For Professors – Overview – Grants Programs – Special Research Opportunity

Request for Proposals – Inter-American Collaboration in Materials Research

Funding opportunities for collaborative activities in materials research between researchers from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States. The deadline for Letter of Intent submission is August 28, 2006 and the deadline for application submission is October 16, 2006.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) is the Canadian agency participating in the third coordinated competition (2006-2007) of the Inter-American Collaboration in Materials Research (CIAM). CIAM is an international, multi-agency initiative through which national research funding agencies¹ of participating countries support opportunities for new interactions between materials researchers that leverage the strengths of each country's scientific community.

NSERC is soliciting collaborative research proposals from NSERC-eligible researchers in the fields of materials science and engineering. Proposals must have a clear relevance to basic materials phenomena, synthesis, or characterization, or to materials-related applications in processing, design, and manufacturing.

Researchers participating in collaborative projects through CIAM receive funding from their respective country. Proposals from individuals or teams based at NSERC-eligible institutions must be submitted directly to NSERC. Collaborators from other participating countries should submit their counterpart proposal to the participating funding agency of their home country. The CIAM award selection process does not involve joint review, however, evaluation results will be compared and award selections negotiated.

For NSERC support, eligible researchers may propose bilateral or multilateral projects. NSERC will give priority to multilateral projects. In addition, projects may involve collaborators from countries outside the western hemisphere (e.g., Spain), or non-participating countries in the hemisphere (e.g., Uruguay), where their research expertise or access to facilities is clearly complementary to that of the proposed CIAM collaborative team and therefore justifies a broader network. Such collaborators should be self-funded.

NSERC expects to support a limited number of high-quality Research Projects, of up to three years duration, that present an opportunity for inter-American collaboration. Accordingly, the funding envelope available at NSERC for the CIAM competition is approximately CAN$1.5 million over three years. As part of this Request for Proposals, NSERC will also entertain proposals for Collaborative Mobility Grants that aim to establish new inter-American collaborations, support international mobility, and/or support networking efforts between scientists who wish to use their respective existing grants to support their collaborative research work.

Research Projects

Research project grants aim to support new collaborative research projects in materials science and engineering between groups of researchers or centres. They also aim to enhance cooperation and interaction between groups of researchers, research centres, and organizations. Proposed activities could include, but are not restricted to, the international mobility of students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty for the integration of research and training activities between collaborating groups, centres, and organizations. Budgets would provide support for research and may include travel costs for meetings/workshops.

Collaborative Mobility Grants

Collaborative Mobility Grants aim to support the planning and design activities of new collaborative research projects and programs among groups of investigators or centres and/or support the international mobility of scientists and students who wish to use their existing grants to support their collaborative research work.

These grants provide support for the pre-research stages of international collaborative research projects and programs as well as the ongoing mobility/travel costs of international research collaborations. Funding under this category of the CIAM Request for Proposals can be used to cover the eligible costs associated with organizing workshops or symposia and/or travel for meetings and for exchanges required for collaborative research projects.

Application procedures

Proposals must be submitted in accordance with the Special Research Opportunity (SRO) application procedures (Form 184 – Letter of Intent to Apply for a Special Research Opportunity Grant, and Form 101 – Application for a Grant) and selection criteria, as outlined in NSERC's Program Guide for Professors under the Special Research Opportunity (SRO) Program.

Note: For the Letter of Intent (LOI) stage of the SRO program, the selection criterion with respect to a time-sensitive and urgent research opportunity does not apply in the context of the NSERC-initiated CIAM Request for Proposals. LOIs must be submitted by August 28, 2006 (see contact information).

Application

The title of the proposal must reference “Inter-American Materials Research.” Applications should be received at NSERC by October 16, 2006.

Applications to NSERC must be linked to:

• a counterpart proposal(s) presented by the foreign collaborator(s) to the other participating agency(ies); or
• an existing award(s) already funded by the participating foreign agency(ies).²

Participating agencies will solicit proposals in accordance with their own submission and review procedures. Consequently, it is not necessary to submit identical proposals to each agency. However, all proposals to NSERC must include an additional one-page summary of each counterpart proposal or existing award, with the following information:

• the name of the principal investigator and any co-applicant(s), their titles and affiliations;
• the project title and award number (in the case of an existing award);
• the name of the funding agency and program;
• a project summary of the counterpart proposal or existing award; and
• the budget for the CIAM initiative.

In accordance with the Form 101 – Special Research Opportunity (SRO) Program – Project instructions, foreign collaborators must also submit a C.V., either using Form 100 or another comparable format of no more than six pages. Information about counterpart proposals will be shared among the participating agencies as appropriate.

Please note that in the Form 101 – Special Research Opportunity (SRO) Program – Project instructions, a description on the role of the collaborator(s) must be given. Specifically, describe:

• the pertinent expertise, role, and expected contributions of the collaborator(s) to the research project, including the work to be done in each country and the responsibility of each collaborator; and
• the nature and extent of the collaboration.

For your guidance, suggested types of collaboration are as follows:

• Synergistic: Each researcher contributes a specific expertise, facility, or equipment necessary for the realization of the project.
• Integrated: Researchers coordinate their project activities to form a unified project.
• Complementary: Each researcher performs similar research using different approaches which widen the scope and strengthen the validity of the results.
• Supportive: Collaborators with essentially the same expertise divide the research tasks between the research groups.

International CIAM grantees’ workshops/meetings are organized on a recurring basis (roughly annually). Grantees are expected to participate in these events; therefore, applicants should incorporate this activity into their travel budget request.

Selection process

The appropriate agencies will independently evaluate proposals through their national peer review processes. A joint steering committee, made up of representatives from each of the participating funding agencies, will meet in April 2007 to compare their respective evaluations of joint proposals and identify awards. Awards will be confirmed by late spring 2007.

For additional information, please contact:

Sandra O’Connor
CIAM RFP
Special Research Opportunity Grants
NSERC
350 Albert Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1H5

Tel. : 613-996-4463
E-mail: sandra.oconnor@nserc.ca