenure of the Award⁴

• You must hold an eligible academic appointment at an eligible Canadian postsecondary institution as stipulated above.
• If you live abroad or hold a position of any kind outside of Canada, you must spend a minimum of six months per year⁵ at an eligible³ Canadian institution.
• You must not be enrolled in a graduate program in the natural sciences or engineering.
• Your salary must not be paid out of NSERC, SSHRC, or CIHR grant funds, except for Scientific Directors of Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE).
• Team members working under the grantee(s) cannot be paid a salary or consulting fee from the grant funds if their status makes them eligible to apply for funding independently (see Use of Grant Funds, Non-Eligible Expenses).
• For university faculty only: you must not hold federal granting agency (NSERC, SSHRC, or CIHR) salary support grants, fellowships or scholarships, unless they fall under the following programs:
• NSERC Salary Support Programs
• Steacie Fellows
• University Faculty Award
• Industrial Research Chair
• Women in Science and Engineering Chair
• Chairs in Design Engineering
• Canada Research Chair
• Northern Research Chair
• Institute of Particle Physics (IPP)
• IPP Research Scientists
• CIHR or SSHRC Salary Support Programs
• CIHR Scholars
• Research Time Stipends

Location of Tenure

• Unless otherwise specified, your NSERC grant is tenable only at, and with the consent of, the eligible³ Canadian postsecondary institution named in your grant application.

Keep in Mind

• You must notify NSERC immediately if your eligibility status changes (see Continuing Eligibility in the Financial Administration section of this guide).
• You are not eligible to hold an NSERC grant for leave periods beyond one year from your Canadian institution, unless you spend a minimum of six months per year⁵ at another eligible Canadian institution (see Sabbatical and Other Leaves in the Financial Administration section of this guide).

¹ Appointments that are conditional on obtaining NSERC grants or other sources of support will be considered ineligible.

² In exceptional circumstances, offers that are still pending approval at the time of application can be finalized and confirmed in writing to NSERC within six weeks following the application deadline.

³ For information regarding eligible institutions, see the List of Eligible Institutions in the For Institutions section.

⁴ Before any funds can be released on an NSERC grant, the applicants must take up the position and complete all degree requirements. For Discovery Grants, this can be no later than September 1 of the year of the award.