NSERC is acting on the evidence that achieving a more equitable, diverse and inclusive Canadian research enterprise is essential to creating the excellent, innovative and impactful research necessary to advance knowledge and understanding, and to respond to local, national and global challenges. This principle informs the commitments described in the Tri-agency statement on equity, diversity and inclusion.
Eligible candidates may be nominated by any individual or group.
When preparing a team nomination, include individuals who participated in both the research and the knowledge mobilization (synthesis, dissemination, transfer, exchange, and co-creation or co-production).
NSERC strongly encourages nominators and university officials to consider equity, diversity and inclusion in their nomination processes.
Since nominations are reviewed by a multidisciplinary committee, the nomination material should be written for non-specialists.
As a nominator, you must prepare the following materials:
(“Users” refers to entities who will interact directly with the product of the research, whereas “beneficiaries” are entities whose lives improve as a result of the research. In some cases, these are one in the same. Entities can include communities, community organizations, specific designated or underrepresented groups of Canadians, members of the general public, companies, students, patients, schools, clients, manufacturers, engineers, other researchers, or businesses, among others.)
Contributions to research, and their impact
As a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), NSERC recognizes that scholarly contributions are not limited to published journal articles but can also include, amongst other contributions, article preprints, datasets, software, protocols, well-trained researchers, societal outcomes and policy changes resulting from research. For this prize, the impact of the research within its field and the significance of the benefits to Canadian society (societal impact) are evaluated separately.
Surrogate measures of quality and impact, such as the prestige of a publication venue or citation-based metrics (e.g., journal impact factor, or h-index), must not be used as they introduce bias in the merit review process. Indicators of the impact of research contributions include influence on the direction of thought and/or activity of other researchers in the specific field. Impact can be seen as advancing knowledge, developing technology, addressing socio-economic or environmental needs, or increasing equitable and inclusive participation in the research ecosystem, among other things. The relevance of such considerations may differ depending on the discipline and the nature of the research being conducted.
With respect to societal impact, examples include improvements to specific procedures in society (e.g., laws, regulations, protocols), stimulation of new approaches to social issues, improvements to quality of life, informing public debate, improvements to policy making, reduction of waste and pollution, protection of species, reduction of the impact of pollutants on ecosystems and humans, improvements in the sustainable use of resources, protection of ecosystems, reduction in the impacts of climate change, contributions to economic growth and wealth creation, introduction of a disruptive technology, and the creation of a new industrial sector, among others.
For nominations in engineering or the applied sciences, nominators should consult NSERC's Guidelines for the preparation and review of applications in engineering and the applied sciences and prepare the nomination accordingly.
Your documents must follow NSERC’s general presentation guidelines. Documents that do not meet the presentation standards may be rejected or at a disadvantage compared with those that meet the standards. Only the documents requested by NSERC will be given to the selection committee.
Compile your documents into a single portable document format (PDF) and submit your nomination electronically via the ICSP Secure Submission Site.
You must submit your nomination before 8:00 p.m. (ET) on the deadline date. Late nominations will not be accepted. Once you have submitted your nomination, you will not be able to update it.
The program collects self-identification data from all nominees. This data provides information on the diversity of the population applying for and receiving agency funds. This information increases NSERC’s capacity to monitor its progress on increasing equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in its programs, to recognize and remove barriers, and to design new measures to achieve greater EDI in the research enterprise. If you do not want to self-identify, you have the option to choose “I prefer not to answer” for each question, but you are required to select a response for the questionnaire to be marked as complete. Self-identification information is not part of the nomination and will be neither accessible to, nor shared with, external reviewers and/or selection committee members.
All eligible nominations will be reviewed by a diverse selection committee of academic, government and industry research representatives from a variety of disciplines. Committee members are selected according to NSERC’s Guidelines governing membership of selection committees.
The committee will review your nomination according to the following selection criteria:
Research (30%)
Impact of the research within its field
Knowledge mobilization (20%)
Involvement of the nominee(s) in the mobilization of research knowledge, resulting in the benefits described in the nomination
Societal impact (50%)
Significance of the benefits to Canadian society
The selection committee will recommend the successful candidates to NSERC. The committee may recommend not to award the prize in a given year if there is no outstanding nomination.