Contact Newsletter

In this issue

• Incoming President - Dr. B. Mario Pinto
• Upcoming NSERC Deadlines
• Additional Funds for Grants and Scholarships
• Discovery Frontiers Call for Proposals: New Materials for Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency
• Celebrating Canada's Discovery Grants, Scholarships and Fellowships Recipients
• New China Opportunity for Postdoctoral Fellows
• Canadian Common CV Update
• Women in Science and Engineering
• Julia Biedermann Appointed to NSERC Council
• Help Shape the Next Generation of Canadian Scientists

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Incoming President - Dr. B. Mario Pinto

News that Dr. B. Mario Pinto was appointed as President of NSERC has been extremely well received by the community.

Shortly after assuming his new role with us on November 17^th, Dr. Pinto will be taking part in meetings across the country to meet with members of our research community, policy makers and elected officials. We will provide updates on these visits in the coming months.

Upcoming NSERC Deadlines

Additional Funds for Grants and Scholarships

The 2014 Federal Budget resulted in a $15 million budget increase for NSERC. The new funding is being phased into the Discovery Grants program over a five-year cycle. Since the first allocation of the new funds is in the 2014-15 fiscal year, each Evaluation Group received additional funding which is being distributed to a selection of researchers who applied in the 2014 Discovery Grants competition. Researchers who are receiving additional funds have been notified.

Discovery Frontiers Call for Proposals: New Materials for Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency

NSERC is pleased to issue a call for proposals under its Discovery Frontiers initiative to fund research in emerging opportunities related to New Materials for Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency. Supporting advanced research in this area is a priority for Canada, and NSERC will provide total funding of $4 million over four years.

This research is expected to span a wide range of disciplines, including materials physics, chemistry, microbiology and engineering. It should cover new approaches to making molecules and materials with low waste/energy properties, develop methods to examine the persistence and ecotoxicology of high-use molecules and seek replacements for problematic ones, thus leading to cleaner energy production.

For more information on the initiative, please consult the Program News page.

Celebrating Canada's 2014 Discovery Grants, Scholarships and Fellowships Recipients

On June 26, the Honourable Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology), and NSERC's Chief Operating Officer Janet Walden were at Western University to announce more than $400 million in funding to discovery researchers and students. These research awards and scholarships will further discoveries in a full range of fields in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

This announcement was accompanied by a series of visits by Minister Holder to university campuses to promote and showcase some of the excellent research taking place across the country.

NSERC also released a short video showcasing the important role discovery research plays in fostering scientific curiosity among Canadians.

Read the original news release.

New China Opportunity for Postdoctoral Fellows

NSERC is pleased to announce a new opportunity for Canadian postdoctoral fellows to pursue their research in China in a pilot initiative signed on September 9, 2014 between NSERC and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). With this agreement, NSERC is providing up to ten supplements of $10,000 per year for two years to successful NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship (PDF) applicants interested in pursuing their research in China, while NSFC will provide funding for research expenses to eligible professors in China who host an NSERC PDF applicant. To find out more about this tremendous opportunity, please visit the NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship Program page.

Canadian Common CV Update

The Canadian Common CV (CCV) system was updated on September 16, 2014 to include a new, more readable format for the PDFs generated from user data. This does not affect any of the data that was previously entered. The following changes to the CCV preview / PDF form have been implemented:

• Publication references have been formatted to reflect common academic practice.
• Presentations, publications, and intellectual property references are now numbered to facilitate indexing and access.
• Academic and Non-academic Work Experience sections have been combined for easier reference.

We are pleased to inform that reviewers will be seeing submitted CCVs in the new PDF format.

If you submitted a CCV before September 16^th, the preview in the Research Portal will not show the new CCV PDF format. If you wish to see what the new CCV PDF format looks like, you can go the History tab at the top of the CCV page and click on the PDF icon on the left of a submitted CCV. Your CCV will then be displayed in the new format.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at coord@nserc-crsng.gc.ca

Women in Science and Engineering

Promoting women in science and engineering continues to be important for NSERC, and External Relations and Communications is working to advance this priority in the public sphere.

NSERC hosted an event at the University of Ottawa on September 10, 2014 that provided student scientists and engineers with a chance to network and connect with our Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering. The event included more than 75 participants who appreciated the opportunity to meet with potential mentors in their fields.

An updated Women in Science and Engineering page showcases the work of our Chairholders and includes information about our programs and policies.

Julia Biedermann Appointed to NSERC Council

We are pleased to welcome Julia Biedermann as the newest member of NSERC's Council. Dr. Biedermann was appointed for a three-year term on June 13, 2014.

Help Shape the Next Generation of Canadian Scientists

Take advantage of an opportunity to mentor and encourage the next generation of Canadian scientists. By taking part in the  Ontario On-Line Research Co-op for high school students and contributing about 10 hours of your time over a four month semester you can directly help gifted students on their paths to careers in science.

Developed by the Canadian Young Scientist Journal and the federal Science and Technology Cluster (Science.gc.ca), the co-op matches highly motivated high school students with top researchers. After a successful pilot program, the co-op is expanding to more schools, and researchers and PhD candidates are encouraged to participate regardless of location, as all interactions will take place online.

To see examples of research done by previous co-op students download the issue of the  Canadian Young Scientist Journal.

Visit  science.gc.ca for more information, or contact information@science.gc.ca.