The Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Program fosters powerful partnerships between industry, university, government and non-profit* organizations. Networks of Centres of Excellence funded by the Program are designed to develop Canada's economy and improve the quality of life of Canadians.
Three Canadian federal granting agencies - the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) - and Industry Canada combine their efforts to support and oversee the NCE initiative.
Organizations eligible to receive funds are universities, affiliated hospitals and research institutes, and post-secondary institutions having a research mandate. Researchers and organizations that receive NCE funds must meet the general eligibility requirements of one of the three federal granting agencies partnering in the program.
An industry consortium may receive funds to administer a network.
The annual budget of the NCE program is $82.4M. Sixteen networks are currently funded by the program. At present, the broad categories of endeavour are health, human development and biotechnology; advanced technologies; natural resources and environment; engineering and manufacturing.
In addition, in 2006, the NCE program launched a pilot program to support the networking activities of research groups to develop new partnerships with receptor communities. This New Initiative (NCE-NI) funding is not intended to support research as it is expected that the teams already receive research funding from other sources. Five networks share the $1-million-a-year NCE-NI funding over four years.
To obtain a list of the current networks, consult the document Networks of Centres of Excellence Program - Supplement.
The application and program guidelines are also available online.
*Note: "non-profit" also known as nonprofit organizations, non profit organizations, not-for-profit organizations, voluntary organizations and volunteer organizations.
Quebec Contact(s):
See National Contact.